My father was already in council with Uther, Titus, Flavius, Popilius the senior infantry centurion, and several others, among whom I recognized Gwynn, the captain of Uric's bowmen from the hills. They all looked up as I strode into the Armoury and I saw that every one of diem was in full battle armour. Even in the tension of the moment, I saw that Uther, who stood with his back to me and turned as I approached, wore a new red cloak with a great dragon in embroidered gold on the back of it, and I knew at once who owned the big new standard I had seen out in the courtyard.
"What's going on?" I asked as I crossed the room.
"Merlyn!" Uther's smile was the one I knew and had always loved. "You return by magic! Where have you been?"
"Riding," I snapped. "Father?"
My father nodded an abrupt greeting. "We're being attacked.. .in double force, it seems. Our breeding stock has been raided. Horses stolen. One attack out of the north, from the river estuary—Gwynn brought news of a fleet coming upstream—and one from the south and west."
"The south and west?" I looked at Uther. "But that's..."
"Aye, Cousin." He finished it off for me. "Our boyhood friend, Lot of Cornwall. It seems Cornwall is no longer big enough for him."
I remembered Daffyd's words of only months earlier. "What's he after?"
"What he is after and what he will find are two very different things."
My father cut both of us short by slapping the flat of his sword blade on the table. "Gentlemen! We have work to do here and no time for idle chatter. Caius, we know from Gwynn here that a fleet of more than a hundred galleys is landed to the north."
"A hundred!" I was stunned. "That's more than three thousand men!"
"Thank you, that had occurred to us." I subsided, and he went on, "Gwynn thinks they are Hibernian. whoever they are, they could not have chosen a worse time to hit us. We have already sustained heavy losses in the south-west. The hostile force there is at least four hundred strong—cavalry strong enough to have overrun our outlying farms and to have stolen the herd of horses that was gathered there."
"How do we know this?" I was hoping not to hear what I heard next.
"Because two of our men got away and brought us the news."
"Two? That's all?"
"That is all. The others are all dead."
I could not believe what I had heard. "Father, we had more than two hundred men stationed there!"
"That was yesterday, Caius. Today we have none. However he did it, Lot managed a complete surprise attack in the darkness before dawn. From what the survivors tell me, our men were slaughtered before they could react."
"How did the two survivors escape?"
"They didn't escape. One of them was on his way to the main camp there with dispatches from me. The other was returning from a visit to his dying mother. They met going west and travelled together. They arrived in sight of the camp just after daybreak and saw what had happened."
"How many of the enemy did they count?"
"Approximately four hundred that they could see, all mounted and preparing to move out again, coming this way."
"Were they seen, our men?"
"They don't think so."
I glanced around at the faces of my companions. "What's our plan?"
"We haven't time to do anything too elaborate. Uther and Flavius are riding to meet them with five hundred horsemen. They'll take Lot's people as and when they meet them. It will be our disciplined horse against their lack of discipline."
I grimaced. "We hope! I would think it required some strongly disciplined manoeuvring to surprise our camp there. Who was in charge?"
"Lucius Sato."
"That's what I thought. He was a good man." My mind was fully occupied in grappling with the logistics of what faced us. Finally I nodded, satisfied that I knew what to do. "So Uther and Flavius will tackle Lot's men to the southwest. What about the others? To the north? How much time do we have there?"
My father answered me by looking to Gwynn.
The big Celt shrugged. "We rode hard to get here, and when we left, the fleet was still on the water. They couldn't have landed before yesterday afternoon. That means they can't get here until tomorrow."
I frowned at him. "You mean you didn't see them land? Then how do we know they are attacking us? They may have landed on the northern coast of the estuary. They may be looking for the gold-mines again."
"No." Gwynn shook his head emphatically. "We thought of that. The beacon fires were to be lit if the Scots were coming this way. The fires passed us on the way this morn- mg.
I turned back to my father. "What, then?"
"We leave immediately. If all three thousand of them come this way, we'll stop them in the valley fifteen miles north of here, the one with the bog. It's a natural trap. We'll let them walk in and then spring it shut on them." He turned to Uther and Flavius. "You two can be on your way. Good luck and may Mithras the god of soldiers ride with you."
"Hold!" I stopped them before they could even salute. Both of them turned to stare at me. "Father, why are you only sending five hundred men?"
"Against four hundred? Because it is enough."
"I disagree. And if Uther thinks about it honestly, he will, too. They have four hundred and they're coming this way quickly. Their morale is high, remember, they've already slaughtered one contingent of our people."
My father frowned at me. "What are you trying to say, Caius?"
"I'm not trying to say anything. I think we should send Titus's two hundred with Uther and Flavius, too. Seven hundred against four. Give Lot's people a taste of numerical weakness. Then let them try to fight against our tactics in the field. Smash them now, while we have an early opportunity. They don't know we know they are coming. Let's teach them not to invade our Colony. Smash them, Father, now!"
Uther intervened, his face clouded. "We can do that with the troops we have. We need no more."
"Be sensible, Uther," I snapped. "Forget about the glory, and see the perils! These people are dangerous. If Gulrhys Lot has made alliance with the Hibernian Scots we can't afford to let a man of his escape. Take the extra two hundred and hammer him flat."
He looked at my father, who was frowning at me and who now spoke for Uther. "I see your point, but what about the north? We'll need those two hundred horsemen there."
"No we won't, Father. Between your men and mine, we will still have four hundred cavalry. If you want to trap the Scots in the valley, we can bring our four hundred horse behind them and chase them into our hidden infantry. The Scots have no horses. We can hide two thousand infantry and more along the sides of the road out of that valley, among the trees, and have another thousand waiting for them when they crest the hill on the far side. We can hit them front, rear and flanks all at the same time. we arrive there soon enough!"
My father's eyes flashed. "You're right, Caius!" The decision made, he swung to Titus. "Titus, take your command with Uther and Flavius. Among you, wipe Lot from your path. We will take the others in the valley to the north. Now let's move, gentlemen, we have no time to waste." The trumpets started blaring immediately in the courtyard outside as the party began to stream from the room. My father had hold of big Gwynn by the arm and was talking urgently to him.
I stopped beside them. "Father, I have to arm myself. I'll join you in the yard." He nodded and I turned on my heel to walk from the room, and then I hesitated and looked down at my feet. I was standing on the shortest floor board, the one that hid Excalibur. I felt a sudden thrill at the thought of carrying that burnished blade into battle.
"What's wrong, Caius?" My father's voice was impatient.