Arthur could tell by the look on Lancelot's face as he came into view that the sally had not gone as planned. He walked up to his friend as he dismounted and handed his horse's reins to their squire.
"What happened?"
Lancelot's frown deepened as he was forced to tell of his humiliation.
"We found the woman..."
There was a long silence, until Arthur prompted;
"But...?"
Tristan, having also dismounted, joined the two men. Seeing that Lancelot was sinking into one of his funks, he decided he'd better continue the story.
"She knew we were tracking her – she led us to a quarry instead of the settlement"
Arthur felt a little surprised, to say the least, that someone had got one over on his knights, but he had to look at this objectively.
"What happened then?"
"We lost her"
Arthur studied the men – Tristan looked more embarrassed then anything, and Lancelot looked as if he'd suffered a personal affront. He chuckled, slapping the latter on the arm. Lancelot looked up in bewilderment.
"It's not funny"
Although Arthur would certainly have preferred Auria's capture, the looks on his men's faces was just too much.
"Yes it is" he said in a low voice, as he saw Tolimus approaching. He drew back from the knights and faced the older man.
"Ah!" Tolimus cried. "I see your men have returned...bearing good news I hope?"
"Alas!" Arthur returned, "They could not find the settlement – it seems the...wind was blowing in the wrong direction. Perhaps tomorrow will yield more success"
Tolimus nodded. "Yes...to track one needs the right conditions. However, tomorrow I will not let failure off so lightly – I expect the settlement found one way or another"
Arthur bowed his head. "Of course, General"
Tolimus left, and Tristan turned to Arthur. "You know, you could have told him the truth..."
"It would have angered him further" Arthur explained. "He'd probably have cursed the woman's scheming and sent a battalion out after her immediately. I think to catch her we should be using subtlety..."
He gave Lancelot a pointed look, as if he just knew the amorous knight had been up to something. Lancelot looked back innocently.
"I'm telling you Arthur, she couldn't have known we were there – we weren't anywhere near her!"
"Although..." Tristan said, "...we almost caught her bathing"
Lancelot's eyes widened at his fellow, and he quickly protested;
"Not that we were trying to..."
Arthur sighed. "Come...sit and have a drink with me. You can tell me all about it"
On her return to the settlement, Auria made straight for Lindon's shelter. He was having an audience with the Healer, so she waited impatiently outside until they were done. Elen came over, munching on an apple, and looked her up and down.
"You're clean!"
Auria smiled despite herself. "Yes...I believe I am!"
"Does Lindon want to speak with you?"
"No...I want to speak with him"
Elen frowned. "What about?"
No-one else in the settlement would pry so into Auria's business, and she wouldn't
suffer them to. With Elen, it was refreshing, however, and she valued the other woman's frankness in everything. She pulled her closer so that the guard who napped by the door wouldn't hear.
"I was spied on by two men down at the falls" she said. "They tried to follow me when I left, so I led them to the old quarry across the river"
Elen looked concerned. "Romans?"
"I think so...they spoke Latin, and they couldn't have been anyone else. They must have wanted me to lead them here"
Elen huffed. "They've tried it before...but never by spying on someone. How long were they watching you?"
Auria scowled. "I don't know...I was bathing"
"Do you think they saw...?"
"If they did I swear I'll kill them"
Elen nodded – if there was one thing about Auria that every man knew, it was that she never had, or would, take a mate. It was part of how she'd kept her power – she'd never allowed herself to be dominated by another.
Just then, the Healer stepped out of Lindon's shelter, and Auria entered after telling Elen she'd find her later. Lindon was reclining on a pile of furs, an empty plate next to him suggesting he'd just breakfasted.
"I hope that was a social visit?" Auria asked, nodding after the Healer. Lindon grimaced.
"Not so, I'm afraid. I have a terrible toothache"
Auria sat down cross-legged in front of him. "Get it pulled?"
"That's what the Healer said" Lindon sighed woefully. "Why we're cursed with teeth I'll never know. What brings you here, anyway?"
Auria repeated what she'd told Elen, but was more thorough this time, detailing everything that had happened after her catching sight of the Romans' reflection. Lindon remained calm, but his eyes betrayed that he was unnerved.
