Chapter 6
SLEEP WAS GOOD, delicious, just curling up, sometimes waking for an instant, curling around again in comfort, sleeping again. Deidre had been given a remarkable room with a delightfully soft pallet bed.
And dreams came. Shockingly sweet dreams. She was with Kylin in those dreams, and she realized that she had come to love the curve of his smile, the striking, strong and angular features that created his face.
They were in a meadow rich with flowers, near a stream, playing a ridiculous game of tag.
She found herself laughing, racing from him, hitting the sweet cool waters of the stream, laughing as she dove in, as he did the same, until he caught her in his arms. The water was crystal clear, flowers grew everywhere, the sun was even bright against a sky of the most remarkable blue . . .
Then there was a sudden jolt.
What is it, a sound, a movement in the earth . . .
Within the dream, they were no longer in the pristine water, surrounded by flowers.
They were on a hillside, and she knew instantly that they had been miraculously transported to Newgrange in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, one of the most ancient places on the island.
There was a great passage grave in the mound by the Boyne River, and each generation taught the next about the peoples who had been there thousands of years ago and created the monument.
The scene was beautiful, peaceful . . .
Then she heard the shout, a battle cry, and warriors were teeming over the mound.
The jolt came again, this time louder. It was the sound of something slamming somewhere within Declan’s castle.
Deidre bolted out of bed, grabbing the sword. The shiny stone or pebble she had found was safe in her pocket. She slid the bar free that bolted her door and carefully checked the hall before stepping out.
She heard a choked scream and rushed down the length of the hall. Something was happening just below in the entry. She raced down the stairs and saw that Declan was there, caught between two men, one of them wielding a great knife, ready to slam it into the ard-rí’s chest.
She’d never reach them with her sword in time. She grabbed the little pebble from the pocket in her belt and threw it fast and true.
It might have looked like a little pebble.
But it was truly a mighty stone.
It caught the man with the knife dead center in the back of his head.
He fell as if he’d been hit by a giant boulder crashing down from the sky.
The other man gripping the high king roared in fury, pulling a knife as well. Deidre desperately started running, her sword in her hand.
“Get down!” a voice cried out. Kylin’s voice.
She dropped low as the spear they had found went flying over her head. The weapon soared past the ard-rí and flew deep into the chest of the man who had been about to stab Declan.
And he went down hard, face-first.
Deidre and Kylin both rushed on over to where the king stood between the bodies of the dead men, whispering prayers of thanks.
Then, he stared at the two of them, shaking his head.
“Dear God. Thank you,” Declan said.
By then, the castle was coming to life. Warriors, ready for battle, were coming from various rooms.
Among them, Angus, James, Berach and Eion.
“Sire, what happened? How were you here with these two?” Deidre asked him.
“They approached my room. Matthew, my personal guard, was with me and I told him that things were fine. They said that one of our guests had fallen here, at the entry, and they feared a sickness. I left Matthew to watch for others. I came with them willingly—”
“Sire, you must trust no one!” Kylin said.
Warriors stepped back for their leaders to come closer.
“There is no life without trust somewhere,” Deidre murmured. “But who . . . these men . . .” She broke off, kneeling by the man she had taken with the pebble—seeking the stone first, and pocketing it again—before checking on him.
The man was dead. The pebble had crushed his skull.
“Who does this man follow?” she demanded, looking around.
The four rís looked at one another—and at her and Kylin.
“He is not of Munster!” James said, shaking his head with confusion.
“Nor of Ui Neill!” Angus assured them, and Eion and Berach shook their heads.
“I have never seen either of these men before,” Berach growled. “How did they slip past the guards beyond the walls?”
No one had an answer.
“Are they Northmen, are they . . .”
“Their dress has pieces from both our island and the countries beyond,” Deidre noted. “Their hair . . . their beards . . . they could be either. No one has even seen either of them before?” she asked.
Again, heads shook around the room.
She rose.
Everyone, of course, was looking at Declan.
“Sire, you must never believe or trust in anyone you don’t know who comes for you. When you go anywhere, Matthew must be at your side,” Kylin told him.
The others noted their agreement.
“We will leave this day, but leave behind some of our warriors,” Eion said. “And prepare!”
