Ashes Under Uricon (The Change Book 1) (7 page)

As we walked, darkness began to fall. Rhiannon appeared to know exactly where she was going. Every time we reached a turning, or a crossroad, no matter how complicated it was, she moved forward without hesitation. For much of the time little was said. At one point, while we were pausing, I thought I heard some strange noises in the distance behind us. It reminded me that Rhiannon had mentioned wolves before.

“Are there really wolves, Taid?” I asked.

“Yes,” Rhiannon replied. “Very dangerous. Now it is full moon.”

Taid laughed. “That’s an old story, little one. Wolves and the full moon.” He howled.

Rhiannon shivered.

“It’s said that The Apostles have released wolves into the countryside. To keep people from leaving the casters,” I said.

“But you left,” Rhiannon said.

“And you know why that is,” Taid said. He shook his head as he looked at her. I had the impression that I was not supposed to have seen this, but I did. Rhiannon said nothing.

We carried on. Soon the darkness had reached the level that is only experienced in the summer months. As we were out in it, there was still some visibility. If we had been inside, in a lighted room, it would have seemed completely black. I was growing tired. The food and the walking were combining to bring on a strong sense of fatigue. When we paused for what turned out to be the last time, I really had to struggle to get going again.

Rhiannon came to a sudden halt. “Arretes,” she said. She released our hands. I was glad of this as mine was beginning to chafe. She had practically been dragging me for the last ten minutes or so. She walked forward on her own. “Bonsoir, m’sieu.” She appeared to be talking to the hedge. In the gloom a figure of a man appeared. He came towards us.

“You’ve arrived,” he said as he approached us. “You must be Richard Beynon-James. You don’t know what a pleasure it is to meet you at long last. And to welcome you to my humble abode.” He shook hands with Taid vigorously. “And this must be your grand-daughter. How are you, cariad bach? You look completely done in.” He put out his hand to me, but I didn’t respond. He stood between Taid and me and, putting his arms over our shoulders, moved us forward along the road.

Taid suddenly appeared to wake up. “My God! You must be Matthew Matthewson. The world thinks you’re dead.”

The man laughed. A deep, throaty laugh that echoed along the road. “Far from it, Richard. Alive and kicking, as you see.”

Rhiannon had disappeared. Where she had stood moments earlier in the middle of the road, now there was nothing. We walked, or stumbled, towards the spot where she had been. As we reached it, the man calling himself Matthew turned us to the right. There, barely visible in the gloom, was a set of huge wrought iron gates, set just back off the road, unnoticeable until you were right on top of them.

Something stirred in my head at the sight of them. The gates were wide open. He propelled us through them. I glanced at a board hanging on one of them as we passed. ‘Plas Maen Heledd’ it read. The penny dropped. I ducked out from under Matthew’s arm and returned to the gate. It really did read ‘Plas Maen Heledd’. I wasn’t dreaming.

“Taid,” I called after him as they had continued along the driveway. Both men paused. They turned to face me.

“Yes, cariad,” Taid said. “This is the house I told you about.”

“Welcome to Plas Maen Heledd,” Matthew said. “We’ve been expecting you.” He turned away just as another figure appeared out of the gloom behind him. At first I thought it was Rhiannon, but this figure was taller.

The figure spoke. A soft, woman’s voice. “Matthew? It is them?”

“Meet Eluned,” Matthew said, releasing Taid’s shoulder. He grasped the woman’s hand and pulled her closer. “This is Richard, my dear. And the young beauty by the gate is his grand-daughter. Does she have a name, Richard? She is clearly post-Change, isn’t she?”

I stared at him. Taid came up to me, saying, “We call her Non. She will be most annoyed at my telling you that, but I know we are among friends here.”

The woman, Eluned, came to stand beside me. “Hello, Non. We have long awaited this meeting.” She turned back to Matthew. “Let us not tarry outside, my lord. They both have the look of sleep and hunger.” She took my hand. Exhausted and completely confused, I went with her without arguing. Despite the darkness, which was now almost complete, a large building was just visible at the end of the drive. As we approached it I could see there was a lamp near the doorway. In the shadowy light cast by this a group of people were standing, looking in our direction.

