More than one year had passed since when Leo had arrived by ship at the Abbey of Ioua. Now he was again on a ship, going south both literally and figuratively. He was feeling that the plan organised by Cassiodorus had unravelled: in the original plan, after one or two years Leo and his companion Brother Lucius were supposed to embark again on a ship, but in order to go back to Italia, bringing lots of parchments with them. Thinking about that, Leo was not even sure that Cassiodorus was still alive: he was eighty years old and the last time Leo had heard from him was some months earlier, when they had received an epistle in which Cassiodorus was asking them how the plan in Hibernia was proceeding. But that epistle had left the Vivarium during the previous year.
Moreover, Leo had failed in his collaboration with Brother Lucius. He had lied to him about himself during one and a half year. Lucius' reaction was predictable: he had trusted Leo, only to find out that he was no priest, and on top of that even a nonbeliever.
Where was he going now? Why had he requested, out of the blue, to leave Ioua and come with these foreign strangers, these Briton monks and soldiers? He himself didn't really know. Actually, deep inside he knew. For a long time in his life he had been a wanderer: after having left the abbey of Father Benedictus when he was still half a kid, he had never stayed in one place for more than a year until he found a stable life at the Vivarium. And now once again he had jumped at the chance of leaving Ioua, the same as he used to do when he was younger. He had barely got the time to collect his few belongings, and there he was gone, with people he didn't know at all. Like a jump into darkness.
He was leaning against the port beam of a small boat, sprays of sea water wetting his face, traveling with seven soldiers, two monks, a boy, and the helmsman, all of them strangers and speaking a foreign language. The boat was so small that Leo was wondering how it could face the open stretch of water they were venturing into. Luckily, the weather was good and the sea was calm, for the moment. The summer sunlight in these regions was not even remotely as strong as in Italia, so it was pleasant to feel it on his bare head, without covering himself with his hood.
He didn't have a clue of where they were going to, besides understanding that they were directed to a Brittonic town and that those people were likely getting deep into a fight with the abducted boy's father and clan. The destination was not close: the previous day, after leaving Ioua, they had sailed for many hours before stopping for the night, crowded into a tiny hovel on the coast. They had left at first light and they were sailing for a few hours already.
"Here, Brother Leo, over there". The monk called Serf caught his attention. He was sitting behind him. Leo turned his head and saw that Serf was pointing at the coast, on their left-hand side: "Do you see those boats sailing in and out of that bay? There's a village there, and across the bay a small stone church, called Candida Casa".
"Candida Casa, in Latin? As in 'white house'?", Leo asked, surprised. It was rarer and rarer for him to hear or speak the Latin language, his mother tongue. Recently, traveling inland with some monks from Ioua, he had been told that even the Brittonic language would come useful in case he met Briton monks, as he was now eventually experiencing personally. Thus, Leo had started to learn that difficult language but he had still a scarce understanding of it and especially he could barely speak it. Luckily this Brother Serf was also quite fluent in the Dalriatan language, which Leo could at least decently speak, after one and a half year of practice.
"Yes, exactly", answered Serf. "In Candida Casa, many years ago, I trained as a novice. They say it's the oldest Christian settlement in northern Albion". Serf paused, then he asked him: "And you, Brother Leo, you said that you are a Roman from Italia... Where did you train as a novice? In Roma? I once planned to go to Roma, but God eventually had other plans for me".
Here we go again, Leo thought. "No, not in Roma", he answered, "I was a puer oblatus at an abbey founded by the severe Father Benedictus of Nursia, who, I've heard just few years ago, is now venerated as a holy man by his disciples". He stopped there, he didn't want to get to the point of recounting all his own life.
After a silence, Brother Serf spoke: "And how a monk from Italia has come to these shores, so far from your native land?". Leo noticed that Serf had not insisted on asking him about his novitiate, showing some tact at least.
"Christianity is universal, isn't it?", answered Leo, "and Roman culture too, it expanded from Roma up to these lands, and on the opposite side down to Aegyptus".
Serf smiled: "How true, how true. Then, let me ask you this: why did you leave Ioua and come with us?".
"Honesty, Brother Serf, I am not sure. I feel like I've learnt all what I could from my experience in Ioua, and I am keen to see other Christian settlements. You are the first Briton people I meet, and I just thought to have a chance of traveling through Brittania... or how do you call it? Albion?".
"Yes, Albion, right", answered Serf pensively and looking not persuaded.
