Chapter Thirteen

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B rother Cadfael walked the crest of the dunes inthe early evening of the third day, and saw the Danish cargo shipsbeached in the shallows below him, and the line of men, strippedhalf-naked to wade from shore to ships, ferrying the barrels ofsilver pence aboard, and stowing them under foredeck and afterdeck.Two thousand marks within those small, heavy containers. No,somewhat less, for by all accounts the sumpter horses and certaincattle were to go with them as part of Otir’s fee. For Hywelwas back from Llanbadarn before noon, and by all accounts thedrovers would not be far behind.

Tomorrow it would all be over. The Danes would raise anchor andsail for home, Owain’s force would see them off Welsh soil,and then return to Carnarvon, and from there disperse to theirhomes. Heledd would be restored to her bridegroom, Cadfael and Markto their duties left behind and almost forgotten in England. AndCadwaladr? By this time Cadfael was sure that Cadwaladr would berestored to some degree of power and certain of his old lands, oncethis matter was put by. Owain could not for ever hold out againsthis blood. Moreover, after every dismay and exasperation hisbrother had cost him, always Owain hoped and believed that therewould be a change, a lesson learned, a folly or a crime regretted.So there was, but briefly. Cadwaladr would never change.

Down on the steel-grey shingle Hywel ab Owain stood to watch theloading of the treasure he had brought from Llanbadarn. There wasno haste, doubtful if they could put the beasts aboard until themorrow, even if they reached here before night. Down there onneutral ground Dane and Welshman brushed shoulders amicably,content to part with debts paid and no blood shed. The affair hadalmost become a matter of marketing. That would not suit thewildest of Owain’s clansmen. It was to be hoped he had themall well in hand, or there might be fighting yet. They did not liketo see silver being bled away from Wales into Dublin, even if itwas silver pledged, a debt of honor. But steadily the small barrelspassed from man to man, the sunbrowned backs bending and swaying,the muscular arms extending the chain from beach to hold. Abouttheir bared legs the shallow water plashed in palest blues andgreens over the gold of sand, and the sky above them was bluealmost to whiteness, with a scatter of whiter clouds diaphanous asfeathers. A radiant day in a fine, settled summer.

From the stockade Cadwaladr was also watching the shipment ofhis ransom, with his stolid shadow Torsten at his shoulder. Cadfaelhad observed them, withdrawn a little to his right, Torstenplacidly content, Cadwaladr stormy-browed and grim, but resigned tohis loss. Turcaill was down there aboard the nearest of the ships,hoisting the barrels in under the after deck, and Otir stood withHywel, surveying the scene benignly.

Heledd came over the crest, and made her way down through thescrub and the salt grasses to stand at Cadfael’s side. Shelooked down at the activities stretching out from beach to ship,and her face was calm and almost indifferent. “There arestill the cattle to get aboard,” she said. “A roughvoyage it will be for them. They tell me that crossing can beterrible.”

“In such fine weather,” said Cadfael, matching hertone, “they’ll have an easy passage.” No need toask from which of them she had that information.

“By tomorrow night,” she said, “they’llbe gone. A good deliverance for us all.” And her voice wasserene and even fervent, and her eyes followed the movements of thelast of the porters as he waded ashore, bright water flashing abouthis ankles. Turcaill stood on the after-deck for some moments,surveying the result of their labors, before he swung himself overthe side and came surging through the shallows, driving blue ofwater and white of spray before him, and looking up, saw Heledd asblithely looking down from her high place, and flung back his loftyflaxen head to smile at her with a dazzle of white teeth, and wavea hand in salute.

Among the men-at-arms who stood at Hywel’s back to see themoney safely bestowed Cadfael had observed one, thickset andpowerful and darkly comely, who was also looking up towards theridge. His head was and remained tilted back, and his eyes seemedto Cadfael to be fixed upon Heledd. True, one woman among a camp ofDanish invaders might well draw the eye and the interest of anyman, but there was something about the taut stillness and theintent and sustained pose that made him wonder. He plucked atHeledd’s sleeve.

“Girl, there’s one below there, among the lads whobrought the silver—you see him? On Hywel’sleft!—who is staring upon you very particularly. Do you knowhim? By the cut of him he knows you.”

She turned to look where he indicated, gave a moment toconsidering the face so assiduously raised to her, and shook herhead indifferently.

