The Bretwalda (The Casere Book 4) (5 page)

‘So you think you will be okay without me? Not going to get yourself killed are you.’ Derryth asked as he hugged his friend farewell.

‘I should be okay. I do have the Nobatians around. Maybe they’ll save me if I need saving. If not the Kerchians.’

‘The Iladions are also there. So what will you do while I’m here?’

‘I’m going to spend time in each of my demesne – starting in Pontia. Agdis is still there and that is a conversation that I haven’t finished – though I will have to do so at some time.’

‘When do you think you will be back here in Meshech?’

‘I don’t know. But I think we do have some time. The Axum have a lot of disappointment to sort through and recriminations to effect. Kutidi and Dagrun will let us know when the Ancuman are going to invade. Anyway, Njil will always know where I am should anyone need me.’

As they talked Kaltor and Caewyn came, farewelled him, and then rode away. Derryth pointed out the unmistakable. ‘Caewyn is happy – we seem to have found the bedda she was looking for.’

‘And Wilric as well. Siga seems quite taken with him.’ Wilric was surprisingly besotted with the young girl – a feeling he found a little confusing. Luckily the attraction was mutual.

‘Indeed. We are excellent matchmakers.’

Elva was the last to leave his side. She kissed him again. ‘I would go with you but Caewyn says no. I think that she intends that I join with one of the Neritum wiga. Perhaps our son will have a brother or sister.’ She spoke evenly, without emotion.

‘If that is what you want, I’m happy for you.’

She nodded. ‘Yes, I think so. Farewell, Feorhhyrde, I will see you again in a few years.’ With that she mounted the Elfina, who deliberately pushed him out of the way her head as she passed, and rode away to join the long line of horses. The Elfina always seemed to want to mess with him.

It was another day before he was finally back on the schooner. Njil took them to sea and set a course for Sytha. The trip would take over twenty days depending on the winds.

He was going back to Subari and his hird. He would have to tell the six-year-old Sarun that his mother wasn’t coming home. At least he had Asbera with him, four Nobatians wiga who would probably spoil him rotten, and a sister, Allynne, who he didn’t know, but would be there to distract him. He would then wait to see what the Ancuman did next. He hoped he had some time.

Chapter 5
Eight Eighty-Five

It turned out that he did have time – there was nothing out of the ordinary in the reports that flowed in via Njil or the fleet of trading ships that plied their way around and between Meshech and Sytha. For some years. An accidental one of two even made their way to Aeaea – a former Gatina ship’s master with a history with Ancuman. He was thus free to make his way around his entire demesne in Sytha - from Subari to Kerch, Sinope, Kapisi, and Rila. There was much to do and he hoped that he had the time to do it before he had to leave again – every time he left, he wondered if he was ever coming back.

He was more than ready when the Ancuman started to mobilize, and he left immediately for Rakia.

~oo0oo~

‘I heard you were finally back.’

Unexpected as it was, the familiarity of the voice startled him; he had been standing in quiet contemplation at the top of the refurbished stone donjon overlooking the vast cultivated lands that surrounded Rakiak. He was alone; Derryth stood at the other end of the tower speaking to a few of his children who had travelled with him from Sytha. Conn was finally back in Meshech. They had arrived on sunrise, and had quietly entered and docked at the harbour. After a few formal greetings, he had escaped to the top of the donjon to contemplate the passage of time.

It had been six years since he made the quick visit to rescue Alana from the folgere in Aeaea, and he had spent the time since presiding over his vast demesnes in Sytha, waiting for the Ancuman to enact the next step in their plan to seek revenge against his interference. It had only been a question of time. The time was now.

He had also spent the years setting “things” up so that if he didn’t return, life would go on regardless. He no longer held a single title in Sytha except for one – as Marquis of Kerch. One of his realizations was that the position of Casere didn’t mean much to the Ancuman who fought in Sytha eight hundred years ago – their hatred was directed at the Marquis of Kerch. The positon of Casere was created solely to bind the Priecuman forces in Sytha together into a single fyrd, and it was that fyrd that defeated the Ancuman. The Casere was mostly unknown to the Ancuman until he arrived in Meshech. It soon meant something here; though ironically, it had failed when put to the test years later. In Conn’s time, it had not needed to be recreated. He had found other ways get the support of the people he needed.

It Sytha, things would continue without him because he had the Iladions and the Kerchians there to ensure that nothing would get too far off course. Their loyalty was never in question. The Merians were primarily loyal to each other and he was seen as little more than a seed provider – as most men were. Despite him, their system would endure with his daughters as the next generation of Mundbora and Mundborak.

