‘There is none. There has been an agreement between us for hundreds of years that we don’t enter. If we do, we don’t return. They are different to us – men rule. As I understand it, a group of three men make the decisions. They have good wiga and the best horses in Meria so we do not enter. As for a road you make your own way through the forest. Good luck.’
Cynilda was consequently curious again as they crossed over the border into Kerch; Conn letting the stallion have his head to find a pathway along the mountain side. If there was a path, they were hard to find, and Balios had a nose for such things.
‘Why Kerch – surely there is nothing here anymore. If there is anyone here it will be a small population of horse breeders. I don’t understand your interest. We could also all be murdered in our sleep.’
‘Rest assured they won’t kill something as beautiful as you, Cynilda. I’m sure we are in no danger – hopefully they just breed a lot of excess horses and are happy to see us because we need some more. Your horse is Meshechian – do you not notice the difference? Would you like to go back to one of those?’
A tall grey gelding, she loved her horse and wouldn’t share her with anyone. They looked behind them; all the other theow were riding the smaller, albeit tough and reliable pony that was ubiquitous to Sytha.
‘No! I’m not giving up my horse. I’m just saying that Kerch was destroyed by the great wave eight hundred years ago. There will be no one here.’
He patted her stomach; ‘Anyway, we will not reach Sinope this year if we have to ride all the way. It might be closer by ship. Let us find out if they have any. If not, we will turn around and go to Merin.’
After a couple of days inside Kerch, it started to get hot with the blazing sun as they travelled along the beaches. Conn had everyone wear tabards over their choli to avoid sunburn, although they did spend most of their time riding in and out of the forests. After three days riding in sight of the ocean, they had yet to see a village of any kind. In fact, no sign of habitation at all. When a spur of land blocked off access to the coastal road, they turned into the forest and started to climb, Balios finding them a narrow path that seemed to lead up and over. It was hard and arduous work for both human and animal. By the time they had finished the climb they found themselves looking down in to a huge bay – it was beautiful. Two long peninsulas of land jutted out to the left and right and in the middle a series of smaller bays and coves. Habitation was clear, even from this distance. Conn halted his troop and Derryth rode up beside him. They had ridden with their bows in their hands.
Balios sniggered as they looked around the mountain.
‘They are very good.’ Derryth offered.
‘Very well trained. How many do you think?’
‘Fifty? A few more maybe.’
‘Left, right, okay. Remember, don’t kill anyone.’
‘Don’t look at me; you’re the one who can’t hit the side of a barn from six feet away.’
In the blink of an eye, both had drawn and fired an arrow; hitting a tree fifty yards away. They’d actually hit the same tree and the arrows had landed within inches of each other. The horse who had felt the arrow fly across his face leapt backwards and immediately, a voice called out, and fifty wiga swarmed out of the trees; Conn’s company was quickly surrounded.
Ignoring the wiga, Conn scolded Derryth. ‘Left I said, you go left.’
‘No, you didn’t. You said left, right – and you always put yourself first so I thought you were going left. Next time be a little clearer. I can’t read your mind.’
A well-dressed, albeit in antiquated lamellar armour, wiga rode up on his grey horse and handed Conn and Derryth their arrows.
‘Nice shots.’ He looked at the horses. ‘Some of those are our breed and some are not. Where did you get them?’
‘From Nyle in Chois – they were offered for sale.’
‘I see. You did well to find your way through the mountains.’
Conn indicated to Derryth. ‘The Twacuman are wonderful guides.’
He smiled. ‘So I believe. Anyway, I presume you are going where we are going, so follow us. Be safer that way.’ He then turned and led the way down the mountain.
