Brother Cadfael 18: The Summer of the Danes

myself deprived of my freedom here. I have no complaint."
    "The lord Cadwaladr will tell you himself," said Otir, and his satisfied smile broadened. "He has declared himself ready to pay the two thousand marks he promised to us for coming to Abermenai with him. He desires to send word to his brother how this is to be done. He will tell you."
    Mark regarded with some doubt Cadwaladr's set face and darkly smouldering eyes. "Is this true?"
    "It is." The voice was strong and clear, if it grated a little. Since there was no help for it, Cadwaladr accepted necessity, if not with grace, at least with the recovered remnant of his dignity. "I am required to pay for my freedom. Very well, I choose to pay."
    "It is truly your own choice?" Mark wondered doubtfully.
    "It is. Beyond what you see, I am not threatened. But I am not free until the ransom is paid, and the ships loaded for sea, and therefore I cannot go myself to see my cattle rounded up and driven, nor draw on my treasury for the balance. I want my brother to manage all for me, and as quickly as may be. I will send him my authority by you, and my seal by way of proof."
    "If it is what you wish," said Mark, "yes, I will bear your message."
    "It is what I wish. If you tell him you had it from my own lips, he will believe you." His lips at that moment were drawn thin with the hard-learned effort to keep the bitterness and fury caged within, but his mind was made up. There could be revenges later, there could be another repayment to be made in requital of this one, but now what he needed was his freedom. He slid out his private seal from a pocket in his sleeve, and held it out, not to Otir, who sat watching with a glittering grin, but to Mark. "Take my brother this, tell him you had it from my hand, and ask him to hasten what I need."
    "I will, faithfully," said Mark.
    "Then ask him for my sake to send to Llanbadarn, to Rhodri Fychan, who was my steward, and will be my steward again if ever I regain what is mine. What is left of my treasury he will know where to find, and at my orders, witnessed by my seal, he will deliver it over. If the sum is not enough, what is lacking must be made up in cattle. Rhodri knows where my stock are bestowed in safe charge. There are still herds kept for me, more than enough. Two thousand marks is the sum. Ask my brother to make haste."
    "I will," said Mark simply, and began by himself making all haste. It was he who took an ambassador's leave of them, rather than acknowledging his own dismissal from Otir's presence. A brisk reverence and a brief farewell, and he was already on his way, and for some reason the space within the tent and about it looked curiously empty by the removal of his small, slight figure.
    He went on foot; the distance was barely more than a mile. Within the halfhour he would be delivering his message to Owain Gwynedd, and setting in motion the events which were to restore Cadwaladr his freedom, if not his lands, and remove from Gwynedd the threat of war, and the oppressive presence of an alien army.
    The only pause he made before leaving was to impart to Cadfael the errand on which he was sent.
    Brother Cadfael came very thoughtfully to where Heledd was stirring the sleeping fire in the stone hearth, to prepare food for the evening meal. His mind was full of what he had just learned, but he could not help remarking how well this vagrant life in a military camp suited her. She had taken the sun graciously, her skin was a golden bronze, with an olive bloom upon it, suave and infinitely becoming to her dark hair and eyes, and the rich red of her mouth. She had never in her life been so free as she was now in her captivity. The gloss of it was about her like cloth of gold, and it mattered not at all that her sleeve was torn, and the hem of her gown soiled and frayed.
    There's news that could be good for us all," said Cadfael, watching her neat movements with pleasure. "Not only did Turcaill come back safely from his midnight foray, it seems he brought back Cadwaladr with him."
    "I know," said Heledd, and stilled her busy hands for a moment, and stared into the fire and smiled. "I saw them come back, before dawn."
    "And you never said word?" But no, she would not, not yet, not to anyone. That would be to reveal more than she was yet ready to reveal. How could she say that she had risen before the sun, to watch for the little ship's safe return?
    "I've scarcely seen you today. No harm had come of whatever they were up to,