Ashes Under Uricon (The Change Book 1) (18 page)

“My lady. At last you are awake.” It was Eluned. She was no longer the dirt-encrusted creature who had accompanied me on our strange journey.

The voice saying ‘Who are you?’, my being dragged then carried to this house, seemed to be something out of a dream. A dream from which I was now painfully awaking. I stumbled from the couch, throwing aside the blanket. Eluned took my hand, opened the door – it was not locked – and we left the room. “Come,” she said.

As we walked I felt a sharp pain in my side. When I put my free hand to the source of the pain, Eluned said, “You were wounded, my lady. I have dressed it. It will sting for some days.” Something else I had forgotten. I had no memory of how or when I had received this ‘wound’.

“What happened to me?” I said.

“We both slept when we reached the top of the valley. Perhaps you fell. A sharp stone you lay on. Do not worry. It will heal.”

She stopped outside a room. “This is the house we were looking for? What did you call it?” I said.

“It is, my lady. This is Ty’r Brodyr. And in here is the library. It seems undamaged.” She opened the door.

A room filled with books. It was much smaller than the library in Plas Maen Heledd. There was only one small window, no heads on pillars. No long table with many chairs. There was simply a stand in the middle of the room intended to hold an open book at reading height. A lamp with a candle hung over it, on a long line from the high ceiling.

“Here you may continue your work, my lady. I will go to the back of the house to seek food.” She closed the door as she left. I remained standing just inside the door. The room smelled damp and musty. The book that lay open on the stand was thick with dust. No one had been here for a long, long time. I approached the stand and blew softly on the book. Dust rose in a thick cloud, almost choking me.

When the air cleared, I peered up at the page that was now visible. Although I considered myself tall, I was going to need something to stand on if I was to read in comfort. Slowly the words focussed. They were in Welsh – old Welsh from what I had learned from the Professors. Standing on tiptoe I could just make out the first two lines:

Gwyr a aeth gatraeth oed fraeth eu llu.
glasved eu hancwyn a gwenwyn vu.

The meaning was less clear. Something about men going to a place called Catraeth. ‘Llu’ meant a ‘group’, ‘glasved’ I had seen before, I had a vague recollection that it meant ‘mead’, which was some sort of drink. The rest meant nothing. If I was to do anything in this room, the first thing I would have to do was find something to lift me up.

I looked around. There was no other furniture. Perhaps a pile of old books? That seemed to be something that Taid and the Professors would not have approved of. As I thought this, an image of Taid’s face appeared in my mind. Where was he? Where had the Guards taken them? I knew that they were likely to be still alive. Eluned had assured me of that. If they had wanted them dead they would have left their bodies to burn in the house, she said.

For now I would have to carry on my studies alone. Or so I thought.

Unable to bring myself to stand on the old books, in the end I decided to look for something in one of the other rooms. I left the library and tried the other doors. Except for the one into the room we had started from they were locked. There were four altogether, apart from the library and the first one, and I tried each in turn without success. Eluned had said she was going to the back of the house, but there appeared to be no access. The only way out of the hall was into the first room or the library. Or through the front door we had first entered. I tried it. It opened. I stepped outside.

It was bitterly cold. The tops of the trees, which seemed to surround the house on three sides, moved from side to side, blown by a wind that was barely noticeably at ground level. There was a pathway that led around the side of the house. I followed it. The side of the house, which was longer than the front, was a solid wall of brick, with no windows or doors. At the other end of this, the path stopped abruptly. I turned to see the back of the house. Here there was a stone balustrade, only three or four paces from the house. There did not appear to be any entrance through this, so I climbed over it.

The back of the house looked, at first, more welcoming than the front. There were two sets of huge glass doors on either side of a massive wooden door set into a decorated facade. I peered into the glass doors but could see nothing as there were curtains pulled across on the inside. I tried to open them, but they were locked. The wooden door had no handle or knocker that was visible. I pushed it. It was closed. I turned to look over what I presumed was the garden.