Very soon, the trees started to peter out and they came into farm land where the number of fields seemed insufficient to their needs – until Conn noticed that the houses had extensive gardens growing plants that looked a lot like potatoes, yams, and corn. Other fenced off fields seemed to have beans, cabbages and other vegetables, while pens containing chickens and pigs and goats and horses grazing amongst the trees. The settlements continued all the way down the valley until they arrived at a very large village, with a huge roundhouse, within a sturdy, albeit ancient, wooden palisade, surrounded by dozens of smaller roundhouses, stables and yards for horses, goats and even some sheep. Around that was a large harbour on one side and extensive farmlands disappearing over hill and dale on the other.
There were many other features unusual about the village – it had a complicated systems of timber wall retained drains for waste and water, as well as paved roadways. The roundhouses all seemed to have chimneys.
There was no inn to be seen so their guide directed them to stables for their horses and to a series of empty roundhouses that would be their accommodation. Although unused, everything was fully maintained. They were then escorted inside the walls and into the main building. There were already a large number of people inside; it was now late afternoon and everyone was sitting to eat. They all stopped in curiosity of the new arrivals but soon resumed their chatter.
Their guide then told them where to get food and drink, as he looked around for someone. Conn’s entourage readily lined up to eat. They were all hungry.
The wiga called out. ‘Caldred, where are you? We have guests!’ He looked back at Conn, ‘He’s a doddery old fool sometimes.’ He then sent servants to search for him.
Soon an elderly man arrived from somewhere in the donjon. ‘Brictdred, why are you yelling?’
‘We have guests. I thought you might like to meet them.’
‘Guests? It is a long time since we have had guests. Wonderful.’ He stopped to study them while Brictdred did the introduction.
‘This is Caldred. He is one of the three guardians of Kerch. He is the Master of House; I am the Master of Horse, while Egwahl, who is away at present, is Master of Ships. Together we are the current members of the Council of Guardians which has ruled Kerch since the Casere.’ He then introduced Conn and Derryth.
Caldred was almost excited. ‘A Twacuman in Kerch. My, that is a surprise. Welcome, ancient friend of the Casere.’ He offered his hand and they shook. He then looked at Conn. ‘Blue eyes, yellow hair – interesting.’ He looked at Caldred. ‘Anything else?’
‘They are riding Elfina, and their tabard is a golden sun.’
‘Wonderful, I guess we can apply the tests then.’ He looked back at Conn. ‘Do you happen to have any relics of the Casere?’
‘You mean something that was worn by the Casere?’
He nodded.
Conn undid his shirt and drew out the medallion given to him by the Caewyn. Caldred smiled.
‘My, my, the Feorhhyrde medallion. Wonderful; it is on its way home. Anything else?’
Conn exposed his wrist to show the golden bangle.
‘The Torc! Well, half of it anyway. Wonderful again. Now the last test.’ He had sent a servant to collect something and the young woman returned with a rolled parchment. He carefully unrolled it and handed it to Conn. ‘That is eight hundred years old. I have a translation but it is in a language that no one else can read – we recognize the letters but the words do not make sense – and the Gyden’s gift has not solved that problem.’ He passed it to Conn carefully.
The Gyden’s gift was for every man to understand the language of every other – either the spoken or written word – without ever having to learn it. There were two exceptions. No-one understood the language of the Twacuman – except for Conn, and Conn had discovered that no one could understood written Latin which was why Conn taught his “spies” Latin.
Conn recognized the writing immediately, because it was in fact Latin, something he definitely hadn’t expected to see in Kerch. He cleared his throat, reading it out aloud.
‘Mors necesse est.
Sol revertar. Oboedias eius imperio.’
He then translated. ‘It says, “Death is unavoidable. The sun will return. Obey his commands.”’
‘Wonderful; that is what I understand to be the translation.’
‘Who wrote this?’
‘The Marquis of Kerch – son of the Casere. Anyway, you have passed the tests. As per our eight hundred year old instructions, I declare you to be the 2
nd
Marquis of Kerch. We are yours to command.’
With that proclamation, everyone in the room, conversation had stopped when Caldred had entered the room, bent to their knees and made a group vow of allegiance.
