Page 17 of Insurrection (Guard of Six #2)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I t had been a quiet evening until that point.

That horrible, cataclysmic point.

That was when everything seemed to explode.

Doors, windows, and walls. Pieces of wood and stone were flying everywhere. Seated at the table in her father’s kitchen over the remains of a good meal, Madelaina screamed with terror when armed men burst into the cottage. A section of a door hit her in the back, nearly knocking her silly. But she caught the flash of a blade, and the first thing she did was dive under the table to protect herself.

But Ivor and Dai didn’t.

They were armed.

It was surprising how tough two Welshmen were against two dozen or more English soldiers. Madelaina held on to the table leg as the table itself was buffeted around and, eventually, someone broke it. They crashed through the top of it, nearly squashing her, but she managed to scream and escape, darting into the door that led to the bedchambers. Celyn was right there, however, and she smashed into her sister before demanding they close and lock the door.

Terrified, they had the door shut and bolted, listening to the battle in the kitchen.

“What is happening?” Celyn asked, weeping.

Madelaina shook her head. “English soldiers,” she said, her voice quivering. “They must have come down from The Narth. But why…?”

She suddenly came to a stop. Why did they come down at this particular time?

Why, indeed.

Could it be because Trevyn, whom she knew to have lied about being a scout for Ivor, had run there and told them?

The only answer she could come up with was… aye. He had.

“Oh, God,” she breathed, closing her eyes in realization. “ I did this. I think I did this.”

Celyn had no idea what she was talking about and, given the noise on the other side of the door, didn’t much care. Madelaina could be dramatic at times, and that was all she attributed the comment to.

Until the bolted door suddenly collapsed as several men crashed through it.

Screaming, the women were pushed further back into the sleeping chamber where The Bryn slept, with a secondary chamber next to it where the women slept. The truth was that they didn’t have anywhere to go at this point except the second chamber with a door that didn’t bolt, so Madelaina picked up a broken piece of door, grabbed her sister, and backed up against the wall. If anyone came close, she was going to brain them.

But she never had the chance. At this point, the fighting had ground to a halt because Ivor had been knocked unconscious when he came crashing through the door with four or five soldiers on top of him. Madelaina and Celyn watched the soldiers haul the man up, dragging him back into the kitchen, and Madelaina followed. Celyn was right behind her, trying to get her to come away, but Madelaina wouldn’t. She watched the soldiers lay him on the kitchen floor next to Dai, who had blood all over him.

Madelaina gasped.

“What did you do to him?” she said angrily, in their language, as she rushed to Dai’s side. “Where is the blood coming from?”

A big knight with shoulder-length dark hair was standing a few feet away, watching her. “Who are you, lass?” he asked.

Madelaina found the source of the blood, a big puncture wound near Dai’s liver. “My name is Madelaina,” she said, quickly looking to her sister back in the doorway. “Get me something to stop the blood. Hurry!”

Celyn disappeared. Madelaina put her hand over the wound, trying to stanch the flow of blood, as the big knight came around to Ivor’s side, looking down at her.

“This man is Ivor ap Yestin,” he said, pointing to Dai. “Who is that?”

She’d started to answer when there was suddenly another big fight out in her garden. She couldn’t have known that it was the men Ivor had brought with him to Penderyn, men who had been fanned out in the village before word got around that a crisis was happening at the apothecary shop. So they came running, in a group, straight into a horde of armed soldiers. Somewhere, Arthur was barking, which sent Madelaina into a panic.

“Please,” she begged the big knight. “Please do not hurt my dog. He will not bite, but he barks.”

The man’s dark eyes lingered on her for a moment before he shouted orders out to the men fighting in the garden, telling them to leave the dog unharmed. There was more fighting and grunting and barking until someone came flying in through the rear window and hit the floor hard. Meanwhile, Celyn rushed out into a room full of strange men, bearing rags and other things. She was terrified of men in general, so for her to come forward to help was a testament to her truly kind and helpful nature. She sat down next to her sister and began to help her as the fighting dragged to a halt.

“More dead Welshmen out there,” said an English soldier who came in through the garden door. “What do you want me to do with them?”

The knight looked up from the women tending the injured man. “How many?” he asked.

“At least seven,” the soldier said. “We managed to capture two, but the remainder ran.”

“Put the dead on the street,” the knight said. “Let the villagers see what happens when they hide men who nearly killed my sister.”