"First..." he mused, "...knights come to the fortress, and now we are spied upon. Could it be that the knights have come to do what the Romans failed to achieve?"
Auria bit her lip in thought. "It could just be a coincidence"
"There are no coincidences"
"Well...if it was these knights, we can assume that they won't rest until they have found us. We must be more vigilant than ever..."
"Yes" Lindon agreed. "I will double the watch, and scouting parties. However, they were foiled today...they have not found us yet"
"So, there is no reason to move the settlement?"
"No...today was a warning, but they will have to cause us more heat before we burn"
Lindon seemed satisfied with his conclusion, and to Auria it seemed sound as well. Although the knights may have proved to be a new threat, today was obviously only a scouting mission. They'd only arrived the day before, after all.
She examined her fingernails as she mused on the new Romans – she had encountered them twice now – that morning and a few days previously when she let the Roman captain live. Both times they had outnumbered and out-armed her. She longed to face them in battle with her own horsemen, on equal terms, and she said as much to Lindon. The older man smiled.
"Perhaps you will, sooner than you think. We have other concerns, however..."
Auria looked up. "What do you mean?"
"The Irish are coming. They are four days' ride away"
"Four days?! Why did you not say sooner?" Suddenly the threat of the Romans seemed to pale in comparison. The Irish were certainly expected, but never so soon!
"If I had said sooner it would not have changed the inevitable" Lindon explained. "Besides, I only heard last night myself. I wanted to speak with you about it before I told anyone else"
"So...what are we to do? Prepare for battle?"
"They are three thousand..."
Auria's face fell. The settlement and any surrounding tribes who would stand with them numbered barely eight hundred, at most.
"Then we are doomed..."
Lindon's eyes twinkled. "Whilst there is life, there is hope. And you must not forget that the Romans also hold no love for the Irish"
"At least it explains why reinforcements are coming to the fortress"
"Yes...they wish to fight the Irish too."
Auria frowned. "We could let the Romans fight them...they have a greater chance of victory than we do"
"If they defeat the Irish, they would turn on us"
"So either way we are dead?"
Lindon was silent for a long time, then he shook his head and whispered;
"Perhaps not..."
Sometimes Lindon saw things that other people did not. It was why he was leader at such a young age. Auria wondered in this case just what he could possibly know...
"It's not often a woman gives you the slip, eh?" Gawain laughed, drawing a black look from Lancelot, at whom his comment was aimed.
"Unless it's the mother o' my bastards!" Bors said, and Lancelot couldn't resist a small smile.
"That's what she tells you" he said, and Bors grabbed for him.
"Now now, children" Galahad chided. "Why don't you sit down like civilised men and we can talk through Lancelot's rejection as if we were adults?"
The knights fell to laughing again, except Lancelot, whose scowl only deepened.
"We ain't civilised men" Bors said, taking a seat around a large table in the courtyard.
"At least, you aren't" Gawan quipped.
"Barbarian and proud of it" Bors declared.
"So, was she in a state of undress?" Galahad asked, eyes shining. Tristan shook his head.
"No"
"What, you mean you didn't even 'ave the decency to sneak up on 'er starkers?" Bors exclaimed.
"Unfortunately not" Tristan replied. "It might have made up for what she did afterwards"
Even Dagonet was sniggering by this time, and when Arthur wandered over a few minutes later and heard what the conversation was about, he pressed a consolation mug of ale into Lancelot's hand and said into his ear;
"See, I told you it was funny!"
After a few drinks, even Lancelot began to see the comic side, and when the Roman scout thundered into the courtyard, horse sweating and frothing around the bit, he could barely stop snickering long enough to take notice of the commotion the man caused.
The Lieutenant who'd been their guide since their arrival at the fortress, and who seemed to be the one man who always knew what was going on, met the scout as he dismounted, and hurried words passed between the two.
Tristan was the first to sober up and take notice, his keen eyes comprehending that the looks on the men's faces did not bode well. The other knights, more in tune to Tristan's moods than anything else, realised something was amiss and began to take notice of what passed in the courtyard.
The Lieutenant hurried over to Arthur, barely concealing his worry.
"Sir!" he said, leaning down so others might not hear the alarm. "You must come with me immediately...something's happened"
Arthur got to his feet and asked;
"What is it?"
