The Boar Stone: Book Three of the Dalriada Trilogy (43 page)

Cahir whistled. ‘Then we must use them to find out how the Dux is positioning his forces now leaf-bud has come. Our best approach is to strike before he can rally his troops.’

‘My thoughts exactly.’

Cahir paused. ‘If you have this intelligence, then I do not think we should wait until the longest day. The longer we take to muster, the greater the chance that word leaks out to the Dux, and instead of his Wall forces alone we are faced with the entire army of the Province.’

Gede nodded. A guarded respect had grown between them. ‘I will send messengers to the Saxons and extract what information I can from the scouts. Let us say by the end of the Beltaine moon we should be at the Wall. I will send you word when I have more detailed information.’

The Beltaine moon
. Minna glanced at Cahir as they went out into the sunshine. Only a few weeks away. So little time to draw him into her soul, so she never forgot what he tasted like, how he smelled, his voice.

She farewelled the queen in the women’s house. Her old shift, tunic and hide trousers had been burned they were so filthy, but Nessa had given her long wool dresses for the journey home, and new riding breeches. Her fur-lined cloak had been cleaned with salt, the tanned outer rubbed with wool-fat for the rain.

Nessa squeezed her hands. ‘I am sorry you are leaving, Minna, and that I’ve been so grim. You must think me weak not to stand up to Gede. I am ashamed of it.’ Her eyes fell on Drustan, gnawing on a pig-bone. ‘But he has ways of holding me.’

Minna chose her words carefully. ‘It is not right that you are so alone.’

Nessa pulled away, turning to the doorway to gaze out at the sun. ‘Gede has made this a dun for warlords, their wives hidden away in their forts. He said he is sick of the interference of women.’ She turned and smiled bleakly. ‘That is why I crept in to see you that first time, just to hear and see something of the world outside.’

Minna regarded the queen with pity. ‘Then I wish you were not so far away.’

‘I wish so, too.’ She took a breath, picked up a package of rolled linen beside the loom. ‘Before you go, though, I have a gift for you.’ She placed the package in Minna’s hands. ‘Promise you’ll open this in private, and if you’re wondering what they are for, remember that my heart is not so cold I do not know what new love is. Remember that whenever you smell them.’

Minna was too moved to answer, until Nessa touched her arm. ‘Safe travels.’

‘And you.’ Impulsively, she hugged her, the queen’s body thin and awkward in her arms.

When the Dalriadans rode away from the Dun of Bright Water, Minna glanced back to the only person who climbed the walls to watch them go. Nessa raised a hand in farewell, and it glimmered white against the dark timber, small as a bird.

They rode along the great glen by the chain of dark lochs. Far above, the crests of the peaks still held snow, but on the low ground all the trees were in leaf and bracken covered the slopes.

Taran and a few Pictish warriors rode as escort. Cahir and Minna took their leave of the druid when they came to the deserted borderlands.

‘You proved to be guests of a higher order than I was expecting,’ Taran observed to Minna, hunching into his cloak as the cold wind pulled at it. His brows arched. ‘But I doubt I will be forgetting anything about you now, Minna of Dalriada.’

He was the first person to name her so, to name her home. Her heart was still pounding as Taran took his leave of Cahir.

The Picts parted from them then, waiting at the head of a long loch while they carried on west.

West, towards the Dalriadan sea.

‘But should I not go to Finbar?’ Keeva whispered to Clíona, as they huddled in one of the dark alcoves in the hall.

Clíona slowly replaced the lid of the flour bin. Her face was as pale as the ground grain. ‘Are you sure of what you heard, child?’

‘Yes! Everything, just as I’ve told you.’ Keeva sank onto the bin. ‘Oh, gods, this is terrible!’

‘Hush!’ Clíona glanced around. ‘You don’t know who is listening, and if the queen gets wind that you know, that I know, we are both dead.
Dead
, Keeva.’

Keeva nodded, pressing her hands between her thighs.

Clíona was thinking fast. ‘You must not breathe a word of this, for we have no way of knowing who is on
her
side.’ She almost spat the word. ‘We can only speak to Finbar.’

‘But what if he is betraying the king as well?’

