Dragon of the Island (33 page)

Aurora gave an anguished cry. “I’m afraid to
die, Gwenaseth. I don’t even know what gods are real, which ones
will help me!” She shuddered, and her voice became breathy and
strained. “What if he decides to burn me to death? Oh, please,
Gwenaseth!” she pleaded. “Please beg him not to do that. It is an
awful way to die... the smoke... the smell of the fire!”

“Hush!” Gwenaseth cried, giving the
terrified woman a shake. “I’m not going to let him do it. I’m going
to get you out of here!”

Aurora seemed to calm herself. “Aye. You are
right. I must fight him. I must not go meekly to my death.” She
looked at Gwenaseth uncertainly. “But there is only one way out of
here... and the guard.”

“No, there are two ways out,” Gwenaseth
answered, pointing to the window.

Aurora stared uneasily at the window that
looked out over the valley. “I don’t know, Gwenaseth. It is like
riding a horse is to you. I am very afraid of heights.”

“Well, you’d better get over your fear, at
least for tonight. I could get you out of the tower by distracting
the guard, but I could not get you out the gate. The only way you
can escape is to climb out the window and down the fortress
wall.”

Aurora looked toward the window and gave a
shiver of fear. “How will I climb down?”

“With this,” Gwenaseth answered, pulling a
braided leather rope out of the bottom of the basket. “It is not
quite long enough to reach the ground, but you can jump that
far.”

“How will I get away? On foot, I will never
escape before morning.”

“I have thought of that,” Gwenaseth
answered. “Elwyn has gone outside the fortress. He told the guard
that he has to see about the fire in the village this afternoon. He
will get Paithu and saddle her for you. She will come when you call
her, won’t she?”

Aurora nodded. “It’s a good plan, Gwenaseth,
but I am afraid for you and Elwyn. What will Maelgwn do to you if
he learns you’ve helped me?”

Gwenaseth shrugged. “He will probably banish
us, but we can go live with my father. I could not stand to stay
here anyway if you do not get away, and Maelgwn... does what he
plans to do.”

Aurora reached out for the petite,
red-haired woman. “Oh, Gwenaseth, what would I have done without
you?”

“There is no time for hugging and tears,
Aurora. We must hurry. The guard changes in but a little while, and
we must be done before then. The man down there now is so sleepy
and lazy that I doubt he will notice any strange sounds or bother
to investigate them.

* * *

It was well past midnight when Maelgwn left
the office. It seemed that the rest of the fortress slept
peacefully. Out of force of habit, he glanced up at the tower room.
All was dark; Aurora must have gone to bed. Maelgwn flexed his
muscles. He had been sitting so long that he was stiff. He looked
up again at the tower, and a wave of longing washed over him. He
let out his breath in a long, drawn-out sigh, and then began
walking toward the tower.

“Is all quiet?” he asked the guard by the
door.

The man nodded. “I just took over the watch
a few minutes ago.” The soldier looked at Maelgwn curiously. “Are
you going up?”

“Aye,” Maelgwn answered abruptly. “It seems
I can’t stay away.”

Maelgwn took the steps heavily. He wished he
was not so tired. He could not properly say good-bye to his wife if
he fell asleep immediately. But would she even have him, he
wondered? She had spoken of love earlier, but once she knew that
their marriage was over, would she welcome him into her bed one
last time?

Maelgwn paused at the door, wondering if he
should knock. It was really his room after all... and his wife...
for a little while longer.

He opened the door. It creaked noisily on
its ancient hinges. The room was dark. There was no sound of Aurora
stirring. Maelgwn took his sword off and sat down on the bed to
remove his boots. Aurora must be deeply asleep. Usually she woke as
soon as he came into the room. No doubt she was exhausted by the
day, much as he was. Perhaps for now they should just sleep
together and find comfort in the presence of each other. There
would be time for lovemaking in the morning.

Still, he could not go to sleep without
touching her, feeling her warmth nestled beside him, the
extravagant luxury of her hair. He reached toward Aurora’s side of
the bed...

