‘I’d be delighted. It is surely the grandest donjon under the sun. Do you know it was nearly nine hundred years ago on the instructions of the Casere?’
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘Yes, after he had reunited the tribes and expelled the Ancuman, he ordered the building of four castles around Sytha.’
‘Four?’
‘Larsa, Sytha, Pontia and Kerch. The first was Kerch, then here and then Pontia. I believe that Sytha was never finished – it went under the sea.’
‘Is that why Larsa is so close to the ocean? It is not a good place to build a castle.’
She agreed. ‘Old maps show the ocean much further away. Anyway, what are we looking for?’
‘What are these rooms?’ Conn pointed to a series of rooms. They had all been built inside the stone walls and had been made to look natural by having a false stone wall at one end.
‘Just rooms to store things. Before the time of the Wealdend, I think more people lived inside the donjon. No one has used this for some time.’
Derryth had been investigating. ‘That is not true. Someone has been moving things around in the last few weeks at the least.’
With the Wealdend’s permission, they started to take down walls and tear up floors, and with dozens of people carrying away the debris, it didn’t take long to reveal the ancient drains that hadn’t been used for over five hundred years. They were filled with generations of muck and waste. The removal of the accumulated storage also revealed an entrance to an under castle cavern. It had been accessed recently because tools had been used to open it and then waste had been put over it again to disclose the fact.
It came back to Egilda. ‘I remember this. Piegi and I discovered it when we were children…I’d forgotten about it completely.’
‘Where is the Aebeling?’ Conn was suddenly curious.
‘Piegi? She is in her rooms. She hasn’t felt well since the turn we all had last night. She says she feels really unusual. She felt very poorly again just a few hours ago. A medic has given her a tonic to allow her to rest.’
As they spoke Derryth returned with a squad of bowmen. He handed Conn his.
Egilda was suddenly cautious. ‘What is happening now? Am I safe?’
Conn nodded. ‘I think so – you are no longer the target as that outcome is no longer possible. They have a new target now.’
‘My mother? No… surely not.’
Shaking his head, Conn said ‘No – the new target is me.’
‘You – why you?’
‘Because I stopped the first plan.’
‘So what are you doing now?’
‘Getting rats out of their nest. The assassins didn’t come in this way – but whoever opened this entrance found another entrance.’ The wiga opened the trap door as quietly as possible and the torch closest to the opening flared and went out. Relit, Conn took it, drew his blade from the scabbard and headed down the stone stair case; followed closely by Derryth with his bow. Under the stairs, the air was musty and damp; it had been locked up for far too long, despite the flow of wind. If the assassins were down here, they would not be having a good time.
The basement was pitch black and with the flickering flames from the torches they could see stone walls on three sides and an archway on the fourth; it led to another room and the source of the breeze.
As Conn stepped in front of the doorway, an arrow missed his head by a foot – he had instantly pulled back when he heard the sound of flight. He then lunged forward, rolling and standing beside the doorway, and throwing the torch into the second room. It flared but it kept burning.
‘I think they know we’re here.’ Derryth mused.
Conn observed the underground chambers as best he could.
‘I think the basement will be a series large store rooms like this one connected by a long corridor to another one.’
Derryth moved to the other side of the corridor. He tossed his torch in as well. ‘And in the other room are people with bows who are making our progress difficult…’ To prove his point he held up a small wooden shield and an arrow thudded into it. ‘And they know how to use them as well.’
‘True, we need a diversion. What about…’ Conn pulled out a round of homemade Tom Thumb style crackers from his pouch. ‘This should be enough.’
Striking a match to light the fuse, Conn waited until the last moment before throwing the twenty of so rounds into the adjoining room. Under ground, in an enclosed room, the sound was deafening – and if you didn’t know what to expect, it would have been terrifying. Hoping that it had the desired effect, Conn and Derryth both raced down the ten foot corridor into the other room
Inside the room, the torches still had enough light to show that the three Ancuman bowmen had ducked behind boxes that they had used as protection. When they looked up, in the moments before they died, they saw Conn and Derryth with bows in hand.
Kadmah called out from the first chamber. ‘Need any help? The shields have arrived.’
‘No; come in. Get your men to search this basement thoroughly; we want to know where they got in and if there was only three. There should have been four but one may have escaped and is still out there somewhere.’
They returned to the top and reported to the Healdend what had happened. People upstairs had thought that the building was going to collapse such was the noise from downstairs. He convinced the Wealdend that she needed to keep removing floors and walls and to get the drains cleaned out; it would transform the donjon.
~oo0oo~
It was now getting late and dinner was to be served in the great hall, followed by the first day of the selection ceremony. Conn returned to his rooms to bathe, and change, and later returned to the donjon, to find the goldsmith waiting for him at the gate. Conn paid him what he promised and he left the hall a happy, and much wealthier man.
Conn then went inside. Derryth was waiting for him, handing him a beer.
‘Did you get what you wanted?’
‘Yes; excellent job. What do we know?’ Conn looked around the great hall. Two stories high, it was indeed a large room. On three sides it had balconies perhaps ten foot wide that acted as the corridor around the entire floor. Smaller than Atrak, the design was very similar now that the extra rooms had been removed and the drains uncovered.
‘Well, if you are sure he will attack tonight the only place is from the balconies. There are four sets of stairs to the balcony and wherever the assailants were being hidden, they should be able to get there easily – especially since there will not be covered in guards. This is a crazy idea. What if they try head shots?’
Conn had requested that guards be placed on the side balconies; not on the end one.
‘From that distance? No, they are not that good. He will go for the back or chest.’
‘Still the stupidest idea you have ever had.’
