Chapter 2

That was odd, he thought. He’d marched out of the garden as if possessed. He’d had no intention of leaving. Had the plump beauty worked some sort of spell on him?

Angharad! It was a lovely name, if strange. He sighed. His eye had been draw inexorably to her at the banquet last night, as it always was to larger ladies. Not that she was fat, really, merely pudgy. There was plenty of room for her to grow. His groin tightened at the thought. He’d even thought up an excuse for Waric and the others for why he was pursuing the so-called ugly one. But it seemed she’d taken against him for some reason.

He glimpsed the beauty again while he was performing his sword workout the next morning. He saw her out of the corner of his eye and suppressed a grin. Shirtless, sweaty, whirling nimbly about the yard, his sword flashing in the sun - surely she would be impressed. As he spun, he saw her frown, then turn and stomp off.

Unable to concentrate, Cato finished his routine early. Feeling unsettled, he went for a run around the dun. The delegation would be leaving soon. He thought he would be able to charm Lady Angharad on the journey. Close quarters, travelling companions, all that. It would be easy.

But it wasn’t. After a farewell banquet where the speeches were as dull and bland as the food, the party set out. Lady Angharad rode in a litter with Princess Brangwen and addressed the foreign escort coolly. When they boarded the boat, Cato expected things would change. They did. They got worse. Princess Brangwen was terribly seasick, as was the other lady-in-waiting, and Angharad spent most of her time in a cramped cabin, dealing with vomit. When she did emerge, she was not in the best of tempers.

They were two days sail (if all went well) from Carolinga before Cato had the chance to speak to Angharad again. He was on deck, idly watching a passing flotilla of fishing boats. He had a tense, prickly feeling for reasons he couldn’t quite place. He turned and saw Angharad bearing down on him.

“Ser Carolinus?” she said shortly.

He bowed, sweeping off his hat.

“At your service, my lady.”

He peered at her closely. She looked exhausted. Had she lost weight?

“I need to prepare another tisane of ginger for the princess. But that oaf in the galley says there isn’t enough space for me.”

Cato laid a hand on her shoulder consolingly.

“I’ll sort it out at once, my dear lady.”

He began to move toward the hatch, but stopped abruptly as a noise and a scuffle broke out down the deck. A grappling hook swung over the side in front of him. Cato pushed Angharad toward the relative safety of the wheelhouse as he took it the situation. The fishing fleet, which had seemed so innocent, had surrounded the larger vessel and men were swarming aboard.

“To arms! To arms!” he yelled as he drew his sword.

The Carolingans struggled onto the deck in disarray. They had thought guarding the princess was purely ceremonial, until now.

****

Angharad watched from the wheelhouse entry as the arrogant Carolingan lunged and parried. When it came to swordplay, she had to admit that his arrogance was justified. It annoyed her. Here she was, surrounded by sickly spoiled royalty, disgusting airless cabins, smug gits and now this. Probably these bearded boarders would kill her. It was beyond enough. She felt rage building up inside her, roaring in her temples. She stepped out, screaming.

“Will you all just go away! Drop your weapons and leave, you evil bastards! I hate you! Leave and don‘t you come back!”

There was a pause, then the clanging sound of swords hitting wood as the erstwhile attackers scuttled back over the sides.

****

“That was amazing.”

Cato turned to Angharad just in time to see her sway and drop to the deck. He dropped his own sword and rushed to her side. She was still breathing. He gathered her up in his arms (with a slight grunt as he lifted her) and carried her below to an empty cabin.

****

When she awoke, the first thing she saw was the Carolingan’s beautifully sculpted face. He was watching her with a concerned expression.

“W-wa-”

He brought a cup of lukewarm water to her lips and she drank thirstily. This gave her the ability to ask her real question.

“What happened?”

He rested the cup on his knee.

“Did you know you were a sorceress?” he asked. “Are you here to protect the princess from magical attack?”

“What? No!” She tried to sit up. “Only a dedicat of the Goddess can work magic!”

He nodded.

“I’d heard that about you Halfwen people, that only the dedicats get taught how to use their powers,” he said, frowning. “It’s not like that in Carolinga. Look, you need to rest. We’ll speak more about this later.”

Angharad fell back into oblivion.

****

Cato paced the deck, torn between nearly jigging for joy and gritting his teeth in rage. His beautiful lady was a sorceress! And an untaught one at that! He laughed, thinking of how he would use this to his advantage.

But before that could happen, he had to figure out what in hell was going on. He examined the motley variety of swords left behind by the invaders. They stunk of a pirate fleet. But had someone hired them? Someone unhappy with this marriage between Carolinga and Halfwen, trying to provoke something? He shook his head. There was no evidence for that. Yet. He would have to closely examine everything left behind by the attackers.

****