As the soldier ducked out, Madelaina’s head came up, and she looked at the knight. “They are not rubbish, you know,” she said, her voice quivering. “They were brave men, like you.”

The knight cocked a dark eyebrow. “They are not like me.”

“They love their country, like you,” she said. “They are defending it, as you defend yours. That makes them more like you than you think. They do not deserve to be left on the street.”

His eyes narrowed. “For what they did to my sister, they deserve worse.”

“What happened to your sister?”

He regarded her for a moment. “My sister is about your age,” he said. “She was traveling home and was attacked by men that we tracked back to this village. Back to The Narth. Ap Yestin would not turn those men over to us to face justice, so we sacked the castle. We had good reason for what we did, not that I am obliged to explain it to you.”

By this time, Celyn was trying to shush her sister, but Madelaina ignored her. “I am sorry for your sister,” she said. “Will she recover?”

“The physic does not think so.”

Madelaina was genuinely distressed to hear that. She looked around, at Dai and at Ivor, who was starting to come around, and then back to the knight.

“I know these men, great lord,” she said earnestly. “You do not know me, but my name is Madelaina. My father is the town apothecary. We are simple people and the men at The Narth are not killers. They hardly venture out at all.”

The knight shrugged. “Be that as it may, someone went out,” he said. “They beat my sister and stole her valuables. We found her rings here in the village—they had been given to the merchants to sell.”

“Merchants? In Penderyn?”

“Aye,” the knight said, but he was evidently finished speaking with her because he turned to the man beside him. “Take the bodies of the dead over to the church. I may not leave them in the street, but the message is still clear. Woe to those who protect the men who harmed my sister.”

With that, he turned away, directing his men, telling them to clear out of the shop and take the prisoners back to The Narth. That meant that Ivor was yanked off the floor, still only half conscious, and two men pushed Madelaina and Celyn out of the way so they could take Dai. But their actions came to a halt when two more knights entered the small space, weapons drawn.

“ What did you do, de Russe?” a knight with blond hair and pale blue eyes asked angrily, looking at the busted-out chamber. “What happened here?”

Treyton held his ground. “What does it look like?” he said. “I’ve captured Ivor ap Yestin and he will face justice for what his men did. Stay out of this, Orion. This is none of your affair.”

“Stop.” The older knight next to Orion held out his hand to prevent anyone from moving another inch. His intense gaze was on Treyton. “You have made a complicated situation worse.”

“You will stay out of it, too, de Bermingham,” Treyton said. “This does not concern you.”

“I beg to differ,” Bennet said. “What do you think is going to happen when you take ap Yestin back to England with you, or wherever you decide to put the man on trial? Do you think the Welsh princes, especially Llewelyn, are going to sit by and do nothing?”

Treyton’s jaw twitched. “I am taking the men who assaulted my sister.”

“You are taking a Welsh warlord to face justice, not the men who actually harmed your sister,” Bennet said strongly, which wasn’t like him. He was usually consummately cool in any situation. “Think about what you’re doing, man. You are starting a war on the marches that may sweep everyone and everything. This situation is bigger than you and your need for vengeance.”

Treyton took a long, deep breath. “Get out of my way.”

Bennet didn’t move. “Fight me and you’ll have Henry down around you,” he said. “If you think you are man enough to start a war with your own king, then by all means, start the war. But you’ll leave your share of blood on the ground, I assure you.”

He meant it. Bennet was a big man with a big sword, but de Russe was also a big man with a big sword. But he was young and reckless, which put the odds in Bennet’s favor. As the two men sized each other up and Treyton tried to figure out how to respond, Orion pushed his way between them and shoved back one of the men holding Ivor by the face. When the man tried to fight back, Orion slapped him.

After that, the fight was on.

Once again, Madelaina and Celyn were caught in the middle of something brutal and dangerous. Madelaina shrieked and grabbed her sister, yanking the woman over to the wall to get her out of the battle zone. She tried to escape, but there were men grabbing her, restraining her, and above it all, she could hear the knight called de Russe telling his men to take everyone prisoner.

Even the women.

She screamed, and Celyn screamed, but Celyn also fainted. She slithered to the ground as Madelaina tried to beat the English soldiers off her. It seemed like a losing battle, and she was genuinely terrified that she was going to end up a prisoner of the English.

But then something strange happened.

