“Madog consented?”
“ ’Twas Madog’s plan. Where is the Roman?”
“I dinna ken. I escaped the fort on my own.” She wrenched her arm from his grasp. She caught one glimpse of his stunned expression before she turned to the assembled warriors and lifted her arms. “Brothers! Hear me!”
Silence fell over the crowd like a rippling shroud, as one by one the warriors realized who it was that stood in their midst. When the last man’s voice was still, she spoke.
“Kynan speaks the truth! If Vindolanda is taken, do you imagine Rome will not send her Legions to recapture it? For every man you succeed in killing, two more will march from the south.”
“Nay.” Edmyg practically snarled the word. “In my father’s day even the highlands far to the north crawled with Roman vermin. Now they’ve abandoned their forts there. Rome’s tide retreats. We have but to hasten it.”
“ ’Twill not last. Like the tide, the Romans will return,” Rhiannon said. “The clans must unite, ’tis true, but not for war. We can survive best as an ally of Rome.”
Edmyg snorted. “The Romans have no allies. Only slaves.”
Kynan stepped forward. “Nay. Rhiannon has the right of it. I can no longer count how many kinsmen I’ve lost to Roman swords. Shall our children go fatherless? They deserve a chance for peace.”
Rhiannon laid her hand on the old warrior’s arm. “Kynan, ye’ve the wisdom of a true king,” she said, but it was Edmyg’s face that she watched. “Before the witness of my kin, I choose you as my consort and king. Will ye have me to wife?”
The color drained from Edmyg’s face, then returned as a dark rush of crimson. His knuckles went white on the hilt of his sword. Beside her, Rhiannon felt Kynan shift, drawing his own weapon. The older warrior moved swiftly, inserting his body between Rhiannon and Edmyg.
“ ’Tis my place to be king in Niall’s stead.” Edmyg’s voice shook. “Ye canna deny me.”
Rhiannon squared her shoulders. “The Old Law gives me the right to choose the man worthy to be king. Ye are not that man, Edmyg. Ye fathered a bastard on Glynis.”
“Aye, I did. A son murdered by yer foul brother.”
“Nay! Owein has not that power.”
“If ye truly believe that, yer a fool.” His attention sliced to Kynan. “Step away from my woman, old man. I willna give her up.”
Kynan stood his ground. “I accept Rhiannon’s offer. I am her consort now by right of law.”
Edmyg swore. “In one thing, at least, the Romans are wise. They keep their women locked away awaiting their pleasure.” He looked at Rhiannon. “Is that not true?”
“You swine,” Rhiannon whispered.
Edmyg’s voice rose, mocking her. “A woman is nay a fit ruler. If Cartimandua had submitted to her consort and king, the Brigantes would rule their land to this day. Instead she opened her thighs to any who would enter. As her granddaughter has done.”
Kynan’s sword lifted. “Shut yer foul mouth, Edmyg.”
Edmyg raised his own weapon. “Will ye fight for yer whore’s honor, old man?”
Kynan shifted into a battle stance. “I will fight for my queen.”
“Nay!” Rhiannon cried, but the two men paid her no heed. She lunged forward, but her kinsman Bryan restrained her. She twisted about. “Stop them.”
“I willna,” Bryan replied. “And nay will any of the others. They must resolve this feud with blood.”
Edmyg’s sword flashed. Kynan’s answered. The older warrior’s skill was keen, but Edmyg’s prowess in battle had earned him the right to be called king. It took but a few strokes before Kynan lay sprawled in the dirt, the tip of Edmyg’s sword pressing into the hollow of his throat.
A thin smile played about Edmyg’s lips. “Ye might have picked a more worthy champion, my queen.”
“Spare him, Edmyg. I beg ye.”
“And let him be claiming a place by yer side? Nay.” Kynan’s eyes bulged as Edmyg pressed his sword deeper.
“Yer favor has doomed him,” Edmyg declared. He plunged his sword into Kynan’s neck with a quick, deep thrust, nearly severing the old warrior’s head with his ferocity. Blood spurted from the gash and sprayed onto Rhiannon’s skirt.
She sank to her knees, struggling to draw breath into her stunned lungs. Kynan’s spirit tore from his body with a violence that caused stars to burst in her vision. Pain pounded in her head. Tremors wracked her body, made worse by the knowledge that she alone was to blame for the honest warrior’s death.
Edmyg lifted his bloodied blade to the sky. “Does anyone else dare challenge a king?”