“I never saw him before. How can he know me?” Andshe turned back to watch Turcaill cross the beach and pause toexchange civilities with Hywel ab Owain and his escort, beforemarshalling his own men back up the slope of the dunes towards thestockade. He passed before Ieuan ab Ifor without a glance, andIeuan merely shifted his stance a little to recover the sight ofHeledd on the dunes above him, as Turcaill’s fair head cuther off from him in passing.

During those vital night watches, Ieuan ab Iforhad taken care to be captain of the guard on the westward gate ofOwain’s camp, and to have a man of his own on watch throughthe night hours. Towards midnight of that third night Gwion hadbrought his muster by forced marches to within sight ofOwain’s stockade, and there diverted them to the narrow beltof shingle exposed by the low tide, to pass by undetected. Hehimself made his way silently to the guard-post, and from itsshadow Ieuan slid out to meet him.

“We are come,” said Gwion in a whisper. “Theyare down on the shore.”

“You come late,” hissed Ieuan. “Hywel is herebefore you. The silver is already loaded aboard their ships, theyare waiting only for the cattle.”

“How can that be?” demanded Gwion, dismayed.“I rode ahead from Llanbadarn. The only halt I made was thefew hours of sleep we took last night. We marched before dawn thismorning.”

“And in those few hours of the night Hywel overtook andpassed you by, for he was here by mid-morning. And come tomorrowmorning the herd will be here and loading. Late to save anythingbut a beggarly life for Cadwaladr as Owain’s almsman insteadof Otir’s prisoner.” For Cadwaladr he did not grieveovermuch, except as his plight had strengthened the case for arescue which could at the same time deliver Heledd.

“Not too late,” said Gwion, burning up like astirred fire. “Bring your few, and make haste! The tide islow and still ebbing. We have time enough!”

They had been ready every night for the signal, and they camesingly, silently and eagerly, evading notice and question.Glissading down the suave slopes of the dunes, and across the beltof shingle to the moist, firm sand beyond, where their feet made nosound. More than a mile to go between the camps, but an hour leftbefore the tide would be at its lowest, and ample time to return.There was a lambent light from the water, a shifting but gentlelight that was enough for their purposes, the white edges of everyripple showing the extent of the uncovered sand. Ieuan led, andthey followed him in a long line, silent and furtive under thedykes of Owain’s defences, and on into theno-man’s-land beyond. Before them, anchored offshore aftertheir loading, the Danish cargo ships rode darkly swaying againstthe faint luminosity of the waves, and the comparative pallor ofthe sky. Gwion checked at sight of them.

“These have the silver already stored? We could reclaimit,” he said in a whisper. “They’ll have onlyholding crews aboard overnight.”

“Tomorrow!” said Ieuan with brusque authority.“A long swim, they lie in deep water. They could pick us offone by one before ever we touched. Tomorrow they’ll lay theminshore again to load the beasts. There are enough amongOwain’s muster who grudge so much as a penny to the pirates;if we start the onset they’ll follow, the prince will have nochoice but to fight. Tonight we take back my woman and your lord.Tomorrow the silver!”

In the small hours of the morning Cadfael awoke toa sudden clamour of voices bellowing and lurs blaring, and startedup from his nest in the sand still dazed between reality anddreaming, old battles jerked back into mind with startlingvividness, so that he reached blindly for a sword before ever hewas steady on his feet, and aware of the starry night above and thecool rippling of the sand under his bare feet. He groped about himto pluck Mark awake before he recalled that Mark was no longerbeside him, but back in Owain’s retinue, out of reach ofwhatever this sudden threat might be. Over to his right, from theside where the open sea stretched away westward to Ireland, theacid clashing of steel added a thin, ferocious note to the bayingof fighting men. Confused movements of struggle and alarm shook thestill air in convulsive turmoil between sand and sky, as though agreat storm-wind had risen to sweep away men without so much asstirring the grasses they trod. The earth lay still, cool andindifferent, the sky hung silent and calm, but force and violencehad come up from the sea to put an end to humanity’sprecarious peace. Cadfael ran in the direction from which theuproar drifted fitfully to his ears. Others, starting out of theirbeds on the landward side of the encampment, were running with him,drawing steel as they ran, all converging on the seaward fences,where the clamor of battle had moved inward upon them, as thoughthe stockade had been breached. In the thick of the tangle ofsounds rose Otir’s thunderous voice, marshalling his men. AndI am no man of his, thought Cadfael, astounded but still runningheadlong towards the cry, why should I go looking for trouble? Hecould have been holding off at a safe distance, waiting to see whohad staged what was plainly a determined attack, and how itprospered for Dane or Welshman, before assessing its import for hisown wellbeing, but instead he was making for the heart of thebattle as fast as he could, and cursing whoever had chosen to tearapart what could have been an orderly resolution of a dangerousbusiness.

