Deirdre (47 page)

God had had a plan for both of them, although it was some time
after their arrival before Alric shared his own miracle with her—that of his mysterious rescue from the sea. It was small wonder that a premature silver now winged his temples, given the physical and spiritual warfare he’d survived and the fact that her husband had looked into the face of a heavenly savior. Deirdre understood the awe and humility her husband expressed. It made them one in a way few would ever know.

When not serving as one of Gleannmara’s judges, Alric the Just devoted his time to the growth of Skerry Town and his merchant marine enterprise.

“Besides, I know I leave Gleannmara in good hands, although I had wondered if you’d make it here in time to see me off.” Cairell glanced at Deirdre.

“You’ll not leave till the tide does,” Alric countered. “I know its pull in my veins.”

“Besides,” Deirdre added, “Mistress Leary’s hospitality is hard to leave.”

Alric added a new room onto the tavern in exchange for private lodging while their home was being built. Later, it would accommodate the increase of travelers as the port grew.

“My company had no problem departing,” her brother teased, “but then we had no wives to distract us.”

“’Tis a wife’s duty milord, and I’ll make no excuses.” The afterglow of her husband’s attentions raced once more to her face, but Deirdre was unashamed. They shared God’s gift to husband and wife, which surely was as glorious as it had been in Eden’s innocence.

Cairell stepped away as the gangway was removed from the ship’s rail and lowered, under Kaspar’s supervision, by a series of ropes and pulleys to the dock. The young father, now expecting his second child, held the position of dock master. Deirdre and Alric had worked with him through the winter months, teaching him record keeping skills.

Lines tossed, the ship drifted away from the dock, riding low in the water with its load of wares, from hides and beef to salt from the marshland in the south. Men scurried aloft, unfurling the mainsail.

“Godspeed!”

“Godspeed!”

Deirdre and the man she loved more than life itself called out the blessing simultaneously.

So much had happened since Scanlan first reminded her of God’s promise that his plan was to prosper, not harm. And how that promise had been fulfilled! Scanlan, now fully recovered, had returned to the Mercian-dominated Galstead. His devotion so impressed Juist, that the high priest demanded Scanlan be left unmolested to do his work as his heart led him. Deirdre’s dear friend wrote of stirring conversations between himself, Juist, and, on occasion, Aelfled, who continued to keep him supplied with herbs he needed to tend his flock.

And Orna was safe, determined to live out the rest of her years on land with a young Welsh noble, who lived near the monastery where she’d been dropped off, feverish and vowing never to set foot on anything that floated again. Dutifully, she’d sent a letter to Fergal of Gleannmara stating Deirdre’s predicament, but with the king already ill and Dealla devoted to his care, Kyras had easily intercepted and burned it. Now in exile for his crime of treason, the disgraced warrior served in the forces of Argyll, while the woman he loved found solace and the protection she craved with the holy sisters at Glendalough.

“Looks like a good day for a voyage,” Alric observed, squinting at the sky.

No trace of the vengeful red that had nearly been their end showed its face on the eastern horizon. The sun’s rays formed a golden bridge of light connecting the water to the heavens.

“The wind is with them.” He pointed to the
Blessing
, his chest swelling like the sail that caught the first push of the breeze. “She’ll fairly fly to Gaul.”

Deirdre detected a note of melancholy in his voice. “You could have gone with them.”

The restless energy he once devoted to his green mistress’s whim now was spent between Gleannmara’s court and its shore. But maybe that wasn’t enough. As he said, the tide pulled at his blood.

Instead of answering, he steered Deirdre away from the dock to walk down the beach, as was their custom when one of his ships sailed
out to sea. From the shelf of sand and rock, they watched until the departing vessel was the size of a toy in a vast pond.

A month earlier, they’d seen Gunnar and Helewis off from the same spot after their visit. They had a precious baby girl, with Helewis’s golden curls and fair complexion. Alric held that the infant had her father’s temperament, one that could only be assuaged by a drink—of mother’s milk, in this case. “He fell straight from bosom to bottle,” he teased his longtime friend.

