10 - CAIMIR

For a few miles out of Cair Ligualid the road was paved with stones, but after a while it became a dirt trail, though larger than two carts in width.

It had been a bad awakening, that morning. Guletic Tutgual Tutclyd was dead: that sudden news had put Caimir in an ill mood. Now they all had to go back to Alt Clut, sooner than planned, to attend the royal funeral. And on top of that, Caimir was feeling slightly uncomfortable about the young messenger who had brought the dreadful news: he didn't remember to have ever seen him among Tutgual's royal harbingers. Maybe he was a new one, but still something looked fishy: usually the royal heralds, during the many years of Tutgual's rule, used to know a lot of additional information, while this one didn't communicate anything besides what was written in the message. Caimir had almost told Prince Riderch his doubts, but then, considering that the royal seal on the scroll was authentic, he dismissed them as nonsense.

Until that moment they had ridden in open fields through rolling hills, but now the trail was nearing the edge of a wood. By instinct, Caimir rode his horse closer to the carriage he was assigned to escort. So close that he could now even hear the princess' and princelings' voices inside the carriage. Prince Riderch was riding ahead, together with the young messenger and encircled by some of Caimir's best guards.

The trail entered into the woods and became much narrower. Traveling through the borderlands was always kind of risky, but Caimir was relieved to leave Rheged and especially Cair Ligualid. Urbgen's court reeked of pomposity. He made the people call him Urbgen Pendragon, 'the Highest Commander'. That title would have fitted some great leader of the past, not surely the vain King Urbgen of Rheged.

Suddenly Caimir heard a whistle from one of his guards who were riding ahead as vanguard. That was the sign that somebody was coming from the opposite direction. Caimir told the party to stop, he ordered some of the guards to stay close to the carriage, and he alone trotted ahead. He passed next to Prince Riderch and he told him: "I am going to check". Riderch only nodded in answer.

When he reached the two guards at the vanguard, Atoc and Catleu, he saw who was coming: it was just a single rider on a gaunt packhorse. He was a young boy, apparently tired and frightened.

"Let us pass, boy, and carry on to your way", Caimir told him.

"Sir, I bring bad news from Alt Clut... An attack...", the young rider replied, with an exhausted voice.

"What did you see? Tell us!", Riderch intervened from behind Caimir: he had caught up with him at the vanguard, together with the messenger and one bodyguard, Guncar.

The boy shuddered: "I lived just inside the ramparts. It was... it was in the middle of the night. All of a sudden...".

But just when the boy was starting to tell his story, an arrow hit him on his shoulder, and he fell from his horse.

Caimir instinctively turned his head and saw the messenger, still holding a small bow, taking off at a gallop towards the poor boy who was now lying on the ground, clearly with the intention of finishing him. But Atoc and Catleu were on his way.

Atoc tried to stop the messenger's horse, but in the clash they both lost balance and fell on the ground. The messenger hit Atoc with a knife and then he tried to jump on the injured boy, but Catleu was quicker: from his saddle he threw a lance which pierced the messenger's neck. The man fell, while dark blood gushed from his neck.

Caimir heard Princess Languoreth's scared voice far behind, from the carriage: "What's happened?".

He was wondering himself, what had just happened.

Riderch dismounted from his horse, and Caimir did the same and walked next to his lord, towards the three men on the ground. Catleu dismounted too: "I - I just tried...", he stammered. Riderch just answered: "You did well to hit that bastard". His voice had a cold angry tone.

The messenger lay still on the ground. He seemed to be dead already.

Atoc was crouched down, holding his stomach in pain. "Attend to him", Riderch told Catleu.

The young boy was sitting on the ground, pale in the face and trying to pull out the arrow from his shoulder. Caimir asked Riderch: "Should I?". The prince nodded, and Caimir knelt down in front of the boy. "Grit your teeth", he told him. Guncar came close and held the boy still. Caimir started to pull out the arrow, slowly at first, and then gradually increasing his force. The boy screamed in pain. A small gush of blood came out of the wound. The boy stopped crying but he looked pale and extremely weak.

Riderch then talked to Catleu: "How's his condition?", he said referring to Atoc. "M'lord Riderch", replied Catleu, "the wound looks very badly and deep. He needs help from a druid or a healer, I think he don't have much time".