“Look, each of you,” Eluned said. She stood behind me with her hands on my shoulders. “She has come.”

The group, made up of three men and three women, who all seemed to be about Taid’s age, gathered around me. “She is truly beautiful,” one of the men said. “Oh, elle est si belle,” said one of the women. The rest simply smiled at me. I shivered.

“They are both very tired,” Matthew said. “I say we go in, let them have something to eat and drink, then have a long sleep before we say any more.”

The group pulled back. The door of the house opened as we reached it. There inside, standing in a long hallway, the floor of which was a long sweep of black and white tiles, was Mererid. Total confusion now filled my head. All I remember doing was slumping forward into her arms.

When I came to my senses, I was sat at a long dining table in a room that was dimly lit by a single lamp. Eluned sat opposite me. On the table before me was a plate with a piece of cheese, a beaker of water, and a knife.

“I know you are in need of sleep, Non,” Eluned said, in her soft voice, “but I pray you eat something ere you do. I fear elsewise your sleep will not be good.” She reached across the table and cut the cheese into small pieces.

Wearily, I lifted the beaker and drank from it. I picked up a piece of cheese and chewed it slowly. I could not help staring at her while I ate and drank. Despite my fatigue, it struck me that she had an odd way of speaking. Just like Rhiannon, she was wearing a simple white shift that covered her whole body. Her hair, again as blonde as Rhiannon’s, was coiled up over her head. A small flower peeked through the coils.

As I chewed my cheese, I felt she was expecting me to speak. “Where is Rhiannon?” I managed.

“Alas, she has gone hence,” she said, nodding her head.

To me that sounded as if she was dead. “Gone hence?” I was repeating again.

“Aye, indeed. Departed from this world.”

I stared at her. “Where is Taid?”

“He has entered the world of Matthew and Mererid. He will be filled with joy. Come, eat.”

“I’ve had enough. Take me to Taid. Please.”

“On the morrow. After sleep. All questions wait. Here is your truckle. There is mine.” She had come round to my side of the table and was pointing out two wooden objects that looked like long crates. Inside each one was a lumpy-looking mattress and a rough grey blanket. I watched as she went to the bigger one of these, pulled her shift over her head and lay down on the mattress, pulling the blanket over her naked body. “I pray you have a safe night, my lady.” She turned to face the wall.

I ran to the door of the room but it was locked. Returning to my ‘truckle’ I fell onto it, covered myself as well as I could with the blanket and promptly fell asleep. I did not bother to undress.

PART TWO

Plas Maen Heledd

I woke to the sound of water being poured. I had struggled to find sleep that night, even though the bed, despite its crude nature, was more comfortable than any of the places we had slept in on the journey. At first I found it difficult to ignore the lamp that burned on the far side of the room. When I turned to face the wall as Eluned had done, it was easier, but my mind toiled over the events of the day as I stared at the dimly visible crumbling white wash. Eventually, however, sleep found me and I entered a dream that seemed incredibly real, but which vanished as soon as I opened my eyes.

I turned over. Eluned was stood near the table with her back to me. Still naked, she was splashing water liberally over herself. When she was completely wet she lifted her shift off the chair where she had left it the previous evening and pulled it over her head. She had uncoiled her hair at some point and it now hung wet and dripping down her back, almost to her waist.

She noticed that I was awake. “The prayers of morning be yours, my lady. Come shake off the fears of night.” She held her arms out towards me.

I was not sure what was expected of me, but I threw back the blanket and swung my legs awkwardly over the side of the bed. Eluned came forward and lifted me to my feet by placing her hands beneath my arms. Despite her slim build she was surprisingly strong. I felt myself being moved about as if I was some sort of rag doll.

“There is fresh attire at hand,” she said, leaving me standing near the bowl of water. “Pray remove your soiled garments.” She moved to the cupboard at the end of the room and took out a bundle of clothes.

It seemed she wanted me to undress. Here, in the room, with her looking at me. I decided to stand my ground. I hadn’t come all this way to give up my privacy to a strange woman.

“I’ll keep these clothes on, if you don’t mind.”

“The lord will not be much pleased, my lady. I pray you do as I say.”

It struck me that she was afraid of this ‘lord’. “Will you be punished if I don’t change my clothes?”

“Punished, my lady? What means this?”

