The Aebeling (41 page)

Conn had yet to work out how a Gyden protected her Cirice but there seemed to be ways around that protection, because when he opened his mind to Badb, she was becoming very concerned, and then she disappeared – and the roar in his head that he first heard in Lykiak returned.

He arrived just in time to see what Alric had done; and it was accompanied by a different external noise; the wailing of women in the buildings around the Cirice; the Folgere had lost their connection to Badb.

Conn could see why. Alric stood beside a contraption that he had set up to destroy the stone in the Gyden’s hand. As he could touch it touch it himself, he had set up an elongated force and motion contraption to destroy the gem – which he saw was now shattered in pieces on the ground. His task complete, he was about to leave when Conn stepped out of the shadows.

‘Well, well, well. I was wondering why you were here; and now I know.’

Alric spun to the voice. ‘You! You are interfering again! Well, you are too late this time – it has been done. And there is nothing you can do about it.’

‘But you will have paid a high price for it, Aebeling il Rakia, will it be worth the sacrifice?’ Conn pulled his sword and the Katana was invisible in the moonlight; the black steel like a shadow. ‘The task your Ancuman friends have sent you on.’

The voice in the stone that hung around Alric’s neck was contemptuous – in its success.

Alric laughed; ‘I don’t have to fight you, Feorrancund, you will let me go or a Folgere will die.’ He called out to his men, who it seemed was supposed to be holding a Folgere at knife point, but Arlen turned up instead, with the Folgere at his side – it was Moana.

‘You called, Rakian.’

Alric snarled, drew his sword, and leapt for Conn – who parried. They parted and Alric tried again and again, without success.

‘I think you should give up now,’ Conn suggested, hardly breathing, ‘before you actually hurt yourself with exhaustion – I’m not going to kill you, as I’d rather leave you alive. And it is not possible for you to kill me as you are simply just not good enough. Oh – and your ship – it will have been boarded by now.’ They parried a few more times, ‘and your men outside are all dead – so what do you say – giving up is still your best option. If you insist on dying as well, all your men will be hung – and I’m sure that I will be able to have the Healdend support – as I will the Aebeling’s – to invade Rakia. Do you really want your father to try and defend Rakia when you have half your good men in Gatina?’

Alric finally arrived at the same conclusion – even the stone around his neck seemed undecided on what he should do. It seemed cautious of the idea of Conn invading Rakia – it had simply not occurred that he might consider that. Alric also knew that he wasn’t going to beat Conn in swordplay, and with his escape route closed, he really had run out of choices. He withdrew and flipped his sword over; handing it over to Conn. Arlen came out and quickly bound Alric’s arms. Moana was sitting in a corner weeping.

‘All this crying is wearing me out’, Conn declared. ‘I guess we should stop it.’

‘You can’t stop it.’ Alric exclaimed, ‘I’ve destroyed the Haligdom and the link is broken. Badb is no longer in touch with the Moetians. One more infantile Gyden is gone.’

‘That’s a silly thing to say; I’ll just put the stone back.’ Conn walked over to the idol with the outstretched hand, opened his mind to the noise and asked the Gyden to give him the gem.

Through it all, she must have heard him, because as they watched, the broken half that remained embedded in the granite rose from the stone and toppled on to the ground. Conn reached into his pouch, selecting a new perfect gemstone and showed it to Alric. ‘This is a replacement,’ he explained.

He placed it back in Badb’s hand – and he could have sworn he saw her eyes move and her breasts quiver as the stone, the gem and their hands met. He shut his mind to her as he let go of the gemstone. He wasn’t fond of the pure adrenalin and hormonal rush—he suspected that it could be life threatening – it had taken him minutes to recover when he experienced it in Lykiak.

Alric was astounded. ‘You can’t do that; only a consecrated Folgere or a Gyden themselves can do that. You just CAN’T do that...’ He shouted the last sentence as the gem was absorbed into the stone hand and the Folgere suddenly stop crying; and the room fill with a blue glow. His face was totally confused. ‘I just don’t understand…’

Conn could also hear what the voice in Alric’s head was feeling too – not only that of defeat, but also confusion and pure unadulterated hatred caused by frustration. Conn was definitely not on her Christmas card list.