“Aye, that we will,” Angus said. “But, sire, this attack . . . They slipped in. So as Deidre and Kylin have said, sire, trust only those closest to you—those you have known forever, who gain from your position. Best not to repeat the situation of two against one unarmed man.”
“I am not such a weakling myself!” Declan said. “And I’ll not be anywhere unarmed again! The news that you have brought us . . .”
“Indeed, and think—none of this occurred until you arrived!” Angus said suddenly, turning on Kylin and Deidre. “You brought the news and . . . what else?”
Deidre gripped Kylin’s arm before he could react with fury and spoke quickly herself.
“Angus, you were the one so insistent that we have no enemies, just those who long to trade. Whoever these men were, they did not come with us,” she reminded him.
“But his father—” Angus began.
“His father is more loyal to the ard-rí than any man I know,” Deidre assured him.
“Stop!” Declan roared. “Angus, I am alive because of the amazing prowess and quick thinking of this pair. Who these men are . . . none of us knows. Get them out of here, get the bodies out of here! I cannot abide looking at them. And one thing has been proven true so we all must be cautious, take the greatest care, be ever vigilant. Facing a known enemy is one thing—now knowing that traitors might slip in among us is a lesson for us all. Now! Someone will please remove these men. Burn the bodies in the foreyard that all may see. Then, my friends, see to your journeys home that we may all prepare. And keep a close eye on the rivers. Trust not in those who claim to be simple traders. I shall retire to my chambers—”
“With an escort,” Kylin said.
“And that will be?” Angus demanded.
“You, me and Deidre,” Kylin told him.
“Fine!” Declan snapped.
Warriors hauled away the bodies and Deidre took Declan’s arm while Angus led the way and Kylin followed.
They returned the king to his chambers where they spoke with Matthew, a man of about forty who had held his position as the ard-rí’s right-hand man for well over a decade.
Matthew listened in horror, telling Declan that he hadn’t wanted to stay behind, that he should never have done so.
Declan interrupted with “Please! Please don’t forget that I have fought in many a battle and I vow to you all that I will not be caught off guard again.
Aye, Matthew, where I go now, you will be with me.
Angus, Kylin, Deidre, I do now believe that we are under attack, that instead of the onslaught at one location we are accustomed to facing, the threats will be subtle and widespread.
My friends, you must take care as I take care, for perhaps the intention is to take us down, man by man.
Thus, we are warned. And every man and woman must be ready.
” He inhaled and spoke quietly. “Again, I thank you for my life. Friends, find your common ground and take care.”
Matthew gave them a nod, closing the door after Declan as he entered his chambers.
Angus, Kylin and Deidre looked at one another for a minute.
“We are not traitors, I swear it on everything holy!” Kylin told Angus.
Angus looked down and winced. “And I swear to you, on all that is holy, that I am no traitor. Deidre, was I angry that your father refused to cement our alliance with a marriage? Aye, that I was. But I am no traitor. I would die for Declan, I so swear it!”
Kylin nodded at Angus. “Then we will all take care. And, I know how important trading is, but—”
“But now, if this jarl arrives again, I will take the gravest care,” Angus assured him. He hesitated. “I believe, though, that the ard-rí might be right in what he thinks might happen. He was lured out in the middle of the night, seemingly in innocence by a small party of two men.”
“And we have been attacked. By small parties of two men,” Deidre murmured.
“Perhaps this enemy does intend to pick off the lesser leaders on their way to taking over Declan’s position of ard-rí of the isle,” Angus said.
“They started at the top. And they will not know immediately that they failed in their attempts. But we don’t know what is happening around the countryside,” Deidre said worriedly.
“Well, those of us here must get the message to the others,” Angus said. “I will take my men, leaving behind ten, and head home. I will get warriors out to warn all those that I may.” They all nodded. “Until we meet again,” he said, and turned to head out.
“We must leave, too,” Kylin said.
She nodded. “Of course. Though I have been thinking . . .”
“What?”
“My father, your father and Aidan are already warned and on guard. And I don’t think that they’ll strike our village again as they did.
I wonder if that assault was more than an attempt to invade us.
If it might have been a ploy—so that others wouldn’t expect something like the attack that was just planned against the ard-rí. ”
“That may well be. But we still need to get the horses and get back.”