“What did Glividen want?” I asked Veniva.
“More nonsense about the heating system of the citadel running underneath here. I told him Garah had come up through it yesterday so it must have been clear then. He gave me a long explanation of how it worked. He says the ducts run under where we are standing.”
“You were stopped a long time, for that,” I said. Inis had called to Teilo, and she came up to them. Glividen was still gesturing, and Teilo seemed to be trying to calm both of them down. I wished her luck.
“I was telling him about Ninian,” Veniva admitted.
“Where is she?” I asked.
Veniva looked around, then back. She would never even consider doing anything as vulgar as pointing. “There, near Atha, with Angas and her grandmother Ninian. She is wearing a scarf on her head, so you can’t see, but her hair is red.” I looked. As far as I could tell she looked like a sensible girl. She was tall and slim; she would not have had the weight to be an armiger. I hoped Darien liked her.
The trumpets blew then, warning us that Darien was about to come out.
Veniva went to stand with Emer and Inis. Angas came hurrying over and took his place.
“Some people said Darien should have waited until all the kings could be here,” Gorai said.
“Who isn’t here?” Galbian asked.
“Glyn of Bregheda, and Anlaf Alfwinsson, Ohtar’s heir of Bereich,” Gorai said. “And some are here, but their heirs are not.”
“The kings of the north who could not come so far so fast will swear to the High King when next they are in Caer Tanaga,” I said. We had spent a long time discussing this. If either of them had been less sure allies it might have been worth delaying. As it was, we had most of the kings here already, and as Darien insisted, a formal oathtaking in Caer Tanaga such as Urdo had taken at the beginning of his reign was a good way to affirm the Peace. Everything was arranged the same way. It made everything feel connected at root when I thought that I was standing where my father had stood with my brother Darien to make his oath to Urdo.
Only Rowanna had been here for the last coronation, and stood then where she stood now, upright and alone. Tereg was standing where Uthbad would have stood. The elder Cinon had stood where Alswith was standing now. He might have been here then as his father’s heir, I didn’t know. Duke Galba would have stood where Galbian was, and on my other side there would have been nobody. I turned my head. Alfwin bowed a little. Sidrok was smirking, but stepped away when I looked hard at him. He was not half the man his brother was. He would not have killed Ayl himself, but he was clearly delighted he was dead. He had Ayl’s son Trumwin with him, who was ten years old. He began to smile at me before he remembered that I had killed his father, then he looked away with dignity. Hengist Guthrumsson stood next. I could not remember if his father had taken oath to Urdo at his coronation or later. Ohtar would have taken the end place, or his grandson Anlaf Alfwinsson, if he had been here. I wondered what had become of Walbern.
There was another blast of trumpets followed by a hush as Darien came out. He was wearing the dark blue drape he had worn for the feast before the battle. He had the gold torc around his neck, and Ulf’s armring on his arm. The drape was pinned with my brooch from the hoard of Derwen—this time I had insisted. He came forward in silence with the crown in his hands. He walked straight up the clear strip of turf between the crowds until he stood on the stone under the oak, the Stone of the Kingdom in the central courtyard of Caer Tanaga, the heart of the High Kingdom.
He crowned himself then in the words and form that Urdo had used, and Avren, and Emrys, but naming the White God as witness and overseer of his oath and his marriage to the land. I looked over at Veniva, who was smiling with tears in her eyes. She and Raul had spent half the night working out the exact words of the oath.
When it was done the kings and kings’ heirs all went up and made our coronation oaths. It was a renewal for me, but a fresh oath for the others. After the oaths, Darien embraced the kings as they rose. He barely touched Angas, but his hug for me was real and warm. Then Darien walked down to the alae, and each ala made their oath together, each armiger naming whatever gods they would and Darien welcoming them in the name of the White God. When that was done he turned to the people, who were packed in down the long colonade, as many of them as could squeeze in. They gave a great cheer, and the rest of us joined in.
