1 - MORCANT

His strength was slowly coming back to him. He could see and hear better, day by day. But the pain on his face was sharper now, and burning. And he still couldn't manage to sit for more than a little while, or he would feel like fainting. A Cruthin healer came every now and then to clean his wounds with some healing poultice, and that burnt even more. Morcant would have shouted at him, if he had strength enough. Instead, injured as he was, all he could do was to let the damn Cruthin healer do his job, hoping that he was really curing him and not poisoning him.

Morcant didn't know where he was exactly. Injured soldiers were lying around him, inside a ragged tent which didn't even protect them from the chilly winds outside. Sometimes some of them talked, in the Cruthin language, the language of his brother-in-law.

It was still very confusing, being among Cruthins and hearing that Alt Clut had been sacked and his father the Guletic had been killed. The gods only knew what had happened to the rest of his family. A pounding headache hit him whenever he thought about that.

Áedán himself had visited him once and had told him that his wife and children were held as hostages by his father's cousin, Neiton. Morcant didn't know what to make of that. It was true that his father had confided to him his suspicions about a conspiracy plotted by Neiton and his cohorts. But this situation was much worse: Morcant was living a real nightmare.

An injured soldier lying at some distance from him said some words in Cruthin, watching at him. Morcant could understand some of the Cruthin language, but he was too weak and tired to try and understand what that soldier was telling him, so he just let himself doze off.

Just a little while later, he suddenly woke up: some soldiers had entered the ragged tent, carrying a stretcher. They were quick. They came to him and they moved him on the stretcher. What was happening? He tried to oppose them but he was too weak, and even when he muttered "Stop!" probably they didn't even hear him, so feeble was his voice.

They carried him outside, walking fast. The cool air lashed Morcant's face: it was a pain and a relief at the same time. Now he could recognise where they were, it was the swampland behind the Rock. Very soon he saw where they were bringing him. It's his tent, he thought.

They passed through the open flap and they went inside the tent. There, the soldiers laid the stretcher down on the floor.

Lifting his head, Morcant saw Áedán mac Gabráin sitting in front of him. "All of you, go out", he said with a gloomy voice in the Cruthin language. Some soldier tried to reply, but Áedán raised his voice: "Out, I said! Erc will stay with me, I won't need anyone else!".

When all the soldiers had gone, Áedán turned his head and spoke to a woman who was silently tidying up in a corner, probably a slave or a servant: "I said everyone out, you also. I will call you later". The woman meekly ran out.

Then, the Cruthin commander spoke, in Brittonic this time: "In different circumstances, King Morcant, I would have let you more time to recover. But today... I received very bad news. My eldest son, Artúr, has been kidnapped by your brother Riderch's men".

Morcant got very confused by those words: "My... I thought my brothers were killed...", he said with a quivering voice.

"Culfulch and Ardderchddrud, yes. But Riderch and his family were not seen in Alt Clut, and now it looks like they are somewhere down in Rheged", Áedán answered, darkly.

His brother-in-law was speaking a fairly decent Brittonic, but that didn't help Morcant to understand what was going on.

"Listen," continued Áedán, "I will be straightforward. If we want to collaborate, I need to know if you were aware that Riderch, with his wife and his children, were not in Alt Clut, and why. I smell something fishy here. Since my wife is your sister, I would rather be on the same side, but if it turns out that your brother planned this all along on purpose, I cannot let that go".

Listening to the confirmation that Culfulch and Ardderchddrud had died was a hard blow for Morcant, but he tried to gather his thoughts quickly, and he cleared his voice: "I don't know anything of Riderch's plans. We have never been close", he said, gloomy. Then, after a moment of pause, he continued this time more resolute and trying to let his voice be audible: "But it is very strange, at the least, that even his wife and children were with him, far from Alt Clut... It has hardly ever happened. It is actually suspicious. He... he has always been an idiot, worried only about his belly and his dick. He never ever cared about our family, our clan...".