Obviously she would not be punished. She did not even seem to understand the word. “Will the lord be angry with you?”

“‘Let not the sun go down upon your anger.’ It is a new day, my lady.”

I tried another approach. “Why won’t the lord be pleased, Eluned?”

“You are a guest within his house. My lord is manifold in his generosity. You have travelled far, my lady. Your garments are much in need of washing. As is your body.”

“Charming,” I muttered. I could see that I was not going to get far arguing with this woman. “Would you mind turning around while I undress, then?” If I was to get out of this room, it seemed that I would have to follow her instructions.

“I have looked upon nakedness. You need fear me not.” She smiled.

“But, it’s embarrassing …” I began. Too late. She came up to me and deftly stripped me of my clothes, which were, admittedly, very much ‘in need of washing’. As I stood there, trying as best as I could to cover my ‘nakedness’, she took the bowl of water and poured it over my head. It was absolutely freezing cold. Naturally, I screamed. A very loud scream. She merely laughed. As I stood there, dripping and shivering, she unfolded the bundle of clothes and shook out a shift very like her own. As she had done with her own shift, she rapidly dropped this over my head and smoothed it down. It clung to my still wet body, the fabric coarse and scratchy, almost as bad as the blanket.

Eluned bundled up my own clothes from where they lay in a heap at my feet and placed them in the cupboard. Returning to the table, she pulled out a rope sash from the now much dwindled bundle, threw it around my waist and pulled it tight before knotting it. She stood back and looked me up and down.

“Now my lord will be much pleased. You are truly a fair young woman, my lady.”

I blushed deeply. No one had ever said that to me before. I stood there in the shapeless shift, bundled in the middle, that disguised any shape that my body might have. It scratched where it touched my skin, which was nearly everywhere. My legs felt peculiar as it had been many years since I had not worn trousers of one kind or another. I would not have considered myself ‘a fair young woman’. Yet she clearly meant it, and, strangely, I felt flattered by her compliment.

“Come, we must go to my lord. Soon he will arise and we must be ready to greet him.” She took a key from a pocket that I had not seen in her shift and unlocked the door. Opening the door, she put her hand in mine and led me out.

A long dark corridor eventually emerged into the hallway, startlingly tiled in black and white, that I vaguely remembered from when we arrived. Brilliant sunlight suddenly blazed down from the window above the stairs. I had no idea of the time, but the day had definitely dawned. She led me up the stairs, which were steep, turning back on themselves twice before emerging onto a wide landing. On three sides of the landing I could see six doors, two in each side. These, I assumed, were the bedrooms. Still holding my hand, Eluned walked towards one of them. She stopped and listened. A voice within the room called her name.

Eluned sang out, in a thin, high voice, “Behold the day, behold it is come: the morning is gone forth.”

The door opened. There stood, wearing a grey shirt and trousers made of material that looked far more comfortable than mine, the man called Matthew. In a deep, resonant voice, he sang, “The rod has blossomed; arrogance has bloomed.” With a huge smile, he looked at me and said, in his normal voice, “Good morning, cariad bach. Did you sleep well?”

I nodded, bewildered as usual, suddenly conscious of what I was wearing.

“Then let us break our fasts,” he said. “Your grandfather spent the night in the room next door to mine. Go on, little one, knock and see if he is yet in the land of the living.” He laughed.

Still holding my hand, as if she was afraid I might run away, Eluned led me to the next door. I knocked on it, hesitantly. From inside I heard him say, “Who is it?” I flung open the door and dashed inside, Eluned clinging to my hand.

“It’s me, Taid,” I said, bursting into tears. “I didn’t know where you were. They took me to a room downstairs, and I had to sleep on a strange bed made of straw and this morning she threw a bowl of freezing cold water all over me and made me wear this.” This all came out in a rush. When I stopped I was holding up the front of my shift, tears rolling down my cheeks.

“Calm down, cariad,” Taid said, pulling me to him, hugging me close. “Byddwch yn ddistaw nawr. I’m here. These people are your friends. They will look after us, don’t you worry.”

From the comfort of his hug I turned my head. Eluned had finally released my hand, but she still hovered nearby. I looked up at Taid. “Why are we here? I don’t like it.”