Then Conn did something none of them was expecting. Conn walked to the next stone idol – Inanna – reached into his pouch again and withdrew a green gemstone; which he placed on her outstretched hand, where it was quickly absorbed. The room now had a green and blue glow. He went to Tabiti next, placed a red sapphire on her hand, and finally to Lilith, handing over a gold stone. By this time the room was aglow with energy; all four colors pulsating. However, he only sensed the presence of Badb. She was much, much, stronger and her color much more vibrant. The damaged stone had definitely limited her powers. Folgere streamed into to the room and stood amazed, tears streaming down their faces. Never in their lifetimes had the four gemstones been alive in this Cirice.

Defeated and despondent, Alric could only ask; ‘Why did you do that? Why all four?’

‘For entirely the opposite reason to you – it seems that you want to allow only one Gyden to speak. I, on the other hand, want to return balance – and it seems to me that all four create balance. I’m sure your Gyden is disappointed in your failure.’

Conn could tell she was, and his ability to annoy her was really satisfying. Just how far can you push a Gyden before you are in mortal peril?

Arlen took Alric and the surviving Rakian wiga to the harbor. Conn would meet them there. Moana came and kissed him, thanking him, and making him promise to return later that night. Some of the Folgere wanted to make an offering to the Badb, and they needed Conn – badly! He promised to return.

Conn rode straight back to the keep; he wanted to make sure that Ana was alright; he hadn’t considered the effect that removing the stone would have on her. When he arrived, the Healdend summoned him over. He had been crying.

‘What happened? I presume you had something to do with it. Most things seem to these days. All of a sudden the Folgere started crying and then fainted and after a while she revived and was ecstatic. She has only started to recover her composure. And almost immediately, I could sense Badb – I haven’t had her in my head since I was a child.’

He stopped to consider what he was saying. ‘Do you know about the ruling houses of all nations can connect to their Gyden via their Folgere – we feel them in our heads...”

‘Yes, I have been informed.’ He could bear to tell him that he could communicate with all the Gyden.

They looked to see Bran, the Aebeling, being consoled by the Folgere. Driscol continued. ‘And Bran has never had the experience. I hope he can cope – he is not well.’

Conn explained what Alric had tried to do and what he had done. The Folgere had joined then – she did know from Badb that Conn was responsible and came over to thank him; she shook her head. ‘I don’t understand; what you have done; cannot be done by someone not consecrated. It is doubtful that I could have completed the task without dying. But you … I don’t understand.’ But she was none the less happy, and she held Driscol’s hand, and she looked at him devotedly. ‘And I feel her in your mind again – like when we were young.’

Obviously they had a past that involved a lot of offerings to Badb.

Driscol nodded. He had suddenly more tears down his face. He looked sternly at Conn. ‘You could have warned me’, he admonished.

‘True, but would you have believed me?’ He begged his leave and left to deal with Alric. Allowena had advised him that Ana had been unaffected, which Conn thought was strange.

He found his men and the captives. He bundled them onto their boats and then rowed out to the Rakian war ship; which as expected was under the control of Eggar. Once aboard, Conn untied Alric but left the rest tied up. Conn went and claimed the silver and jewel encrusted wine cups from his cabin. ‘This I think, I’ll take in compensation for not having the pleasure of running my blade through you.’

Alric smirked; ‘I don’t understand – why aren’t you going to kill us; I would if I was you.’

‘Have you heard the expression, better the devil you know?’

‘No.’

‘Well, it goes along the lines that I have a greater understanding of what you are going to do than what your successor might do. I don’t know that you can surprise me – though you might try. I will reserve my right to kill you another day.’

Alric remained defiant. ‘It matters not – the might of the One will overpower you and those petty so called Gyden one day and sweep the entire island clean of the impure. You are all doomed if you do not submit.’

‘We shall see, Alric, we shall see. Bon voyage.’ With that Conn climbed down to his row boat and they rowed back to harbor. Within moment, Conn heard the oars of the Rakian vessel slap the water as it started its long voyage home.

Soon after returning to shore, Conn returned to the Cirice as promised – allowing Morna and the other Folgere to show their appreciation – and they were very appreciative. But even Conn needed sleep, so he left after a few hours and returned to the Inn. After all, the next day was a very significant day; Daray was to be crowned Aebeling of Lykia.

