Dragon of the Island (29 page)

Justina turned and poked at the fire. The
embers flew like stars in the dim room as she stirred the ashes.
Finally she spoke: “You went with the king to visit Cunedda of
Manau Gotodin, did you not?”

“Aye.”

“What was your opinion of the relationship
between Maelgwn and Cunedda?”

“I don’t know—they seemed friendly enough,”
Aurora answered hesitantly. “Why do you ask?” “Because I fear that
someone at Caer Eryri is plotting with the Brigantes to overthrow
Maelgwn.”

Aurora stared at the old women. “What makes
you think this?”

“When you were visiting the Brigantes, do
you remember a man with dark red hair who was close to
Cunedda?”

“There were many men there with hair that
color,” Aurora answered impatiently. “What of it?”

“Because there is a man like that who has
been staying near the village, hiding in the woods. I think he is
here to spy on Maelgwn... and to meet someone from Caer Eryri.”

“The man could be any one of a dozen men who
were close to Cunedda. There was only one whose name I knew, and
that was Ferdic, Cunedda’s son. He is a very tall, handsome man
with a lean, graceful build.”

Justina shook her head. “No, it is not him.
This man is lean and tall, but he is certainly not handsome. He has
the ugly face of a snarling wolf.”

“You have seen him yourself?” Aurora
asked.

“Aye, I have seen him. He creeps around in
the evening, so that no one will notice.”

Aurora was growing impatient. “If there is a
Brigante spy in the village, who is he meeting?”

“Can you not guess?” Justina said softly.
“Who craves the power of the Gwynedd kingship for herself?”

Aurora let out her breath in a slow
hiss.”Esylt!”

Justina nodded. “Esylt has always been
jealous of her brother. Now she plots to bring him down.”

Aurora looked at Justina with narrowed eyes.
“It is very grave to accuse the king’s sister of treason. What
proof do you have?”

“My proof is here,” Justina said
emphatically, touching her withered chest. “I know that there is
evil and danger surrounding Maelgwn. I also know what Esylt is
capable of.”

Justina looked deeply into Aurora’s eyes.
Her dark gaze was hypnotic, compelling, and Aurora found she could
not look away.

“Do you know the story of Dinas Brenin?”

Aurora nodded. “It troubles me. I know that
Maelgwn was very young... that he did not mean for it to happen...
but still, it is so horrible.”

“It was not his fault! It was Esylt who
insisted that the fires be set. It was Esylt who sought to destroy
their family so that Maelgwn would be the uncontested ruler of
Gwynedd!”

“How could Esylt order the troops to set the
fires?” Aurora protested. “Maelgwn was the commander. The men would
surely never listen to Esylt.”

Justina’s mouth was grim with hatred, and
the lines in her face seemed etched in bitterness. “She made him
give the order by taunting him, scorning him. Maelgwn was very
young then, perhaps sixteen or so, and when she called him a coward
and a fool, he gave in to her.”

“How do you know these things? How can you
know what was said and done so many years ago?”

Justina smiled her faint, haunting smile.
“Because I was with Maelgwn afterwards, and he told me.”

“Why would he tell you? Why would he tell
anyone?”

“Because sometimes secrets and guilt are too
heavy to bear alone,” Justina said with a sigh.

“I don’t believe you! Why would he tell
you—a poor old woman—something like that?”

“Because I was not so old then... and he was
a man and I was a woman.”

Aurora stared at her in shock. “You mean...
You are telling me that you and Maelgwn...?”

Justina smiled sadly. “Is it so hard to
believe that I was once young and beautiful like you?” She sighed.
“It is this disease I have—it twists my limbs and weakens my spine.
If it were not for the herbs I know how to use, I would never be
able to stand the pain.”

Aurora realized abruptly that Justina was
not as old as she had imagined. Disease had turned her into this
wizened frail creature. Aurora could not help searching Justina’s
face for some vestige of her former beauty. Her dark eyes must have
been entrancing once, and her long gray-streaked hair was still
thick, but the rest of it was gone—horribly distorted by the
ravages of time and her crippling disease.

“
You
shared Maelgwn’s bed?” she asked
in a hushed, disbelieving voice.

