Chapter Eleven
The Paladin
“Your news was well-met, great lord. We have come to greet your bride, my daughter.”
In the outer bailey of The Paladin on a morning that threatened rain from the sea, Tatius faced about thirty Welshmen who had arrived just after dawn.
Led by the middle-aged woman who called herself Nesta, they had come astride their shaggy horses, wearing the long tunics and cloaks so prevalent to the Welsh people.
They came with staffs and bows, but the guards at the gatehouse had made them leave their weapons outside of the gates.
Now, Tatius and Atilius and Fabius were facing the Welsh contingent from Mountain Dark.
This was not the way Tatius had hoped to start his day.
“She is not here,” Tatius said to Nesta. “I am not certain when she will arrive and I would prefer you not be here when she does. The agreement was that we would bring her to Mountain Dark for the wedding, not that you would be at The Paladin to greet her.”
Nesta stepped forward. A petite woman with blonde hair and black eyes, she approached Tatius calmly.
She was older, but her skin was smooth and white, with nary a line upon it.
Still, there was something in those black eyes that was disturbing.
She had a brittle look to her, as if there was something dark lying just below the surface.
As if she would praise a man one moment and slit his throat in the next.
“I’ve not seen my daughter in eighteen years, great lord,” she said, a plea to Tatius. “Not since her father stole her away from me and gave her over to the Saesneg to hide. Did you know that? Owain, my own husband, took her away from me. You can understand that I am eager to see her.”
Tatius eyed the woman. “You never did explain why your husband took her away from you.”
Nesta’s gaze flickered over with something ugly. Deadly. “Fear, mayhap,” she said. “Fear I might turn our child into a true Welshman. Fear he would lose control over her.”
“Mayhap he feared that you would use her to gain back your kingdom.”
“She is a child of destiny. And her destiny is to restore her people.”
Tatius had heard this before, or at least most of it.
But coming to know this situation as he did, he was coming to think that the child’s father must have seen what his wife was capable of and fearing for the child, sent her to England where her mother couldn’t get to her.
All Nesta wanted was to rebel against her own people, and the English overlords, a war she could not win.
Even Tatius knew that. He was coming to regret ever agreeing to be a part of this scheme.
The more time passed, the more he simply wanted out of it.
“What became of Owain?” he asked.
Nesta didn’t hesitate. “He was killed in battle shortly after he took my child from me.”
Tatius thought that all sounded rather convenient. “You said she was hidden from you, yet clearly, you knew where she was,” he said. “You knew enough to tell my brothers and me to suggest a betrothal to her guardian, William Marshal.”
Nesta lifted her slender shoulders. “It took a great deal of time to locate her,” she said. “William Marshal has many enemies, especially in Wales. Information can be bought for the right price and it was simply a matter of finding the right time for everything – especially her return to Wales.”
“She is not returning to Wales. She is marrying me.”
“That was not the entire agreement, great lord.”
Tatius could see right through her; evil radiated from the woman like an odor, something he could very nearly smell.
But even with that obviousness, there was something else, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
The woman is hiding something, he thought.
But, then again, he had thought this from the beginning, when she’d first come to The Paladin to speak of a marriage between her long-lost daughter and the Earl of Ellesmere.
Something wasn’t right.
“The agreement was that I will marry your daughter at Mountain Dark,” he said. “But take heed; I do not intend to live there and my wife will live with me, meaning we will live here, at The Paladin.”
Her gaze flickered again and Tatius was certain he saw a hint of a snarl in her lips.
“She is Welsh,” she said. “Mountain Dark is where she was born; it is her home. It is the blood that flows through her veins, whether or not she realizes it. She is meant for her people, great lord. This was decided many years ago when my father and Owain’s father decided to unite their two children in marriage.
My daughter is the result of that union and her return to Wales is the culmination of plans that are generations in the making. ”
“Let us not speak of this out in the open.” Atilius came over to the pair, looking mostly at Tatius. “Let us bring our guests inside where we may discuss this situation privately.”
Tatius looked at his brother, seeing the utter greed in the man’s eyes.
The arrival of Nesta and her ragtag Welshmen only made it worse.
Tatius knew this wasn’t about brotherhood or an alliance of any kind and he greatly resented their appearance at The Paladin.
This was about the lands Atilius and Fabius saw for themselves in Wales once they helped the descendants of Rhos and Pengwern rebel against the princes of Gwynedd and, subsequently, King John.
But they were going to lose and the crown would take everything from them.
He simply couldn’t tell his brothers that.
More than ever, Atilius and Fabius controlled the armies.
They had even gotten the men worked up about the coming rebellion, telling them that each man would receive a reward for a hard-fought battle, so now they had the armies on their side with promises of riches.
Tatius had never been a good leader; he’d never wanted to be.
He didn’t want to be in the middle of this building rebellion and he prayed that Antoninus would get through to Christopher de Lohr and that de Lohr would have a solution to all of this.
Even if it was the destruction of the de Shera armies.
It seemed that was the only way this would end.
“Do what you will,” he finally said to Atilius.
“You do not need me to be part of it, anyway. When the lady arrives, we shall go to Mountain Dark and be married, but that is the end of my involvement. Do what you will with the armies and with the Welsh, Atilius. That is what you want, anyway. You do not need my presence or my interference.”
With that, he turned away, heading back towards the enormous keep that looked like something out of the halls of Mt. Olympus. In the early morning light, the limestone was shining bright, like marble.
Atilius watched him go, being joined by Fabius.
“Where is he going?” Fabius asked.
Atilius shook his head faintly, squinting in the morning light. “It does not matter,” he said, returning his attention to Nesta and to his brother. “Tatius will be involved in this marriage only and that is his choice. He is correct; we do not need him but I fear he will be an obstacle.”
Nesta looked at him. “What do you mean?” she said. “He seems compliant enough.”
Atilius sighed sharply. “Fate is a cruel thing,” he said.
“By birth order, Tatius is the eldest, but there is no man less suited to an earldom. He would rather sit and play his citole, or write his poetry, or pursue his hobbies. Do you know that the man actually raises rabbits? He has no interest in managing his earldom or his armies, but while he is the earl, his word is final in all things. If he truly does not wish to ally with the Rebels of Rhos, and tells the army his wishes, we may have trouble on our hands. There are those who will follow him simply because he is the earl and those who will not. It will create chaos.”
Fabius was looking at him seriously. “What are you suggesting?”
Atilius made an attempt at looking remorseful, but he didn’t do a very good job of it. He only managed to look as if he had a belly ache.
“I am suggesting that mayhap it is time to remove Tatius,” he said.
“He has not been in agreement with our plans since the beginning. He agreed to the betrothal only because he needs a wife, and heirs, but beyond that, he does not agree with our plans to rebel against Gwynedd or John. I fear he will cause harm to our plans.”
The three of them turned to watch Tatius as the man disappeared into the inner bailey, with the keep of The Paladin looming over the top of the inner bailey walls.
“Do nothing until he marries my daughter,” Nesta said quietly.
“The marriage must be consummated for my daughter to become the Countess of Ellesmere. After that… after that, you may do what you will with your brother. But for now, we need him. When Cadelyn marries him, it will be she who controls the de Shera armies, but until that time, Tatius is the key to everything.”
Atilius glanced at Fabius, who nodded in agreement.
With reluctance, and perhaps impatience, Atilius finally nodded and motioned for Nesta and her people to follow him.
Together, the group of them began to head towards the great and mighty keep of The Paladin, heading for the great hall where they would discuss the future as they saw it.
And discuss Tatius’ future, as well.
Or the lack thereof.