Deirdre had carried a melancholy heart to shore that day, longing for a babe of her own, although the new school in the village kept her occupied. Still … with one cycle missed and another nearly so by her recollection, her prayers may have been answered.

She wasn’t going to say anything to Alric until she was certain, but just this morning Mrs. Leary called her aside and asked her if she was expecting. Astonished, Deirdre started to share her calculation with the old female but was dismissed with a wave.

“Nonsense, milady I know by your look. Ye’ve the glow of a new rose, ripe to bloom.”

“All right, now you can go,” Alric said to the dog, motioning toward the long expanse of beach ahead.

The pup shot off after a retreating wave, its plate-sized paws nipping at the water’s edge. Deirdre giggled when another wave rolled over it, sending the half-grown hound yelping back toward dry land.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear that Tor had sired that halfwit,” Alric remarked. Turning Deirdre in his arms, he pressed his forehead down to hers. “And I
could
have gone with the
Blessing,”
he acknowledged, a twinkle lighting in his mercurial gaze. “But I couldn’t leave you in your condition, even if I wanted to.”

Deirdre’s heart skipped. “What?” That Mrs. Leary. “Who told you?”

Alric glanced to where Wulfgar barked in hot pursuit of a copper-winged butterfly and then returned his full attention to his wife. “I am one with the tides and the moon, muirnait, and nearly three have passed since milady’s last indisposal. I wondered when you would tell me.”

Deirdre felt foolish that a man kept better track of such things than she. Such was the heady effect Alric had upon her. He spun her
thoughts into anticipation and intoxicated her senses with his nearness, his devilish eyes, and that irascible grin. She would offer him no excuse. “Is it too late to tell you now, milord?”

“I await your every word, sweetling.” To prove it, he framed her face and met her nose to nose.

“God charges us to go forth and be fruitful,” she said, moving his hands to her waist.

“And?” He circled it with his hands, his fingers all but touching.

“And I am with fruit.”

The kiss she saw him moisten on his lips erupted in a loud bellow of laughter. Gathering her hands in his, he danced like an overgrown sea sprite around her, spinning and spinning until the clouds circled and Wulfgar nipped at the hem of her dress. “Her chatter will be like birdsong to your heart,” he sang to the sky.

“What?” Deirdre’s heart soared so high; perhaps her ears were impaired by its flight.

“Orlaith.” Alric smiled at her, his eyes warm and tender. “She told me all about you and how you were the key to my birthright.” He sobered, taking her into his arms as if to never let her go. “It was love, my beautiful chatter bird. Unseen—” his hoarse whispered voice sent a thrill through her—“and eternal.”

As eternal as the tender-sweet homage he paid to it with his lips.

For them who’d have a smatterin’ more knowledge and assistance with names and such, help yourself to a wee salmon’s worth. In tryin’ to curb me habit o’ gettin’ eighteen words to the dozen, I’ve kept the list as short and succinct as a Celtic heart can, with pronunciations for only them words that fool the tongue.

aiccid
(ay-sid): heir apparent to kingship or clan chief.

anmchara
(ahn-ca-rah): soul friend, confessor, a soul mate.

athair
(a’-the): father.

brat
: outer cloak or wrap; the more colors, the higher the station o’ its wearer.

brehon
: a judge.

bretwalda
(bret-wall-dah): much like the Irish high king,
ard ri
, o’ Saxon Britain.

brewy
(brew’-ee): a name for a common inn and the innkeeper.

Brichriu
(brik’-ree-oo): an ancient historical satirist known for stirring up trouble.

bride-price
: the price paid by the groom to the bride’s family for the privilege and duration o’ his marriage to the lady.

churl
: a freeman worth two to four hundred shillings
wergild;
owns at least one hide o’ land.

cromlech
: a capstone resting on two upright pillar stones, sometimes forming a passage; usually marks a grave o’ someone o’ importance—a hero or royalty.

curragh
: a small wicker-framed boat.

Dalraidi
(pl.) (dahl’-rah-dee): this was an early Ulster clan; some migrated to Scotland in the fifth century and by the sixth century sure they ruled it and the latter half o’ that same period chose their first Christian king, Aidan.