The older knight, called de Bermingham, was suddenly there, dispatching the English soldiers that were grabbing at Celyn. His sword made quick work of them and, abruptly, he scooped Celyn into his arms and grabbed at Madelaina, telling her to take hold of his tunic and follow him. For lack of a better reaction, because he seemed to want to help, Madelaina did as ordered and he slipped out into her garden, which had been torn up by the English soldiers. The knight continued out into the alleyway, rushing away from the fight and away from those who were trying to take the women captive. He ran into someone else’s garden, down between two houses, and ended up on another small road.

Then he came to a halt.

“Where is the nearest inn?” he asked Madelaina. “One that has rooms to let.”

Madelaina was bordering on frightened, confused tears. Sniffling, she pointed toward the east. “Th-that way,” she stammered. “The Moth and the Flame. Why?”

“Because you are going to hide there.”

Madelaina didn’t argue. The man was obviously trying to help her. He seemed determined to. Leaving the fight behind them, they rushed down the road to the tavern with the moth burned into a board over the doorway. The knight kicked the door open and entered the half-empty common room. But his sharp action of busting through the door brought everyone to a startled pause.

He spoke to the first serving woman he came across.

“You,” he said. “Where is the innkeeper?”

The woman pointed to the rear. “There,” she said nervously. “Kitchens!”

The knight continued on his quest, heading toward the rear and nearly plowing into a man wearing a big leather apron as he emerged from the kitchen.

“Are you the innkeeper?” the knight asked.

The man nodded. “I am,” he said, slicking back what hair he had on his head, which wasn’t much. “What do ye want?”

“A chamber for these women,” the knight said. “One that is clean. And bring them regular meals for as long as they stay.”

The man scratched his head. “I’ve only got two rooms,” he said. “The big room is empty, but it’ll cost ye.”

“How much?”

“Two shillings a day.”

“I’ll pay you for five days,” the knight said. “Meals included?”

“Aye.”

“Where is the room?”

The man pointed to the very rear of the inn. “Back there,” he said. “Do they want food now?”

The knight looked at Madelaina, who shook her head. “Nay,” he said. “Just sleep for tonight.”

The innkeeper motioned him on, and the knight took the women down the corridor, to the last door. Assuming that was the chamber, because the innkeeper wasn’t really specific, he had Madelaina open the door.

In they went.

It was dark and cold inside. There was a rather large bed shoved against the wall and the knight gently laid Celyn down upon it. As Madelaina went to her sister to see how she was faring, the knight turned for the door. He had a comrade back at the apothecary shop who found himself in a fight and intended to quickly return, but on second thought, he couldn’t just leave the women like this. They were cold and frightened. He turned to look at them, compassion in his expression.

Nay, he couldn’t just leave.

Hunting around, he found kindling and a flint and started a fire in the hearth. As he blew on the sparks to grow the blaze, Madelaina watched him from her perch next to her sister’s head.

“Why did you do this?” she asked. “Do not misunderstand me—I am grateful. But I do not understand why you did it.”

His focus remained on the fire. “Because you were about to be taken prisoner,” he said. “I do not think you want to become a prisoner of the English.”

“ You are English.”

“But I am not seeking vengeance like the other knight was.”

“Is he from The Narth?”

“Aye.”

“Are you?”

“I am.”

“What is your name?”

“Bennet de Bermingham, my lady.”

Madelaina fell silent, looking to her sister now that some light was beginning to fill the chamber. Celyn was starting to stir, and Madelaina put a gentle hand on her forehead as the woman’s eyes rolled open. She blinked, staring at the ceiling, before her eyes moved to Madelaina.

“What happened?” she asked hoarsely. “Where am I?”

“At The Moth and the Flame,” Madelaina said quietly. “This kind knight brought us here to escape the English, who wished to take us prisoner. Do you remember?”

Celyn looked at her as if she had no idea what her sister was talking about, but then her eyes began to widen.

“My God,” she breathed. “I thought I saw… I saw…”

“Who?”

Celyn swallowed hard, her expression seemingly one of hesitation. “Someone I used to know long ago,” she finally said. “It does not matter. We must go home.”

“We cannot,” Madelaina said. “They wanted to take us prisoner along with Ivor and Dai. As I told you, this very kind knight brought us here to hide. We must stay here until the English return to The Narth.”

“What about The Bryn?”

Madelaina shook her head. “I do not know,” she said. “He will probably be with Old Adda all night. Hopefully, anyway. I can go to Adda’s cottage and tell him not to come home yet.”

Over near the hearth, the knight stood up. Celyn caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at him about the same time he turned to look at her. It took Celyn all of a split second to realize who her sister’s “kind knight” was.

