Chapter 29

"Get behind me!" Marcus said grimly as he nudged his horse forward, placing himself between the silent figure and Selina.

She saw the figure a moment later and gasped.

"Who are you? An agent of Maximilien Voss?" Marcus shouted, his voice unnaturally loud in the silence of the grove.

"Who, me? No," Dai replied, shuffling forward, and beginning to walk towards them, circling the edge of the water.

"Dai?" Marcus asked, peering forward.

"Aye, it's me. Sorry to startle you, Duke. Wondered what the two of yous was doing here in the middle of the night. Saw you riding across the top of Old Gop, I did."

"This is my land. I can ride where I wish. What are you doing here?" Marcus demanded.

Selina frowned. When Dai had stood beside the stone, he had seemed different. Somehow taller. Now, his shadowed shape was slope-shouldered and shuffling, just as he had been when she had met him previously. But for a moment, it was as if he were somehow unencumbered by the weight of time.

"Out checking my traps, wasn't I," Dai replied.

He stopped short of the two riders, looking up at them. Selina dismounted and walked towards the old man, wanting to show Marcus that there was nothing to be wary of. She put out her hands and took Dai's.

"I'm sorry that the Duke is so grumpy, Dai. You took him by surprise. And we have some reason to be wary."

"You followed us," Marcus said, also dismounting.

"I did. Curious, wasn't I," Dai said.

"How did you get here before us on foot?" Marcus demanded suspiciously.

"Well now. That's a question, isn't it? I know these lands and they know me," Dai replied cryptically.

"We came here to wed, Dai. I would be honored if you would stand as a witness for us," Selina said.

Marcus looked at her sharply for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, that is a capital idea."

"Wed?" Dai said, tilting his head to one side, "Suppose that explains the getup. But shouldn't yous be doing that in a church?"

"That has proved…problematic," Selina said carefully, "my father has raised objections."

"Father, is it? That would be the name you called me, Duke?" Dai replied, "You thought I was him trying to stop you marrying your girl, did you?"

"He tried to have Selina kidnapped. And now casts doubt over my rightful claim to the Dukedom. He believes me to be an impostor," Marcus said.

Selina had not wanted to be quite so open but she supposed it was public knowledge now. Everyone in Folkington knew why the Duke's wedding had not gone ahead. Why should they not be open and honest with Dai?

"Hmmm, now then. There's a thing you don't hear every day," Dai replied thoughtfully, "bet the old vicar down there in the village ran a mile, did he? Never one to stick his neck out."

"He did," Marcus said grimly.

"So you thought you'd wed your girl the old way. In front of the old ones and the land itself," Dai went on, nodding, "Well, let's get on with it then. Lady Moon is out so I'd say you has her blessing see. To the stone we go and we'll get on with the handfasting."

He turned and began to hurry back towards the standing stone. Selina and Marcus followed, leading their horses.

"Handfasting?" Selina whispered for Marcus, though she was overheard by Dai.

"Aye, handfasting. The old way to marry. Back before the Christians arrived in these isles. You think people didn't get married before Christ came along?" Dai said over his shoulder, "I will bind your hands together with grass. And you'll stay married in the eyes of Woden until you decide to part. That's the old way and that stone over there is Woden's eye."

"Yes…" Marcus said thoughtfully, "I remember that story. There are carvings on the stone and one of them looks like an eye. I remember that!"

"It is an eye. Woden's eye. I told you," Dai said.

As he walked he was plucking long strands of grass. Beside the pool, it grew tall enough to reach Selina's knees. Dai was taking the long strands and doing something with them that she couldn't see. By the time they all reached the standing stone, he turned to reveal a long thread, made up of interwoven grass. The stone was taller than it had seemed in the distance, looming over them. Looking up, Selina could see a notch in its top which cradled the full moon. They were here at the precise moment that the moon sat directly above the stone.

"Woden guided you, I'd say," Dai said, following her gaze, "to be here at just this moment. Only happens once a month and doesn't stay there for long. So, if the two of yous want to be married and want the blessing of the old gods, let's be having you."

He spoke briskly, taking Selina's hand in one of his own, then taking Marcus' in the other. Selina smiled, heart racing.

I feel more excited in this moment than I did when entering the church for my actual wedding. But, why should this be any less than that? Why should I look on that ceremony as valid and this as a game?

Marcus was staring at her as Dai wrapped the grass about their wrists.

"This was meant to be," he whispered, "destiny. It brought you to me and brought your father to the church today. All to bring us here."

"How does it happen?" Selina asked when Dai had bound them, "What do we say?"

"This a place for honesty. Woden's eye is on yous, on all of us. He will bind you together but not if you harbor any untruths or deceptions," Dai said gravely.

Selina stepped closer to Marcus, her fingers intertwining with his. He towered over her with all the sense of strength and permanence as the stone that towered over both of them. She felt safe in this place, protected by Marcus from anything her father or the rest of the world chose to throw at them. Nothing had felt so right as standing here with Marcus.

A man I have known for a matter of weeks. A man I believed I had known since childhood. A man I wish I had known my entire life. A man I will have the rest of my life to know.

"There is nothing that I have held back. I am who I am. Selina Voss," Selina said, "I came to Valebridge looking for Arthur Roy and I found you, Marcus. I fell in love with you for the man that you are, not the man that I thought you were. I have brought you chaos and…"

It was like being plunged into cold water. With horror, she realized that she had spoken Marcus' secret aloud in front of Dai. Revealed him to be not Arthur Roy, the rightful Duke of Valebridge, but Marcus. A man no one knew even existed. A man no one believed had a right to the Dukedom. She looked at Dai as Marcus hugged her close to him, turning so that he was between her and the old man.

"What are you playing at, Dai? Is this some kind of elaborate trap?" Marcus demanded.

Dai straightened from his customary slouch, pushing back his shoulders and chuckling. It was a deep, rich sound and when he spoke, the voice was devoid of the Welsh accent.

"No trap on my part, Marcus. The power of the stone. If you want to marry your girl, there needs to be honesty. I include myself in that."

"I didn't mean what I said…" Selina began, not knowing how she could retract her words but desperate to make Dai believe that she hadn't meant it.

She stopped when the sound of his voice finally registered in her consciousness. It was the voice of an educated gentleman. Gone was the rural Welsh burr.

"No need to explain, Selina," Dai said, "your truth was one I already knew. Because the idea for all of it came from me in the first place," Dai said in a voice rich with humor.

"From you?" Marcus said, "just who the hell are you, old man?"

There was anger in his voice and Selina could understand that. It felt as though the world had shifted beneath her feet. What had been solid ground was now marsh and she was sinking. Dai had been playing them for fools, acting the part of the old poacher while somehow manipulating them. The question was why? Was he acting on behalf of her father? Or someone else? Some unknown actor yet to be revealed?

"Please, Dai, if that is your name," Selina said, tears in her voice, "I trusted you. Tell us who you are and what you want."

"What I want is for the two of you to be happy in a way that the two of us never could be. Marcus is a far greater man than I. A far better Duke than I. That's why I wrote him a letter telling him to take my name and the title I could never live up to," Dai said.

"Arthur?" Selina stammered.

Dai, or rather Arthur, nodded slowly, looking from Selina to Marcus and back again.

"Yes, Selina. I am Arthur Roy."