Written In Stone

Bettina, we will come back for ye in two months time. Find the spear so we can take ye home with it when we come."
    "Aye," Bettina nodded and took a bite of her breakfast.
    "The Mors will know it was she who took it when both she and it disappear. They will come after it and another war will be on," her mother warned.
    "I'll worry about that when the time comes. We must have that spear back where it belongs."
    "What about Bettina? She will still be wed, her husband will surely come after her."
    "We will go to the priest and she will tell him how her husband beats her and mistreats her. He'll release her from her vows, and she'll be free to marry another."
    "Who'll have her?" Her mother said, aghast.
    "Will ye quit speaking as if I am not even here?" Bettina demanded.
    Muredach entered the room just as the Llewelyn's hand flew, knocking Bettina out of her chair. She landed on the floor with her lip bleeding. Muredach never broke stride as he walked across the room, gathered the Llewelyn up by the throat, and carried him to the door, then sent him flying with one giant fist to the mouth.
    "If ye ever touch my wife again, I'll kill ye," Muredach said, without so much as raising his voice. He strode back inside, shutting the door firmly behind him. "Excuse my behavior," he said to the rest of Bettina's family. "I think the Llewelyn will be wanting ye to join him as he'll be leaving now." Muredach stood near Bettina as she said good-bye to her mother and brothers, then he took her to the kitchen to have Agnes, the old maid, clean her lip. "Are ye alright, lass?" he asked her when Agnes finished.
    "Aye, 'tis hardly a scratch," she told him. "He oft does worse, 'tis nothing this time."
    "'Tis the last time he does it to ye," Muredach said. "Did he say anything else about the spear?"
    Bettina nodded. "He will return in two months time to take me and the spear back with him. He wants me to tell the priest that ye beat me and mistreat me so the priest will set aside the vows and free me from ye."
    Muredach nodded. He knew that was one way to end this marriage. "Do ye wish to have the priest set aside the vows, lass? I will let ye out of the marriage if ye wish."
    Bettina shook her head. "Where would I go? If I return to me da, he will kill me for not having the spear with me."
    "Very well. Listen to me Bettina. Ye are safe here at Castle Mor, and ye can live yer life out here as well. I'll not be holding ye to the vows. Ye are but a wee lass and I am, well, I am a man grown. 'Tis not the match I was hoping for, but I'll take care of ye and protect ye as I would any of my family."
    "Thank ye, m' lord," Bettina said and curtsied.
    "And call me Muredach. Now let's go see me mum and tell her what we've planned."
     
     
    Maud Mor was a pleasant woman of thirty-four, still trim and beautiful after having birthed five sons. She'd wanted at least one daughter, but her youngest son, Duncan, was a difficult birth and she hadn't gotten pregnant again, no matter how hard she and Fergus tried. She waited for her sons to reach marrying age, and now, finally, Muredach brought home a bride, and she was thrilled to finally have a daughter. Bettina was such a pleasant girl, and exactly the same age Maud was when she married Fergus, and gave birth to Muredach, ten short months later. Maud wished Muredach would take more than a brotherly interest in the girl and at least an attempt to make it a real marriage. She so wanted grandchildren. Sighing, she thought perhaps, her second son, Crinan, would be the one to marry and give her grandchildren.
    ~ * ~
    Two months later, Muredach, his father, and brothers, along with their men, hid in the shadows, deep within the cover of darkness, away from the entrance of the outer bailey to the inner bailey, and around the castle proper, awaiting the Llewelyn to come for Bettina and the spear. They left two men walking the parapet as they normally would. To pull them off would alert the Llewelyn that something was wrong. Muredach left Bettina in his mother's chambers with two guards at the door. The spear remained hidden where it had been since coming from Jerusalem.
    The Llewelyn sent a troop of fifteen men ahead of him and his sons. When they sent the all-clear signal, he and his sons approached the outer bailey where Bettina was supposed to be waiting with the spear. The girl was nowhere to be found. Llewelyn was livid, how dare the wench defy him! Just then, the Mors surrounded the entire