"There's no need," Bran demurred. "And it will be easier to elude them on my own."

"We'll wait for you here, then," replied the champion. He handed Bran his bow and six black arrows, three of which had been specially prepared.

"Go with G.o.d," Tuck said, and pa.s.sed Bran the chain from which was suspended a small iron canister-a covered dish of coals. "Oh, it's a sorry waste," he sighed as Bran rode away. His dark form was swiftly swallowed by the darkness.

"Aye," agreed Iwan, "but needful. Taking food from the mouth of an enemy is almost as good as eating it yourself."

Tuck considered this for a moment. "No," he decided, "it is not."

The two settled back to watch and wait. They listened to the night sounds of the forest and the easy rustling of the leaves in the upper boughs of the trees as the breeze came up. Tuck was nodding off to sleep when Iwan said, "There he is."

Tuck came awake with a start at the sound. He looked around, but saw nothing. "Where?"

"Just there," said Iwan, stretching out his hand towards the darkness, "low to the ground and a little to your left."

Tuck looked where Iwan indicated and saw a tiny yellow glow moving along the ground. Then, even as he watched, the glow floated up into the air, where it hung for a moment.

"He's on the wall," said Iwan.

The glowing spark seemed to brighten and burst into flame. In the same instant the flame flared and disappeared and all was darkness again.

They waited.

In a moment, the glow fluttered to life once more in midair. It flared to life and disappeared just as quickly.

"That's two," said Iwan. "One more."

They waited.

This time the glow did not reappear at once. When it did, it was some distance farther along the wall. As before, the faint firefly glow brightened, then flared to brilliant life and disappeared in a smear of sparks and fire. Darkness reclaimed the night, and they waited. A long moment pa.s.sed, then another, and they heard the hoofbeats of a swiftly approaching horse, and at almost the same time a line of light appeared low in the sky. The light grew in intensity until they could see the form of a dark rider galloping toward them. All at once, the light bloomed in the sky, erupting in a shower of orange and red flames.

"To your horses," shouted Bran as he came pounding up. "They'll be wanting our heads for this. I fired the storehouse and granary both."

"Did anyone see you?" wondered Iwan as he swung up into the saddle.

"It's possible," Bran said. "But they'll have their hands full for a little while, at least."

"Tsk," clucked Tuck with mild disapproval. "Such a sad waste."

"But necessary," offered Iwan. "Anything that weakens them, helps us."

"And anything that helps us, helps Elfael and its people," concluded Bran. "It was necessary."

"A holy waste, then," replied Tuck. He raised himself to a fallen limb and squirmed into the saddle. By the time he had the reins in his fist, his companions were already riding along the edge of the field up the long rising slope towards Coed Cadw, a dark ma.s.s rising like a wall against a sky alive with stars.

As the news about what had happened spread throughout the Vale of Elfael, everyone who heard about the theft and fire of the previous nights knew what it meant: King Raven's war with the Ffreinc had entered a new, more desperate stage. Burning the abbey's storehouse and granary would provoke Abbot Hugo and the sheriff to a swift and terrible reaction. If an army cannot eat, it cannot fight, and the abbot's army had just lost its supper.

"Sheriff de Glanville won't be dainty about taking what he needs from the poor Cymry round about," Scarlet pointed out after hearing an account of the previous night's raid. "He'll make a right fuss, no mistake."

"I expect he will," Bran agreed. "I'd be disappointed otherwise."

"Will's got a fair point," Siarles affirmed. "De Glanville will steal from the farm folk. It's always them he turns to."

"Yes, and when he does, he'll find King Raven waiting for him," said Bran.

