I woke up to Anwthyn gently shaking my shoulder. It seemed that only a few moments had passed, but it was now dark outside. "Brynn? Brynn wake up. Supper time. The chiefs are assembled and waiting."
I felt groggy, wishing I could sleep for another four or five days. "Very good. Thank you. I'll be right there." Anwthyn nodded and left. I stood up and splashed cold water on my face from the basin in the corner, which helped some. Then I ran a few fingers through my hair, straightened my clothing as best I could, and went out the tent flap.
I met my brother outside, and he escorted me to the meal. Supper was served in a large tent. When Anwthyn and I entered, the men stood and saluted. A dozen or so leaders of my army had crammed into the tent to see me. I noticed Cleo and Nick were also there, though Damon was absent.
"All Hail Queen Brynn!" shouted Ulrich, the massive northerner.
Cleo rose and clapped, though she looked a little drained.
I was surprised at the turnout, but then I broke into a wide grin at Ulrich's pronouncement. Protocol shot, I gave the big notherner a bear hug. "We did it!" I shouted, laughing. "We DID it!"
"You did, girl. You did," Ulrich shouted back. "All we did was lug oursel's across the hills. I hear ye had a wee set-to with His Majesty. Tell us about it!"
"I need a drink of wine first!" I cried, looking about the room. My eyes lighted on Cleo and Nick, and I nodded at them, smiling, then turned my attention back to looking for that drink. A servant appeared instantly with a cup and filled it.
I took a long drink, then I took a deep breath and addressed the tent. I told them about Damon. I told them about the last battle of wills with Gwynn, and Damon's part in it. I told them about Rhonwen, my mother, and how valiant she was. I ended my story with a toast to my father, "To Llewellen Powys, gentle and fair ruler of Selwyn, foully murdered for Gwynn's ambition and greed. You have been avenged at last! Peaceful now may you rest, your soul far beyond the Unmaking!" I drank deeply and then raised my cup again in another salute. "I have secured the fealty of the barons, save for one, and the loyalty of the castle guard. The fighting here has stopped, and now it is time for us to finally march into Caer Langreth as victors! We shall have to declare a Festival on that day, to be celebrated every year. I believe that will be my first official act!"
My men raised their cups and cheered.
I paused, happy and smiling for the first time in as long as I could remember, even though there were still grave issues waiting in the wings to be settled. "There is more. Our older brother Fellis is still alive. He was a prisoner of Gwynn's, and is almost completely wasted away, but I will see if I can heal him. I pray to the Great Maker that I am strong enough."
"Aye," said Anwthyn, "and there's still Liam's army, half again as big as ours, even now. He's still out there in the hills. But he let us go, so I've a mind to think he'll join you when he sees you've won. Oh, and here are the strangers you wanted brought," Anwthyn continued. "We met before the battle. Sister Cleo is a bard of the order of a saint called George. She sang us a song of victory." Clapping Nick on the shoulder, who was sitting next to him, Anwthyn smiled at Cleo and said, "It worked! I'll build a chapel to this George!"
Cleo looked at Nick and mouthed, "Sister Cleo?" Then she grinned and laughed. "Fair Prince, Saint George would be better served with a home for the poor and wayward....that would be the best sort of chapel one could build for him."
I grinned along with my brother. "Sing us this victory song, then, Sister Cleo. I would hear it!"
Cleo looked around, looked down at her stained, ripped attire and smiled, "Your most victorious Majesty, it would truly be my pleasure...." She paused for a moment and then smiled, "Alright...this is the best I can think up on short notice."
It's a kind of magic
It's a kind of magic
A kind of magic
One dream one soul one prize one goal
One golden glance of what should be
It's a kind of magic
One shaft of light that shows the way
No mortal man can win this day
It's a kind of magic
I sat down to listen, smiling and enjoying Cleo's voice.
The bell that rings inside your mind
Is challenging the doors of time
It's a kind of magic
The waiting seems eternity
The day will dawn of sanity
Is this a kind of magic
It's a kind of magic
There can be only one
This rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be done
This flame that burns inside of me
I'm here in secret harmonies
It's a kind of magic
The bell that rings inside your mind
Is challenging the doors of time
It's a kind of magic
It's a kind of magic
The rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be will soon be
Will soon be done
This is a kind of magic
There can be only one
This rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be done-done Magic - it's a kind of magic
It's a kind of magic
Magic magic magic magic
Ha ha ha it's magic
It's a kind of magic
I clapped loudly along with the rest, grinning. "Wonderful, wonderful!" I caught a servant attending the group. "Bring the food, starting with Sister Cleo here. She's more than earned her supper!"
