Chapter Five
“Asmara has grown.”
In the darkness of the early morning hours, Cader was watching Llandarog Castle from a distance, knowing that Asmara had gone with Blayth and the others to secure entry to the castle.
He had been hesitant to let her go, but he also knew that she was quite capable.
Still, it made him nervous that she was out of his sight.
He was unable to help her should she need it.
But his brother’s softly-uttered words broke his concentration and he turned to see Morys heading towards him, through the skinny cluster of trees.
He hadn’t talked to his brother in many years until the summons to Carmarthen Castle, and even though they’d been traveling together, they still hadn’t spoken very much.
They were so used to ignoring each other that it came naturally.
Therefore, Morys’ appearance was something of a surprise.
“Aye,” Cader said belatedly. “She has seen eighteen years now. She is a woman grown.”
Morys nodded as his attention moved to the castle in the distance. “Dragon Princess,” he muttered. “That is what they call her now.”
Cader snorted softly. “She hates to be called that,” he said. “She simply wants to be a warrior, like any other man.”
Morys looked pointedly at him. “But she is not like any other man,” he said. “She is a woman, and a beautiful one. Has she not even been betrothed yet?”
Cader rolled his eyes at the touchy subject. “What man wants a wife who can best him in a fight?” he said. “Nay, Brother, no betrothal yet. No suitor of any kind. Until I can get her to behave like a woman, there is no point.”
“Yet you send her into battle.”
“Because she is an excellent warrior.”
“It is your fault for making her one.”
Cader turned to look at his brother; Morys was older than he by fourteen months, so there wasn’t much of an age gap between them at all.
They’d grown up together, played together, fought together.
When their father died, Morys decided that he was head of the family and he’d gone out of his way to make his brother feel insignificant and weak.
Morys was married, but he’d never had children, while Cader’s marriage had produced two daughters.
Their branch of the family was dying out and it killed Morys to realize that.
He always had to be the bigger, stronger, and smarter brother, but his one failing had been in his inability to father a child, male or female.
Oddly enough, he liked to make Cader feel guilty for only having females.
But Cader wasn’t feeling guilty today. He was proud of his daughter.
“Is that what you came to tell me?” he finally asked. “That it is my fault for making Asmara a warrior? I didn’t ‘make’ her a warrior, you know. She chose to be one. There was no way to discourage her.”
Morys eyed his brother in the weak light. His younger brother who was kind and compassionate, everything Morys was not. He’d tried for a very long time not to hate him for it, but he couldn’t quite seem to manage it. There was so much about Cader that he hated.
And so much he was jealous of.
“So now you have an unmarriageable daughter on your hands,” Morys said quietly. “Will she be a spinster, then? Or will she lead your armies?”
Cader wasn’t going to let his brother mock him. “We have not spoken to one another in over five years,” he said. “If you are going to taunt me about my children, then you can go back to your men. I have no need or desire to tangle with you.”
The line in the sand had been drawn already. Morys simply dipped his head. “I was not taunting you,” he said. “I was merely asking a question since I have not seen Asmara in so long. What of Fairynne? Has she married?”
Cader shook his head. “She has not.”
Morys pondered his brother’s unwed daughters but he could see that any further comment about them would not be well met. In truth, he hadn’t come to taunt his brother. He really didn’t know why he’d come, other than he’d missed the man and didn’t want to admit it.
“Well,” he sighed, “Asmara has gone with Blayth and we must be moving our men into position so we are ready when they open the portcullis. My scouts say that we can skirt the village over to the east and come in through the trees directly across from the castle. They will not see us until it is too late.”
Cader nodded, turning to the men nearest him and issuing a quiet whistle. As the men stood up and began to come to him, he turned to Morys. “I will tell my men to be ready to move,” he said. “Are your men ready?”
“They are.”
“Then let us depart.”
Cader’s men came to him and he quietly issued orders. When those men left to rouse the rest of Cader’s army, Cader happened to see that Morys was still standing there.
“Is that all?” he asked.