Bran's reply stunned his listeners-not what he said-the words themselves were reasonable enough. It was the way he said them; there was a coldness in his tone that chilled all who heard it. There wasn't a man among them who did not recognize that something had changed in their king since his return from the north. If he had been determined before, he was that much more determined now. But it was more than simple purpose-there was a dark, implacable hardness to it, as if somehow his customary resolve had been chastened and hardened in a forge. There was an edge to it, keen and lethal as stropped steel. Scarlet put it best when he said, "G.o.d bless me, Brother Tuck, but talking to Rhi Bran now is like talking to the blade of a spear." He turned wondering eyes on the little priest. "Just what did did you two get up to in the north that's made him so?" you two get up to in the north that's made him so?"

"It's never the north that's made him this way," replied the friar, "although that maybe tipped the load into the muck. But it's coming back home and seeing how things are here-all this time pa.s.sing, and the abbot is ruling the roost and the sheriff cutting up rough and all. The Ffreinc are still here and nothing's changed-nothing for the better, at least."

Scarlet nodded in commiseration. "It may be as you say, Friar, but I I say that little jaunt up north changed him," he insisted. "I'll bet my back teeth on't." say that little jaunt up north changed him," he insisted. "I'll bet my back teeth on't."

"Perhaps," allowed Tuck. "Oh, you should have seen him, Scarlet. The way he peeled that hard-boiled earl-it was a gladsome sight." The friar went on to describe the elaborate deception he'd witnessed and in which he'd taken part-the clothes, the hunting, Alan's tireless translating, the young Welshmen and their willing and industrious partic.i.p.ation, the breathless escape, and all the rest. "We were Count Rexindo and his merry band, as Alan says-albeit, his song makes it sound like a frolic of larks, but it was grim dire, I can tell you. We were tiptoeing in the wolf 's den with fresh meat in our hands, but Bran never put a foot wrong. Why, it would have made you proud, it truly would."

"And yet it all came to nothing in the end."

"Saints bear witness, Scarlet, that's the naked bleeding heart of it, is it not? We dared much and risked more to save King Gruffydd's worthless neck," Tuck said, his voice rising with the force of his indignation. "And we succeeded! Beyond all hope of success, we succeeded. But that selfish sot refused to help. After we saved his life, by Peter's beard, that rascal of a king would not lend so much as a single sausage to our aid." He shook his head in weary commiseration. "Poor Bran . . . that his own kinsman would use him so ill-it's a wicked betrayal, that's what it is."

"Raw as a wound from a rusty blade." He considered this for a moment. "So that's the grit in his gizzard-our Bran knows we're on our own now," concluded Scarlet gloomily. "Aye, we're alone in this, and that's shame and pity enough to make man, woman, horse, or dog weep."

"Never say it," Tuck rebuked gently. "We are not not alone-for the Lord of Hosts is on our side and stretches out His mighty arm against our enemies." The little friar smiled, his round face beaming simple good pleasure at the thought. "If the Almighty stands with us, who can stand against us, aye?" Tuck prodded Scarlet in the chest with a stubby finger. "Just you answer me that, boyo. Who can stand against us?" alone-for the Lord of Hosts is on our side and stretches out His mighty arm against our enemies." The little friar smiled, his round face beaming simple good pleasure at the thought. "If the Almighty stands with us, who can stand against us, aye?" Tuck prodded Scarlet in the chest with a stubby finger. "Just you answer me that, boyo. Who can stand against us?"

The friar had a point, Scarlet confessed, that no one could stand against G.o.d-then added, "But there does seem no end o' folk that'll try."

The Grellon resumed the task of acc.u.mulating what provisions they could-meat from the hunt, grain and beans from the raid, tending the turnips in the field, making cheese from the milk of their two cows-preserving all they could and storing it up against the days of want that were surely coming.

Bran turned his attention to the other matter weighing on his mind. With everyone else already occupied, he called Scarlet and Tuck to him and announced, "Put on your riding boots. We're going to find Merian-and while we're at it, we'll see if we can convince King Cadwgan to lend some of his men to aid us."

"This is what Merian has been arguing all this while," Tuck pointed out.

