The Bwy Hir Complete Trilogy (6 page)

Finally satisfied everything was in order
, Afagddu made his way to his own meagre cell to prepare himself for the evening ahead. His body servant had already pressed his finest black robes and laid them carefully out on his bed. Warm water filled the bowl on his washstand and a small fire already graced the hearth warming the room.

Of his servant there was no sign
– he knew that Afagddu allowed no-one to watch him disrobe, a habit carried from his childhood. He hid his deformities away from a cruel, judgemental, ignorant world. Not even his own reflection was permitted to gaze upon his naked body, his private shame.

CHAPTER TEN

Mab stood naked in the centre of the clearing, immodestly twisting and turning to gaze at her body from every angle in the huge bronze mirror held by two beautiful Bwy Hir handmaidens. They cast encouraging glances to their
queen as they stood passively on either side of the mirror supporting its weight.

Tylwyth Teg
roamed through the clearing bearing refreshments for the Bwy Hir or tidying around them, keeping the place neat. Much smaller than the Bwy Hir, smaller even than Humans, the Tylwyth Teg where childlike in stature and most pleasing to behold. Both male and female were perfectly proportioned with the grace of dancers. They were shy and discreet, polite and capable. Humans called them fair-folk or fairies.

Mab critically viewed her reflection, running her hands over her sumptuous hips and thighs, tensing the mu
scles on her long, shapely legs, squinting and pulling her face checking for any hint of a wrinkle. ‘Oh, I’m fading!’ she wailed, as she threw her hands up, storming to gather her flowing green robes around her.

Awel clicked her tongue
. ‘You are not
fading
, Mab,’ she said testily. ‘Must we do this every year? There is time before the overwinter yet, time before we slumber.’ Awel fussed at her own robes, wishing she was half as beautiful as her queen until she checked herself.
I’m as vain as she is!
she thought, as she wriggled in her seat.

‘I
am
fading! I can feel it.’ Mab shuddered dramatically. ‘I can feel him too,’ referring to Aeron, ‘he is awake and potent. I can feel his strength from here already.’

‘So soon?’ questioned Awel
. ‘He gains power quickly.’

‘As quickly as I wane!’ Mab moaned, wringing her hands.

A sudden gust buffeted the dell, sending leaves and petals spiralling into the air. Upon it came the sound of the horn calling the male Bwy Hir to Council and announcing the imminent conclusion of Summer’s reign.

The unexpected shock of the
blast shattered the tranquillity of the glade and left chaos in its wake. The two Bwy Hir holding the mirror had released their grip, the mirror toppled backward to explode into glittering shards, the crash of breaking glass drowned by Mab’s frantic howl.

Awel jumped to her feet and straight into action. Grabbing the nearest handmaiden, she spun her round and shouted her instructions. ‘Gather the Pride!’ she yelled
. ‘Call them to Council immediately!’ she cried, sending her off with a push. ‘You!’ She pointed her finger at the other. ‘Bring Taliesin to me!’

Next was to tackle Mab who was sitting i
n a crumpled heap, head bowed in the middle of the clearing. Gently kneeling beside her, Awel placed a tentative arm around Mab’s shoulders. ‘We are running out of time my Queen. You must prepare your Pride.’ Awel’s voice was soft and gentle, a shelter in the coming storm.

Mab slowly raised her head. Soft lines had appeared on her face, etching crow’s feet at her eyes and deepening the lines around her mouth. She wiped a solitary tear from her cheek and sighed before slowly getting to her feet. ‘I need a moment, Awel
,’ she said, fondly squeezing Awel’s arm in thanks. ‘Go on ahead, they will be already gathering.’

Awel nodded, patting Mab’s forearm reassuringly. ‘If I were you I would take time to set my crown upon my brushed hair, maybe even change into a dress befitting my station before I joined the gathering
…’

Mab let out a small chuckle
. ‘Oh don’t worry,’ she replied, ‘I will remind everyone who is Queen, including Aeron if I must.’ Squaring her shoulders, Mab left the clearing with regal bearing and slipped from sight.

Awel was left alone to ponder for a brief moment before Taliesin skidded to a halt in front of her, panting and flushed
.
More like a puppy than a grown man,
she mused. ‘Well,’ she said with a raised eyebrow, ‘I suppose you will finally be leaving us.’