Not Owain! Of that he was certain. Owain had brought about ajust and sensible ending, he would neither have originated norcountenanced a move calculated to destroy his achievement. Somehot-blooded youngsters envenomed with hatred of the Dane, orpanting for the glory of warfare! Owain might reserve his quarrelwith the alien fleet that invaded his land uninvited, he might evenchoose to exert himself to thrust them out when all otheroutstanding business was settled, but he would never have thrownaway his own patient work in procuring the clearing of the ground.Owain’s battle, had it ever come to it, as it yet might,would have been direct, neat and workmanlike, with no needlesskilling.

He was near to the heave and strain of close infighting now, hecould see the line of the stockade broken here and there by theheads and shoulders of struggling men, and a great gap torn in thebarrier where the attackers had forced their way in unobserved,between guard-posts. They had not penetrated far, and Otir alreadyhad a formidable ring of steel drawn about them, but on thefringes, in the darkness and in such confusion, there was noknowing friend from enemy, and a few of the first through the gapmight well be loose within the camp.

He was rubbing shoulders with the outer ring of Danes, who werethrusting hard to shift the whole intruding mass back through thestockade and down to the sea, when someone came running behind him,light and fast, and a hand clutched at his arm, and there wasHeledd, her face a pale, startled oval, starry in the dark, lit bywide, blazing eyes.

“What is it? Who are they? They are mad, mad… Whatcan have set them on?”

Cadfael halted abruptly, drawing her back out of the press andclear of random steel. “Fool girl, get back out of here! Areyou crazed? Get well away until this is over. Do you want to bekilled?”

She clung to him, but held her ground sturdily, more excitedthan afraid. “But why? Why should any of Owain’s dosuch mischief, when all was going so well?”

The struggling mass of men, too closely entangled to allow playto steel, reeled their way, and some among them losing balance andfooting, the mass broke apart, several fell, and one at least wastrampled, and let out breath in a wheezing groan. Heledd was tornaway from Cadfael’s grasp, and uttered a brief and angryscream. It cut through the din on a piercing, clear note, and evenin the stress of battle turned heads in abrupt astonishment tostare in her direction. She had been flung aside so sharply thatshe would have fallen, if an arm had not taken her about the waistand dragged her clear as the shift of fighting surged towards her.Cadfael was borne the opposite way for a moment, and thenOtir’s rallying cry drew the Danish circle taut, and theirdriving weight bore the attackers backwards, and compressed theminto the breach they had made in the stockade, cramming themthrough it in disorder. A dozen lances were hurled after them, andthey broke and drew off down the slope of the dunes towards theshore.

A handful of the young Danes, roused and eager, would havepursued the retreating attackers down the dunes, but Otir calledthem sharply to order. There were wounded already, if none dead,why risk more? They came reluctantly, but they came. There might bea time to take revenge for an act virtually of treachery, whenagreement, if not sworn and sealed, had amounted almost to truce.But this was the time rather to salvage what was damaged, andsharpen once again a watchfulness grown slack as the need seemed todiminish.

In the comparative stillness and quiet they set about picking upthe fallen, salving minor wounds, repairing the breach in thestockade, all in grim silence but for the few words needed. Underthe broken fence three men lay dead, the foremost of the defendersoverwhelmed by numbers before help could reach them. A fourth theypicked up bleeding from a lance-thrust meant for his heart, butdiverted through the shoulder. He would live, but he might lack themuscular power of his left arm for the rest of his life. Of minorgashes and grazes there were many, and the man who had beentrampled spat blood from injuries within. Cadfael put by all otherconsiderations, and went to work with the rest in the nearestshelter by torchlight, with whatever linen and medicines they couldprovide. They had experience of wounds, and were knowledgeable intreating them, if their treatment was rough and ready. The boy Leiffetched and carried, awed and excited by this burst of violence bynight. When all was done that could be done Cadfael sat back with asigh, and looked round at his nearest neighbor. He was looking intothe ice-blue eyes and unwontedly somber face of Turcaill. The youngman had blood on his cheek from a graze, and blood on his handsfrom the wounds of his friends.