Maelgwn stood up suddenly, groping for the
table, fumbling for the flint to light the lamp. She had to be in
the room—why could he not find her? His fingers were trembling,
awkward, and it seemed to take hours to light the lamp. Once lit,
he shone it around the room, covering every space in the small
round chamber. She was not there; she simply was not there. Maelgwn
looked around again, feeling confused. His eyes lighted on the
windows, and a wave of fear engulfed him. No, it could not be.

He covered the space to the nearest window
in two huge strides and looked out. The courtyard looked peaceful.
It had begun to rain, and the smell of damp earth wafted up to his
nostrils. Still shaking, Maelgwn moved to the window on the other
side. Looking down from the height of the tower seemed to make him
dizzy. There were no torches burning on this side of the fortress,
and everything was very dark. He squinted, looking for the light
color of clothes, the shape of a body. There was nothing.

He stood there for a moment, feeling puzzled
and confused. His hands touched the cool stones of the window sill,
and came upon the unexpected roughness of a rope. He pulled it...
and pulled... It was very long; it seemed to reach to very near the
ground.

Maelgwn threw the rope down impatiently and
began to dress again. His hands were trembling, and he could not
move fast enough. He took the stairs two and three at a time and
came crashing out the tower door.

“She’s gone,” he said in a choked voice to
the guard.

The man gaped at him in amazement. “How
could
she be?”

“A rope... she climbed out the window with a
rope. Quickly, tell me who came to see her tonight.”

“I don’t know,” the guard said in a
frightened voice. “I just came on duty.”

“Think! Did the last guard mention
anything?”

“He said that Lady Gwenaseth had been to see
the queen earlier, but that is all I remember.”

“It is enough,” Maelgwn said grimly. “It is
enough.”

It did not take Maelgwn long to reach the
small house that Elwyn had built for his bride during the summer.
Maelgwn did not bother to call a greeting, but pushed the hide door
aside and stalked over to the bed. Elwyn sat up and stared at him
with one arm draped over Gwenaseth protectively.

“What is wrong, Maelgwn?” he asked in a
frightened voice.

“You know very well what is wrong. Aurora is
gone. The two of you helped her run away.”

There was complete silence. Finally Elwyn
spoke in a low, proud voice. “I won’t deny it, my lord. I... we
could not let you do what you were going to do.”

“It was hardly
your
decision.”

Elwyn sighed. “I know, and I am sorry.
But... I care for Aurora... I could not let you kill her.”

“We both care for her,” Gwenaseth echoed
proudly.

“Kill her?” Maelgwn asked in a puzzled
voice. “You thought I was going to kill her?”

Elwyn began to stammer. “But you said... you
said you had to do it, that you didn’t want to, but it was for the
sake of Gwynedd.”

“Aye. For the sake of Gwynedd I was going to
send Aurora back to Constantine and end the marriage.” Maelgwn
looked at the young couple huddled in the bed, staring at him with
wild eyes. “Did you really believe I was going to have Aurora put
to death?”

Elwyn nodded. “Aurora thought so, too. She
was so frightened. You should have seen her. She is terrified of
heights, but she climbed down the tower anyway. She is going to try
and ride back to Viroconium.”

Maelgwn buried his face in his hands. “Oh,
Jupiter, Lugh, Cernunnos—save me! What have I done!”

Gwenaseth climbed out of bed and went to
Maelgwn. “You were truly not going to kill Aurora?” she asked
quietly.

“No, no! Of course not! I love Aurora. I am
not sure I can live without her. If I had any other choice I would
never give her up!”

Both Elwyn and Gwenaseth were perfectly
still. They had never seen Maelgwn like this, and they did not know
what to do.

Gradually, Maelgwn seemed to regain his
composure. “I must find her,” he said abruptly. “I can’t have
Aurora return to her father thinking that I meant to murder
her.”

Why did it have to be such a dark, dreary
night? Aurora leaned forward, clutching the horse’s mane. She could
see but a few feet in front of her, and tremors still coursed
through her body, reminding her of the danger she had already
faced. At one point during the climb down the tower she had been
ready to go back and face certain death rather than endure the
dizzying fear that seemed to paralyze her. But Gwenaseth had
continued to whisper words of encouragement and gradually she had
been able to slide down the side of the tower to the safety of the
ground. There she found Paithu, ready and waiting. Sweet Elwyn had
done more than saddle her horse; the saddlebags were stuffed with
food and other supplies. Now it remained only for her to ride as
swiftly as she could and get as far from Caer Eryri as possible
before morning.