Derryth looked at him, shaking his head, smiling. ‘You just can’t help yourself, can you?’
Derryth then turned to the Guardian as he stood looking at him curiously. ‘I’m thirsty – do you have any beer?’
‘Of course; we have a bitter beer, a black beer, and a gruit beer. I prefer the bitter beer myself but it is more expensive to produce. We only have a limited supply of hops. Which would you like?’
‘How about I start with one of each – just to see?’
A servant was dispatched, and she soon returned with a tray covered with tankards of beer. Derryth asked that she go back and get some more. He was really thirsty.
Caldred then directed them to a table and to the tables of food laid out for them to eat. The roundhouse was not unlike the previous ones in Meria – excluding a few minor adjustments. It had a chimney that sat in the middle of the house and rose through the roof instead of located around the outside, and instead of one fireplace it had four – each facing a different direction. Not only the fireplace, but the floor of the room was tiled with large granite pavers. Conn and Derryth then went to the buffet where they helped themselves. Mostly chicken and fish, it was augmented with fine bread and vegetables – both pickled and raw. Conn ate like he was at home.
A servant came with a book and whispered in Caldred’s ear. He nodded and turned his head back to Conn. ‘I forgot to ask. It is important that we have a name for your heir. Just in case something happens – you have no children with you. It has to be a boy.’
‘A boy? I don’t have a lot of sons.’ Conn paused to think before answering. ‘I will nominate my heir as Wilhart von Taransay. He is in Samria and his mother’s name is Ysha il Sulchi.’
‘A Samrian, excellent. We have some here of Samrian descent – Kerch is made up of people with ancestors from all of Sytha – but mostly Pontia, Larsa and Meria.’
‘But none that descend form the Marquis of Kerch?’
‘No – sadly his whole family died with him – he was still a young man and had only been Marquis for a few years, with the departure of the Casere. The Casere himself had only two children – and his daughter had left some years earlier to live with the Twacuman. They rode north to a land that they had been given – I can’t remember its name…’
‘Iladion?’ Derryth filled in the blank.
‘Yes, that is it. The Twacuman had moved to Iladion almost two years before the Casere left and four years before the wave. If she survived the Great Darkening, her family would still be there. They have never returned to Kerch.’
Derryth was happy to point out that she had survived – her descendants included his Wealdend in Meshech.
The Guardian was happy. ‘That is wonderful to hear. And the Casere did not arrive in this land called Meshech?’
‘No.’
‘Well, that is sad – we don’t know what happened to him.’
‘Tell me what you know of the wave – and why did the Marquis die. All would have been better served if he saved himself to lead his people.’
‘He died in the second wave. It is believed that he knew something of the coming of the first wave because he led many people away from the coast. My ancestor was one of them. After the destruction of the first wave, a lot of people returned to see the damage. He and his family – he had two bedda and two children with him, led that party.’
‘There was a second wave?’
Caldred nodded. ‘Yes, the first was huge but the second, which arrived two day later, was larger still; it just appeared without warning. It also came from a different direction. Instead of the east, it came from the south. Before the first, the earth shook and buildings collapsed – many started to burn. Then the wave arrived and destroyed most of the coastline and all the villages near the sea and some miles off. The castle the Casere built was damaged but survived. Then the second arrived without warning and it was twice as large. It destroyed everything – and killed all those that had returned quickly. And in the days and winters that followed the oceans rose and the sky stayed dark. Summer was like autumn. Even when the skies returned to normal after twenty winters, the oceans continued to rise.’
‘How long did that take?’
‘Almost a hundred and fifty winters passed before the oceans stopped rising and seasons were like they were before. Our ancestors have kept excellent records of the seasons. All that I have said is in those journals.’
Conn rubbed the gold bank on his wrist. It reminded him. ‘You said I have half the Torc. What do you mean?’
‘In the stories, the Casere wore a Torc around his neck to symbolize his rule over all Priecuman. When he left, he gave half to his son and another half to his daughter as safekeeping – and to symbolise their joint rule in his absence. Can I ask where you got yours?’