Then Darien spoke for a little while about the Council, about the Law, and the Peace. We cheered whenever he paused. At last he came around to Morthu. “He will be brought before me and tried,” Darien said. Those of us who had brought weapons for the coronation took them off for the trial, and there was a general shuffling as people took their weapons to the weapon room and came back. Darien gave his sword to ap Caw to take to safety; the old groom walked as proudly as if he was carrying a baby.
Another hush fell. Darien walked back to the stone. Inis came out of the crowd and began sprinkling water everywhere and chanting his charm against sorcery. Bishop Dewin pursed his lips disapprovingly, but nobody left. He stopped here and there and poked at the holes which were the vents for the heating system. I wondered if they had such things in Oriel and if he was confused by them.
After a little while, two guards brought Morthu out, walking between them. He paced up very deliberately over the grass until he was directly opposite where the kings stood. He was wearing the armor of an armiger. I wondered who had given it to him. Maybe it was the only thing that would fit him. The guards walked back away from him, leaving him alone in the center.
“Who accuses me, on what charge?” he asked, sounding like a prince who had been wronged.
“I, Darien ap Urdo of the House of Emrys, High King of Tir Tanagiri, accuse you, Morthu ap Talorgen, of black sorcery and seditious treachery.”
“What right have you to that name?” Morthu asked. “Your mother was not married to your father, and who is to say who your father is? Will she come and swear to it before the gods?”
I thought for a moment that he had cast the spell on me to make my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, for I could not speak. There was an indrawn breath among the kings around me, and many of them glanced at me.
Then Darien laughed. “Here we see an example of the sedition I spoke of, from your own mouth, ” he said. “It is no news that my mother has never been married to my father, but likewise it is no news that they were lovers at Caer Gloran before my birth, that my father has acknowledged me his son all my life, and that he proclaimed me his heir before gods, princes, and people on the field of Agned as he lay dying. Nor has my mother’s name ever been linked with another man, in all her life. Yet, if you like it better, I will call myself Darien Suliensson, for that is the name my father used when he proclaimed me his heir, and in that name I took the crown and mean to reign.”
Chins were being raised around me. “Absurd,” Gorai murmured to Galbian. Alswith patted my arm.
“Will Sulien ap Gwien so swear?” Morthu asked.
“We are not here to embarrass my mother, but to inquire into your treachery,” Darien said. “Before we begin, will you swear before the gods to speak the truth?”
“Of what am I accused?” Morthu asked again.
“Sorcery,” Darien said. “That is, burning your own soul to power your spells. Sedition, that is plotting to stir up the kings of Tir Tanagiri to fight against their rightful king. And treachery, that is plotting with the enemies of your country, and specifically inviting Marchel ap Thurrig and Arling Gunnarsson to invade.”
“By all the gods I care for,” Morthu said, “I swear that I am innocent of those charges, and I will speak nothing but the truth.”
Angas stirred uneasily, and I wondered if he was also thinking that there were very few gods Morthu cared for.
“It is customary to ask the White God to witness and hold your oath,” Darien said.
“But it is not the law,” Morthu said. He was right, of course. I gritted my teeth.
&nb
sp; We then went through the procedure of evidence being given against Morthu. Veniva read out Garah’s statement. Several servants and people of Caer Tanaga made statements. Then Flavien made a statement about Morthu’s sedition, enticing him into rebellion. Sidrok made another, almost identical, as was Hengist Guthrumsson’s. Then Atha came out, looking subdued and just like anyone else, and spoke about the letters he had sent her. Then it was my turn. As briefly as I could I explained about Aurien, and Daldaf, and that he had confessed the plot and the stolen letters. Then I gave an account of the events of the day before, which should have been sufficient evidence of sorcery all on their own. Lastly Elenn came forward, with Teilo at her side, and gave evidence quietly, confirming what I had said, confirming Garah’s statement about the sacrifice, and saying that she had been bewitched and forced to act against her own will.
When she had stepped back, Morthu raised his head. “May I speak now?” he asked. “Can I defend myself, or am I to be condemned unheard by this conspiracy of my enemies?”
