Chronicle of Ages (43 page)

 

Spruced up for the occasion, as every noble was, Rhun gritted his teeth and endured all the pomp and pageantry of the crowning ceremony. Taliesin led him through his vows to the Goddess and the kingdoms allied in her name, but Rhun could barely hear the High Merlin's instruction over all the unsaid thoughts from those gathered. It was clear that many here didn't agree with his appointment, but as Rhun could not pinpoint from whom the varying malicious thoughts stemmed, he had no way of divining just who the disgruntled parties were. When Rhun's gaze ventured to Blain, the smile he received from him was warm and encouraging; he appeared to have recovered from his defeat. Beside Blain sat his queen, Javotte, who had daggers in her eyes.

At the celebrations afterwards, disturbing thought waves were flying thick and fast around the new High King. He never quite managed to grasp the full meaning of the distorted, fleeting whispers, but their intent made
it plain that there was massive unrest within his council. Looking around the table, one would never have guessed the uneasy current underlying all the laughter and merriment, but it was there alright. Half the council had voted against Rhun to be High King, so the trick to pinpointing his foe lay in guessing the five other men who had voted for him. Bryce, Eormenric, Conell and Cadoc of Dumnonia were definite in Rhun's mind, which left one vote unaccounted for. Urien was a possibility, but personally speaking he was far more attached to Blain, so it seemed more likely that the young King had voted for his friend. The other possibility was that Rhun had misjudged Blain and that his was the sixth vote that had secured Rhun the position of High King. Talorg, Elidyr, Riderich Hael and Elifler of York had all been brought to the council via Blain's negotiations and thus had always been more disposed towards the Kingdom of Powys than the Kingdom of Gwynedd.

‘Talorg seems particularly social this evening,' Sir Bryce commented in an aside to Rhun, who was seated next to him. ‘He wast chewing Conell's ear off before and now he hast started on Riderich and Elidyr.'

‘Dalriada, Clyde and Reged.' Rhun listed their kingdoms. ‘Talorg must be working his way down the west coast. If he keeps to his current course, Gwynedd should be next on his hit list.'

‘Or Powys.' Bryce suggested the Pict's more obvious target.

‘Keep an eye on him for me,' Rhun instructed, as he spied the High Merlin looming in the doorway at the far
end of the Great Hall and so rose to go after him. Completely forgetting his new status, Rhun nearly jumped out of his wits when everyone in the room rose as he did, for he had been of the mind to sneak out quietly. ‘Please continue,' he bade his subjects, whereupon everyone resumed their activity.

‘Where art thou going?' Bridgit took hold of his hand, her large amber eyes pleading for him to stay. ‘Thee cannot retire so early on an occasion such as this.'

‘Taliesin wants me,' he whispered and kissed her cheek. ‘But I shall return.'

 

When Rhun reached the corridor outside the Great Hall, Taliesin was nowhere to be seen. As Selwyn was standing close by, Rhun inquired if he had seen which way the High Merlin had gone.

‘Sorry, Majesty, I needed to get thy attention.'

‘That wast thee and not Taliesin?' The Merlin nodded. Rhun frowned as he noticed the black smears all over Selwyn's face. ‘Art thou planning on riding into battle, merlin? Why the war paint all over thy face?'

As Selwyn appeared mortified by the information and began aimlessly rubbing his face, Rhun pointed out the offending marks.

‘There be some on thy neck and
earlobe
.' Rhun had to refrain from laughter as he recalled Kaileah's black painted lips.

‘Please, Majesty.' Selwyn led the King away from the proceedings, continuing to rub his face as he went. ‘A matter of utmost urgency hast come to my attention.'

Rhun laughed at this. ‘That be frightfully obvious, merlin.'

‘It is a matter of state,' Selwyn corrected his misconception, stressing the seriousness of his errand, ‘that concerns thee intimately.'

‘So, thou art taking me to bed?' Rhun motioned up the stairwell they had ducked into, which led to the main sleeping quarters.

‘Nay.' Selwyn gripped hold of both the High King's hands. ‘Further afoot,' he advised, willing them forth to the ring of stones where he had left the Druidess, Kaileah.

 

The windswept moor was rather forbidding after the warmth of the banquet hall, but it was quiet and for that Rhun was thankful. Selwyn immediately left his side. By the light of the moon, Kaileah and Selwyn whispered to each other in the middle of the ancient stone circle.

