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Night Birds' Reign(142)



“I am sorry,” she said, gently laying her hand on his arm.

“Don’t be,” he replied harshly, as though already regretting the moment of intimacy. “I neither need nor want your pity.”

“Don’t start,” she warned him.

“Of course pity is what you do best, isn’t it?” Gwydion went on implacably. “Or is that running away?”

It seemed to Trystan that the slap she gave him would have wakened the dead but the others never moved from their sleep. Gwydion grabbed Rhiannon by her shoulders so hard that his fingers sank into the flesh of her arms. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He looked down at her and she looked up at him. For a moment neither one of them moved. Trystan saw Gwydion bend his head toward her. But he halted before even beginning the kiss he had in mind. He drew back, his face suddenly stern and unyielding. Rhiannon pulled away from him and he let her go. She turned away, going back to her blankets, turning her back to him.

So it was only Trystan that saw Gwydion did not take his eyes from her until morning.

Suldydd, Tywyllu Wythnos—late morning

AS THEY JOURNEYED west for the next few hours they saw the shores of the River Rhymney in the distance. Trees clustered the banks, their leaves of gold and flame blazing in the early afternoon sun.

Millponds branched off from the river and mills dotted the banks, for Rheged was a land of golden grain, and the mill wheels turned constantly to grind the grain to flour. Occasionally they saw a cluster of houses near the river and crossed near field after field of rich grain. A number of the people they saw in the distance were winnowing grain. Using large baskets they threw handfuls of wheat into the air to separate the kernels from the chaff, the kernels, being heavier, fell back to the bottom of the baskets, the chaff floating to the top.

They saw a woman and her young children picking rushes by the shore for use in making candlewicks, for beeswax candles were another staple product of Rheged. Beehives dotted the plain, rising from the grasses like golden towers, bees buzzing gently in the cooling breeze.

Trystan spotted the tall, slender marker that stood in splendid isolation in the middle of the plain. The dark stone stood silently. The sides of the tower were carved with whorls and circles, while tiny figures did their deadly dance of battle in between. Yellow corydalis twined around the base of the obelisk, seeking, perhaps, to brighten the midnight stone.

They drew near to the marker and silently dismounted, coming to cluster at the stone’s slender base.

“Tell us,” Cai said, not taking his eyes from the stone. “Tell us exactly how it happened.”

“Cadwallon and Caradoc were the twin sons of Rhys, the first King of Rheged,” Gwydion began. “Their mother was Ellylw, the daughter of Govannon, the first Archdruid of Kymru. The twins had been very close as young boys. If one began a sentence, the other one had finished it. They were inseparable and their love for each other was pure and strong. Cadwallon, the elder by only a few moments, was destined to be King of Rheged, yet any jealousy the two boys were capable of remained dormant. Until the day that they met Eilonwy, the daughter of Gwydd, the second Dreamer.”

The wind blew mournfully past the stone and the sun overhead seemed to draw back, paling slightly, taking some warmth from the golden afternoon.

“For they both loved her passionately the moment they saw her. And she returned the love of Cadwallon, but not that of Caradoc. Caradoc was devastated when Eilonwy agreed to become Cadwallon’s wife. He convinced himself that the only reason she had done so was because Cadwallon would be King. If not for that Eilonwy would have loved him, Caradoc, and they would have been happy forever. So thinking he began to brood. He left Llwynarth for he was not willing to see his brother and his new bride so happy. He lived alone in a manor some leagues away from the city, and did not come often to see the couple. But then he took thought and realized that there was a way he could be King, in spite of his brother. So he rode to Ederynion and presented himself to the Rulers of that country, and caught the eye of Gwenis, their daughter and heir. He charmed her, he wooed her, and he won her. But he was not in love with her, although Gwenis understood this to her sorrow far too late.

“As the years went by the two brothers had children. Cadwallon and Eilonwy had two little girls, while Caradoc and Gwenis had two little boys. Eventually Rhys of Rheged died, and Cadwallon took his place as King. His mother, Ellylw withdrew from Rheged in sorrow, and went to live with her brother who was now Kymru’s Archdruid in Caer Duir. Seven years later the King of Ederynion died, and Gwenis became Queen, so Caradoc was at last King.