“You can speak,” Darien said patiently.
“In the first place, the kings who say I wrote to them seditiously are twisting the events. There were letters between us, yes, and we did discuss rebellion. But as they stand pardoned, that is not in itself a crime. I did not begin writing to them, as they said. They were the ones who wrote to me, and to my brother, stirring up the war because of their rightful grievances, and not on my account. Secondly, Sulien ap Gwien and her servant, Garah ap Gavan, are lying, out of the hate and mistrust she has always had for me ever since she killed my mother. As for the last speaker, I must explain my innocence. The Queen Elenn is a very beautiful woman. When she fell in love with me and made advances to me I tried to resist for some time, as she was married to King Urdo. When he discovered this, I was banished to Demedia, although I was innocent. When I came back, she said that since Urdo was as good as dead I could have no more scruples, and threw herself at me. She is trying to escape blame and gain sympathy with this story of sorcerous bewitchment. She should rather be pitied than condemned.”
Elenn stood completely still, her face as remote as if he were speaking of someone else.
“And how do you explain the sacrifice of a hundred armigers and townspeople?” Darien asked.
“Another lie. They tell you to go and see the circle of ashes. It is true that we made a pyre to burn the dead, but that is all the truth of it. My enemies are conspiring against me, some out of hatred for me but most to shift the blame from themselves to me. If you are not prejudiced because one of them is your mother, you will judge the truth of it for yourself. You may say that their conspiracy against me is fantastic and unlikely, but on the same grounds consider what it is that they say I have done and how plausible that is.”
“And why would Atha lie about you?”
“Who knows why Isarnagans do anything?” He shrugged, and some of the crowd chuckled.
“And Rigga of Rigatona?” Darien asked.
“Who?” Morthu asked, but I could tell he had not been prepared for this.
“Rigg, of Rigatona. She writes from Caer Custenn of your conspiracy with Arling. ” Darien waved the letter I had sent to Urdo when all this began. It seemed like years ago, but it was hardly a month and a half.
“Probably a forgery your mother made,” Morthu said, and stared at Darien as if daring him to condemn him.
This was the first public act of Darien’s reign. He had not only to do justice, but be seen to do it. If there had been a vote among the kings then, I am not sure whether Morthu might not have swayed enough of them to set him free.
“And sorcery?” Darien asked.
“Where is your evidence of sorcery?” Morthu replied.
“We have given our evidence,” Darien said, coming forward toward Morthu. “Garah’s written evidence and Sulien’s spoken evidence you deny as lies. Shall I have Raul and Glividen tell us how the stones of the gate were fallen? Shall I have everyone who has ever dealt with you tell of one thing and another that are individually very small but together are incontrovertible proof?”
I was looking at Morthu, so I saw his eyes narrowing as Darien approached, and I saw his face tighten as if he was waiting for him to be near enough. He didn’t have a weapon, but neither did I. I didn’t really think he was going to jump Darien, it wasn’t that sort of expression.
As I was trying to think what sort of expression it was, Inis leapt forward. “The blackheart has come to Caer Tanaga!” he shouted. “Hear me, oh Earth!”
Then everything happened at once. Darien took another step forward and there was a muffled crump sound, and gouts of fire exploded up through the ground in a wide band across from where I was standing to where Elenn was standing, opposite me. Almost before I had seen it, there was a loud bang and the fire was gone. A wave of warm fog expanded quickly outward at knee level, and rolled away along the ground. I wasn’t sure at the time if any of it had been real, but I found afterward that the hairs on my legs were singed off, so it must have been.
Morthu was staring at Inis with incredulous hate on his face. “That wasn’t sorcery!” he said.
“Not a bit of it,” Inis agreed cheerfully. “That was the fuel for the flame-machines which you had stored in the heating-system tunnel, and you set it off with a perfectly ordinary spark charm. Do not condemn this man for sorcery, Kings and Princes; he would have killed you with innocent burning oil.”
Gorai actually laughed.