“Aye. It was only for one night, but the
pain and guilt was heavy upon him, and he told me what happened at
Dinas Brenin.”

Aurora was silent for a moment, her mind
churning. This conversation frightened her. If Justina’s story was
true, Esylt was even more wicked than Aurora had imagined. She had
always suspected Esylt of treachery, but nothing so evil as this.
She looked critically at the tiny woman seated next to her. Could
she trust her? She looked like nothing so much as one of the fairy
folk.

“Now that you have told me these things,
what do you want me to do?”

“I want you to go to your husband and warn
him of the treachery that is plotted behind his back.”

Aurora gave a deep sigh. “I don’t know if he
would believe me. Maelgwn thinks I am just as untrustworthy as his
sister, if not more.”

“Can’t you at least talk to him?”

“Why should I bother?” Aurora answered in
frustration. “If Maelgwn is foolish enough to trust his scheming
sister, why should I try to help him?”

“It’s a pity you care so little for your
husband. He is a better man than most, especially for a king.”

“Oh, I well know how beloved Maelgwn is
among his people. To them it would seem he is generous, even kind.”
Aurora’s voice was harsh with sarcasm. “But with his wife he does
not pretend. I know just how cold and arrogant he really is!”

The old woman sighed. “I see I am wasting my
time. Apparently the stories Esylt has been telling are true—that
you hate your husband and would be happy to be rid of him.”

Aurora gasped. “Is that what she has been
telling everyone?” She paused, thinking of how coolly the people of
Caer Eryri treated her. She had thought they were scorning her
because Maelgwn no longer shared her bed, but perhaps there was
another, more disturbing reason.

“It’s not true that I hate Maelgwn,” she
protested. “It is just that we...” Aurora stopped, suddenly
confused herself. “It is just that we... we can’t seem to stop
fighting.”

“And is he
all
to blame for
that?”

Aurora blushed. Her temper was almost worse
than Maelgwn’s and she was at least as stubborn as he was. It had
taken both of them to bring their relationship to this terrible
stalemate.

“Isn’t it true that Esylt has spoiled all
your chances to be happy with Maelgwn?”

Aurora looked at Justina in surprise. “What
do you know of it?”

The old woman shrugged. “I have heard
things. It’s clear Esylt wishes to cause trouble between you and
your husband. The king’s sister is like the weevil that fouls the
grain or the worm that rots the ripening fruit. Everything she
touches is spoiled!”

Aurora was startled by the. vehemence in
Justina’s voice. It was strange to meet someone who hated Esylt as
much as she did. Still, hate was not proof of treason.

Aurora shook her head. “It’s not enough.
I’ll never be able to convince Maelgwn that Esylt is going to
betray him. You have not even seen Esylt and this man together. How
do you know that this stranger is anything more than an outlaw
waiting around for the chance to steal something?”

Justina went back to poking at the fire. She
seemed to shrivel as Aurora watched, as if all her power came from
her voice and eyes, and the rest of her was merely an empty
shell.

“I want only to help him—to help us all.
Maelgwn is a good king; he has brought his people peace and
prosperity. I don’t want to see him fall victim to the jealous
treachery that has toppled the rest of the line of Cunodag. Even if
you do not love your husband, Aurora, can you not see how important
he is to his people? Can you not help him for our sake?”

Aurora pulled her gaze away and stared
pensively into the fire. Doubts crowded her mind. There were too
many things she didn’t know, too many riddles left unanswered. She
looked up.

“If you were once close to Maelgwn, why
don’t you go to him and warn him?”

Justina laughed a bright, tinkling laugh.
“Do you think he remembers me? A worn-out whore he spent a night
with so many years ago? I think not! Even if he did remember, he
certainly doesn’t know who I am now.”

“You were a
whore
?”

Justina almost giggled. “Did you think I was
some lovely farmer’s daughter sent to warm the new king’s bed?
No—he came to me because I was experienced, because I had a
reputation for keeping men’s secrets.”

“But why... why did you choose to be... one
of those... women? Were you poor? Did your father cast you
out?”

“It’s not so bad a life,” Justina answered
wryly. “You might say I was born to it. My grandmother followed the
legions. There is plenty of freedom, except for worrying about
babies and diseases, and my mother taught me how to deal with those
problems.”

