To Love Again

Berikos nodded. 'Aye, we can, and when the day comes when we drive your people back to the Rhineland, you cannot complain to me, can you? I will have kept my part of our bargain. Good! I agree!'

'Not quite so quickly, my friend,' Wulf Ironfist said. 'I want one other thing of you. I think you are most apt to keep your bargain with me if we are related by blood. Your granddaughter pleases me. I need a wife. Her mixed blood disturbs you, but it does not disturb me. I will pay you a fair bride price for her if you will give me your consent.'

'Under our laws, she must give her consent, too, Wulf Ironfist. If she does, I will be glad to accept a bride price for her,' Berikos answered, 'although I should not. You will be doing me a favor by taking Cailin off my hands. My wife Ceara has been nagging me to find her a husband. What will you give me for her?'

The Saxon tossed his companion a coin. It flashed and glittered as it flew through the air. Berikos's fist closed about it. His eyes widened. He bit the coin as hard as he could, his look one of surprise.

'Gold? This is a gold coin, Wulf Ironfist. One girl is hardly worth an entire gold coin,' Berikos said slowly. He wanted the Saxon's gold, but his conscience would never leave him in peace if he weren't honest. 'Besides, the wench has not yet given her consent to the match.'

'She has given her consent,' the younger man told him. 'It is a fair price, for it will ensure that you will not take my life when my use to you is over and done with, Berikos of the Dobunni.'

The old man chuckled. 'You do not trust anyone, Wulf Ironfist, do you? Well, you are wise not to, for no one can be completely trusted in this world. Very well, I accept your terms, and the girl is now your wife. You may think it a poor bargain when she shows you the rough side of her tongue, but I will not take her back.' He spit in his right hand and held it out to the Saxon, who, spitting in his own right hand, clasped Berikos's outstretched palm in a firm grip.

'Agreed, Berikos, but I will not regret the bargain, I assure you. Cailin will make me a good wife. Her mother taught her well the duties a woman has to her husband and house.'

'Aye,' the old man responded softly, 'Kyna was a good girl.'

'Good morning, and was your night filled with many pleasures?' Brigit tittered, entering the hall. Her sky-blue tunic dress with its silver embroidery floated about her gracefully as she came, smiling falsely.

'Indeed, lady, my night was a very good one,' Wulf Ironfist answered.

'Wulf has agreed to aid us,' Berikos said, pleased. He explained to his young wife the land transaction involved. 'And,' he concluded, 'I have given him Cailin as a wife.'

'You have done what?' Brigit's eyes widened with shock. This was not at all the way she planned it. She had intended only for the Saxon to roughly violate Cailin and break her spirit. She wanted the girl shamed, and hurt.

'Wulf asked me for Cailin's hand,' Berikos repeated. 'Her tainted blood does not bother him. My granddaughter has agreed.' He held up the coin, saying, 'Wulf has given me this for the wench's bride price. It is gold. Your father was content to accept a silver piece and a breeding pair of hunting dogs for you, Brigit.'

Brigit's eyes glittered at the sight of the gold, and Wulf thought that Berikos would not have his granddaughter's bride price for very long if Brigit had her way. The woman's mouth was sullen, however, and she finally said, 'Is there no food in this hall that we might break our fast? Cailin is derelict in her duties, or has her marriage gone to her head? A good wife should have the morning meal ready at a respectable hour. I hope Ceara returns soon.'

'Perhaps if you did not sleep half the morning away, Brigit,' Cailin said as she entered the hall, 'you would find the meal ready. Berikos and my husband ate hours ago. If you go to the cook house, however, they may give you something if you tell them I said to do so.' She smiled brightly at the woman. 'I must be about my duties. A runner arrived this morning from Carvilius's hill fort. Ceara and Maeve are expected before sunset. We will eat as soon as they arrive. Do try to be on time, lady.' She turned to her grandfather. 'Is the bargain made between my husband and you, Berikos?'

'It is,' he said, the corners of his mouth twitching just slightly. The girl was tough, and refused to be beaten. He'd give her that. 'Speak more gently to my lady wife in future, mongrel,' he warned her. 'She is deserving of respect.'

'Only if she earns it, Berikos,' Cailin shot back, and turning on her heel, left them.

'There!' Berikos crowed. 'You have seen the rough edge of her tongue now, Wulf Ironfist, but it is too late! She is your wife.'

'The barb was not directed at me, Berikos. I like a woman who speaks her mind. I will only beat her if she defies me,' he answered.

Ceara, Maeve, and Nuala arrived even as the mid-afternoon winter sunset was turning the sky glorious shades of red, orange, gold, and dark purple. One cold bright star hung over Berikos's hill fort, as if guiding them to the warm safety within. Nuala was excited to be home, and hugged her cousin tightly while her elders removed the cloaks.

Before they might hear it elsewhere, Berikos told his two older wives of Cailin's marriage. Both were clearly horrified, and equally furious at Brigit's part in the matter.

'She did it to be cruel,' Maeve cried in a rare show of anger before her husband. 'You were filled with wine and mead, I've not a doubt, and went along with the bitch's mischief! Oh, shame, Berikos!'

'You do not have to accept him as a husband, my child,' Ceara said, her calm tones belying her outrage. 'There is no shame among our peoples if a woman samples pleasure with several men. If she learns to give equal pleasure, it but enhances her reputation as a possible wife. You can withdraw your consent, Cailin, if you wish. Berikos can return the Saxon's gold piece. It can be done honorably.'

'I do not wish to withdraw my consent, Ceara,' Cailin said calmly. 'Wulf Ironfist is a good man. I am content to be his wife. There is no other to whom I am attracted. Have you not been nagging me about marrying, lady?' she teased.

'But when he has finished his work here,' Ceara wailed, 'he will take you away to the Saxon shore, and we will never see you again!'

'Good riddance, I say!' Brigit sneered.

Ceara rounded on her. 'Shut your mouth, bitch! I should have killed you when I first laid eyes upon you. You are nothing but trouble!' Then she turned on her husband. 'I have honored you my entire life, Berikos,' she began. 'I have defended your decisions even when I knew them to be wrong. I stood silently by when you disowned your only daughter, and never said a word in Kyna's defense when I should have. I gritted my teeth when you would not allow us to share the joy of the births of Brenna's grandchildren, and I stood by silently again when Brenna left us to be with Kyna and her family.

'You are a foolish old man, Berikos! You wish to restore the Dobunni to greatness. What greatness? We never had any greatness! We are a simple clan. If you try to drive the Britons from their lands, they will fight back to defend these lands they have farmed for the last few hundred years. You will not succeed in this mad scheme even if I cannot prevent you from pursuing it; but I will not let Brenna's only surviving grandchild leave us! You will give this Saxon the lands you promised him, and they will remain here. Unless, of course,' she concluded, 'you wish to spend your days alone without Maeve and me.'

Berikos was flabbergasted. In all the years they had been married, Ceara had never spoken so harshly to him, privately or in public. He had also never seen her so angry. 'What do you mean without Maeve and you?' was all he could think of to say. He did not even rail at her for her overly frank speech.

'We will leave you, Berikos,' Ceara said grimly. 'We will go to other villages and live with our sons. But you need not fear. I am certain Brigit will keep your house, and nurse you tenderly when you grow sickly, and see that your food is cooked to your liking. Does she even know how you like your meals prepared? Probably not, but I am sure that you will tell her.'

'There is no need for that,' Berikos grumbled nervously.

Ceara cocked a bushy eyebrow quizzically. 'Indeed?' she said.