‘Och, stupid girl!’ Clíona threw her hands up. ‘Finbar has been the royal family’s most loyal man since I was a chit your age. It isn’t possible – and if he has turned traitor, then we are already lost. Now, put your cloak on and hide your hair, and seek him out for a private audience.’

But Keeva’s face was stricken. ‘I’ve just remembered: Finbar has gone to check on the outlying duns now the weather has broken. He’s not here.’

‘Well, we can’t trust anyone else.’ Clíona smoothed back her hair, steadying herself. ‘And we cannot send you to chase after him, and draw attention to ourselves. We’ll just have to wait for him.’

Keeva was on her feet. ‘We need the king back, and quickly. Where can he be?’

Chapter 40

‘H
ow is he?’ Martinus crouched by the tossing, moaning man stretched out on the army surgeon’s cot.

The surgeon dipped a cloth in a bowl of vinegar and honey. On the tray beside it, the lamplight flared on a collection of forceps, scalpels and saws. ‘The arrow went in deep and got lodged behind his back muscle. It took some digging to extract it, but it had already festered. Another day in the hills and he would have died.’

The youth tossed again, flinging out one arm. His torso was bound by a bandage stained with pus and blood. ‘
Minna
!’ he cried hoarsely.

Martinus pursed his lips. ‘Is it the fever making him babble so?’

The surgeon combed his beard with his fingers. ‘The fever burned for days; I thought I would lose him. He’s past that now, so I gave him henbane to sleep. Though it was enough to fell a larger man, he’s exceedingly restless, as you can see.’

The commander smiled thinly. ‘He’s my best fighter; of course he’s restless. I’ve never seen any soldier with such blind courage – he’s killed twice as many vermin as anyone else.’ The surgeon made no comment, clearing up his instruments. ‘So when will he be fighting fit again? I need him back on the supply lines.’

‘Fit?’ The surgeon frowned. ‘Sir, he’s been very badly wounded, and the fever has wasted him. It will be a week before he is even eating properly.’

Martinus shrugged as he made for the door. ‘Just patch him up and send him back out there as soon as you can. At least it wasn’t his sword side, so it matters little if the muscle knits well or not, as long as it’s whole.’

When he had gone, the surgeon sighed, feeling the patient’s head.

The boy writhed on the sweat-soaked pillow. ‘No …’ he muttered under his breath, ‘I … can’t …’ Suddenly those blue eyes sprang open, looking straight through the man leaning over him. ‘I can’t do it any more,’ he said plaintively.

The army doctor peered closer. Was the soldier still in the delirium? He must be. Though he had spoken clearly, his eyes were glazed. Another draught of spiced wine might help. He busied himself at the stove.

Behind him, Cian’s cracked lips moved in a whisper. ‘Minna. Don’t leave.’

Cahir pushed his warriors to reach Dunadd by the fire festival of Beltaine. They led their horses by moonlight along the shores of the great glen, and rose when the sky was barely light.

They were close to Brónach’s hut on the mountain when a figure appeared on the slopes above the track, sliding madly down between the trees. Cahir had his men formed up around Minna, swords drawn, by the time the man burst into the open. He was small and wiry, dressed in brown and muted green so he could hardly be seen against the forest.

‘Thank the gods you are back, my lord!’ the man puffed, as Cahir’s horse nervously danced backwards.

‘What has happened?’

Sweat was pouring down the man’s red face. ‘I will tell you, but come into the woods where no one can see. We have been keeping a lookout for you for weeks.’

Dread crawled over Minna’s skin as she listened to the man’s explanation. A rebellion had been mounted by Maeve and Oran, a plan for Roman trading ships packed with Carvetii soldiers to enter the port on the day of Beltaine, before the evening feast, taking advantage of the bustle to go unnoticed.

That was in two days.

A serving girl had overheard the plot, then told Finbar. The queen’s men had set lookouts for the king, too, but Finbar had sent his best scouts much further from Dunadd, so they would spot the king first. Finbar knew Cahir would not miss Beltaine, he said.

‘And his plan if I did not come?’ Cahir’s face betrayed an immense rage, though his voice was steady.