Beyond the balustrade, set down some way beneath it, was a small area of overgrown grass. On the other side of this, the ground fell away so steeply that nothing was visible except the sky in the far distance. There was nowhere to go. Even getting down to the grassed area was impossible – there were no steps, not even a break in the balustrade. I had started to shiver with the cold. I retraced my steps.

As I turned the corner back to the front of the house I heard Eluned calling me. She was stood in the doorway, calling inside the house and she jumped when I came up behind her.

“There is nowhere to go in this place,” I said. “Round the back it seems to be built on the edge of a cliff. Where did you go?”

She pointed into the trees. “There is a small farm house in those trees, my lady. No one lives there, I fear. There is a working pump. Nothing else.”

“Did you bring water?” I said.

“No, my lady. There was nothing to carry water from the pump. Perhaps I could find something in the house?”

“I doubt it. Most of the doors are locked. Apart from the library. And the room we were in last night. It’s the same at the back. There’s a large door – bigger than the front one here – but it’s also locked. Two rooms with glass doors. Locked and curtained. I don’t think we are welcome here.”

“But your studies, my lady.”

“If they – whoever they are – expect me to study dusty old books with nothing to eat or drink, they can think again. What’s the point in being here? We haven’t eaten properly in days. It’s freezing standing out here. The only furniture in the library is a bookstand that I can’t reach. I’m cold, hungry and fed up. Why on earth did we come here? Don’t say because Rhiannon led us here. She’s disappeared again.
Very
helpful.”

“I will look in the trees on the other side, my lady. Perhaps...”

“Perhaps what? Perhaps there’s a house full of food? With people who will welcome us with open arms? Saying, ‘Come in. Come in. We have been expecting you.’ I don’t think that is going to happen, Eluned. I’m sorry.”

“You are weak.” A voice came from the trees. It was the same voice I had heard as we approached the house. Clearer this time. A man’s voice.

I swung round. “Who’s there?” I shouted into the trees.

Eluned looked frightened. “What is it, my lady?”

“Didn’t you hear it?” I said. “That voice I heard before. Over there. In the trees. It said, ‘You are weak’.”

“I heard nothing,” Eluned said, looking where I was pointing.

The voice spoke again. “You are weak. You are nothing.”

“There,” I said, grabbing Eluned’s arm. “It spoke again.” I took a step towards the trees, all thought of the cold now gone. “Who are you? Show yourself.”

I heard a low noise like a whistle. It was followed by a loud crack as an arrow embedded itself in the front door. It had passed between Eluned and me, barely missing us. If it had been aimed at either of us, it had missed. If not, it was a deadly accurate shot.

Eluned screamed. She may have claimed not to hear the voice, she could not ignore this.

“Into the house, Eluned,” I yelled. I was still holding her arm. I twisted round and pulled her in through the door, kicking it shut behind me. We were both shaking. With cold, and now with fear. I fully expected to hear another arrow thud into the door, followed by who knows what, but nothing happened.

Releasing my grip on Eluned, who stood paralysed with fear, I dashed into the library and up to the side of the window. Although it was small, it gave a sufficient view of the trees from which the arrow had been sent. Nothing, no one was visible. There was no sign of movement. My breathing began to slow and my heart stopped racing. I returned to the hallway where Eluned still stood frozen to the spot.

“He’s gone,” I said. “For the moment, at least. Do you have any idea who he might be?”

She looked at me, tears welling in her eyes. She shook her head. I put my arm around her and led her back to the little room where I sat her down on the couch. When I released my hold, she fell sideways, now sobbing loudly.

“My mother,” she gasped between sobs, “was killed by men who carried arrows.”

I had no idea when Eluned’s mother had been killed. Judging by the condition of the house that she once protected, it must have been some time ago. In Eluned’s time scale that could mean decades, even centuries, before. Could this man who lurked in the trees around the house be the same one who had killed her, whenever it was? Maybe he belonged to the same strange group of individuals as Eluned and Rhiannon. I wondered if Eluned’s mother was like her daughter – in which case they were as vulnerable as I was to attack, despite their ability to live much longer than me.