Cleo sat down and smiled, "Thanks much."
I turned to Cleo. "And perhaps we'll hear you perform again after eating, hmm?" Then, in a lower voice, "Where's Damon?"
"Oh sure, " Cleo smiled, then winced when I mentioned Damon, "You and I need to talk," she whispered.
I frowned, concerned, and drew Cleo away from general earshot of the other men in the tent. The servants bringing in supper helped add to the distraction.
"What happened?" I asked.
She looked at me for a long moment, then asked, "What you do...have you ever meet anyone else that could do it....is it common here?"
My frown turned puzzled. "Do what?"
"The thing with the ground...okay...do you heal pretty quickly...you don't get sick much...you are stong fast...stronger and faster than just about anyone?"
My puzzled frown then turned guarded. "The thing with the ground runs in my family. It's control of blood magics--our blood, not someone else's--and only my older brother Fellis and I can do it. It doesn't always run true, and isn't always passed down." I nodded to Anwthyn as an example. "As for the others...well, I am stronger than most men I meet." I paused, thinking. "Than any man I've met. So? I don't understand what this has to do with Damon."
Cleo nodded and sighed, "Damon said we are sisters...half sisters I would imagine."
My face paled slightly. I put a few fingers over Cleo's mouth, silencing her. "We will speak of this later in private, but in front of these men I am Llewellen's daughter. That's very important--otherwise you could well start another war. Do you understand?" My manner was insistant, my tone commanding.
"Ah shit...he was telling the truth," Cleo mused outloud.
I sighed and ran a hand over my face while glancing somewhat nervously at the other men in the tent.
Cleo nodded, "Don't worry. I saw enough carnage for a lifetime and I get the feeling this is just the beginning."
I looked back at her sharply, not understanding.
Then she smiled and suddenly hugged me, whispering in my ear, "But I am so glad to have a sister."
I returned the gesture, but awkwardly. I wasn't very accustomed to hugging, nor to being so open with my emotions. "Yes, we will definitely have to talk privately later," I whispered back in a low voice. Then I released her, and asked in a more normal voice, "Now where is Damon?"
"I don't kiss and tell," Cleo grinned. "No seriously, I have no idea."
I frowned. "I was hoping he'd take me back to Caer Langreth tonight," I commented, mostly to myself, then turned as servants come in through the tent doorway with more plates.
"Your meal is here," I said, clapping Cleo on the shoulder. "I hope you enjoy it, though it won't be very fancy. Perhaps you'll sing some more afterwards?"
"You bet, your Highness. The muse at your service."
"Very good and thank you. It helps the men's morale. Enjoy yourself, then." I nodded and returned to Anwthyn's side.
Cleo smiled back and resumed her seat next to Nick.
The meal proceeded with much excited talk of victory, peace, land, and sweethearts. The fare was simple soldier's food, washed down with a few good bottles of wine appropriated from a nearby monastary.
Towards the middle of the evening, a cold wind blew through the tent and a mist seeped up from the ground. The tent flap flew open, revealing sleeping guards and a lone figure standing in the entryway. It was draped in a tattered brown cloak and cowl which completely obscured its face. The figure glided on a cushion of mist toward the center of the room and turned toward us.
One arm stretched out toward the assembly. "Now is the hour of reckoning come. The ancient powers struggle against the bonds of your fathers. Beware, oh princess of the blood--your life seeps quietly into shadow while the throne sits empty."
I stood. "The throne is not empty!" I declared. "I sit on it as Powys for this land!"
Cleo turned to Nick and whispered , "Let me guess...this is about Aurelius."
I heard her comment, and bristled at the name, but had no time to follow up on it, for the figure continued, "Beware the Crystal. You have been warned. Soon Mabh Gwythion and Caerdylon shall fall, and the line of Powys with them."
I drew my sword and pointed it at the figure. "Never!" I cried. "Begone from here, foul spectre!"
"I hear and obey, child queen." The figure bowed from the waist. Turning to Cleo it said, "In Mabh Gwythion your future lies, incantress. So says the Cloudmaster." Then the figure turned to go and was swallowed in the mists.
Cleo had this pale, slack jaw look, "Um...thanks."
The knights clamored suddenly, seeking the figure, but it was gone.
My eyes smouldered. I raised my voice to be heard above the men in the room. "Cleo, that talk that we were going to have later? We're going to have it now, in my tent. Anwthyn, please come with us. Ulrich, start preparations for breaking camp. We march back to Caer Langreth within the hour."