"I don't really care about that", answered Áedán. His voice was trembling with controlled rage: "He abducted my son!". He stopped for a moment. "And maybe you will be more interested than me", he added in a dismissive tone, "in knowing that Riderch might have your family's ancestral sword: Neiton swears that it was missing when his soldiers searched your father's abode, and he's convinced that it must be with Riderch because it hasn't been found anywhere".

Morcant was hit once again by a stabbing pain on his face. Caledbulch? That bastard has stolen Caledbulch?? For what purpose?... What's his purpose?...

A fire was starting to burn inside him, now: "Prince Áedán... If what you tell me is true, it appears to me that my brother has a plan in mind. I don't know what plan, but if it involves stealing my family's ancestral sword and watching Alt Clut burning from far away, saving only himself, his wife and his children... Then... then it's a plan... a plan against my own family... Against myself as the new Guletic of Alt Clut". Morcant couldn't believe that his own voice was saying that in front of the Cruthin commander who had just ravaged the Rock, but the words came out easily, almost unsolicited. His heart was pounding and he didn't feel pain anymore.

"It looks like we share a common foe, Guletic Morcant", Áedán said looking at him. "So, what are we going to do about it?".

Morcant heaved a sigh: "I owe you my life, Prince Áedán, and that is a lifetime debt. I will help you deal with Riderch, as soon as I recover, and I count on standing on my feet soon. My own requests are simple: to save my wife and my two sons, and to kill Neiton and all the conspirators".

"And once you will be back in power, what will happen then?", Áedán asked him, softly and slowly.

Morcant gathered what strenght was left in him, in order to answer: "It's up to the two of us to deal a long lasting alliance which will benefit both our powers. I will support your claim as the future High King of Dál Riata. After all, in that way my sister would become a queen".

Áedán looked pleased: "My spies are already in place inside Alt Clut and we can organise how to rescue your wife and children. As for the other part, we must proceed cautiously: I will give you a list of the conspirators, those ones that I am aware of". He made a pause, then he said: "But first, King Morcant, you have to regain your strenght. If we want to proceed that way, we will need all the strenght we can master".

"You can count on that, Prince Áedán", replied Morcant. "And regarding what my brother Riderch is planning behind my back, I can assure you that I want to get to the bottom of that, whatever it takes. My sons are held as captives, as your son Artúr is. We are in a similar situation in this regard, and I promise you that I won't find peace until my sons and your son, who is my nephew after all, will be freed".

Áedán stood up, came close to Morcant and stroke both his shoulders. Surprisingly, Morcant didn't feel pain, he just felt his blood flowing more strongly in his veins.

PROLOGUE (second book)

When the city was in sight, Artúr could not believe his eyes. He had never seen something like that. It wasn't perched on the top of a hill, as he would have expected. A high stone wall stood in front of them in a square shape, just there in plain view on the flatlands. There were some timber houses in the open space outside the stone walls, and they looked different than any building of Dál Riata. Everything here was so strange.

The town itself was enclosed inside the walls. When they finally got close, from the cart Artúr could admire a great arched gate.

Just in that moment, he saw a group of people walking out through the gate. They were all well-dressed and some soldiers were also with them. The soldiers were wearing some kind of leather armors in a similar fashion to the guards who were escorting Artúr and the monks.

Caimir, the boss of their escorting guards, rode ahead of them and joined the well-dressed people just outside the gate. The other guards, and the same cart where Artúr and the three monks were sitting, followed Caimir. 

Only then, when he saw all those strangers, Artúr suddenly missed his mother. Until that moment, he had been excited about the new adventure. He knew that they were bringing him to his uncle, and in his heart he had thought that if his uncle was waiting for him, then his mother must have been there too. But now, watching at each and all the faces of the women and men in front of him, it was crystal clear that Mother and Father were not amongst them. He felt a sudden urge to cry.