“Why?” said Turcaill. “What was there to gain?It was as good as finished. Now they have their dead or wounded,too,

I saw men being carried or dragged when they broke and ran. Whatwas it made it worth their while to break in here?”

“I think,” said Cadfael, rubbing a hand resignedlyover his tired eyes, “they came for Cadwaladr. He still has afollowing, as rash as the man himself. They may well have thoughtto pluck him out of your keeping even in Owain’s despite.What else do you hold of such value to them that they should risktheir lives for it?”

“Why, the silver he’s already paid,” saidTurcaill practically. “Would they not have made forthat?”

“So they well may,” Cadfael admitted. “If theyhave made a bid for the one, they may do as much for theother.”

“When we lay the ships inshore again tomorrow,”Turcaill’s brilliant eyes opened wide in thought. “Iwill say so to Otir: the man they can have, and good riddance, butthe ransom is fairly ours, and we’ll keep it.”

“If they are in good earnest,” said Cadfael,“they have still to do battle for both. For I take itCadwaladr is still safely in Torsten’s keeping?”

“And in chains again. And sat out this foray with a knifeat his throat. Oh, they went away empty-handed,” saidTurcaill with dour satisfaction. And he rose, and went to join hisleader, in conference over his three dead. And Cadfael went to lookfor Heledd, but did not find her.

“These we take back with us forfuneral,” said Otir, brooding darkly over the bodies of hismen. “You say that these who came by night were not sent byOwain. It is possible, but how can we tell? Certainly I hadbelieved him a man of his word. But what is rightfully ours we willmake shift to keep, against Owain or any other. If you are right,and they came for Cadwaladr, then they have but one chance left towin away both the man and his price. And we will be before them,with the ships and the sea at our backs, with masts stepped andready for sail. The sea is no friend to them as it is to us.We’ll stand armed between them and the shore, and we shallsee if they will dare in daylight what they attempted in thenight.”

He gave his orders clearly and briefly. By morning theencampment would be evacuated, the Danish ranks drawn up in battlearray on the beach, the ships maneuvered close to take the cattleaboard. If they came, said Otir, then Owain was in good faith, andthe raiders were not acting on his orders. If they did not come,then all compacts were broken, and he and his force would put tosea and raid ashore at some unguarded coast to take for themselvesthe balance of the debt, and somewhat over for three liveslost.

“They will come,” said Turcaill. “By its follyalone, this was not Owain’s work. And he delivered you thesilver by his own son’s hand. And so he will the cattle. Andwhat of the monk and the girl? There was a fair price offered forthem, but that deal you never accepted. Brother Cadfael has earnedhis freedom tonight, and it’s late now to haggle over hisworth.”

“We will leave supplies for him and for the girl, they maystay safe here until we are gone. Owain may have them back as wholeas when they came.”

“I will tell them so,” said Turcaill, andsmiled.

Brother Cadfael was making his way towards them through thedisrupted camp at that moment, between the lines soon to beabandoned. He came without haste, since there was nothing to bedone about the news he carried, it was a thing accomplished. Helooked from the three bodies laid decently straight beneath theirshrouding cloaks to Otir’s dour face, and thence full atTurcaill.

“We spoke too soon. They did not go away empty-handed.They have taken Heledd.”

Turcaill, whose movements in general were constant and flowedlike quicksilver, was abruptly and utterly still. His face did notchange, only his startling eyes narrowed a little, as if to lookfar into distance, beyond this present time and place. The lasttrace of his very private smile lingered on his lips.

“How came it,” he said, “that she ever drewnear such a fray? No matter, she would be sure to run towards whatwas forbidden or perilous, not away from it. You are sure,Brother?”

“I am sure. I have been looking for her everywhere. Leifsaw her plucked out of the melee, but cannot say by whom. But goneshe is. I had her beside me until we were flung apart, shortlybefore you drove them back through the stockade. Whoever he was whohad her by the waist, he has taken her with him.”

“It was for her they came!” said Turcaill withconviction.