‘Hast thou dragged me all the way back to Gwynedd to admire the full moon, merlin?' Rhun recognised the holy place and urged them to justify their actions.

‘Gwyn ap Nudd was here this night,' Selwyn approached to begin their explanation, ‘to warn me of a conspiracy that is spreading itself through thy court.'

This was interesting to Rhun as the statement accorded with his own observations this evening. ‘Something seems to be bothering Talorg?' he stated openly, to see what reaction this would fetch from the Druidess.

Kaileah came forth, her forbidding face on. ‘He wishes to crush the rightful claimant to his throne.
Tomorrow, Talorg will try to rally support for his cause in the council.'

‘The rightful claimant?' Rhun queried.

‘Talorg wast only to rule until Bridei, great-great-grandson of Cunedda, was old enough to assume the throne.'

The High King was taken aback by Bridei's family line. ‘Dost thou mean to say that this king be my kindred?'

Selwyn nodded to confirm this. ‘A very strong family resemblance seems to support the theory.'

‘Thou hast met this warlord, merlin?' Rhun assumed.

‘In a vision,' Selwyn explained. ‘But I shall seek an audience with Bridei at the first opportunity and advise thee as more information comes to hand.'

Rhun looked to Kaileah, wondering about her loyalties. He held out his hand to her, hoping she would take hold. ‘I thought thou wast druidess to Talorg, Kaileah?'

‘Thou art suspicious.' The Druidess made it known that she knew about Rhun's telepathic know-how, but placed her hand in the High King's confidently. ‘I have nothing to hide from thee, any more.' She looked to Selwyn briefly then back to Rhun. ‘I am the servant of the royal line of my people, and I serve the rightful king.' Kaileah observed Rhun with an expression of familiarity. ‘There can be no doubting that Bridei and thee spring from the same common ancestor. What other explanation could there be for it?'

‘For what?' Rhun wondered.

‘The resemblance,' Kaileah informed.

‘Reports indicate that thee could be twins,' Selwyn added. ‘But not one for hearsay, Majesty, I shall believe the likeness when I have seen this warlord myself.'

‘Thee will not believe thine eyes,' Kaileah spoke up. ‘Talorg hast seen the resemblance that reinforces his enemy's claim to the throne. Thus, he will do everything within his power to prevent thee from ever meeting Bridei.'

‘Then we should meet, as soon as possible,' Rhun resolved, intrigued, and having detected no ulterior motives within the Druidess, Rhun let go of her hand.

‘I shall arrange it, Majesty.' Selwyn thought Rhun's decision was the right one.

‘But the knowledge of this arrangement will not go beyond this circle … and,' Rhun hated to say this, as the two holy people were obviously just getting to know one another on intimate terms, ‘you two should not be seen together.'

‘Nor will we be,' Selwyn assured, before looking back to the Druidess. ‘I should return our High King to his feast. I will return for thee presently.'

‘I can wait.' She walked away to seat herself against a stone for shelter against the wild wind.

‘Fear not, Majesty, I shall make sure no one witnesses our return.' Selwyn gripped Rhun's hand to return him to Dyfed.

‘This seems an unfortunate turn of events for thee, merlin.' Rhun glanced back at the Druidess, having picked up on how overwhelming her secret feelings for Selwyn were. ‘I am sorry for that.'

‘The Goddess guides my destiny,' Selwyn stated
rather dryly. ‘And I am hoping this shall prove just a minor inconvenience rather than an unfortunate event.'

Rhun forced a smile to agree with his view. ‘With all my heart, merlin, I hope thou art right.'

 

At the first meeting of the allied states under Rhun's command, no mention of the civil battle in Alban was mentioned, by Talorg or anyone. It seemed there were bigger fish to fry at present.

‘Morcant of the Bernicians hast allied himself with Caten of Lothian and may succeed in taking the Wall!' Riderich of Clyde, who had the floor, referred to Hadrian's Wall that separated his kingdom from York and Reged to the south.