"Aye, it is," Bran conceded. "I was against it at first, I confess, but our feet are in the flame now and we have no other choice. Maybe Merian is right-maybe her family will help where mine would not. Lord Cadwgan holds no kindly feelings towards me, G.o.d knows, but she's had a few days with him; I have to know whether she's been able to soften her father's opinion and persuade him. Pray she has, friends-it's our last hope." He spun on his heel and started away at once. "Ready the horses," he called over his shoulder. "We have only this day."

"It seems his disappointment has pa.s.sed," said Scarlet. "And we're for a ride through lands filled with vengeful Ffreinc."

"Lord have mercy." Tuck sighed. "The last thing I need is to spend more time jouncing around on horseback. Still, if we can convince Cadwgan to help us, it will be worth another saddle sore."

"So now, if the Ffreinc catch us rambling abroad in plain daylight," warned Scarlet, "saddle sores will be least of all your earthly worries, friend friar."

CHAPTER 26.

Arriving just after midday, the three riders paused to observe King Cadwgan's stronghold from a distance. All appeared peaceable and quiet on the low hill and surrounding countryside. There were folk working in the fields to the west and south of the fortress, and a few men and dogs moving cattle to another pasture for grazing. "Seems friendly enough from here," remarked Scarlet. "Any Ffreinc around, d'you reckon?"

"Possibly," answered Bran. "You never can tell-Cadwgan is client king to Baron Neufmarche."

"Same as tried to kill you?" wondered Scarlet.

"One and the same. I made the mistake of asking Neufmarche for help, and thought he might behave honourably," replied Bran. "It is not a mistake I shall make a second time."

"A bad business, that," mused Tuck. "It is a very miracle Cadwgan has survived this long under the baron's heavy thumb."

"You know him?" asked Scarlet.

"Aye, I do-we're not the best of friends, mind, but I know him when I see him-for all I've lived in the shadow of Hereford castle for many years."

"That is why I am sending you on ahead," said Bran.

"Me!"

"I dare not show my face within those walls until you have seen how things sit with the king."

"You want me to go in there alone?" Tuck said.

"Who better to spy out the lay of the land?" said Bran. "No one up there has ever seen you," he pointed out. "To the good folk of Caer Rhodl you will simply be who you are-a wandering mendicant priest. You've nothing to fear."

"Then why do I feel like Daniel sent into the lions' lair?"

He made to urge his mount forward, but Bran took hold of the bridle strap and pulled him up. "On foot."

"I have to walk?"

"Wandering mendicant priests do not ride fine horses."

"Fine horses, my fat a.r.s.e." Tuck rolled his eyes and puffed out his cheeks. "You call these plodders we ride 'fine'?" Complaining, he squirmed down from his mount, landing hard on the path below.

"That grove of beeches," said Bran, pointing a little way down the track the way they had come. "We'll wait for you there."

"What do you want me to tell Cadwgan?" Tuck asked, untying the loop that held his staff alongside the saddle.

"Tell him anything you like," said Bran. "Only find out if it is safe for me to come up there and speak to him. And find out what has become of Merian."

Tuck beetled off on his bowed legs while Bran and Will rode back to wait in the grove. Upon reaching the foot of the fortress mound, Tuck worked his way along the rising, switchback path towards the entrance. The thought-the fervent hope-of cool dark ale awaiting him in a welcome cup sprang up, bringing the water to his thirsty mouth. By the time he reached the gate atop the long ramp, he was panting with antic.i.p.ation. A word with the gatekeeper brought the desired result, and he was quickly admitted and directed to the cookhouse.

"Bless you, my son," said Tuck. "May G.o.d be good to you."

At the cookhouse, he begged a bite to eat and a cup of something to drink, and found the kitchener most obliging. "Come in, Friar, and be welcome," said the woman who served the king and his household as master cook. "Sit you down, and I'll soon set a dish or two before you."

"And if you have a little ale," suggested Tuck lightly, "I would dearly love to wash the dust of the road from my mouth."