The Lieutenant glanced at the knights, and Arthur motioned for him to speak anyway – he didn't keep secrets from his men. The Roman lowered his voice anyway.
"It seems the Irish are coming. Now..."
"What?!" Gawain exclaimed, and Lancelot hushed him. Arthur gave the knights a pointed look – they were to say nothing until the situation became clear.
"We must find Tolimus" Arthur said, and the Lieutenant nodded.
"He'll be in his chambers. Follow me"
"Stay here" Arthur told Lancelot, who passed the message on to the others. Bors, Gawain and Galahad began grumbling, but they knew they had to do as they were told. Until they knew more, anyway.
Arthur and the Roman left with the scout to find Tolimus, who was in his chambers with a young lady of the camp. He opened the door to his room, half-dressed and red with anger.
"What do you want?!" he demanded, eyes blazing at the Lieutenant. The man remained calm in the face of his rage, and stepped aside so that Arthur was visible to the General. "Arturius?"
"Sir, a scout brings us news of the Irish"
Tolimus looked unimpressed, and through the half-open doorway Arthur saw the woman on his bed shift impatiently.
"And?"
"They have landed early and are marching inland." Arthur's face was grave. "They will be here in four days"
Tolimus stared at the taller man for a long moment, expecting him to break into a grin and announce it all a joke. When he didn't, the General's face turned pale.
"Four days?"
"Yes Sir"
Tolimus began to open the door, then realised his undress and pushed it to again. "I'll...erm...be out in a minute. Just...go to the main chamber" he stuttered, and Arthur began to wonder just what sort of man he was working under. He nodded respectfully and told the other two men to follow him, ignoring the argument which broke out behind them as Tolimus argued a price with the prostitute for an interrupted night.
Just as the guard finished lighting candles in the main chamber and left the room, Tolimus entered, dressed in court clothes but with his hair out of place and lying in strands across his head. It seemed he had a bald patch which hadn't been visible before. The three men already there remained standing until he sat down, and he looked to Arthur expectantly as the senior soldier there. Arthur cleared his throat.
"I think your scout had better tell you what he saw"
Tolimus turned to the scout, who seemed uncomfortable with three pairs of eyes on him. He coughed nervously.
"I was...erm...travelling along the coast as instructed...recording movements of the Britons...erm...as per my orders..."
"Yes, yes!" Tolimus cried. "Get to the point!"
"Well, erm...I was sleeping six nights ago under a tree on the cliffs...only I couldn't sleep, so I was looking out to sea, and I saw these ships. They were Irish – I followed them inland and they landed up on along the riverbank and moored in the river..."
"How many?" Arthur asked.
"Hundreds. Mostly big ships, carrying men and provisions. They stayed for a night and then started to march inland. I saw a banner – it was a stag on a green field..."
"Hywel's..." Tolimus breathed.
"Yes Sir. Seems he set out early, or had favourable winds"
Tolimus was staring intently at the table, so Arthur took the initiative.
"How long would you say it will take them to get here?"
"At the march they were doing, with weapons and carts...three days. They'll arrive the fourth morning if tomorrow is the first, by my reckoning"
Arthur nodded, and looked to Tolimus for a verdict. It seemed the General wasn't thinking about the Irish, however. He looked at the scout and said;
"Thank you, you may leave"
The scout seemed confused, but got up, bowed and left the room. The remaining two men waited to see what their superior would say. Tolimus sighed.
"This means we'll have to face both the Irish and the Welsh..."
"Four hundred men arrive in three days...maybe less if we send outriders to hurry them" the Lieutenant reminded.
"Yes, but Hywel will bring 3000 men. We are not enough to face them by ourselves, let alone if the Welsh aid them"
Arthur frowned. "The Welsh hate the Irish, you said it yourself"
"That doesn't mean they won't take advantage of a defeat...even if somehow we overcome the Irish, we'll be too weak to withstand a coherent attack from the Welsh"
Arthur thought hard. There had to be some way to beat this situation – he'd faced difficult challenges in the past. There was always a way...
And then it dawned on him.
"What if we were to join forces with the Welsh?"
Tolimus seemed to hold his breath in surprise...then burst out laughing.
"Wha...what? Unite with the Welsh...are you mad, Arturius? We've been fighting them for years!"