"Damn it!", swore Riderch. "What came over that man? Was he even a real messenger, or was he an impostor?". Then he spoke to the young boy: "Now tell us what you were going to say!".

The kid was still sitting on the ground, his face was so pale that he looked like on the verge of fainting, but now he was fixing his eyes wide open on Riderch: "You - you are Prince Riderch? A - a warband attacked the Rock... They burned all around... My father tried to save our house and they killed him! I grabbed a horse from the stables and escaped to call for help... My mother and my sisters fled Alt Clut on foot, I don't know... ".

"Liar! A warband? What warband?!", shouted Riderch.

Now the boy looked frightened: "I - I don't know. They were shouting but - but in a different language".

"Bear, we must reach Alt Clut as soon as possible and see what has happened for real", Riderch told Caimir.

"Lord Riderch", answered the Bear (as Riderch used to call him), "we don't know what will expect us at the Rock. I am really worried about my own family. But if there's an enemy army there, we are only a dozen men and we don't have the force to face an army. We should go back to Cair Ligualid and ask for reinforcements". Caimir hated to think of going back to that town, but he didn't see any other options. Besides, Atoc needed urgent cures to his wound, and Caimir didn't like the idea of ​​losing one of his guards in that way.

Riderch, looking anxious, pondered on the situation, then, sounding upset, he said: "You are right. Better we quickly go back to Cair Ligualid".

The travel back was a pain. They rode faster, almost at a trot, trying to reach Cair Ligualid in time for saving Atoc's life. The guard had been laid down on a stretcher tied to the carriage. The young boy's condition was getting worse too: he had been tied to the gaunt packhorse to prevent him from falling, since he looked weaker and weaker, and he didn't want to eat the food which had been offered to him.

They had abandoned the body of the dead messenger in the bushes. How to explain his behaviour? He had clearly tried to kill the young boy when he was about to tell his terrible story. Riderch was now convinced that the messenger must have been an impostor, but how had he managed to impress the royal seal on the scroll? That didn't look good. The royal seal was kept among the personal belongings of Guletic Tutgual. If the boy was telling the truth (and why would he lie?) and the Rock of Alt Clut had actually been attacked, then clearly someone was using Tutgual's royal seal in order to forge completely false news, and most likely that someone was not Morcant neither someone from Tutgual's family. Tutgual might be really dead, but not for a sickness: an attack on Alt Clut, Tutgual dead and some enemy in power at the Rock at that same moment. That was really frightening, and Caimir started fearing for his own family's safety.

He was again riding next to the carriage. Riderch, ahead, was no doubt trying to question the poor boy some more. But Caimir was quite sure that the young rider couldn't know much more than what he had already told.

Anyways, if Guletic Tutgual had really died a violent death, Prince Morcant might have died too, and if that was the case, they would be in danger themselves.

Tutgual had always been magnanimous towards Caimir, even though he knew that the Bear came from a family of peasants. The king had always treated him with respect, with the respect due to someone who manages to achieve what he wants. Caimir had always wanted to become a soldier, since when he was a little boy and he used to help his family with the harvest. So he had left his parents still very young and he had ventured to do several jobs, from laborer to watchdog. His big body size, even at young age, helped him to be chosen for tasks such as those. During that time, he often used to approach horsemen coming out of the Rock: he used to offer them his help and service, but none of them ever stopped to talk to him. Why would have they? At that time Caimir was only a young peasant. After so many attempts, finally a very young and drunk horseman accepted to go drink some mead with Caimir. His name was Riacat. What a useless bloke was Riacat, at that time. He was young and with no acquaintances, he didn't even live around the Rock, but in Cathures. His only merit was being a distant relative to the king. But Caimir didn't mind that: he showed Riacat that he was interested in becoming his man-at-arms and in helping him with any errands. He became good, and then very good. Until the day when Riacat was called in the king's retinue during Tutgual's trip to Din Eitin. Someone within the king's entourage during that trip must have noticed Caimir's readiness in assisting Riacat, because after that day he was called to assist other horsemen living at the Rock. In few years Caimir improved his fighting skills and became one of the most trusted guards in Alt Clut. They started calling him 'the Bear', because of his size and his introvert attitude. Then came the great sickness, that killed many people in Alt Clut, included even Queen Elufed. Several guards died too, the Royal Guard was decimated and, when the sickness passed, new recruits were sorely needed. He remembered, he was in his twenties when Guletic Tutgual called him to become Prince Riderch's new personal guard, making him part of the prestigious Royal Guards.

