Chapter 2

chApteR 2

"There now." Heledd stepped back to survey the plaited crown she'd pinned around Rhiannon's head and gave a satisfied smile. "That did not take long, did it?"

"No." Rhiannon spoke through stiff lips. "Not long." In an effort to prevent any cries from escaping, she had clamped her mouth closed some time ago. Giving Heledd a comb had been a risk, but with limited time to prepare for the banquet, it was one Rhiannon had been forced to take.

Somehow, she managed to resist the urge to touch her stinging scalp. Her tangles were gone, and her hair was dressed, so there was no point in looking for sympathy for her throbbing head.

"Well then," the older woman said, "you'd best join your father. I daresay he's waited long enough."

In the years that had passed since Rhiannon's mother's death, Heledd had become more of a companion to Rhiannon than a maid, and she was not beyond giving Rhiannon directions.

Rhiannon obediently rose from the stool where she'd been sitting. In this instance, Heledd was surely right. It would not do to disappoint her father again so soon after he'd been forced to come searching for her.

"Has there been any sighting of Cadwgan ap Gronw and his men?" she asked.

"Not that I've heard." Heledd chuckled. "Your father sent Eifion to watch for them. With how fleet of foot that lad is, he'll be back here long before the nobleman and his retinue ride into the yard."

Rhiannon nodded. Eifion was their stableboy. He was small and wiry, and at twelve years of age, he could outrun every one of her father's retainers—including men with far longer legs. Not only that, but he would take his responsibility as lookout very seriously and would return to report the moment he spotted the travelers.

Running her hands down her green gown, Rhiannon squared her narrow shoulders. The sky was clear this evening. If Eifion positioned himself on the bluff above the house, the moonlight would enable him to see a good stretch of the coast road. Since he had not yet returned, she surely had a few moments to compose herself.

"All will be well, bach," Heledd said. "Cadwgan ap Gronw will be mesmerized by you."

"Is that how it was for Dai?" she asked, referring to Heledd's husband who worked as her father's head groom. "Did you mesmerize him at first sight?"

"I hardly think my appearance would mesmerize anyone. I'm far too plain."

Rhiannon considered the older lady critically. Her skin was wrinkled, her fingers workworn, and her hips wide, but until now, Rhiannon had never noticed any of those things. "Whatever plainness you claim to possess is not seen by others," Rhiannon said.

"You have known me long enough to look beyond those things, bach. And I believe the same can be said for Dai."

"But what of his first glance?"

Heledd's brown eyes crinkled. "I believe he had eyes only for my fish pie. That was what won him over."

Rhiannon sighed. "I cannot make fish pie."

"A lady of your standing and beauty has no need to make fish pie."

"Perhaps not. But whether it is how well I make fish pie or something else entirely, I should like to have a gentleman come to know my likes and dislikes, my strengths and weaknesses, rather than to make assumptions based merely on what he sees."

Giving her an understanding look, Heledd crossed the room and picked up a small wooden box. She carried it back to Rhiannon. "There's no cause for you to feel any less than your mother, bach. If she were here, she would have stood beside you tonight, exceptionally proud of the young lady you have become." She opened the lid. "Here. Take something of hers with you and let it bring you an extra measure of courage."

Rhiannon gazed into the box. A silver brooch and a gold bracelet lay beside a ringed cross hanging from a silver chain. Reaching for the necklace, she fastened the clasp around her neck. The ornately carved silver cross rested against her chest. She pressed her hand against it and closed her eyes, picturing her mother standing in the great hall, wearing her burgundy gown and this necklace as she welcomed a party from Owain Gwynedd's court to her home. She swallowed the lump in her throat and opened her eyes. "I thank you, Heledd. I should have thought to wear Mam's necklace."

"It's a small thing, but mayhap it will make her feel nearer."

Rhiannon released an unsteady breath. "I must go to my father."

"Yes." Setting the jewelry box back on the table, Heledd gave her an encouraging smile. "It is time."

Leaving her bedchamber, Rhiannon walked the short distance to the great hall. Colorful tapestries hung on the walls, and fresh straw lay on the wooden floor. Three long tables had been positioned in a horseshoe-shaped configuration. Wooden trenchers and goblets lined each table along with flagons of mead, baskets of bread, and platters of fruit.

In the center of the room, meat sizzled on a spit above a blazing fire. The firelight was augmented by candles burning at the center of each table and in the windows.

Myfanwy, the young maid who helped in the kitchen, entered the room, another basket in her hands. The smell of baking bread followed her, coming from the oven across the yard. Bobbing a curtsy to Rhiannon, she began taking knives out of the basket and setting them on the table.

Rhiannon crossed the room to join her father, who stood near the head table, talking to Dai. The groom had likely come to update her father on the state of the two foals born to her father's prize mare in the early hours of the morning. If it weren't for the pending arrival of his guests, her father would have undoubtedly spent all evening in the stable.

"Good evening, Father. Dai." She summoned a smile.

Both men turned to face her. Dai inclined his head politely.

"Good evening, Miss Rhiannon."

Her father took a little longer to respond, his gaze softening as he met her eyes. "You look lovely, bach."