“We would have been just as dead,” Darien said, sounding a little shaken. “And murder is also a capital crime,” he added. “Thank you, Inis, whatever you did.”
“I just took away the air around the fire, and the life from the heart of it,” Inis said, as if this made sense in the first place and as if it were possible in the second. He sounded a little bashful.
“Well, Morthu,” Darien said.
Morthu tried to take a step toward Darien, and stumbled to his knees. “My feet,” he screamed.
Teilo stepped forward from the crowd. “The curse has him,” she said. “He could not do sorcery, and the charm he did has opened the way for the curse to find him. And every life he has taken to keep it away is making it stronger now.”
Morthu kept screaming. I leaned forward to see. It looked as if the grass had caught Morthu by the feet and ankles and was holding him tight. Now it was twining up his legs to his knees. “Cut me loose!” he screamed, tearing at the grass with his fingers.
Inis cackled. “You just tried to kill them all, and you think they’ll cut you loose?”
I looked to see if anyone would. Flavien was patting his clothes, looking appalled. Everyone else seemed stunned. Gwien was gazing, eyes wide. “His foot’s come right off,” he said. It had. The bare bones were lying separately on the innocent grass like the bones of someone long dead, each toe bone separate from the other bones like an illustration in one of ap Darel’s books. Morthu’s scrabbling fingers had been caught, too, and he was pulled forward on his hands and knees, with the grass reaching up his arms.
“Help me!” Morthu shouted. “I’ll teach you all my spells. I’ll make you High King if you help me. I’ll show you how to be like a god! Whatever you want, power, lovers, comfort. Just get me away from this grass. You’re standing on it too, you know. How do you know it won’t turn on you when it has done with me? Cut me free and lift me up!”
“And will you be carried in a chair all your life, or walk in shoes with springs on their heels?” Inis asked, still full of maniacal cheer.
“This is not deadly grass you have stumbled on,” Teilo said. “This is the vengeance of the Earth you have scorned all your days.”
Alswith was looking sick. Even Darien looked pale. The worst of it was that there wasn’t any blood. I was at the same time both intensely glad of it and absolutely horrified by seeing it. Only Inis seemed to be enjoying it, laughing and dancing about. He went back into the crowd and took hold of Elenn’s arm and dragged her forward. “Elenn!” Morthu scr
eamed. “Help me! Cut me free!”
She spat on his face. “So perish all who malign my honor,” she said coldly.
Even I shuddered. She shook off Inis’s hand and walked over to Teilo, who held Elenn against her shoulder like a child, hiding her eyes. Teilo was not afraid to look herself. On the faces around me I saw hatred and nausea and disgust and, on some, a furtive pleasure. Raul looked incredulous. Dewin looked confused. Father Cinwil looked as if he might be sick at any moment. Only Teilo watched entirely dispassionately, as if she needed to be able to give an account of it to someone later.
When Morthu stopped begging for help and his screams became gurgles, Teilo gave Elenn to Raul and came forward again.
“It is time for mercy,” she said to Darien. “Kill him now.”
Darien raised his chin, and reached for where his sword should have been, then remembered he didn’t have it. All of us were patting our clothes now, and discovering the same thing. By the time a guard came up at Darien’s signal, it was too late; there was nothing left of Morthu but his neatly piled bones.
I was very glad he was dead, and so perish all poison-tongued traitors and sorcerers. But all the same, I have never cursed anyone since.
— 27 —
Let the dead be carried gently;
let them wonder, who are living,
what choice shall be tomorrow.
— Roland Poem, Number 5
When it was almost sunset, a servant came and asked me to go to Elenn for the laying out. I had almost forgotten about it. Darien had told me in the morning that there would be a boat ready, but it had gone out of my mind. I was the last to arrive in the little room where they were preparing the bier. Elenn welcomed me, looking very composed. My mother was there, and Alswith, arranging cornflowers and roses around the piece of wood that was, when looked at in a certain way, Urdo lying still with closed eyes. It was a gnarled and weathered oak log with the bark still on. I don’t know where they found it.