"I, too, wish to ask you something, Brother Serf", replied Leo, hoping to change the subject: "What did happen at the abbey yesterday? Why did your soldiers take the boy unbeknownst to his family?". Leo had listened to the explanation from Father Colmcille's perspective, when the abbot had dictated the text in Latin to Brother Lucius, but he wanted to hear Brother Serf's perspective, taking advantage of the fact that the soldiers clearly couldn't understand the Dalriatan language. He had not dared to go on that subject until then, but now he had the chance.
Serf looked around, then he spoke with a soft voice: "I think Brother Mungo is the one whom you should ask".
The monk called Mungo was sitting next to Serf, and clearly he must have followed their conversation.
Leo stared at him, until eventually Brother Mungo spoke softly: "Brother Leo, I will answer only because these soldiers don't understand the Dalriatan language, and Artúr is at the other side of the boat and he cannot hear. I will speak to you as a priest to another priest. You see, what happened few days ago is something disastrous, even for these turbulent times: the citadel of an important Brittonic kingdom, one of the biggest in Brittania, has been conquered, and its ruling dynasty exterminated. The conqueror is at the same time cousin by blood and son-in-law of the king he has killed! And he's a leader of a foreign kingdom, not a Brittonic one: the kingdom of Dál Riata has different people, different language, different customs... Different religion. I don't know why this Áedán sent his oldest son to the Abbey of Ioua, but Dál Riata is a pagan kingdom and, now that the Cruthin have conquered Alt Clut, all the Christians are banished from their own motherland. Brother Serf and I have witnessed that. All these circumstances are very, very bad. War on a large scale is behind the corner between the Britons and the Cruthin, as we derogatorily call the people from Hibernia and Dál Riata. Though most of the Cruthin people of Hibernia are Christians while the majority of the Cruthin of Dál Riata are not, they share common language and society, and they have often joined together in war".
Brother Mungo looked circumspectly around, before continuing ever more softly: "The other day in Cair Ligualid, the town where we are headed to, I met a prince of Alt Clut, apparently the only son alive of the deceased king. He pushed me to perform this action... to abduct Áedán's son. Initially of course I opposed the idea. But then, I realised that it might be actually the right move in order to avoid a bloody war. The boy will be held as a ward by Prince Riderch, who is his maternal uncle, thus appeasing for the moment the Briton leaders until a new agreement about the status of Alt Clut is to be found. I doubt that Áedán mac Gabráin will be tempted to wage war on the Britons, knowing that Riderch holds his oldest son. They will be forced to find a peaceful agreement".
But Leo in the last year had come to learn a bit of the Dalriatan politics, so he replied: "What if the king of Dál Riata, King Conall, orders the Dalriatan forces to attack the Britons disregarding Áedán's worries?".
"What are you monks speaking about?", someone asked in the Brittonic language, behind them. It was the soldiers' captain, a big and muscular bloke. And with that interruption, their conversation was over.
Leo covered his head with his hood and after a while, cradled by the monotonous rolling of the sea, he dozed off.
He got woken up by a chilly wind and he felt his body numb for staying in the same position for too long. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that the sky was cloudy and threatening rain. The boat was now moving along the coast. He got confused by the fact that the shore was on their right-hand side now, then he realised that they were entering a wide bay. He took off his hood and he looked around. He saw a ruined stone fortification standing on a cliff that rose steeply from the shore. It looked somehow familiar, as if it was a Roman building. "What is that?", he asked Serf, pointing at it.
"That", answered the old monk, smiling, "is what remains of a big fort built by your ancestors. Yes, Brother Leo, the Romans built that, although a very long time ago. In fact, such a long time ago that nobody really knows when and by whom exactly. All what is left are impressive ruins and many stories".
"Maybe that will surprise you, Brother Serf, but I have seen similar ruins even in Italia", replied Leo.
"Mundus transit", Serf sighed. "You will see, Brother Leo, many are the vestiges left by the Romans in this area. There is even an old fortified stone wall which runs trough the region, though it's quite in ruins. Some people say that it runs all the way up to the eastern sea, but I have no idea if that is true".
"Enough about that. What do you think will happen when we will arrive at the town where we are headed to?", asked Leo.
"Once we arrive at Cair Ligualid, provided that the upcoming storm doesn't smash us against the shore, Artúr will be received by Riderch and most probably by King Urbgen Pendragon. It will be up to them to decide what they will do in this new situation. I really hope that with this action we are preventing a war, and that we are not leading into one".