Deirdre
(deer’-drah): chatterbox; also sorrow.

derling
: darling.

druid
: St. Columba wrote, “My druid is Christ.” Substitute
teacher
or
spiritual leader
for
druid
to catch the drift o’ his meaning. The seventh-century
druid
was mostly a teacher or historian in Erin. In Britain, they were still worshipin’ nature like their Germanic counterparts and the druids in
Maire
, the fifth-century book one o’ this series. Ye see, the druids were not just the black-robed sacrificers reported by Julius Caesar and other foreign observers o’ this secretive order, but what I’d call professionals. They were a number o’ an elevated Celtic learned class—spiritual leaders, teachers, lawyers, poets, bards, historians, magicians; o’ten called magi.

There were some o’ the dark kind then, mind ye, but never was any evidence o’ human sacrifice found on my shores, like across the sea. And again, God used these enlightened people to pave the way for Christianity as illustrated in the story o’ Maire and Rowan’s fifth-century Gleannmara.

Ecfrith
(ek’-frith): the historical king o’ Northumbria who raided me shores on the pretense o’ religious righteousness; a scoundrel or saint, dependin’ on who ye read, though his prejudice to me seemed more against the British/Irish than the Church—odd with him being half British himself.

Gleannmara
(glinn-mah-rah): a fictional
tuath
or kingdom in Erin found between Wicklow and the Irish Sea; glen/valley overlooking/near the sea.

Freou-weebe
: and peace weaver, a wife taken to secure a treaty o’ peace by marriage.

hemmings
: rawhide boots/shoes made from the skin off the hind legs o’ a deer.

hide
: a rectangular strip o’ land equal to one-fifth o’ a square mile.

maîthar
(maw’-ther): mother.

muirnait
: beloved.

rath
: a circular fortification surrounded by earthen walls; home o’ a warrior chief.

Scotland (Scotia Minor), the problem with
: This became a major issue as what is today’s Scotland grew. It was settled by members o’ the
Dalraidi clan o’ northern Erin, who owed tribute to the king o’ Ulster. But it was its own province with its own king now and declared it owed allegiance to no one save the high king o’ Ireland.

scramasax
: a Saxon short sword.

synod
: A synod was a fairlike gathering o’ the provincial and
tuath
rulers and their entourages for the settlement o’ political and law issues. Vendors and entertainers flocked to provide for the attendees, which attracted others whose interest was more o’ a recreational nature. Games and other diversions took place when the court was not in session. These lasted for weeks due to the distances traveled to participate, so that all might put in their two cents worth prior to final decisions.

thane
: a lesser king or lord, worth twelve hundred shillings
wergild.
A horse thane was the predecessor of a medieval knight.

tonsure
: a style o’ haircut with a section shaven; the priests’ were circular with shaven center, while the druids’ shaven ear to ear across top o’ head to form a high brow o’ intelligence. The clergy reflectin’ the druidic roots o’ many o’ God’s servants, used both in the sixth century.

torque
: a neckband often made o’ gold or silver; many times took the place o’ a crown for a king or queen; its degree o’ elegance often indicated rank in society.

tuath
(tuth): a kingdom made up o’ more than one sept/clan and united under one king, to whom the clan chiefs pay tribute/homage. He in turn pays homage to the province king, who pays homage to the high king.

wergild
(ver’-gild): man gold, or the worth o’ a man, paid in lieu o’ death punishment, much like the Irish
eric.

Whitby, Synod of
: The meeting o’ druids, priests, and Oswald, King o’ Northumbria, which then was the dominant rule in Britain. ’Twas here that Oswald himself decided if the future church was to follow the Celtic ways based on St. John’s and Jesus’ example o’ ministry or on the Roman ways, which were based upon St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s philosophy Ironically, the argument that won this newly saved king’s favor was presented by the Roman contingent—St. Peter holds the key to heaven’s gate. The aging king, bein’ concerned about his eternity
decided that while both sides had merit, he was going to throw in with the man who held the keys, and so the decision was made. The prevailing church was to follow the Roman tonsure o’ the bowl haircut with shaved crown over the druidic, which was long locks with a high-shaved forehead, and the Roman example o’ churches and priests equivalent to palaces and kings dedicated to God’s glory.