‘It arrived seven hundred years ago in Meshech, from Iladion. This is the half that belonged to his daughter.’ Conn told the story of the arrival in Meshech of Wiga from Sytha who fought a war to remove the Twacuman of Meshech from slavery – they were slaves of the Ancuman. The leader and his descendants for nearly four hundred years had worn the Torc as Casere of Meshech.
‘But that is three hundred years ago – what happened after that?’
‘It was renounced and it disappeared. Until... until a few years ago when it was given to me. What of the other half?’
‘It is gone – perhaps taken away by the waters or just hidden until it is needed again. I heard a rumour that it is in Lilith’s Cirice – but that too went under the ocean.’ Caldred paused again. ‘So tell me, what are you doing in Sytha?’
‘It is a long story – and it has mostly connected with the activities of the Ancuman.’
Caldred burst out laughing. ‘The Ancuman – you are fighting the Ancuman! As absurd as it sounds, all of this is starting to make sense.’
Derryth shook his head. ‘It doesn’t to me – and I’m supposedly a sage! And I’ve been here since the beginning of the story.’
~oo0oo~
It was now late and they were alone in the roundhouse. As Conn and Derryth exited the building to find their beds, Dorte was waiting for him, and she told the Kerchian servant that her help wasn’t needed.
Conn was surprised to see her. She hadn’t said a lot since he had commuted her sentence. ‘I thought everyone had gone to bed…’
‘Someone has to show you where the bath is – and where you are sleeping. We have rearranged the sleeping arrangements.’ The streets were paved and clean and it seemed that they had a collection of smaller roundhouses set aside exclusively for their use. Dorte took them first to a bathhouse fed by hot springs; she patiently waited outside as they bathed, and then escorted Derryth to his own residence before taking Conn to his.
Inside he was impressed. A small fireplace provided light and a large wooden bed sat in the middle of the room; its mattress was indistinguishable from a shiki-futon. It was indeed stuffed with cotton.
Dressed only in his underwear and his yukata, he sat on the mattress and looked at Dorte as she stood at the doorway.
‘I’m fine now, Dorte, thank you. You should get some sleep.’
‘Are you not going to demand that I fornicate with you?’
Conn was surprised. Since that first discussion where she declined to be his “whore”, fornication had not been mentioned. ‘I told you I would not ask you to share your body. If, on the other hand, you want to fornicate with me, I’d be delighted to fornicate with you.’
She took a step inside the doorway and the door closed behind her. ‘How delighted?’
Conn laughed. He stood and walked towards her and studied her closely. ‘Let me see. Firm and large breasts. Tall,’ he ran his hand down her arms; ‘taut strong arms.’ Standing behind her, he then ran both hands over her stomach and down over her arse. ‘Well-formed and lusciously tight arse – bigger than the Priecuman so more to fondle. I think I’d be very delighted to fornicate with that…’
‘How do you know my breasts are firm – I hear you have fondness for breasts – you haven’t touched them yet?’
‘That is true. I was just going on appearance.’ He walked back behind her again and undid the halter strap of her choli. The top fell down and her breasts were exposed. Conn ignored the temptation and then slowly undid the bottom of the choli and removed the garment, dropping it on the ground. He then ran his hands up her stomach and cupped a breast in each hand, massaging them gently. She involuntarily quivered.
‘I was however right; lovely, firm and certainly big enough. The nipples are proud. Yes, I think it would be very enjoyable fornicating with you – of course we won’t know unless you remove your pants and lie down on the mattress.’
She stood still for a moment before reacting; removing her pants and walking over to sit down and then lie down beside Conn. Conn was already on the bed, and she looked over at his naked body, lying flat on the mattress.
She smiled ever so slightly. ‘Perhaps I might find some enjoyment in this after all.’