"That you shall have," replied the cook-so amiably that Tuck remembered all over again how well he was so often received in the houses of the great lords. For however high and mighty the lord might be-with his own priests or those nearby to attend him as he pleased-his va.s.sals and servants were usually more than glad to receive a priest of their own cla.s.s. She busied herself in the next room and returned with a leather cannikin dripping with foam. "Here," she said, pa.s.sing the vessel to Tuck, "get some of this inside you and slay the nasty dragon o' thirst."

Tuck seized the container with both hands and brought it to his face. He drank deep, savouring the cool, sweet liquid as it filled his mouth and flowed over his tongue and down his chin. "Bless you," he sighed, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "I was that parched."

"Now, then," said the master cook, "just enjoy your cup. I won't be a moment."

The cook left the kitchen for the larder, and Tuck sat on his stool, elbows on the board, sipping the good dark ale. In a moment, a young woman came in with a wedge of cheese on a wooden plate. "Cook said to give you this while you wait," said the serving maid.

"Thank you, my child," replied Tuck, taking the plate from her hand.

"If you please, Friar," she said, "I have a sore foot." She looked at him doubtfully. "Would you know of a cure or blessing?"

"Let me see," he said, glancing down at her feet. "Which foot is it?"

She slipped off her shoe-a wooden clog with a leather top-and held the foot up slightly. Tuck saw a red welt at the base of her big toe that looked to him like the beginning of a bunion.

"Ah, yes," he said. "I have seen this before." He gently lifted the young woman's foot and touched the raw, red bulge. "I think you are fortunate to catch this before it has become incurable."

She winced, drawing in her breath sharply. "Can you fix it?"

"I think so. Can you get a little mayweed hereabouts?"

"For a certainty," she replied. "We use it all the time."

"Then you'll know how to make a tisane, do you not?"

The girl nodded.

"Good-make one and drink it down. Then take the wet leaves from the bowl and apply them to the sore. Do this three times a day, every day for five days, and you'll soon feel better. Oh, yes, put off your shoes for a few days."

The girl made a sour face. "My lady does not like us to go barefoot," she said. "Leastwise, not in the house."

"Not to worry," said Tuck. "When you go in the house, just put some willow bark shavings in your shoe. But take off your shoes whenever you can. Oh, yes-find some larger shoes if you can. The ones you are wearing are too small for you, and that, no doubt, is what has caused this ailment." He laid a finger to his lips. "Now, then, I think Saint Birinius is the one to seek on this one," he said. "Bow your head, child."

The young woman did as she was told, and Tuck held his hand over her and sought the blessing of Birinius, whose feet were held in the fire by one of the old Mercian kings as a test of his faith and thus was one who knew the pain a.s.sociated with various foot ailments. The young lady thanked the friar and left-only to be replaced by another woman bringing a small woollen cloak she had just finished making. "If it is not too much trouble, Friar," she said politely, "I would ask a blessing for this cloak, as I've made it for my sister's baby that's due to come any day now."

"May G.o.d be good to you for your thoughtfulness," said Tuck. "It is no trouble at all." And he blessed the soft square of delicate cloth.

When he finished, the cook returned and began placing bowls of minted beans and new greens and a plate of cold duck before him. The woman with the infant's cloak thanked him and said, "My man is outside with a horse he'd like you to see when you've finished your meal."

"Tell him I will attend directly," replied Tuck, reaching for a wooden spoon. He ate and drank and worked out what he wanted to say to Lord Cadwgan. When the cook returned to see how he fared, Tuck asked, "The lord of this place-is he well?"

"Oh, indeed, Friar. Never better."

"Good," replied Tuck. "I am glad to hear it."

"How could it be otherwise? A new-married man and his bride-why, birds in a nest, those two."

This caught Tuck on the hop. "Lord Cadwgan . . . newly married, you say?"

"Lord have mercy, no!" laughed the cook. "It's Garran I'm talking about. He's king now, and lord of this place."

"Oh, is he? But that must mean-"

The cook was already nodding in reply. "The old king died last year, and Garran has taken his father's place on the throne, may G.o.d keep him."