“It was for her one at least came. For I think,”said Cadfael, “this must be the man to whom Owain hadpromised her. There was one close to Hywel, yesterday when you wereloading the silver, could not take his eyes off her. But I did notknow the man, and I thought no more of it.”

“She is safe enough, then, and free already,” saidOtir, and made no more of it. “And so are you, Brother, ifyou so please, but I would remain apart until we are gone, if Iwere you. For none of us knows what more may be intended for themorning. No need for you to put yourself between Dane and Welshmanin arms.”

Cadfael heard him without hearing, though the words and theirimport came back to him later. He was watching Turcaill so closelythat he had no thought to spare for whatever his own next movesshould be. The young man had stirred easily and naturally out ofhis momentary stillness. He drew breath smoothly as ever, and thelast of the smile lingered as a spark in his light, bright eyesafter it had left his lips. There was nothing to be read in thatface, beyond the open, appreciative amusement which was hisconstant approach to Heledd, and that vanished instantly when helooked down again at the night’s losses.

“It’s well she should be out of today’swork,” he said simply. “There’s no knowing how itwill end.”

And that was all. He went about the business of striking campand arming for action like all the rest. In the darkness theystripped such tents and shelters as they had, and moved the lighterlongships from the harbor in the mouth of the bay round into theopen sea to join the larger vessels and provide an alert and mobileguard for their crews and cargo. The sea was their element, andfought on their side, even to the fresh breeze that quiveredthrough the stillness before dawn. With sails up and filled, eventhe slower ships could put out to sea rapidly, safe from attack.But not without the cattle! Otir would not go without the lastpenny of his due.

And now there was nothing for Cadfael to do, except walk thecrest of the dunes among the deserted fires and discarded debris ofoccupation, and watch the Danish force pack, muster and movemethodically down through the scrub grass towards the ships rockingat anchor.

And they will go! Heledd had said, serious but neither elatednor dismayed. They were as good as gone already, and glad to be ontheir way home. Now if it was indeed Ieuan ab Ifor who had inspiredthat nocturnal attack, perhaps after all there was no man exertinghimself on behalf of Cadwaladr, neither for his person and prestigenor for his possessions, and there would be no furtherconfrontation, on the beach or in the sea, but only an orderlydeparture, perhaps even with a cool exchange of civilities betweenWelsh and Danish by way of leave-taking. Ieuan had come for hispromised wife, and had what he wanted. No need for him to stiragain. But how had he persuaded so many to follow him? Men who hadnothing to gain, and had gained nothing. Some, perhaps, who hadlost their lives to help him to a marriage.

The lithe little dragon-ship stole round silently into the opensea, and took station, riding well inshore. Cadfael went down alittle way towards the strip of shingle, and saw the beach now halfdry, half glistening under the lapping of the waves, and emptyuntil the head of the Danish line reached it, and turned southwardalong the strand, a darker line in a darkness now lightening slowlytowards the dove-grey of predawn. The withdrawing raiders had madehaste away to the deserted fields and sparse woodland between thecamps, into some measure of cover. There were places where theshore route would be too dangerous now, with the tide flowing,though Cadfael felt certain they had come that way. Better andfaster to move inland with their wounded and their prize, to reachtheir own camp dryshod.

Cadfael put a ridge of salt-stunted bushes between himself andthe wind, which was freshening, scooped a comfortable hole in thesand, and sat down to wait.

In the soft light of the morning, just aftersun-up, Gwion arrayed his hundred men, and the few of Ieuan’sraising who remained with them, in a hollow between the dunes, outof sight of the shore, with a sentry keeping watch on the crestabove. There was mist rising from the sea, a diaphanous swirl offaint blue over the shore, which lay in shadow, while westward thesurface of the water was already bright, flecked with the whiteshimmer of spray in the steady breeze. The Danes, drawn up in openranks, lined the edge of the sea, waiting immovably and withoutimpatience for Owain’s herdsmen to bring themCadwaladr’s cattle. Behind them the cargo ships had beenbrought in to beach lightly in the shallows. And there, in themidst of the Danes, was Cadwaladr himself, no longer shackled butstill prisoner, defenseless among his armed enemies. Gwion had gonehimself to the top of the ridge to look upon him, and the verysight was like a knife in his belly.