Taliesin’s face belied his words
. ‘I look forward to seeing my father once again.’

‘Of course you do.’ Awel endured the lie and continued. ‘But your mother must speak with you before you depart. She hadn’t anticipated you leaving so soon. Come with me to address the Pride and then we will go to your mother.’

They made their way together following the path that led to a shaded hollow among the trees. The dozens of lanterns swinging idly from emerald branches that formed the roof had already been lit, the orange glow from the central fire pit flickered and danced, white smoke twined up through the gap in the canopy into the dusky sky above.

Fifteen anxious faces greeted them as they entered the hollow and a hush fell over the gathering as Awel began to speak:

‘My fellow Bwy Hir, my Pride, my sisters of the Summer Realm, I give you thanks for your prompt attendance … As you all know, the Winter King has sounded the call to our brothers.’ There was a murmur of unrest at these words but Awel motioned them to quiet before she continued. ‘We are all surprised by Aeron’s early actions, but despite his impertinence, the Solstice is fast approaching and we must be prepared.’ Awel stole a sideways glance at Taliesin who stood quietly at her side; hopefully he would repeat her words to Aeron verbatim. There were giggles and whispering through the gathered Pride at her jibe at Aeron and she smiled. ‘Your Queen will join us presently, but while we wait she has bidden us to eat, drink and celebrate another successful reign.’ A cheer went up and she closed her speech.

Somewhere in the hollow a flute sprang to life
and was quickly accompanied by the beat of a Bodhran. As the merriments began she accompanied Taliesin to his mother’s pavilion. The grand silk tent was held aloft by stout hazel poles braced with barley coloured ropes and staked into the ground with copper pickets. His mother’s richly embroidered tent was the biggest of the Pride’s and placed slightly apart from the rest to safeguard her privacy.

Taliesin presumed the lightly scented climbing roses and creeping ivy decorating the guy ropes were his mother’s doing, as were the
night scented stock nestled around the base. The thorn bushes surrounding the tent on three sides were definitely Awel’s contribution.

As they neared the entrance of the pavilion they could
hear Mab’s doleful voice singing a lament to all living things that must soon pass away with the fall of Summer. Awel gently brought Taliesin to a halt outside until his mother had finished the refrain, only then did they enter the antechamber.

‘I have Taliesin with me
,’ Awel called through the curtain leading to his mother’s bedchamber.

‘I know
,’ replied Mab, as she pulled back the curtain and invited them into her chamber. Kissing her son on both cheeks she motioned for them to sit on the silk trimmed cushions scattered around a low mahogany table.

They marvelled at her transformation. She wore an amber flowing gown, the bodice laced with gold and studded with tiny golden stars, over her shoulders was an ermine trimmed cloak with an embroidered sun emblazoned on the back, w
oven through her golden tresses were perfectly formed tiny dewy yellow roses, and a thick twisted gold torc befitting her status graced her neck. Mab looked resplendent.

‘You’ve come to say goodbye?’ Mab pouted at her son.

‘Only until we are reunited come Spring,’ replied her son, with a lump in his throat.

‘
Early
Spring!’ quipped Awel, in an attempt to break the mawkish mood. ‘Let’s see how Aeron likes his reign cut short.’

‘I will slumber soon my son,
once the Solstice is complete, and there will be no time to say our farewells during the gathering.’ Mab smiled sadly at her son. ‘But before you go with my blessing know that I will watch over you in my dreams, as always.’ Mab sat down gracefully next to her son. ‘There is one thing I must know before you leave … how did you do it?’

Taliesin almost missed the question. His mother had slipped it so cleanly into the conversation he didn’t have time to think of an evading answer. He stuttered and balked, blushed and stammered until Awel lost her patience. ‘Oh come on now, Tali!” she blustered in her usual gruff manner
. ‘You are Bwy Hir! Just tell us how you managed to treat your impotency.’

Taliesin’s jaw dropped open before trying to spring to his feet. Awel and Mab had neatly wedged him between them and pulled him back into his seat.

‘You will answer me, Taliesin,’ his mother warned. ‘Now, how did you do it? Did you steal the ateb from the Druids?’

