Chapter 16 #2
“I would ride with you,” Ryan said, and his companions nodded with him. “We are ready to move with all swiftness—close enough, and far ahead enough.”
“Let’s hope we have a bit of time first,” Deidre murmured.
He agreed. They needed rest; the road back would take time and they would need to stay ahead, not stopping to sleep. In themselves, they would have the power that was going to be needed.
Deidre spurred her horse and started forward again. They had barely come into the courtyard—crowded now with artisans, merchants and goods—before Eamon and Sigurd came from the castle itself, ready to welcome them back.
“A successful journey?” Eamon asked.
“We believe so, sire,” Kylin told him, emerging from his own father’s embrace. “All is as prepared as we dare manage.”
“But you’ve not discovered the traitor,” Sigurd said.
“I am afraid not, Father,” Kylin told him. “But Declan and Cillian are aware, and those we trust are watching.”
“Come to my council chamber,” Eamon told them. “I would hear everything, and Aidan will come—he will know that you are here. Sigurd, Aidan and I will be holding here while you move to your desired ground.”
“Of course.”
Grooms took the horses and Kylin thanked the men who had greeted them as they had come close to home, assuring them it was safe to return.
Before they could head into the body of the fortress, Aidan came riding into the courtyard.
He greeted his sister with a fierce hug and looked at Kylin, nodding and smiling. “Good to see you both!”
“Anything on the horizon?” Deidre asked him anxiously.
“Not as of yet. When I am not on the shore, we have an excellent relay network of men to get information to everyone as quickly as possible. And thus, you see how quickly I came to be here with you?” he asked.
“Indeed, well done,” Deidre told her brother.
“Very well done,” Kylin agreed.
“The second a ship appears, the news will spread like wildfire,” Aidan said. “So, now, shall we?”
And when Kylin and Deidre were in the council, they took turns explaining everything that had happened, mentioning the man from Mayo who had been with the invaders, and struggling a bit to make them understand that even with this man, they didn’t know the traitor because he was beset upon by a group of warriors—with his family threatened.
“Ah, and there’s a way to break the most stalwart man,” Eamon said.
“Sire, we’re not afraid of this man, even not knowing who he is,” Kylin said, “because we have the strength of the love people feel for Declan behind us, for Cillian, and for you, yourself, Rí Eamon!”
Deidre’s father nodded and smiled in acknowledgment of his words.
“Then you two—be off with you. Get some sleep. Again, be well, be rested, be ready,” Eamon told them.
“I will head home, then—” Kylin began.
“No, son!” Sigurd said. “Home is here now, until this insanity has come to a conclusion. We have rooms in the fortress. End of the hall, second floor.”
Kylin frowned.
“We are keeping everyone in,” Aidan explained.
“Here is best, but I’m afraid that I must ask you to choose who you wish to ride swiftly ahead with you.
I believe that they will spend hours assailing the fortress before determining that they’re doing nothing but losing their forces, though I believe their plan was to take this place and move on.
They will need to continue, even with losses, if they have a grand battle plan. ”
“Of course. I will do so immediately,” Kylin promised. He looked at Deidre.
“Kylin, you know best,” she told him.
He nodded. “We will move with ten. I suspect that the greater body of our warriors will follow when the enemy has moved after us.”
“Indeed. But perhaps—” Aidan began.
“Ten is the number we’ll need. Even to create a broken path for them to follow.
A small enough number that none might need sleep.
Eion will also send his warriors once it has begun so that we can meet our foes with the strength that is needed.
First, Eion’s men will flood in and then Cillian’s and then the contingent that the ard-rí has gathered,” Deidre explained.
Aidan nodded, glancing at his father and Sigurd, who both nodded as well.
“You have been blazing these trails. See to it as you will,” Aidan said.
“I will head up,” Deidre murmured. “Aidan, do you think they could come this night?”
“They will come by darkness, I am certain, and it may well be this night,” Aidan said.
“Then I will make my arrangements with Ryan, and he will get to the rest of our group,” Kylin told them.
Deidre headed up to her room. He walked out of the council chamber to seek out Ryan, certain that he would have waited for him. The man had.
They briefly discussed those who would ride with them. Then it was set: the small group who had been with Ryan earlier would be with them along with five other men they considered to be the best riders and warriors.
When he had set the plan with Aidan, he looked up at Eamon’s stone inner fortress again; he wished that he was going to his own home, but he fully understood the logic of staying here.