The men moved to do as bidden. Anwthyn stood at my side, Nick at Cleo's.
"Let's go," I said grimly, leaving my wine behind. "Nick is free to accompany Cleo, if he wishes."
Cleo stood and exclaimed, "I wasn't in Dallas...I am not even old enough....." She bit her lip and looked lost somewhere between laughing and crying. "Yes, ma'am." She turned and walked out behind me.
I walked back to the tent I'd slept in and opened the flap for the others to enter. I set a guard outside to see that we were not disturbed and motioned everyone to find a seat. I prefered to stand. Once they were all seated, I asked Cleo, "What is Mabh Gwythion and Caerdylon, and who is the Cloudmaster?"
Cleo's dark eyes grew wide, "Um...why are you asking me...I thought you knew."
I frowned. I did know about Mabh Gwythion and Caerdylon. Those two places just kept coming up. I was hoping that by playing dumb I could get new information about them from Cleo. The Cloudmaster I had no clue about. "I am asking because that part of the warning was directed to you, and no, I do not know those things either. The spectre named you an incantress. Are you?"
Cleo looked at Nick and then sighed, "Yes... I am...I think...Please understand something...yesterday I came from a world where I thought there was no magick...no demons...no angels...no anything like all this...so if I seem...confused and befuddled it is because I am...but I do think that this...has to do with...your blood line and mine."
I stole an uncomfortable glance at Anwthyn at her last statement, then looked back at her. "What do you mean, 'you came from a world'? Do you mean a different land? To the south from here?"
"Yes, Majesty," said Nick. "From Earth."
I glanced at Anwthyn. "I know of no land south of here called Earth, do you?"
He looked as though this whole conversation was mad and shook his head.
"No, I meant that we are from another world. Earth. We fled here and then ran into your battle in progress," Nick explained.
"A world completely different from yours..only magick brings them together," Cleo added.
I blinked. "You are serious...?" I asked them. At the expressions on their faces, I finally decided to sit down myself. "You said you fled here. What were you fleeing from?"
Cleo looked at Nick, "We were being chased by demons...I was driving the car after the cabbie had taken a bullet to the head and then we were going to go into a tunnel and somehow...I don't remember anything but wanting to be away from the demons...and we then we were in this cave...and when we got out...well...we were here."
"Who is your father, Cleo, that you keep mentioning? Is he involved in this?" I asked.
"I am told by Nick that his name is Aurelius...big shoulders, black beard and bright blue eyes.....I don't know if he is involved, I have never met him...he left Nick as my guardian...but dimes to donuts those demons were after me cause of him...I go to church, say my prayers and Nicky is my only sin, so they weren't after me cause Ole Morning Star sent them." She ends with a slight smile.
I'm sure Cleo could tell by my expression that a majority of what she just said went over my head.
I took a deep breath and turned to look at Anwthyn. "Mother told me that Llewellen, your father, was not mine. She lead Gwynn to believe I was his, and I believe that's why he didn't kill me outright when I was taken prisoner."
Anwthyn nodded. "Ulrich told me this much."
I continued, "She also told me that my father's name was Aurelius, and that he was a trader from the south. She had a locket that had his picture in it·she tried to give it to me·but I threw it down and left. We didn't speak about it after that, and after that she was captured by Gwynn and there was no opportunity."
Anwthyn frowned. He went over to his pack and fumbled for a moment, then returned. "I knew something had happened between you and Mother. I could tell by your faces. A few days before she left us, she gave this to me." He handed me a locket. It looked like the same one I'd refused to open all that time ago. "She told me to give it to you, that it was yours, and that I would know when the time was right. I guess the time is right now."
Carefully, my fingers trembling, I opened the locket.
It contained two miniature paintings. On the left was a painting of Rhonwen as a very young woman, several years younger than I was now, and very beautiful. The other was of a tall, handsome man. He had piercing blue eyes and a neat black beard. They faced each other and seem to gaze at each other, tenderly. The man fit Cleo's description exactly.
I frowned mightily, not liking the situation at all. I just wanted to be Llewellen's daughter, not fight legitimacy battles because of a father I'd never seen. Damn Mother anyway!
I closed the locket, then threw it on the ground for a second time. I ground my booted heel on the delicate piece, breaking it, then stomped out of the tent. "We're marching back to Caer Langreth within the hour!" I shouted back over my shoulder.
Anwthyn looked at Cleo and Nick and shrugged. "Excuse me," he said, then ran to catch up with me.