"And got nowhere, I might add" Arthur argued. "We have a common foe, it seems prudent to combine our forces against it"
"If you can't beat them, my mother always said..." the Lieutenant mused.
Tolimus's laughter faded as he realised that the men were serious. He became very, very grave.
"So...we join with the Welsh and perhaps...perhaps we defeat the Irish. What then? Do things just go back to the way they were?"
Arthur looked steadily at the older man.
"Yes"
The Lieutenant not only admired the great Arturius – he saw the prudence in his plan as well, and said as much in support:
"It is the only way, General...if the Welsh are defeated by the Irish then we lose our traditional defenders – we would no longer be able to keep a presence in Wales. If we stand alone against the Irish we are sure to be defeated. Joining forces with the Welsh, however, benefits us both...only we are bound to be stronger after a battle in which we have both fought. The Welsh have no armour, few horses...they would be only slightly more than human shields, and yet they would survive to inhabit this land and repel the Irish in future."
Tolimus looked at the Lieutenant, amazed. He had no idea the man had a brain. Perhaps he should be promoted...
Arthur was also impressed with the Roman's reasoning. He nodded in acknowledgement, and the soldier beamed.
"He's right" Arthur said. "Let me go and meet with the Welsh leaders. Perhaps when they learn of the Irish approach they will be willing to come to an agreement"
Tolimus saw there was no use arguing. If his men were behind a plan, it was no good trying to turn them away from it. And he had to admit that it did sound as if it would work, no matter how absurd it seemed at first hearing.
"How will you meet with them, when you have not been able to find them thus far?" he wondered. Arthur smiled.
"I will go to them unarmed and beg their mercy"
Tolimus raised an eyebrow.
"You can expect death, then"
"I hope you overestimate their capacity for brutality, Sir."
Tolimus snorted. "As do I, Arturius. Very well...you shall go to them tomorrow and beg their trust." He stood, pulling his tunic straight as he did so. "May God be with you on this fool's errand!"
Arthur returned to his men, who for once had not drunk so much that they were unable to heed his words. They were all too curious to make merry, especially since an aura of worry had spread throughout the fortress. Tolimus was to make an announcement shortly, and most people expected bad news.
Lancelot, Gawain and Galahad stood as they saw Arthur approaching, and Lancelot stepped forward to meet him.
"What is it, Arthur? What's going on?"
Arthur stood before his men, keeping his voice low so that others wouldn't hear.
"The Irish have landed and are marching inland. They'll be here within three days"
"I thought they were already comin'?" Bors said, unconcernedly.
"They were...but not so soon. Now it seems we won't be able to suppress the Welsh before we have to face the Irish in battle"
"What of the Roman reinforcements?" Lancelot wondered.
"Not enough with the Welsh still our enemies" Arthur replied. "Which is why we must join forces with them"
Galahad spluttered, ale going everywhere. He wiped his mouth quickly and looked at Arthur, wide-eyed.
"What?!"
"I have discussed it with Tolimus, and it seems to be the only way to defeat the Irish. I will go and meet with the Welsh leaders tomorrow"
"'Ow about if you go and meet with them...and then bring them back dead?" Bors asked. Arthur gave him a look.
"That would hardly win their trust"
"Arthur...are you sure about this?" Lancelot said, searching his friend's eyes. Although it sounded like a hair-brained scheme, he'd been through several such with the man before him, and would support him whole-heartedly in this if Arthur said it would work.
Arthur returned his knight's gaze. "Yes"
"Then I will come with you"
Arthur nodded in thanks. "Once the Irish are defeated the Romans can go back to suppressing the Welsh. Our job, however, will have been done by then – we'll be on our way back to the wall."
"So we shouldn't worry about the situation afterwards?" Galahad said. "About how the Romans will turn on the Welsh and destroy them?"
"That would have happened anyway" Gawain explained. "One way or another, the Welsh are doomed. The Romans might as well use them while they can"
Although Arthur didn't quite agree with Gawain's statement, he let it go.
"Tristan" he called, getting the young man's attention. "I need you to come with me tomorrow"
Tristan nodded wordlessly. His tracking skills would find the Welsh. It was left to the Welsh, however, to deal with the knights as they wished. He only hoped Arthur knew what he was doing...