Now, if Tutgual had really been killed by an enemy army, their own lives were at risk. But what enemy could have broken the formidable Rock's defenses? That had never happened before, as far as Caimir remembered. He was wondering who was sitting on the throne of Alt Clut at that very moment.

"Caimir". Princess Languoreth's voice distracted him from his thoughts. She was sticking her head out of the carriage and clearly she wanted to talk to him. Even if they were trotting quite speedily, Caimir tried to ride closer to the carriage: "Yes, princess", he said.

"What do you think of the boy's story?" she asked him. Of course Riderch had briefly told her what had happened.

"I don't know, princess, I am just a royal guard, I don't presume to elaborate what others say", Caimir lied.

Languoreth seemed disappointed, as she said: "In any case, you and your guards now must be more careful than ever. If Tutgual and Morcant had woefully died, that would mean that Riderch would be entitled to be the new Guletic of Alt Clut". And after saying that, she disappeared back inside the carriage.

The Bear had not thought about that. He was still picturing that scenario in his mind when they were already trotting on the paved road. Soon they were within sight of the ancient stone wall. They passed through it and through other stone ruins, then they crossed the bridge on the river, and after that, Cair Ligualid was again in sight. They passed a few wayfarers and soon they were close to the town's walls. From the outpost on the ramparts they must have seen them coming a long way off, because King Urbgen in person was standing at the entrance gate, waiting for them, his face betraying all his surprise for seeing them back again.

After a while, Riderch was sitting in Urbgen's abode, in front of a table. Next to the same table, Urbgen was pouring some ale, then he sat on a stool himself and he passed a cup to Riderch. "I have a cup for your guard too", Urbgen told him.

"Thanks to you, Guletic Urbgen Pendragon, but I don't need to drink now", said Caimir, who was standing a few feet away from the table, the same as Urbgen's personal guard. The latter was a muscular bloke, fully armed and stock still.

"Well, then", grunted Urbgen, "let's talk, Riderch".

Prince Riderch told Urbgen once more what had happened in the woods, while the Pendragon had a pensive look and was scratching his beard.

"Well", said Urbgen when Riderch had finished talking, "that boy might not be able to confirm his story ever again: our healer has told me that when you arrived here he was unconscious and he looked more dead than alive".

"The thing is", replied Riderch, "he didn't have a clue who was the enemy and what really has happened. Maybe there was an attack, but the besiegers could have been defeated. That scenario actually looks now the most realistic in my opinion". Riderch seemed to regret coming back to Cair Ligualid instead of moving at full march towards Alt Clut.

"You forget the matter of that messenger", Urbgen pointed out. "He tried to kill the poor boy for no apparent reason, and he was carrying a message about your father's death of sickness. Let's say that King Tutgual did die of sickness and the attack happened just after that. Then why this messenger wanted to kill the youngster when he was about to tell you what had happened in Alt Clut?".

Riderch exhaled a strained sigh: "The only way to find out what happened is to march to Alt Clut in force".

Urbgen leant back on his stool, making it creak under his weight.

Here they were, eventually, at the core of the matter: would King Urbgen Pendragon of Rheged lend part of his forces to Prince Riderch of Alt Clut to help him just in the name of friendship and alliance? 

"I think", said the Pendragon pensively, "that if this attack took place, soon other fugitives will reach the territories of Rheged. I feel it's wise to wait until that will happen, which will indubitably happen if the story of the boy is somewhat true. I don't see any good in sending a platoon to Alt Clut on the basis of the little information we have ".

Riderch looked definitely not happy with that answer, and he stayed there holding the cup and sulking.

Urbgen leant towards him, and his stool creaked even more. "Riderch", he said softly, "think about this: if really something tragic happened to your father and to your older brother, it would mean that you could be the legitimate new guletic of Alt Clut. It's time you start thinking and acting with that in mind, with the necessary caution and tactics".

Caimir read amazement and awareness in Riderch's eyes, as he said: "You are right. And that would mean also that I am at war for the power over Alt Clut".