Aurora stared at the tiny woman
incredulously. She had been brought up to believe that women who
had sex for payment were the most despised of creatures, but this
woman was admitting to it freely, almost proudly. Aurora was
shocked, but it did not take long for her curiosity to get the
better of her surprise.

“Did you... like it?” she found herself
asking.

“It’s just another way to put bread in your
mouth and a roof over your head. It takes patience and the
willingness to listen, more than great beauty or skill in bed. Men
want someone to confide in, someone to listen to their complaints
and troubles.”

Aurora sat very still, staring down at the
rings on her fingers. “Your story is very hard to believe,” she
said softly. “But somehow I do believe it. Still, there is much
that does not make sense. I know Esylt is a greedy, power-hungry
woman, but I’m not sure she would ever betray her own brother—and
why now, when he has been so successful?”

“You do not understand, do you, Aurora? It’s
because of you that Esylt is driven to treachery. She fears
you—fears your power over Maelgwn. That’s what has forced her to
take such drastic action.”

“The power I have over Maelgwn? He doesn’t
care about me at all!”

“Ah, but you are wrong, very wrong. Even
though the two of you have fought bitterly, Maelgwn has not talked
of voiding the marriage or sending you back to Viroconium. Have you
never wondered that he let’s you shun him from your bed and yet
insists that everyone treat you as his beloved queen? His feelings
toward you are stronger even than his pride.”

“I still do not see why that gives me any
power over him that Esylt might fear.”

Justina shook her head. “Esylt is afraid
that someday the troubles between you and Maelgwn will be over, and
you will take her place at Caer Eryri.”

Aurora gave a hollow laugh. “If only she
knew how unlikely that is. She may think Maelgwn cares for me, but
I do not. He has always been cold and cruel to me.”

“Always?”

Aurora looked away from Justina’s
questioning gaze.

“Well, no, there have been times when I
thought he might begin to feel kindly toward me. But something has
always happened. Esylt was always there to ruin it.”

“This time Esylt will do more than ruin
things between you and Maelgwn. This time she may well see that you
and Maelgwn are both killed, and Gwynedd is once again torn apart
by warfare!”

Aurora shuddered. “I’m afraid, Justina. I
want to go to Maelgwn and tell him what you have told me, but I
worry he won’t believe me. I need time, time to sort out my
thoughts and make sense of everything.”

Justina nodded. “We have a little time,
perhaps. This Brigante spy does not have what he needs or he would
not still be here. But do not delay long, Aurora. If you care for
your husband at all—do not wait too long to warn him.”

Aurora stood up stiffly. “I should be
getting back. I... I am glad to have met you,” she added, extending
her hand to the woman’s gnarled and twisted one.

Justina smiled her odd, enigmatic smile.
“Remember, I want only to help Maelgwn—and all of us.”

Aurora leaned down to squeeze through the
tiny doorway. It was already twilight. The afternoon had vanished,
and she was nearly late for supper. Had she truly been in Justina’s
house so long? Aurora felt goosebumps along her skin. She could not
help recalling the stories of people who went to fairyland for a
few days and returned to find that years had passed. As she rode up
the hill, the fortress still looked the same, stolid and gloomy in
the fading light. Aurora leaned forward and loosened the reins to
quicken the horse’s pace. She was anxious to be within Caer Eryri’s
safe walls. If Justina was right, there was an enemy lurking in the
shadowy forest pathways.

Maelgwn glanced at the setting sun as Aurora
rode into the fortress, roughly calculating how long she had been
gone. He had not yet stooped to following his wife, spying on her
to see what she did with her days, but he was tempted. She had been
going riding alone in the valley almost from the first few days of
her arrival at Caer Eryri, but she had never stayed away so long
before. It was well past supper, and she had ridden in from the
direction of the village. Had she met someone there?

Maelgwn decided that it was time to confront
his wife. He greeted her at the door of the stables as she brought
her horse in.

“Good evening Aurora,” he said as he stepped
out of the darkness.

Aurora gave a little cry of fright, and then
seemed to regain her composure. “Good evening,” she answered.