There was no logical reason to think that he wouldn’t return to Sytha because there was no reason to believe that his “luck” was going to run out anytime soon. He had been phenomenally lucky his whole life. His father always said that good luck was a response to good planning, good skills and good karma. There was an inbuilt contradiction in the expression but luck was itself a contradiction. That being said, as he had sailed away from Sytha, he had a sudden realization that he wasn’t going to return. Despite a twinge of sadness, he knew that he had accomplished as much as he could.

His reflection disturbed, he looked round to see a woman standing before him. At first he did not recognize her, but that was because he was expecting change. It was Halla il Cyme, and she hadn’t changed – at all. It was almost eighteen years since she had been made theow and eleven years since he had last seen her when he left Meshech for Sytha. She was the Aebeling of Cyme when he left – after he had convinced the Gyden to take her back. She had obviously been running to find him; her breasts quivering as she stood panting for air.

‘Halla? Halla, it is you. By the Gyden, you look amazing.’

‘As do you; you haven’t aged.’

He held her in his arms. ‘Neither have you. I don’t understand.’

She held up the silver bracelets that every Valkeri wore – except everyone else wore gold. ‘It is your fault – these things are cursed. I have been told by Moana that as far as she can determine I am bound to you in some way as well as to my Gyden so it would seem I don’t age. It is most inconvenient and embarrassing.’

He held her back to look at her again. The outfit was very flattering to her figure and her cleavage was substantial and heavily exposed. In fact, her breasts found some difficulty staying in place.

‘You do look amazing!’

She smiled seductively. ‘You said that. Perhaps we can go somewhere more private so that you can say it again – without the encumbrances of clothing.’

‘What, now?’

‘Anything else you really need to do in the immediate future?’

‘Well, no. I guess not.’

‘Good; come this way. My rooms are very close and my needs are very great.’

Conn turned to look at Derryth who had noticed Halla arrived. Conn indicated that he would be back in five and turned and followed Halla down the tower. On the second floor, she turned and opened the door to a small room. It was dark and used for storage. There was a small opening high up that let in some light. He walked in and she closed the door behind him; opening up her top and started to remove her pants.

‘This is your room?’

‘No, you fool. This is the closest available space for fornication. Now take off your pants.’

~oo0oo~

When they returned to the roof Halla was feeling a little better and Derryth was surrounded by a large group of young people. From Sytha he had brought his two half Ancuman children; Asbera il Nobatia and Sarun il Alwa. Asbera was nineteen and Sarun was twelve. He had both of Lile’s daughters with him as well; Meghan, future Marquis of Rila, and her sister Cerana. He was going to send them to Cyme for a couple of years. The others he hadn’t seen for some time; all girls except for one boy – Halla’s son, the fifteen-year-old Ewan, future Eaorl of Tindara.

Ewan came and hugged him; he had spent his first twelve years with Conn in Sytha before spending a year with Njil and then joining the Lykian cavalry. That regiment was the best in Meshech. Most of the others had spent at least a year with Conn in various parts of Sytha.

Some he had never seen since they were babies. They were all under twelve; the daughters of Aisly il Trokia, Fiona il Gatina, Granuaile il Mazra, Torunn il Cyme, Jofrid il Cyme, and Ailidh il Silekia. All had spent a lot of time training in Cyme. Halla introduced them to him.

After greeting them all, Conn turned back to Halla.

‘You brought everyone back? Is that why you are here?’

‘I did. Although the main fleet from Kishdah did nothing unexpected – other than of course invading Trokia, there were lots of strange boats around Cyme – brigands mostly. All Rakians. It would seem they had been living in Kishdah. We could defend Cyme but it didn’t seem to be worth the lives if we could easily remove the attraction.

Conn nodded. The Ancuman Gyden was still intent on capturing one of his daughters to use as a sacrifice. A lot of his resources had been devoted to ensuring that it never happened.

‘Very well.’ He turned and looked back at the large group of dark brown haired but blue eyed children. ‘Shall we all go down to the hall. I think I have some Colonels waiting to brief me on the current situation. You can all join me.’

As they walked down off the tower they passed the six Ancuman women and one young man who had been waiting patiently. Four were wiga; Asbera’s guards. The other two were his adopted daughters Disetha and Albega; daughters of Agdis il Axum.

Not long after he had returned to Pontian he had ended his relationship with Agdis and found her a bedda amongst the small group of Ancuman who had been inadvertently left behind in the expulsion. Assured that they were in no danger, most stayed and worked for Conn in one of his many operations. Despite a new family, Agdis has surprised Conn by asking if her daughters could stay with him – even as bedda if he so desired. He agreed, but always treated them as adopted children. When he told her he was going to Meshech, hinting that he may not return, she surprised him again by asking that he take the girls with him.