He had failed miserably in all that he had tried to do. Nothinghad been gained, there stood his lord, humbled at the hands of theDanes, exposed to the scorn of his brother, not even assured ofregaining a single foot of land at that brother’s hands afterall this bitter undertaking. Gwion gnawed ceaselessly at his ownfrustration, and found it sour in his mouth. He should not havetrusted Ieuan ab Ifor. The man had been concerned only with hiswoman, and with that prize in his arms he had not stayed, as Gwionhad wanted to stay, to attempt a second achievement. No, he wasaway with her, stifling her cries with a hand over her mouth, untilhe could hiss in her ear, well away from the Danes in their brokenstockade, that she should not be afraid, for he meant her onlygood, for he was her man, her husband, come at risk to fetch herout of danger, and with him she was safe, and would be safe forever… Gwion had heard him, totally taken up with his gains,and with no care at all for other men’s losses. So the girlwas out of bondage, but Cadwaladr, sick with humiliation and rage,must come under guard to be handed over for a price to the brotherwho discarded and misprized him.

It was not to be borne. There was still time to cut him outclean from the alien array before Owain could come to savor thesight of him a prisoner. Even without Ieuan, gone with his bruisedand bewildered woman and the dozen or so of his recruits who hadpreferred to steal back into camp and lick their wounds, there wereenough stout fighting men here to do it. Wait, though, wait untilthe herd and their escort came. For surely once the attack waslaunched, others would see the right of it, and follow. Not evenHywel, if Hywel was again the prince’s envoy, would be ableto call off his warriors once they had seen Danish blood flow. Andafter Cadwaladr, the ships. Once the gage was cast down, the Welshwould go on to the end, take back the silver, drive Otir and hispirates into the sea.

The waiting was long, and seemed longer, but Otir never movedfrom his station before his lines. They had lowered their guardonce, they would not do so again. That was the missed opportunity,for now there could be no second surprise. Even in Hywel, even inOwain himself, they would not again feel absolute trust.

The lookout on the crest reported back regularly andmonotonously, no change, no movement, no sign yet of the dust ofthe herd along the sandy track. It was more than an hour pastsunrise when he called at last: “They are coming!” Andthen they heard the lowing of the cattle, fitful and sleepy on theair. By the sound of them, fed and watered, and on the move againafter at least a few hours of the night for rest.

“I see them. A good half-company, advancing aside andbefore the drovers, out of the dust. Hywel has come in force. Theyhave sighted the Danes…” That sight might well givethem pause, they would not have expected to see the full force ofthe invaders drawn up in battle array for the loading of a fewhundred head of stock. But they came on steadily, at the pace ofthe beasts. And now the foremost rider could be seen clearly, verytall in the saddle, bare-headed, fair as flax. “It is notHywel, it is Owain Gwynedd himself!”

On his hillock above the deserted camp Cadfael had seen the sunshine on that fair head, and even at that distance knew that theprince of Gwynedd had come in person to see the Norseman leave hisland. He made his way slowly closer, looking down towards theimpending meeting on the shore.

In the hollow between the dunes Gwion drew up his lines, andmoved them a little forward, still screened by the curving waves ofsand the wind had made and the tenacious grasses and bushes hadpartially clothed and secured in place.

“How close now?” Even in Owain’s despite hewould venture. And those clansmen who were approaching atOwain’s heels, who could not all be tame even to theirprince’s leash, must see the attack, and be close enough totake fire from it in time, and drive the onslaught home with theiradded numbers.

“Not yet within call, but close. A short whileyet!”

Otir stood like a rock in the edge of the surf, solid legs wellbraced, watching the advance of the swart, stocky cattle and theirescort of armed men. Light-armed, as a man would normally go abouthis business. No need to expect any treachery there. Nor did itseem likely that Owain had had any part in that ill-managed raid inthe night, or had any knowledge of it. If he had taken action, itwould have been better done.

“Now!” said the lookout sharply from above.“Now, while they are all watching Owain. You have them on theflank.”

“Forward now!” Gwion echoed, and burst out of thesheltering slopes with a great roar of release and resolve, almostof exultation. After him the ranks of his companions surgedheadlong, with swords drawn and short lances raised aloft, a suddenglitter of steel as they emerged from shadow into sun.