Morys nodded. He started to turn away, but something made him stop. When he spoke, it was without looking at his brother. It was almost as if he couldn’t bear to.
“Why did we stop talking to one another, Cader?” he asked softly. “I have forgotten.”
Cader looked at him. “You called me weak,” he said. “Do you not recall?”
“I am not certain. Mayhap.”
“You said you were ashamed of a brother who was so weak.”
Morys almost turned to look at him. I was stupid for saying so.
But he couldn’t bring himself to say it, nor could he bring himself to apologize.
He remembered exactly what he’d said to his brother, and when he’d said it.
He was only hoping that Cader hadn’t remembered.
Then he would have nothing to apologize for.
But Cader did, indeed, remember. Morys simply nodded his head and began to walk away, but a word from Cader stopped him.
“I will say this to you, Morys,” he said quietly.
“I am not weak. I have never been weak. I am able to show emotion and feelings that you were never able to, and if you believe that to be weak, that is your misfortune. But I will tell you this; my daughter, Asmara, is anything but weak. She is the strongest woman in Wales and tonight, she will prove that to you. Mark my words. And when you see how strong she is, you will tell me so. Are you listening? I will hear it from your own lips.”
Morys still couldn’t bring himself to look at him or even agree.
Without another word, he continued on, heading into the darkened trees and for his army, which was preparing to move out.
Cader watched him go for a few moments, thinking of his haughty, arrogant brother.
He didn’t exactly hate the man, but it was close.
But tonight, they had to put their feelings aside for a common goal.
To take Llandarog Castle back from the English.
It smelled like a barnyard.
That was Asmara’s first thought as she slithered in through the narrowed window of Llandarog’s tower and ended up falling to the floor. It was dark, quiet, and smelly. Fortunately, the chamber was also empty and she quickly found her feet, pulling Fairynne through the opening behind her.
But the women huddled near the open window for a few moments as their eyes became acclimated to the near total darkness.
The tower itself was small in diameter, so there was only one room per floor.
They had no way of knowing just how many floors there were because the base of the tower seemed sunken into the hillside.
Since it was an hour or so before dawn, they couldn’t hear anyone stirring, but that didn’t mean an entire army of English soldiers wasn’t sleeping on the floor below them.
They had to get moving.
Asmara pulled her sister close.
“We must find a way to get to the wall on the west side,” she whispered. “It is attached to this tower and if there is an opening on to the wall, it will be on the level above us. Follow me and stay close; do not wander and do not make any noise. Do you understand?”
Fairynne nodded, but it was clear from her expression that she was frightened.
Perhaps helping her sister had seemed brave enough until they entered the lion’s den, but now that she was here, she wasn’t so sure.
Still, her pride prevented her from doing anything other than pretending she had some measure of bravery.
She held tight to the rope that was coiled over one shoulder and down under one arm, just like the rope that Asmara was holding, and when her sister began to move, she followed.
There was a flight of stone stairs built onto one side of the room; a hole in the floor had stairs going down to the floor below while a small flight built into the wall went up to the floor above.
Staying close to the wall, the sisters mounted the stairs that led to the floor above, making their way silently until Asmara could just stick her head through the hole in the floor above them, peering into the chamber to see if there anyone was there.
Fortunately, it was empty but for a few shields and metal-tipped staffs against the wall.
It also contained a small door that led to the wall walk, just as she’d hoped.
As far as Asmara could see, there didn’t seem to be anyone on the wall walk, so she came to the top of the stairs, holding out a hand to her sister to indicate caution.
Even though there didn’t seem to be anyone around, they still needed to proceed carefully.
Once they were on the wall walk, they could lower the ropes for Blayth and the others.
Their goal was so close, but yet so far.
The wall walk was just a few feet away, but it seemed like it stretched for a mile.
Once they left the tower, they would be exposed to the ward below, and Asmara’s heart was thumping in her chest. The apprehension was almost more than she could bear, but she had a task to complete and she focused on it.
As they neared the doorway that opened out into the wall walk, she came to a sudden halt and backed up against the wall to stay out of sight.