Brother Serf, the oldest monk, grabbed his arm: "See that man with a dark blue cloak and the fine lady next to him? Those are your uncle Prince Riderch and your aunt Princess Languoreth. Do you remember that you have met them before?".

"No, if it happened I don't remember", Artúr answered.

"And that impressive big man next to your uncle, that is the King of Rheged, Urbgen Pendragon, together with Queen Modron", the monk carried on, as if Artúr had not spoken.

They got off the cart, the four of them, the three monks and Artúr, who could now hardly keep from shaking.

When they were close enough to the group of well-dressed people, it was the huge bearded man who spoke first: "The town council of Cair Ligualid and I, King Urbgen Pendragon of Rheged, welcome all of you!".

The monks answered some greetings in return, but Artúr remained quiet: nobody had told him what to say. What were they expecting for him to say or to do? He was only eight years old after all, he didn't have a clue!

He was feeling on the verge of tears. In that moment, the man with the dark blue cloak and his lady got closer. Next to them was Caimir, the boss of the escorting guards.

"You have grown Artúr, since the last time I saw you", said the man. Artúr could not figure out if he was friendly or not. "Do you remember me?", he added.

In that same moment, Artúr looked at the blonde lady next to the man, and he realised that he had seen the lady's beautiful and sad eyes before.

"Oh, I think you remember more your aunt Languoreth!", smiled the man. "And I'm your uncle Riderch, we met maybe four of five years ago. It seems like a long time ago, now", he said with a pensive tone.

"Artúr, you have become a little man", intervened his aunt, empathically.

Artúr already liked her, and for a moment he even wondered if his mother was maybe sister to Languoreth rather than to Riderch!

But then he finally decided that he had to answer: "Lord Uncle, Lady Aunt, I am happy to come and visit you. I bring you the greetings of Father and Mother".

Riderch sneered, while Languoreth's expression looked kind of sad, but they both simultaneously answered: "Thank you".

In the meantime, the big King Urbgen had walked to them, and he spoke: "I am sure all of you must be tired from the travel. Let's go inside, everyone deserves a rest, and we will have things to talk about", he said staring at the monks.

Once they had walked through the huge arched gate, the guards left their horses at the stable, and all of them, including the king, walked through the town.

Artúr was mesmerized by what he saw: squared stone houses, people dressed in strange fashion and colors, paved streets. He noticed that some of those squared houses hosted workshops: here a bakery, there a butchery... Everything was so different from his homeland!

His aunt Languoreth was walking next to him. "Artúr", she told him, smiling, "when we arrive at the house you can rest and then you will meet your cousins Custennin, Gwladus and Acgarat. Custennin is a boy about your age, while Gwladus and Acgarat are his younger sisters. You will spend a lot of time with them, you will have fun!".

Artúr was feeling strange. For the first time since he had left Abbot Colmcille's abbey, he found himself wondering why they had brought him here. His father had sent him to study at the abbey, and now some strangers had carried him along to this strange town. And Father and Mother were not here.

Who was this King of Rheged? The only nice person was Aunt Languoreth. What those people wanted from him? Why was he there?

Among all those people, the only person Artúr had seen before, at the abbey, was the olive-skinned monk. Artúr remembered that his name was Leo or something like that. Despite being a foreigner, he was the only link with the place where Artúr had studied in the past year. He wanted to talk to him and ask him why they had come there.

But when they arrived in front of a big, majestic squared building, their ways parted: the monks followed the king with his uncle and the soldiers, while Artúr had to follow his aunt, together with other ladies. Only two guards walked with them, through a separate entrance into the building. 

Inside it was darker, and now, suddenly, he couldn't keep from feeling scared by those guards: maybe they were there not to protect him, but to watch him closely. Were Languoreth and Riderch even his aunt and uncle, or were they just pretenders?

Maybe he had been taken as a prisoner or hostage! Or maybe... they wanted to sell him as a slave?!

Artúr started shaking. The darkness in that unusually narrow and long corridor was a very bad omen to begin with.