township and within moments they were crossing the wooden bridge over the stream, passing the darkened silent forge of Iorwerth.
In the shadows, she saw one or two armed men standing in the darkness. Clydog ignored them, for they were obviously under his orders. He led the way up the street, beyond the still glowing bonfire, to Gwnda’s hall, where the robbers dismounted and Fidelma and Eadulf were roughly pulled from their mounts. One man took the horses on to the stables.
Clydog moved up the steps to the door of the hall and pushed it open. He turned on the threshold and called for his men to bring the prisoners forward. Then he led the way inside, his men pushing Fidelma and Eadulf roughly behind him. So intent were they on keeping their balance, difficult with their hands tied behind them and his thugs pushing them this way and that, that Fidelma and Eadulf had not realised that Clydog had halted abruptly. They stumbled into him and nearly lost their balance. In the time it took them to regain their equilibrium and look up they realised that Clydog and his companions seemed to have become like frozen statues.
There were half a dozen men in the hall with bows strung and arrows pointing at Clydog’s men.
Chapter Twenty
It was Gwnda’s voice which greeted them with a gruff humour.
‘You are welcome to my hall, Clydog the Wasp.’
Fidelma moved sideways a little so that she could see who was standing in front of Clydog.
Gwnda was there, of course, seated in a wooden chair, but in his usual chair of office stretched a young- looking warrior with a circlet of silver round his fair hair. He was quite handsome, with almost violet-coloured eyes that seemed to have no pupils. A boyish grin moulded his features. He was richly dressed but one could easily discern that the sword which hung at his side was no mere decorative piece. He looked familiar but it was only after a moment or two that Fidelma recognised him as the man they had met briefly at the abbey of Dewi Sant. It was Prince Cathen, son of Gwlyddien.
‘Lay down your weapons,’ snapped Gwnda to the outlaws.
Reluctantly, Clydog and his men unbuckled their sword belts and one of Cathen’s warriors laid aside his bow to come forward and gather them up. Another man, at a wave of the hand from Cathen, moved forward to sever the bonds of Fidelma and Eadulf.
They both stood for a moment, rubbing their wrists to restore the circulation, a little bewildered and amazed at this turn of fortune.
‘Take these dogs and put them with the others,’ Gwnda was ordering, indicating Clydog and his men.
‘Wait!’ snapped Clydog. ‘You cannot do this to me. It will go ill. .’
But the warriors were hustling him away, leaving Fidelma and Eadulf facing Prince Cathen and Gwnda, the lord of Pen Caer.
Cathen had risen, and now came forward with hands outstretched to her. ‘You had us worried for a while, Fidelma of Cashel. Your royal brother, Colgú of Cashel, would never have forgiven us if anything had happened to you while you were a guest in our kingdom of Dyfed.’
‘I am very glad to see you, Prince Cathen,’ Fidelma said with enthusiasm. ‘Seeing you has put the final piece in our puzzle.’
Cathen looked perplexed, but when she did not explain further he turned to Eadulf. ‘It is also good to see you again, Brother Saxon.’
Gwnda had risen, a little half-heartedly, in deference to the actions of his prince.
‘Come,’ Cathen invited them, ‘be seated before the fire and let refreshment be brought.’ This latter was said to the stony-faced Buddog, who left the hall to do his bidding.
‘What has happened?’ Eadulf was asking. ‘How did you get here?’
‘Your young messenger, Dewi, arrived at the abbey and told Abbot Tryffin what you had told him to say. My father and I questioned him about the situation here at Pen Caer. I saw beyond the mere message. It seemed that you might stand in need of a small band of warriors to enforce your argument. So I offered to lead them and we rode here as quickly as we could. We left young Dewi at his father’s forge on our way here.’
‘It seems that fortune has favoured your bold move,’ Fidelma observed gravely. ‘Luckily for us.’
Buddog re-entered, her nervousness at the presence of the young prince showing. Mulled wine and oat cakes were served.
‘
‘Even as Terence says in
‘How did we change that state of affairs? Easily enough. Clydog had no idea that any adversary was in the vicinity. He had left with four of his men to chase you. That left fifteen or so to guard the villagers. You tell them how it was done, Gwnda.’
The lord of Pen Caer still seemed ill at ease. He stared at the ground for a moment. ‘We had been taken to the big hay barn behind here, the entire township. .’
‘Everyone was imprisoned?’ demanded Fidelma sharply.
Gwnda blinked.
‘Was Iestyn imprisoned with you?’ pressed Eadulf, realising what Fidelma was getting at.
Gwnda shook his head. ‘I have not seen Iestyn all evening. Nor Iorwerth, come to that.’
Fidelma turned quickly to Cathen. ‘Can you spare half a dozen warriors? Men in whose cunning you have faith, as well as their sword hands?’
‘I can. Why?’
‘Get one of the townsfolk to guide your men to Iestyn’s farmhouse. They are to take Iestyn captive and anyone else who is there. Tell them to be prepared for violence, for there might be some more of Clydog’s men present who are not prepared to lay down their weapons without a fight.’
Cathen called one of his men in and issued orders. Fidelma looked satisfied.
‘Now we can continue. We would not want our net to allow some of the culprits to escape.’
Cathen was clearly puzzled. ‘Are you saying that these men Iorwerth and Iestyn are in league with this outlaw Clydog?’
‘There is more in this matter than mere robbery, Prince Cathen,’ she assured him. ‘But Gwnda was explaining how you came to turn this affair to your favour. .?’
She turned, giving Eadulf a warning glance. He finally realised that there was some reason why she wanted to keep secret the finding of Iorwerth’s body. He did not know what it was, but he decided to go along with whatever scheme she had in mind.
Gwnda took up his interrupted tale. ‘As I say, we were imprisoned in the barn. Clydog had set ten of his men to guard us. There were a few others outside.’
‘Thus it was when we came to the township,’ intervened Cathen.
‘How many are there of you?’ asked Eadulf.
‘Fifty warriors of my father’s bodyguard. Good men all.’
‘It’s a wonder Clydog’s men were not alarmed by the arrival of such a large body,’ Fidelma observed.
‘I sent two men ahead to scout. They came across a man positioned at the bridge by the entrance to the township. He made the mistake of thinking my men were his companions returning and greeted them with words which immediately made them suspicious. So they disarmed him and brought him back to our main body and me. He was persuaded to talk a little. .’ Cathen broke off with a dry chuckle. ‘Perhaps we should skip over that. Anyway, he was persuaded to tell us that Clydog’s men had imprisoned Gwnda and his villagers in the barn, and even told us the disposition of his men. It was a simple task to disarm them and release the villagers. Learning that Clydog and some of his men had gone off chasing you and Eadulf, we decided to tell everyone to go to their homes and remain there quietly without lights until Gwnda told them otherwise. We positioned ourselves and waited for Clydog to return, as we knew he must. The rest you know.’
Fidelma nodded approvingly as she followed his narrative. ‘You seem to be a sound strategist, Cathen.’
‘Even a good strategist needs luck, Sister.’