To the east of Riderich's Kingdom of Clyde was an area once known as Gododdin. Cunedda had migrated to Gwynedd from the far north of Gododdin over a century before. In this great warlord's wake two dynasties had arisen in the area. The first descended from a Breton ruler, Germanianus, whose capital was the hill fort of Yeavering Bell, south of the Tweed. The second dynasty had sprung from a Roman prefect, Leudonus, who ruled as a king in Lothian after building a fortress at Traprain Law. Morcant Bule was the reigning heir of Germanianus' line in the south, and Caten ruled as King of Lothian in the north. Separately, both kingdoms had attacked Clyde in the past, but as neither were as large as Clyde, Reged or York, they had always been fended off with a minimal amount of effort and expense. But now that Lothian and Bernicia had joined forces, they posed more of a threat.

‘They shall be after Carlisle next!' Elidyr of Reged interjected, all hot and bothered. Carlisle was currently one of the main strongholds of his Kingdom.

This middle-aged ruler was not one of Rhun's favourite people, and Elidyr was not particularly well disposed towards Rhun, or rather, Gwynedd, either. This stemmed from an ancient dispute over land back in the early days of their Grandfather's rule. For someone who claimed to be from Cunedda's line, Elidyr lacked all of the physical family traits. The King of Reged had fair red hair and pinkish skin that freckled easily. His face was round, he was short of stature and he was a little on the plump side. Rhun didn't see or sense kindred in him at all. And yet, if Elidyr's ancestral claim was true, the warlord would be no further removed from Rhun in the family tree than Bryce or Blain were.

‘I do not have to point out the problems that would arise for trade and so forth if Morcant succeeds in his aims.' Riderich continued his argument for declaring war. ‘We should crush this threat now, before this thorn in our side begins to fester.'

‘Here, here!' Elidyr and Elifler seconded in harmony, as always.

Elifler was Elidyr's younger cousin, and having not as much ‘spine' as his elder, he sided with Elidyr on every issue. The family resemblance and colouring was constant with them, although Elifler was younger and a few pounds lighter.

Dalriada was tucked safely away from the strife behind Clyde, so this dispute did not really concern Conell too much, although he was prepared to reinforce
Clyde with support troops. As Alban was situated just above all the target areas, Rhun sought the Pictish leader's opinion. ‘Has Morcant threatened the north in any respect, Talorg?'

‘My people art still greatly feared in the south by our enemies, Majesty … Caten will not venture to cross the Forth, unless he wishes to die,' he said smugly.

‘Then perhaps thy warriors would be our best defence,' Rhun reasoned, believing the warlord would hesitate to volunteer troops if civil strife was afoot in his own kingdom.

But Talorg smiled broadly at the suggestion, his tattooed face enhancing his already menacing appearance. ‘I shall be more than happy to bring my demons to the party, if thou doth wish it.'

Something wasn't right here, Rhun decided. He knew Kaileah and Selwyn were telling the truth last night, to the best of their knowledge anyway, as Rhun had touched their souls and felt their good intentions. So why was Talorg so eager to aid Riderich if he had troubles of his own? There was something these northern allies weren't telling him. Still, Rhun refused to believe Conell MacErc of Dalriada would conspire against him.

Conell was a simple man, so far as his loyalties ran. Like his father before him, the mighty Fergus MacErc, Conell was loyal to the ruling High King and adhered to him only. Although he was not a scholarly king, he had an innocent wisdom that kept him in everyone's good books. A big, brawny man from big, brawny stock, there were few who desired to oppose Conell in any case.

‘I shall send in a negotiator —' Rhun began.

‘Begging thy pardon, Majesty,' Riderich interrupted. ‘Morcant hast already refused to negotiate. I have lost three messengers in an attempt to have a written refusal for thy examination. I pray thou shalt not request that I sacrifice another.'

How convenient
, thought Rhun as he pondered how he might squeeze his way out of the corner he was being backed into. Were he not being influenced by what Kaileah had told him last night, Rhun would have thought this a battle of pressing urgency. Every man here obviously did. They all frowned as they awaited his word, wondering why he delayed his consent. Rhun again fixed his sights on Riderich. ‘What dost thou require from us?'

Of course, what the King of Clyde wanted was every spare soldier on the Isle to bombard the ancient kingdom of Gododdin and wipe Morcant and Caten's kingdoms from the map — not saying anything about substantially extending his own kingdom in the process.

Eormenric and Cadoc's forces were still tied up battling Cynric in the South and were presently receiving reinforcements from Powys, Gwent and Dyfed. Thus Rhun suggested York, Reged and Alban assist Clyde to drive back the threat against the Kingdom.