He also hadn’t told Daray about his change of plans. The impending war in Trokia, Allowena desire to become bedda, and Aerlene’s pregnancy – were all reasons why he had to stay longer. He was sure he would understand.

At midday, they were all dressed in their finery in the great hall for the ceremony. Daray, with Cliona by his side, greeted them as they arrived. Both looked tired but happy. It had been an exhausting night for them for more than one reason.

Seated, they then waited for the Healdend to arrive, and he led a procession of Folgere, bedda and officials up to the ancient stone throne chair. He tuned and sat, and faced the crowd. He looked tired as well. Conn presumed that he had been visiting the Folgere. He greeted the hall, packed with as many people that it could hold.

‘Fellow Moetians; today is a great day in the history of both Moetia and Lykia. Not for over two hundred years have the two houses been so closely united; never before has an Aebeling of Lykia been crowned here in this hall – and it has been a very long time since the Folgere have blessed us so strongly with the presence of Badb.’ He looked at Conn when he said that, and nodded his thanks. ‘I invite Moana, blessed of Badb, to commence the ceremony.’

Conn was surprised that Moana was doing the ceremony, and as he watched, he felt a small hand reach into his. It was Ana. She had escaped Allowena and come to him. He lifted her up on to his lap. She snuggled in.

‘Mother says thank you.’

‘She is very welcome.’

Moana led a dozen blue gown dressed Folgere, and they formed an honor guard; Moana stood at the front, in front of the Healdend, and they beckoned Daray forward. As he walked up the line, a blue light seemed to seep out of the gowns that the girls wore; making them almost translucent and transparent; and it flickered around Daray as he walked. It was clear that he found the experience unnerving. When he arrived in front of Moana, she indicated that he should kneel.

‘Wait until you have Folgere in the Cirice in Lykiak’ Conn thought, his mind open to the Gyden. ‘That will be even more annoying.’

Badb was immediately annoyed at his suggestion, and the other voice in his head – which he still hadn’t identified – was equally unimpressed. Gyden were such touchy creatures.

The ceremony continued with Moana, her hands now glowing in blue light, placing a gold diadem on Daray’s head. He shuddered as the diadem touched him; his first direct contact with the Gyden.

‘Be nice’ Conn warned her. His reward for the comment was further admonishment. They were not getting used to being told what to do.

Thankfully the rest of the ceremony was brief; Daray stood and Moana kissed him; and then the rest of the Folgere all rewarded him with a kiss. They moved away, leaving him, now blushing bright red, standing in front of Driscol. He kneeled again, and made an oath of fealty to the Healdend as his overlord.

Standing, Driscol directed Daray to his side, and together looked over the room. As the only representative of Lykia there, Conn walked forward and knelt in front of Daray, and make his own vow of fealty.

Driscol burst into laughter.

‘Thane, I very much doubt that you do anything anyone says.’

Conn smiled back. ‘He’s a good lad – he’s been well trained.’

The ceremony was followed by a feast that lasted late into the night. Conn eventually had a chance to explain his plans to Daray. He was not surprised.

‘I’ve long suspected that I was going to have to return alone. I couldn’t see how you were going to extricate yourself from events here.’

Conn nodded. ‘I am sorry I will not be able to help – but Octa, your uncle, and your brother will be there.’ Conn smiled in memory. ‘I hope Octa will be there – he may have laughed himself to death.’

Daray took a deep breath. ‘But it has been so sudden. People normally have their entire life to prepare to rule while I’ve had days. It would have been good to have you at my side.’ Resigned to his fate, he changed the subject. ‘So have the Gatina invaded yet?’

‘No; it seems that they are setting up camp for the winter, but Abrekan’s information isn’t that new. He wrote that Trokia has formally refused to pay the wergild so that gives Gatina little room to back down.’

‘Do you know how many are on the border?’

‘I do not know yet. I’ve hoping for an update soon.’

‘Derryth?’

Conn nodded. A pigeon had been sent to Halani. He needed accurate figures on the size and composition of the Gatinan forces. He didn’t want to lead the Silekians into certain death or even defeat. Possible death was unavoidable, but certain death should be.