The sobbing eventually stopped. I gently rose from the couch, leaving Eluned asleep. I wished I could do the same, but hunger was now gnawing at my insides. No matter who or what lurked outside, I had to find something – anything – to eat. Soon. I crept back to the front door and slowly opened it. As I did so, the arrow that had struck it earlier came into view. Although the blade was embedded enough in the wood to stop it falling, I could see that with very little effort I could pull it out. I reached up, gripped the shaft and tugged. It came away so suddenly that I recoiled against the doorframe.

I did not know how I might be able to use it, but having it in my hand gave me a sense of protection. I set off into the trees, slowly, looking in every direction with each step I took. Although it remained cold, beneath the trees the air was still. I could hear nothing except my own footsteps through the layers of fallen leaves. Until I heard the low whistle I had heard before. This time I knew what to expect. I dashed behind a larger tree. With a thud that reverberated through it, an arrow struck the other side of its trunk.

Holding my arrow out in front of me, I screwed up my courage. “Who are you?” I yelled into the trees.

“You are weak,” came the voice, some distance away.

Anger surged inside me. “I’m hungry. I need to eat. That’s why I’m weak. I’m looking for food. Why are you shooting at me?”

“There is food. You are not looking.” The voice was coming nearer. I stood my ground, fearful that the next arrow would be for me.

“We have been looking. All day. Eluned went out this morning but found nothing.”

“She knows not where to look, foolish woman.” The voice was now so close that I should have been able to see who was speaking.

I stepped out from behind the tree. “Where are you? Are you going to shoot me? Here I am. What are you waiting for?”

“I am waiting for you to open your eyes.” The voice now came from behind me. I spun round.

“My eyes are open!” I screamed. “Where are you?” Without warning, tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I fell back against the tree and slid down until I was sitting at its base. I dropped the arrow.

Through my tears I saw a dark figure dash forward to pick it up. I made a grab for it. It was useless. He was far too quick. When I looked up, there was no sign of him.

“Now eat.” The voice came again from within the trees.

On the ground at my feet there was a leather bag. It was worn and weather-beaten but filled with food and drink. Two bottles, corked. Two long loaves of bread. A number of packages, wrapped in cloth. Looking around, I broke off the end of one of the loaves and stuffed it into my mouth. It was hard to swallow, my mouth was dry and my throat constricted. I grabbed one of the bottles, clumsily pulling out the cork. Putting the bottle to my parched lips I poured some of the liquid it contained straight down my throat, almost choking myself.

Still holding the bottle, I clambered to my feet. Looking around, I could see no one. I picked up the bag, which was heavy, and stumbled back towards the house. As I emerged from the trees, the voice came from behind me. “Eat well. Tomorrow we meet.” Now running, I dashed into the house and through to the back room, calling Eluned’s name.

She opened her eyes, which were red-rimmed, as I slung the bag onto the table. Some of its contents spilled out. “What is this, my lady?” Her voice was thin.

“Food. Drink. Come on. Eat. Sit up. We both need it.” I pulled her up into a sitting position and passed her the other bottle. Eagerly, she pulled out the cork and drank from it noisily, some of the liquid running down the side of her mouth. As if restored by this, she stood up and tipped the remaining items out of the bag. We unwrapped each one in a rush, hungrily tearing at the contents. There was meat, three different sorts, four different cheeses, apples, pears, plums. I had not seen such a variety for many years.

When we had slaked our thirsts and quelled the pangs of hunger, there was still plenty of food left, though very little of the liquid. Eventually, Eluned sat back down on the couch. “But, my lady. Where did you find all this?”

“Out there,” I said, still eating. “In the trees. The man with the arrows left it for us.”

“The man with ...” She did not continue.

“At least, I presume it was him. He told me to open my eyes and there it was. Lying at my feet. A bag filled with food and drink. He shot another arrow at me first, mind you.”

“He shot ...” Again, she broke off.

“He wasn’t aiming at me. I think. He took back his other arrow. The one that was in the door. He said we would meet him tomorrow. I wonder where he found all this food?”

Eluned stood up again. “Did you see his face?” Her voice was sharp.