They all had to be ready at a moment’s notice.
When he returned, however, he discovered that his father and Eamon were waiting for him again.
“You need to rest, but we’ve also decided that you need to eat. We’re seeing to it that you’re prepared with dried meats and bread for your next journey, but we’ve arranged food for you that is hot from the kitchens and ready to eat now,” Eamon told him.
He realized that he was hungry, that they hadn’t had a meal since they had left Cillian’s land.
“Thank you. A good plan,” he said.
“Come along,” his father urged.
Aidan was already gone, he realized. Of course, Aidan had people watching the shoreline when he could not, but Kylin knew that he and Deidre’s brother often felt the same way, that they needed to be the one doing something they considered necessary.
When he reached the banqueting hall, he saw that Deidre was already there, seated at one of the long plank tables closest to the fire.
“We’ve eaten already,” Eamon told him. “But you two, well . . . please. A plate awaits you by Deidre.”
He took the seat next to her. Their fathers sat across from them, thoughtful, watching them, almost as if they feared they might not see them again.
“I’m curious,” Eamon told him. “What was the response to the news of your ‘betrothal’?” he asked.
“Ah, Angus behaved badly, as he always does,” Deidre said.
“Declan had the night’s banquet be in our honor and the other leaders congratulated us, of course. But I can’t help but wonder just how sincere they were.”
Eamon and Sigurd glanced at one another.
“You were hoping that the news would somehow draw out the traitor?” Kylin asked.
“I wish that something would draw out the truth,” his father said.
He shook his head. “I don’t understand. The isle .
. . the counties . . . they are very much so left to their own care, their own way of life.
The rulers seem to respect Declan as ard-rí.
I can’t begin to understand betraying such a land.
No leader suffers at this time—not that I’ve heard about. ”
“Even the invaders come for a better life,” Eamon said. “They come when there is little to help them survive in their homeland, when winters are harsh, when there isn’t enough abundance to go around. Well, many come for such reasons. Others do seek riches.”
“Power,” Kylin said quietly.
Deidre looked at him and nodded grimly.
“Power? But the leaders have power,” Sigurd said.
“Not like the power wielded by the ard-rí,” Kylin said. “And yet whoever does this does not realize that his power comes mainly from the respect he draws from others, the way he cares about all the people and the way he lives his life.”
“Right,” Eamon murmured. “Perhaps I could understand if he were not so good an ard-rí, if he was careless of others.”
“Well, whoever the traitor is, I believe that he will pay dearly,” Kylin said.
“Through us?” Sigurd asked.
“Through us—or through Jarl Swen Jorgensen. You don’t believe that Swen intends to give any of the power he seeks to anyone else?” Kylin inquired. “Nay!”
“My son is right,” Sigurd said quietly. “A man such as Swen Jorgensen . . . if anyone seeks to take the least bit of rule away from him, that man will die.”
“Why doesn’t he realize that?” Eamon asked.
“Because he is too eager for what he wants himself,” Deidre said.
“Please! I’m young and I’ve seen that the world is full of a mix of people.
Those who would always be kind to others—and those who would seek to take whatever they could.
And there are those who see a prize and they believe that they can grasp it. That focus becomes everything to them.”
“Well, we cannot let it be,” Eamon said. “Now, you must finish up and rest the very best that you can. Perhaps you’ll have days to rest, perhaps not.”
“Finished, and thank you, Father, a fine meal, a fine idea,” Deidre said, wiping her fingers and rising. “And . . .”
She looked at Kylin and said softly, “As always, we will be ready.”
“As always,” he agreed quietly.
She smiled suddenly. “And here, you may sit a bit and eat all that you desire. In my father’s house, I am safe.”
He grinned, nodding.
“Ah, so despite my daughter’s talents, you did care for her life and limb,” Eamon said.
Deidre looked at Sigurd. “He is his father’s son, ever careful and vigilant and loyal,” she said.
“Thank you, lass,” Sigurd said.
Kylin started to rise. She pushed him back down, both hands on his shoulders. “You haven’t finished! I am safe in my father’s house.”
She turned and left the room. He helped himself to another dish of mutton and turnips.
“Truly delicious,” he said.
Eamon laughed. “Aye, then. I remember eating nothing but bread and dried meat while on a trail. And I suppose I will do so again . . .”