As Aurora rode past the village, the faint
scent of smoke came to her clearly. Tears formed in her eyes. How
hard it was to believe that only one day before, she had left this
same spot with her heart full of hope, pleased to have found a new
friend. She whispered a brief prayer for Justina and urged the
horse on.

Aurora reached the river and rode beside it
for a while. She was still in familiar territory, but her anxiety
was increasing. Somehow she would have to cross the river and find
the pathway on the other side. She moved close to the water. She
was lucky it was not raining harder. It did not take much rain to
make the river a raging torrent, but tonight it was still
relatively low. It unnerved Aurora to think of riding into the cold
swirling water when it was so hard to see, but her only other
choice was to ride farther down the valley and take the bridge
across. If she did that, she was afraid that she would have trouble
finding her way on the other side of the river. It seemed better to
trust Paithu to get her across safely.

Aurora braced herself for the shock of the
cold water and urged the mare in. The water was deeper than she
expected, and Aurora’s borrowed clothes were rapidly soaked, but
the horse swam strongly and they soon reached the other side.

Aurora shivered. The night was fairly mild,
but with her wet clothes and the constant rain, she felt chilled to
the bone. She squinted into the darkness, trying to make out
familiar landmarks. The forest was pitch black, and Aurora’s
spirits sank. How would she ever find her way? She might ride all
night and find she had traveled in circles. Still, she had to try.
By morning they would come looking for her, and Maelgwn would be
even more furious now that she had run away.

Aurora suppressed a sob. What had happened
to the man who had once made love to her with such delicious
tenderness? What had happened to make Maelgwn change? Even now she
couldn’t hate him. Justina was right, it was his awful sister who
had made him so cruel and mistrustful. Aurora felt tears mingling
with the rain running down her cheeks—silent, bitter tears for what
might have been.

She was so tired; she could barely stay on
Paithu. She no longer tried to guide the horse, but gave the mare
free rein. The heavy vegetation seemed to claw at her, threatening
to pull her off the horse. She leaned forward until her head almost
lay on Paithu’s neck. In her exhausted, dreamlike state her mind
wandered back to the delicious contentment and pleasure she had
once known with Maelgwn. Her head swam with memories of his fierce,
demanding body, the touch of his battle-roughened hands on her
skin, his warm mouth kissing her with delightful sensitivity.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, her thoughts became hazy and seemed
to stop.

Abruptly, the dark world tilted upwards and
twisted around, and Aurora was aware that she was falling. She
tried to right herself but it was too late. Something bright passed
before her eyes, and then everything went black.

* * *

“She came this way,” Balyn called as he held
the torch over the muddy river bank. The other riders gathered
around, staring at the hoof prints in the wet earth, now filling in
with water.

“It looks like she crossed here.”

“Why didn’t she take the bridge?”

“Perhaps she was too frightened to go any
further” Balyn suggested.

Maelgwn cringed at Balyn’s words and the
startled looks of the men around him. Aurora had run away in
terror, so panicked that she couldn’t wait to cross the river and
be away from him. The guilt cut into him. He had lost his temper
with her and threatened her life. Would he ever be able to convince
Aurora to trust him again?

“We’d better cross,” Balyn said grimly. “The
river is not getting any lower, and the bridge is too far
away.”

The men rode into the water, swearing at the
cold. After crossing, the riders grouped wretchedly on the other
side. They all felt groggy and irritable—it was hard to be rousted
out of bed to go riding in the rain.

“We should split up,” Gareth suggested. “We
can’t be sure what route she took through the forest.”

“Aye, that is a good idea,” Balyn agreed.
“Gareth, you and Elwyn go to the left. Rhys, Evrawc—you go this
way. Maelgwn and I will keep to this side.”

As the other men headed off, Balyn reached
over to grab Maelgwn’s stallion’s bridle. “Are you all right,
Maelgwn?”