Page 29 of Warrior Queen
“Call me Caninus, please.”
“And I’m Guinevere.”
He grinned. I’d only ever seen him at the Council of Kings, when he’d been busy conducting the council, a position afforded to him due to his late father’s status. Then, he’d seemed austere and aloof, a man very conscious of his responsibilities. Now, his almost boyish grin transformed his face, giving him a look of his cousin Arthur in the best of moods. “Welcome to my palace, Guinevere.”
I couldn’t help but smile back. “Thank you, Caninus.”
He gestured to the seats around the table, and we all sat down, not quite close enough for me to be able to see what papers he’d been working on. I saw so little of the written word here, naturally I was nosy.
“What can I do for you both?”
“We’re looking for my husband,” I said, coming straight to the point. “He’s needed in the northeast. We’ve had messengers from King Coel of Bryneich.” While Merlin sat and listened, I recounted everything Cadman had told me, finishing with, “Do you have any idea where Arthur is?”
With obvious regret, Caninus shook his head. “Not now, I’m afraid. Hewashere, of course, but not for long. There’s been trouble with the Irish all along the south coast between here and Dyfed. Even at Caer Legeion, well defended as it is. The Irish raiders swooped in and managed to set fire to some of the fleet. I marched to the coast with my army, but they’d already fled. That’s our biggest problem– in their ships they can strike anywhere they like, and are away before I, or any of the kings, have time to react. On Arthur’s orders, Theodoric has taken the rest of his ships to sea to try to follow them. But the sea is large, and ships are small…”
He shook his head. “Arthur rode west from here, trailing them along the coast, but that was weeks ago. I’ve heard nothing since.”
Much as I’d feared. South Wales stretched over a hundred miles west, and finding Arthur, despite the size of his army, would be like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. I glanced at Merlin for help.
He rubbed his chin, the sound of his stubble scraping loud in the silence. Then he fixed his eyes on Caninus. “We don’t know this coastline well. But you must have men who do. Can you send out scouts to see if they can locate him? That would be better than us marching further west where we might completely miss him by just a few miles.”
Caninus leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes alight. “I do indeed have such men, and stations where they can get fresh horses. I’ll dispatch them at first light. It’s possible his army may be as far west as Dyfed, though. Agricola’s lands are rich and attractive to raiders, but his coastline has high cliffs and rock-infested waters, as well as being well-defended. Let’s hope Arthur’s not gone that far.”
Merlin nodded. “Thank you. That would suit us well. The Queen’s men are tired and in need of a day or two of rest. As are we.”
Caninus glanced at me. “Are your men installed in the mansio?”
I nodded. “Very comfortably. We are as well.”
He got to his feet. “Nonsense. You’ll be staying here for the next few days whilst we await the return of my scouts. I’ll not take no for an answer.”
*
I had toadmit the rooms allotted to me in Caninus’s palace were a lot larger and more comfortable than the cell-like room I’d had in the mansio. And the bed much more comfortable than the one Meirchion of Rheged had given me when Arthur and I had stayed a night at Caer Ligualid at the western end of the Wall. But I felt a bit guilty at abandoning the men I was supposed to be leading. However, they didn’t seem to feel the same, and it took Merlin to point out that without me to watch over them, they’d feel a lot freer to enjoy the fleshpots of Caer Went.
How typical.
“I do hope they don’t take Rhiwallon,” I said to Merlin, as we stood in the walkway outside our rooms, which were side by side. “He’s only fourteen.”
Merlin chuckled. “High time he became a man then, in more ways than one. If he’s old enough to fight, then he’s old enough to drink and whore.”
I clamped my lips together to keep down the reply itching to burst out. A lot of things about the fifth century went against everything I’d been brought up to believe. And growing up too soon was one of them. Although probably becoming a warrior at fourteen and being initiated sexually by some stranger was better than working in a cotton mill or down a mine in the nineteenth century. Was it only a modern idea that children should remain children for such a long time? Maybe I’d better say goodnight to Merlin before I said something I’d regret.
I went into my room, closing the door behind me with more energy than it required. But he probably didn’t get the message.
*
We remained atCaer Went for three long days. The men seemed to be taking full advantage of the pleasures of the town, both in the taverns and in the brothels– which very handily occupied a side street only a stone’s throw from the mansio. Probably by design. I made no enquiries about what Rhiwallon and the other boys had been up to, so I wouldn’t have to lie to Coventina if she asked me.
Late on the third day, the first of the scouts arrived back, and Caninus asked Merlin and me to come to his office.
He was seated at his long table, with two mud-splattered and travel-weary young warriors standing before him. We took our seats beside the king, and he indicated to his men to repeat what they’d discovered.
The first young man cleared his throat. “I rode as far as Moridunum, at top speed as you said. Changed horses as often as I found new ones. The same on the return. But the High King hadn’t been there. Nor had any of the innkeepers where I took food and changed horses seen him or his army.”
The second man, younger and slighter, with a shock of short, upright-standing ginger hair, stepped forward. “I had better luck. I took the road southwest, skirting the coastal settlements. There’s been much raiding down there– villages burnt and people slaughtered or snatched. I was able to follow the High King’s trail west. I found not just fishing villages destroyed but farms inland raided, as well. And the heathens had desecrated the churches and murdered the priests. But everywhere I went, I found the High King had been there first. He left me a handy trail of dead Irishmen to follow. Those who survived in the villages had hung the raiders’ bodies from their gallows trees.”
My hopes rose. “And did you catch up with him?”
