I hewed mightily. I laboured like the fanner when the thunder and lightning threatens his ripe field. But no planter ever reaped such grim harvest, or gathered a loathlier crop.
We were lions! We were charging boars in battle! Our first attack, fierce and furious, broke the barbarian line in four places. It sagged inward as if to draw us in and crush us against Edyn's Rock – and well they might have, for there were more than enough of them! – but Arthur, swift and sure, drove into them from behind.
The barbarian resistance collapsed in chaos and they began to scatter. I steered my division back towards Arthur's position, carrying all before me. And then I saw it, springing up directly in my path – the Bretwalda's skull-and-bones standard. And beneath it, surrounded by his house carles, the Bretwalda himself. And, God help him, I recognized the face beneath the iron helm: Cerdic ap Morcant.
It was Cerdic!
Bile surged up into my gullet and into my mouth. Rage, hot and black, dimmed my sight. I lashed my mount forward, hoping to attack him before he saw me. But the craven's carles closed around him and bore him away before ever I could reach him. Indeed, the barbarians were scattering, fleeing south and west. Confusion must have gripped them, for they were running away from the coast where lay their ships!
I made directly for Arthur. 'I have seen him, Bear,' I shouted. 'I have seen the Bretwalda.'
His head whipped towards me. 'Who is it?'
'Cerdic ap Morcant,' I told him. 'I saw him with the Angli.'
Arthur bristled. 'That coward will curse the day of his birth,' he muttered. Then said, 'It is well. If he will not hold with me in life, let him keep faith with me in death. Either way, I will own his fealty!'
'Sound the pursuit! We can catch him,' I cried, preparing for the chase.
To my surprise, Arthur merely shook his head. 'No,' he said. 'I will not ride into ambush. Reform the a/a and care for the wounded, then gather the chieftains and come to me at the caer. I will hold council in Ector's hall.' He rode off, leaving me to sputter after him.
A moment later, Rhys raised the signal to reform, and the pursuit broke off; riders began returning to the field. Once the wounded were under care – mercifully, there were few of them; the battle had been brief – I assembled the lords and we rode up to the caer. The gates were open and Ector was standing in the yard, talking to Arthur.
At our approach they finished and Ector hurried into the hall. The Duke turned suddenly and spoke a word to Llenlleawg, who ran to his horse, leapt into the saddle and raced away.
I dismounted and threw my reins to one of Ector's men. 'What is it?' I asked, hurrying to Arthur's side.
'There are Saecsens here.'
'Saecsens!'
'So Ector believes. He will tell us more.' He glanced towards the gate where the first of the lords was arriving. 'Bring them in. We will hold council in the hall.'
Once settled inside, we clutched our cups and listened to Ector speak the words most dreadful to our ears. 'Before the siege, word came to me that Saecsen warships had been seen on the water below Traprain Law. I took ten ships and we made for the coast there, but we found no sign of them.'
'Your report was accurate?' asked Owain.
'There was no doubt.'
'Yet we saw no Saecsens in battle today. They must have turned back. Your ships scared them away,' suggested Ceredig.
'We saw no Saecsens, because we were not meant to see them,' declared Myrddin Emrys. 'There was no battle today.'
'No battle?' demanded Maelgwn. 'It seemed a battle to me!' Everyone laughed. 'What did we fight against then?'
'You fought against a shadow,' replied Myrddin.
The Emrys' strange words worked in me and in that instant I saw the subtle shape of the trap that had been set for us. Oh, Cerdic had bethought himself well. Long had he nourished himself with cunning, and groomed himself with treachery. I saw it in an instant: the siege of Caer Edyn, like Trath Gwryd and Caer Alclyd, was meant only to distract us and wear us down while he moved us into position. The real battle he had saved to the last.
Shrewd Cerdic, deft in deceit. He who would not rule under Arthur, turned traitor against him and against his own people. Devil take him, he was always a bad seed.
'A shadow?' The lords of Britain stared in disbelief, then laughed scornfully.
'Listen to the Soul of Wisdom,' commanded Arthur. 'Has it not occurred to you that we have succeeded too easily? These first fights were but annoyances – vexations to divert us from the true battle. Had we given chase today, we would now be food for ravens and wolves.'
The lords muttered loudly at this: accusations of weakness and indecision. Some complained aloud that Arthur imagined too much. If there were Saecsens, they said, why did they not show themselves? Why did we turn aside when we had the battle won?
Let* them mutter and accuse as they might, the Bear of Britain would not be moved. He crossed his arms over his chest and faced them down, each and every one. When order was restored, he turned to me. 'Bedwyr, tell them who is Bretwalda to the barbarians. Tell them who you saw beneath the skull-and-bones today.'
'I saw Cerdic ap Morcant,' I said loudly.
Some, like Idris and Maglos who had been friend to Cerdic and had ridden with him before joining Arthur, refused to believe. 'Impossible! You are surely mistaken.'
'I know who I saw. It is a face I have seen more than once across the field of battle.'
'He would not slaughter his own people,' maintained Idris, albeit weakly.
'He fought against us in the beginning! Or have you forgotten,' I spat. Anger splashed up hot within me. 'Since he could not prevail that way, he has joined the enemy. I do not find that so difficult to believe.'
That gave them something to chew on. Mighty God, they can be a thick-headed lot! But they cavilled to nothing but their own dishonour, for it showed how little they esteemed Arthur. Still! Even after all he had done.
Bors, Gwalchavad and Cador, who had been tending to the Cymbrogi, joined us now. Custennin took advantage of the momentary interruption to move the council along. 'Whether it is Cerdic,' he proclaimed, 'or whether it is someone else, does not matter for the moment. If there are Saecsens waiting in ambush, then we must decide quickly what to do. Arthur is our War Leader, we must listen to him.' Turning to Arthur, he said, 'Tell us, Duke Arthur, what would you have us do?'
Arthur rose to stand over us. 'We will send scouts to discover where the enemy have gone. Once we know th – '
'We know where they have gone!' said Owain. 'Every moment we delay strengthens them.'
Arthur struck the board with the flat of his hand. The slap rattled the cups the length of the board. 'Silence!'
The lords fell silent at last. Arthur glared at each one and continued, 'I will not ride into battle until I know the field, how it lies, and who is arrayed against us. With your own ears you have heard that there is some deception at work here. Since we know not what it is, I mean to be wary.' He straightened and folded his arms across his chest. 'I thank you for your trust, my lords, and I will summon you when I am ready.'
This is no way to enter a battle. Bitterness and strife in command can leech the strength of an army more quickly than fear. There was little we could do about that now. It was already too late.
The scouts were sent out and returned just before nightfall with word of the enemy's position. And that word was not good to hear. Arthur assembled the lords and the scouts told what they had seen: the barbarian host had passed west along the Fiorthe to the place where Guaul met the river mouth, then they had turned away from the coast into the wooded hills to the south.
'This does not appear to be a heedless retreat,' observed Arthur, when the scouts had spoken. The lords were forced to agree that the enemy had behaved with unusual forethought. 'Did you see where they stopped?'