"Thanks largely to Heledd," Rhiannon admitted.

Dai chuckled. "She knows what she's about, does Heledd."

"She tells me that she makes a rather memorable fish pie," Rhiannon said.

Dai's grin widened. "That she does, miss. If Nest would ever let her into the kitchen, I daresay she'd make one for you and the master if you asked."

"Well now," Rhiannon's father said. "We shall have to remember that the next time Nest decides to take a few days to visit her sister."

"Indeed," Rhiannon said. "Mayhap we could even go as far as to persuade Nest that another such trip should be made very soon."

Dai looked so pleased that Rhiannon's natural smile emerged. "It must be some time since—"

The front door swung open so far that it crashed against the wall. The resounding thud was immediately followed by the clatter of running feet. Everyone swung around in time to see Eifion stumble to a halt in the center of the room. His hair was windblown and his expression stricken.

He took a deep, ragged breath, then cried, "Vikings! Two boatloads of 'em. They just landed on the beach."

Rhiannon's father stiffened. "Are you sure, lad?"

"Yes, Master Iorwerth. I saw the shields along the length of their longboats shinin' in the moonlight. There's no mistakin' their craft, an' there's no mistakin' they're carryin' a lot of men."

"How many?"

"Too many to count, Master."

"Rally the men, Dai," Rhiannon's father barked the order, and Dai took off at a run. Her father turned to her. "Find Heledd. The two of you must leave immediately. Hide in the trees on the hill behind the house until you see the infidels' boats put out to sea. God willing, they will find nothing here worth stealing and will leave as quickly as they have come."

"But, Father—" Horror clogged her throat. Even if Dai were to round up every man and boy who lived and worked at Bryn Eithin, he would muster only five. Five farm laborers against a horde of pillaging Vikings.

"Now, Rhiannon." His tone brooked no argument. He withdrew his dagger from the small scabbard at his waist and pointed to the back of the house. "Go!"

Rhiannon fled the room. She ran directly to her chamber and pushed open the door. Heledd was laying Rhiannon's seawater-stained gown across the back of a chair to dry.

"Heledd! We must leave."

The older woman looked at her in alarm. "Whatever is the matter?"

"Vikings." Rhiannon could barely say the word without fear capturing her voice. Gwynedd's children were raised on stories of the devastating destruction the marauding Norsemen reaped. Vikings had no reverence for churches, monasteries, or holy relics. Gwynedd's men were considered no obstacle to their looting; Gwynedd's women were too often their prize.

Gripping Heledd's hand in hers, Rhiannon pulled her out of the room. Which way? They could reach the hill by running the length of the longhouse and going through the stable attached to the other end of the building, but the fastest route was through the front door and directly across the yard. Once they were beyond the yard, they could remain in the shadows until they reached the trees.

"How close are they?" Heledd asked. Her ruddy complexion had paled, but her tone remained calm.

"Eifion saw them on the beach."

The older woman nodded, her expression grim. "Then we have no time to lose."

Heledd's words propelled Rhiannon to the front door. She pulled it open and stepped outside. An eerie silence hung over the yard. No seagulls cried. No voices called.

A shadow crossed the open space, melding into the darkness beside the stable doors. Seconds later, two more shadows flitted across the yard. Rhiannon tightened her grip on Heledd's hand. Were the moving figures friends or foes? Where was her father?

"Hurry, bach."

Heledd's whispered warning drew Rhiannon's attention back to the distant trees. That was their goal. And they must reach it while it was yet attainable.

Turning away from the stable, they hurried along the length of the longhouse, staying in the darkest shadows beneath the eaves. Across the yard, a crack of light appeared, widening as the door to the kitchen opened. A narrow silhouette appeared.

"Myfanwy," Rhiannon gasped. "She must have returned to the kitchen before Eifion arrived back. She knows nothing of the Vikings on the beach."

"What of Nest?" Heledd asked.

Rhiannon released her hand. "Remain here. I will send Myfanwy to you. As soon as she reaches you, go to the trees. I will fetch Nest, and we shall follow."

"No, Rhiannon. Let me—"

"I am faster on my feet than you," she interrupted. "I shall join you again in no time." And then, before Heledd could argue further, Rhiannon left the protection of the wall and darted across the yard.

"Myfanwy!"

At Rhiannon's urgent whisper, the young maid stumbled to a halt. The mead in the pitcher she was carrying sloshed loudly. "Miss Rhiannon?"

"Yes." Rhiannon was close enough now that she could see Myfanwy's face. "Quickly. Put down the pitcher."

"Here, miss? In the yard?"

Myfanwy could not have sounded more mystified had Rhiannon asked her to place the pitcher on the moon.

"Vikings have come."

Significantly more mead spilled to the ground.

"V-vikings, miss?"

"Yes. And we have no time to lose." Rhiannon worked to curb her impatience as Myfanwy set the jug on the ground. "Run to the far corner of the longhouse. You'll find Heledd there. Go with her to hide in the trees. I must fetch Nest."

Now that she was free of the pitcher, Myfanwy took off running toward the spot where Heledd waited. Rhiannon did not watch her go. She picked up her skirts and crossed the remaining distance to the kitchen at a sprint.