The scout gulped at that look, shifting his bow on his back. ‘He was going to lie in wait for the attack – to gain proof, my lord. He did not wish to act against the queen without you here, on hearsay alone.’

‘Sensible,’ Cahir said coldly, but when he turned even Minna stepped back from the ice and fire in his eyes. ‘We also do not want to scare the plotters off. We must have proof of this treachery so I can expel them all, at last.’

Minna gaped. He was going to allow the ships into the bay?

‘Do you know the name of the girl who heard this?’ Cahir demanded of the scout.

‘I … ah … it was the little dark-haired Attacotti, my lord. She told the maid who supervises the hall.’

Minna breathed out with relief.
Keeva and Clíona.
Cahir swung towards her, one brow raised. ‘Keeva would be loyal,’ she confirmed. ‘I am sure of it – she often spoke of the Romans with hatred, and of the queen … badly. And I know no woman more passionate about Dalriada and the kingship as Clíona.’ Her cheeks warmed as all the men listened.

‘Very well.’ Cahir braced his shoulders. ‘Mellan, ride to all the north duns within half a day’s ride. Every available fighter must be armed and back here by dawn – as many as you can get. Any not ready, leave behind and ride like
banshees
are on your tail. Meet me by the place of the otters at sunrise.’ He spun around. ‘Ardal, do the same for the south, avoiding Dunadd. If you are hailed, ride on and don’t let them see your face. Go now!’ After all these weeks, the men moved in tandem with his thoughts and did not question. Mellan and Ardal remounted and thundered away.

Cahir beckoned to the scout. ‘The girl Keeva, did she see who else was involved?’

The man nodded vigorously. ‘They picked sailors from the port as well as warriors in the dun. The girl has already named who she can to Finbar.’

‘Good.’ For a moment Cahir gazed into the dappled sun between the oak leaves, then faced the scout. ‘Listen carefully. We must disarm the traitors before an alarm can be sent to the ships, turning them back. Go and tell Finbar I am here, and will ride to the walls of Dunadd when the sun is halfway down the sky today. In the meantime, his men must shadow those traitors in Dunadd, and mark where Oran and Maeve and their men are. I want Finbar’s guards in the crowds, ready to seize them at my signal. Have him also man the port with our own warriors, in disguise. Once the traitors are captured we must evacuate the port.’

‘We have been trailing the traitors for days already, my lord.’

‘Good. We must also disable their lookouts so I can arrive at the dun undetected. Go back and gather the men you need to accomplish that. Now, Donal.’ Cahir drew him forward. ‘I am certain the clifftop beacons will be in Oran’s hands. Go to the Dun of the Cliff and pick a small force of men, then take the beacon back by stealth. Góban, do the same on the south headland. Whatever happens, Oran cannot have an opportunity to signal the ships and stop them from landing. Understand?’

Donal and Góban swiftly left, grim-faced. ‘Fergal, Ruarc, we will give Finbar a few hours, then ride to Dunadd together. Go up to the hut now and water your horses, clean your weapons and helmets.’ He smiled at Ruarc. ‘This is one time you can look as impressive as you like.’

Ruarc was staring at Cahir as if he were a ghost. ‘You want
me
to go with
you
?’

‘Certainly.’ Cahir held his eyes. ‘I want all those young bucks who idolize you to see us united. When we get to Dunadd, you will order them to seize the traitors as I will order my own men. If they see us standing strong together, they will not falter.’

Ruarc swelled with pride. ‘As you wish, my lord.’ It was the first time he had ever called Cahir that.

When the men had dispersed, Cahir and Minna were alone in the woods. He pulled her close. ‘
A stór
, when we ride to Dunadd I want you to stay some way behind us. If it turns bad, whip the horse and fly as fast as you can.’ His eyes burned, angry but not disappointed with this news. He wanted this confrontation.

She clutched at his tunic. ‘What do you mean if it goes bad? The people support you—’

‘We don’t know that – we don’t know anything.’ Cahir gripped her face, thumbs under her eyes so she could not look away. ‘I warned you, Minna. If Maeve gains the upper hand, if I am killed, you must not be captured. This plot bears the stench of the Dux, not just of Maeve and her father, I can smell it. They will hurt you, or worse. Promise me you will run.’