The young man in the group was Vigbert il Axum; another adopted child; he was the son of Dagarr, the “deposed” Ancuman Steward of Bata in Meria. Dagarr was sailing the seas while Conn raised his son. He was fifteen and his mother was Merian, Kytha il Sinope, younger sister of his first Merian bedda, Cynilda.

~oo0oo~

It was now the end of spring. A few lunars ago he had word that the Ancuman were on the move. Kutidi had been able to get a message through that nearly two thousand ships had arrived in Aeaea and were on their way to Meshech. The news had caught Conn slightly unprepared. He had expected that it would be mid-summer before they arrived but they had managed to get themselves organized enough to arrive three lunars early. Not that it mattered; two messages left Aeaea, one went to Sytha while the other went to Cyme. From Cyme, the message spread quickly and the measures that he had put in place in preparation for the invasion were enacted. Pigeons flew and people moved into action to prevent the Ancuman taking control of Meshech.

Conn presumed that the Ancuman forces would land in Trokia – it was certainly the easiest place to land a force of that size as the Eaorl of Emana’s domain was flat and unwooded, and the beaches able to handle the cogs for unloading. They would know that. The strong winds of the ocean kept the trees to a minimum – but there were lots of sheep and cattle grazing the abundant grasslands.             

Well, there would have been if Conn hadn’t gotten the Eaorl in the vicinity to move the majority of his herds and flocks away – as well as their people in anticipation of the marauding invaders. The older folk volunteered to stay behind and keep an eye on things. Conn presumed that they wouldn’t be in too much danger, but any one of a suitable age that could be sold as a theow went somewhere else.

With the herds and people gone, Conn imagined that the Ancuman wiga had been most disappointed with their initial foray. Conn knew that the commander of the invading force was none other than the Aebeling of Kishdah, Finnrun il Axum. He would have been even more disappointed after he arrived outside of Trokiak to find everyone behind high walls; with enough firepower and catapults to prevent him ever taking the town.

And then to lose control of the ocean and a third of his fleet because he tried to take the port of Zedah – and found Conn’s Kadesh fleet there to meet them. What ships didn’t sink, soon surrendered as most of the sailors were from the Southern Isles. That would have made the Aebeling of Kishdah very upset. The surrenders were probably made easier by rumour widespread in Aeaea that the Marquis of Kerch would not sell as theow any Southern Isle wiga who surrendered, ever.

But not all things go to plan. After arriving in Trokia and finding it impenetrable, the Aebeling then did something Conn hadn’t planned for – he split the fyrd into two; half headed for Gatina and the other half for Kania.

The half that headed for Kania travelled through the mountains – an arduous and slow trek but effective as it avoided the stone castles Conn had created specially to stop an invasion of Kania. The fyrd arrived outside of Dor and stayed for a day before moving on. Whilst it annoyed him, Conn nonetheless admired the flexibility shown by the commander. In Kania, the Earldom of Tamar was then easily overrun because the attack was unexpected. That was all he knew about that front.

The other front in Gatina was much more active. The Axum fyrd soon overran all the demesne down the coast, including Ridlah, Mazra, and Katane, and they were now all under Ancuman control. What they didn’t stay to control, they burnt to the ground. Unfortunately, they had not tried to capture Oxmon. It was unfortunate because an attack on the brand new star fort would have wreaked huge losses on the Ancuman fyrd. It was currently surrounded but losses of Ancuman wiga had been minimal. After surrounding it, the Ancuman headed to Gatinak.

All this Conn knew because he had stopped in at Atrak on the journey back to Meshech to collect the intelligence reports prepared for him.

To the side of the great hall that was being prepared for a feast, the commanders of his fyrd had set up a war room and all stood to attention as he arrived. He acknowledged their salute and ordered them all to sit. His family sat around the outside.

A large map sat in the centre of the room and on it was placed tokens to show the current situation of the war; the blue, red, green and gold for the Meshech army and black for the Ancuman.

Before he had left for Sytha, he had set up a “new” Meshechian army made up of four Regiments identified by the colour of their tunics – the Red Jackets, Green Jackets, Blue Jackets and Grey Jackets – rather than their tribal associations, despite that still being a strong feature of their composition and recruitment. The overall Commander of the Meshechian Army was his old friend and neighbour, Sir Wynstan il Tabae, with the Rank of Brigadier. The Reds were led by Colonel Wigbert il Neh; the Blues by Colonel Egstan il Motya, the Greys by Colonel Eldward il Durah and the Greens by Colonel Kenoth il Enak. Of the commanders, only Sir Wynstan was present, while Majors acted as liaisons for their Regiments.

Conn studied the map before pointing to the black token of the Aebeling in Mazra. ‘Were there many casualties?’