‘I did not!’ he replied. They waited eagle-like for him to continue. ‘I made my own.’

Both women descended on him, demanding in unison, ‘How?’

Taliesin rolled the words around his head deciding where to start. ‘I studied hard all through last
Winter,’ he began, ‘I practically lived in the Great Library when not attending lessons with that relentless Druid Madog. So many tomes hinted and suggested at so many meanings, and with trial and error, mishap and mistake I finally stumbled upon a concoction that worked …’

‘How?’ they shrieked
. ‘What are its ingredients?’

‘Um,
mistletoe and goatsweed are the two main components.’

‘Horny
old goat weed?’ queried Awel excitedly.

‘Yes
,’ he replied, feeling them pressing closer to either side of him. ‘Hemlock, dwale and lovage in lesser quantities, belladonna …’

‘How is it bound, Tali?’
His mother’s voice was hushed.

Taliesin swallowed
. ‘… blood,’ he whispered.

Awel threw herself back amongst the cushions in disbelief.

‘What kind of blood?’ Mab’s voice had an edge of danger to it.

‘No, No!’ he exclaimed
. ‘Not Human, not even Druid – I would not break the covenant!’

An audible sigh of relief escaped from Awel before she knitted her brows in confusion. ‘Whose blood was it then? Oh no, you didn’t use an animal did you?’

But Mab did not have to wait for the answer, she already knew. ‘You used a Druid hound, didn’t you? You used the Helgi?’

‘Oh how revolting!’ Awel
’s nose wrinkled in disgust. ‘Clever, bordering on forbidden, but clever. Still, incredibly disgusting!’

Mab’s voice was intense
. ‘Tell me, the potion – were there any side effects? Rushes of anger, pain or sickness, memory loss?’

‘Nothing.’ Taliesin hadn’t considered the possibility of side effects until now
. ‘I just felt … right, good. My love for Anwen was increased by the potion. I wanted to love her, protect her, share myself with her, oh, I don’t know!’ He threw up his hands in frustration as Awel and Mab shared a look that conveyed surprise and possibilities.

Mab’s mind was rushing with suppositions and conclusions.
Could my son have created an ateb: a potion of our own, one that would lessen the sway the Druids held?
She marvelled at the possibility as she waited for her son’s obvious question. Taliesin came right out with it: ‘How did my potion cause Anwen to carry my seed? Have I discovered a superior ateb?’

Awel sat stock still while she waited for the secret to be spilt. A secret she had long harboured and bitterly regretted. Mab answered her son
. ‘Tali, your potion obviously aids your virility, but not your ability to reproduce. The answer to your question is a complex one, and one that must remain a secret ... Anwen Morgan of Ty Mawr carries a drop of Bwy Hir blood in her veins.’

Taliesin tried to make sense of what his mother had just told him, swinging his head toward Awel she turned away from him, jaw clenched shut. Swinging back to his mother he saw she too was tight lipped. ‘Is someone going to tell me how that is even possible?’ Taliesin
turned his head left and right.

‘No
,’ his mother replied simply, ‘and neither will you find it written in a stuffy Druid library. Do not push this Tali, you are in trouble enough. You must tell your father none of this, not one word. You may have changed our world, maybe for the better, but you will not breathe a word of it, not yet.’

He nodded solemnly. Awel roughed his hair and smiled kindly at him before cuffing him across the back of his head. ‘We must study your
ateb, Tali, everything you have on it, so you will leave every drop of that potion here when you go, and stay away from the girl from now on, she is in enough danger already!’

‘I’ll miss you too, Awel!” Taliesin rubbed the back of his head.

‘You take care of yourself boy.’ She hauled herself to her feet and made her way to the tent flap. ‘I’ll leave you two alone for a while. Come join the celebration once you’ve said your goodbyes but be quick about it before Oli-Gin drinks us dry!’ Awel lifted her hand to her mouth and mimicked guzzling too much alcohol.

They both laughed at Awel
’s parody. Oli-Gin was a nickname for a very beautiful amber-eyed Bwy Hir named Olwyn, who had an unusual affliction; she was always thirsty and was notorious for her excesses with drink, especially alcohol.

Mother and son sat in silence, lingering over their last few moments together. Taliesin was first to break the silence. ‘Mother
…’