Out into clear view, and streaming down the last slope of sandinto the shingle of the beach, straight for the Danish muster. Otirswung about, bellowing an alarm that brought every head round toconfront the assault. Shields went up to ward off the first flungjavelins, and the hiss of swords being drawn as one was flung intothe air like a great indrawn breath. Then the first wave ofGwion’s force hurtled into the Danish ranks and bore thembackwards into their fellows by sheer weight, so that the wholebattle lurched knee-deep into the surf.

Cadfael saw it from his high place, the impact and the clashingrecoil as the ranks collided in a quivering shock, and heard thesudden clamor of voices shouting, and startled cattle bellowing.The Danes had so spaced their array that every man had room to usehis right arm freely, and was quick to draw steel. One or two wereborne down by the first impetuous collision, and took theirattackers down into the sea with them in a confusion of spray, butmost braced themselves and stood firm. Gwion had flung himselfstraight at Otir. There was no way to Cadwaladr now but overOtir’s body. But the Dane had twice Gwion’s weight, andthree times his experience in arms. The thrusting sword clangedharshly on a raised and twisted shield, and was almost wrenched outof the attacker’s grasp. Then all Cadfael could see was onestruggling, heaving mass of Welshman and Dane, wreathed inshimmering spray. He began to make his way rapidly down on to thebeach, with what intent he himself could hardly have said.

Echoing shouts arose from among the clansmen who marched atOwain’s back, and a few started out of their ranks and beganto run towards the melee in the shallows, hands on hilts in aninstant, their intent all too plain. Cadfael could not wonder atit. Welshmen were already battling against an alien invader, therein full view. Welsh blood could not endure to stand aside, allother rights and wrongs went for nothing. They hallooed theirpartisan approval, and plunged into the boiling shallows. Thereeling mass of entangled bodies heaved and strained, so closelylocked together that on neither side could they find free room todo one another any great hurt. Not until the ranks opened wouldthere be deaths.

A loud, commanding voice soared above the din of snarling voicesand clanging steel, as Owain Gwynedd set spurs to his horse androde into the edge of the sea, striking at his own too impetuousmen with the flat of his sheathed sword.

“Back! Stand off! Get back to your ranks, and put up yourweapons!”

His voice, seldom raised, could split the quaking air likethunder hard on the heels of lightning when he was roused. It wasthat raging trumpet-call rather than the battering blows thatcaused the truants to shrink and cower before him, and lean asideout of his path, plashing ashore in reluctant haste. EvenCadwaladr’s former liegemen wavered, falling back from theirhand-to-hand struggles. The two sides fell apart, and thrusts andsword-strokes that might have been smothered in the encroachingweight of wrestling bodies found room to wound before they could berestrained or parried.

It was over. They fell back to the solid shingle, swords andaxes and javelins lowered, in awe of the icy glare of Owain’seyes, and the angry circling of his horse’s stamping hoovesin the surf, trampling out a zone of stillness between thecombatants. The Danes held their ranks, some of them bloodied, noneof them fallen. Of the attackers, two lay groping feebly out of thewaves to lie limp in the sand. Then there was a silence.

Owain sat his horse, quieted now by a calming hand but stillquivering, and looked down at Otir, eye to eye, for a long moment.Otir held his ground, and gave him back penetrating stare forstare. There was no need for explanation or protestation betweenthem. With his own eyes Owain had seen.

“This,” he said at length, “was not by mycontrivance. Now I will know, and hear from his own mouth, who hasusurped my rule and cast doubt on my good faith. Come forth andshow yourself.”

There was no question but he already knew, for he had seen thecharge launched out of hiding. It was, in some measure, generous tolet a man stand fast by what he had done, and declare himselfdefiantly of his own will, in the teeth of whatever might follow.Gwion let fall the arm still raised, sword in hand, and wadedforward from among his fellows. Very slowly he came, but not fromany reluctance, for his head was erected proudly, and his eyesfixed on Owain, He plashed waveringly out of the surf, as littlewave on following wave lapped at his feet and drew back. He reachedthe edge of the shingle, and a sudden rivulet of blood ran from hisclenched lips and spattered his breast, and a small blot of redgrew out of the padded linen of his tunic, and expanded into agreat sodden star. He stood a moment erect before Owain, and partedhis lips to speak, and blood gushed out of his mouth in a darkcrimson stream. He fell on his face at the feet of theprince’s horse, and the startled beast edged back from him,and blew a great lamenting breath over his body.

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