~oo0oo~
The next morning they all assembled in the roundhouse for breakfast. Caldred informed Conn that they were making preparations for him to inspect his new demesne, and in the afternoon the Council of Guardians would gather for a meeting with the Marquis to determine what tasks he had in mind for them. As they ate, Caldred asked why they had thought to come to Kerch.
‘Horses, I need more horses for wiga. I have a small problem in Sinope that I need wiga for.’ Conn explained who two of his theow were.
Caldred and Brictdred looked at each other, and then looked back at Conn. ‘It is a major challenge you have for yourself. May I ask who told you that we had horses for sale?’
‘The man I bought the horses from – he said they are your breed. He said you need gold to buy theow.’
‘You speak of Nyle. He is a strange man – he wanders in here and buys horses from us. As for the gold – yes, he is right. We are running out. There is a gold mine here but the vein has petered out. It is said that the Casere chose this site for his home because of the mine. We have used the gold for only one reason – to purchase theow. Kerch has maintained a population of around twenty thousand people for the last five hundred years – we know we can support that many easily. We have used outside women to ensure that bedda are not too closely related.’
‘Where do you purchase the theow?’
‘Utika – the port there has the largest theow trading centre in Sytha. Our only requirement is that they are legal. A lot of illegal theow are also traded there. In fact, Egwahl, who is the Captain of our ships, is there at the moment. He should be back soon.’
After breakfast, Conn asked to see the port. He had already sent the pigeons. Caldred guided them down to the docks. They were certainly adequate.
‘Do you wish to send a ship somewhere? Egwahl will be back soon.’
‘No; I am expecting ships to arrive here – within the week.’
‘How many? I will inform the harbour master.’
‘Should be ten or so. I will need to organize a beacon.’
‘We have those; I will get him to light one every night.’
From the port they walked around the village; and up to a hill that overlooked the entire settlement and the bay.
Conn pointed out what he took to be ruins.
‘What is that over there?’
‘That is what is left of the castle that the Casere built. Before the wave, and before the oceans rose, the ocean was several hundred yards from the walls. Now, as you can see, the castle is almost beside the ocean.’
‘Can we see it?’
‘Of course.’
It took some time for everyone to make their way down to the ruins; and it was soon clear where the bailey once stood. The remnants of a great archway lay scattered over the area and they climbed over the large boulder that had been worked by stone masons. The strength of the tsunami was clearly visible with large stones scattered everywhere.
They soon arrived at the inner bailey where a single archway stood; positioned in such a way to avoid the main force of the wave. On the archway, Conn read a single piece of writing. It read “AURUM SUB EFFIGIES”.
Conn looked at it for a while in utter amusement. He then turned to look at Caldred.
‘Do you have a translation of that?’
‘No. But we believe it is the same language as the parchment? Is that so?’
Conn nodded. ‘Yes – it is. Now, was there ever a statue in the donjon?’
He nodded. ‘I recall something written of a statue in the great hall.’ Caldred then led them through the inner bailey and to the remains of the Great Hall. The four walls were all but destroyed; the timber that formed the roof having vanished hundreds of years previous, and most of the stones that made up the walls had been washed up into great piles. The smaller blocks were missing, Conn presumed that it had been recycled years before. Conn climbed the piles and investigated what he could.
‘Caldred, tomorrow, we need to clear this room of everything.’
Despite the look of surprise, he answered evenly. ‘Very well, I’ll have Brictdred bring the fyrd here after inspection. He is gathering them today.’ He looked up at the sky. ‘Let us now return for lunch. I’m sure food awaits us. This afternoon I will show you more of your demesne.’
The next morning, Conn inspected the fyrd that had been raised by Brictdred. Three hundred men mounted on grey horses, they were dressed in lamellar and carried steel pointed bamboo lances, a round shield leather covered and a short sword. The device on the shield was a gold sun on white. They looked competent – albeit that their equipment and armour was based on designs created eight hundred years ago. Conn asked about the heraldry.