‘Flushing them out is the quickest option.’
Soon everyone had arrived and the hall was packed, with the Healdend and Wealden sitting at the head table with their daughters. To their left sat the six Eaorls and to the right were the Ring-bearers – including the poorly son of the Eaorl of Avanti. When the Eaorl of Matya arrived he brought Beowen with him and she raced over to give Conn and Derryth hugs.
Conn kneeled down beside her. ‘Beowen, I have a present for you.’
‘For me? A present? I’ve never had a present before.’
Conn reached into his pouch as Derryth watched. He almost looked anxious. ‘This is another stupid idea. I hope you know what you are doing… she is very young…’
‘I never know what I’m doing…’
He pulled out the small leather pouch the Moana had given him.
‘Hold out your hand.’
A big smile on her face, she held out both.
‘Close your eyes.’
She squeezed them shut.
‘When I touch your hand tell me what you feel.’ Conn opened up his mind to Badb but only felt silence. He told her that if she hurt the girl he would hunt her down. He didn’t know how he could do it but…
He felt a chuckle in the back of his mind. Knowing she was there he told her not to touch the others yet.
‘I do not understand why you think you can tell me what to do…’
‘Okay, I’m asking. Please. You owe me. Be very gentle with the girl.’ He thought back.
‘Oh, very well. You can be so annoying…’
Conn placed the small pouch on Beowen’s hand and her immediate response was to go ‘Oooh’.
‘Don’t open yet. Tell me what you feel.’
‘It feels nice. Makes me feel very very happy. Like being in mother’s arms.’
‘Okay. Open your eyes.’
The little girl did and looked at the pouch. ‘Can I open it?’
‘I’ll open it for you.’ Conn undid the lace and poured out a white gemstone on a gold chain.
‘Oooh, pretty! Is it for me?’
‘It would appear so.’ He placed it over her head and tucked it inside her tunic so that others couldn’t see it. He didn’t want anyone to try and steal it from her. As soon as it touched her skin, her eyes lit up, and she started to cry. She went and hugged Conn and then Derryth and went back and hid herself in Conn’s arms. She stopped crying very soon and then a big grin returned to her face.
She got off his lap. ‘I’m going to go and show mother.’
‘You can’t show anyone else.’
She nodded. ‘I know, grandma told me.’ She ran off as fast as her little legs could carry her.
Conn opened his mind again.
‘You shut me out again…’
‘Sorry grandma…’
She ignored him.
‘I do not understand – you gave her a white haligdom… extraordinary ... but it is a rare gift you have given us … she is a very special child. Many are born but very few are discovered. Thank you…’
Unbeknownst to anyone in the room of the significance of the event, the feast commenced with lots of bragging, talking, toasting and drinking; with numerous under dressed theow bringing plates of food and drink to their tables. They were not the only ones – both the daughters of the Healdend and most of the women in the room seemed to have a perchance for tight bodices and jutting bosoms.
It seemed that the actual determination of who should be the next Healdend was a matter for negotiation as well as Egilda’s personal choice. In most cases she knew the ‘contestants’ well – except for Cenric who had spent his life on a boat because his father had been banished.
‘They do this all the time’
Badb said after he had let her in again.
‘It is most annoying – all they have to do is ask.’
‘They have forgotten how. I’m going to fix that for you. You can thank me later.’
‘Your impertinence would be dangerous to anyone else…’
Conn finally saw the opportunity and stood. Standing gave you the right to speak. He looked at Derryth who moved away from the table to a guard – the ground floor was heavily guarded with wiga situated all around the room. This one was one of Conn’s and he had Derryth’s bow.
As he stepped out into the centre aisle, the talking stopped. People were curious to see what the stranger would say.
‘Healdend, Wealdend, People of Larsa, I understand that this is the opening feast to a series of feasts while you all negotiate about who is going to be the next Healdend. I understand that your system here was established with your Gyden Badb – it is she that determines that only daughters are born to the Wealdend, and it is also her that can help you decide who is best to rule as she knows everyone’s hearts.’
Conn moved around until he was in the centre of the room; this time he wore a deep purple jacket over black pants; longer, it was more Sherwani than tunic and instead of stars, the collars were embroidered. His purple was of course the envy of the room – not only expensive, it was extremely hard to come by.
‘The problem is that Badb has been shut out of these halls for over two hundred years. I understand it was the first Wealdend who banned the Folgere and walled up the Cirice. I visited the Cirice today – it is in need of a good clean.’
Everyone laughed as Conn walked towards the two girls. ‘There is a reason that you had twins, Wealdend. One is to be the next Wealdend and the other to be Badb’s first Folgere of a reopened Cirice.’ Conn didn’t know he was going to say “that” when he stood. Someone was putting words into his mouth. He hated that.
There was an outpouring of comment and discussion but it stopped as Conn reached into his pocket and pulled out two magnificent green emeralds that hung from gold chains – hand crafted that very morning.
‘This is a haligdom – I’m sure you have some in the treasury but I’ve made do with my own. I’ve one for both of you. Be prepared however – as soon as you put this on, Badb will fill your mind – much like last night but greater. I’m sure that she will be gentle. You will then know what to do.’
He went first to Piegi and placed the necklace over her neck, and watched the gem slide down between two very exposed and large breasts. She almost fainted as the gemstones touched her skin; she then went red, sat down and immediately started to weep. Next to her, Egilda looked on with trepidation but accepted the necklace as well. Receiving the gemstone, she did the same, sitting and weeping inconsolably. Osfelda came to comfort her daughters and she too started to weep. Conn turned to go back to his table when it happened.