“Sweet Jesus,” she breathed, propping herself up on her elbows. “It… it really is you. I did not dream it.”

Bennet came away from the hearth, his gaze riveted to her. “Nay,” he murmured. “You did not dream it.”

The sound of his voice had Celyn bursting into quiet tears. Her hand covered her mouth. “You are here,” she wept softly. “You are truly here. How… why? I do not understand why you are here.”

Bennet was fairly emotional himself, unusual for the normally composed man. “I am with Henry’s contingent,” he said hoarsely. “Believe me, it is purely by chance. But when I saw de Russe leave The Narth and head toward the village with armed men, I went after him. The fact that he ended up in your home… I did not know it was your home until I saw you there.”

Celyn sat up all the way, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She was still weeping softly. “It is so good to see you,” she said. “Not a day has gone by that I have not thought of you and hoped you were well.”

He took a few steps closer to the bed, his gaze never leaving her face. “I am well,” he said. “Are you?”

Celyn nodded, suddenly catching sight of Madelaina sitting next to her. Madelaina was looking at her sister with great bewilderment, and seeing her expression brought more tears. Celyn took the young woman’s hand, holding it tightly as she returned her attention to Bennet.

“This is Madelaina,” she sobbed. “I see you in her. I have always wanted to tell you that.”

Bennet’s gaze left Celyn, drifting over to Madelaina, who clearly had no idea what anyone was talking about.

“You never told her?” he said.

Celyn shook her head, looking at Madelaina and seeing the increasing puzzlement in the woman’s features. “Nay,” she said to her sister. “There was no reason to tell you the truth.”

Madelaina frowned. “Tell me what truth?” she said. “ What is happening here? Celyn, do you know this knight?”

Celyn was looking at Bennet when she answered. “Aye,” she murmured. “I do.”

“ How do you know him?”

Celyn simply wept. She couldn’t even speak. Watching the situation unfold, Bennet took another timid step forward. He could get a good look at Madelaina now, who was positively exquisite. Such a beautiful girl. And he could also get a good look at Celyn, who had only grown lovelier over the years, as far as he was concerned.

As lovely as she had been twenty years ago.

“I do not think you have a choice but to tell her now,” he said to Celyn. “Unfortunately, I cannot stay. I left my colleague back in your cottage in the midst of a fight, so I must go back and help him. But I will return, I swear it.”

Celyn wiped at her face, nodding. “Of course you must help him,” she said. “And… thank you for helping us as well. I do not know what would have become of us had you not acted swiftly.”

Bennet was clearly torn about leaving, but Orion was in danger and he had to get back to him. But he took a moment to look at the woman who should have been his wife and the daughter they had created together out of love.

He could have stayed there forever.

“Do not leave this chamber,” he said, forcing himself to turn for the door. “I will return, but do not leave.”

Neither woman said anything. Madelaina was looking at Celyn, who had her face buried in a hand, weeping quietly. They heard the door close softly but didn’t bother looking over to see if the knight was truly gone. Right now, it was a pivotal moment between them. Madelaina could feel the weighty mood as she gazed at Celyn.

“Tell me what he was talking about, Celyn,” she said. “What haven’t you told me?”

Celyn took a deep breath and wiped the tears on her face, lifting her eyes to look at Madelaina. She forced a smile, reaching up to touch the young woman on the cheek.

“There was never any reason to tell you,” she murmured. “The Bryn made the decision as to how things should be, and, fool that I am, I let him. I let him ruin my life. And I’ve let you live a lie because that is what he wanted.”

“What lie?”

Celyn sighed faintly. “Long ago, when I was about your age, I met a man and fell in love,” she said. “You know I do not speak of my younger years, Maddie. That is because it is too difficult for me to do so. I loved him so very much. We wanted to marry. But The Bryn forbade us.”

Madelaina’s brow furrowed as she tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. “Why did he do that?”

“Because my love was English.”

Madelaina’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Saesneg?”

Celyn nodded. “He was the commander at Chepstow Castle,” she said. “We were in Chepstow because The Bryn and Mother wished to visit a man who sold ingredients from all over the world. He was a merchant from Calais. I met my love that day because he was in town to buy a sword. We took one look at each other, and I swear to you that I heard angels sing. There was an instant attraction, and after two days, I knew I loved him. We were mad for one another. You’ve often asked me why I have never wed and I’ve never given you an answer. Now, I will tell you—I’ve never wed because I’ve never stopped loving my knight. The Bryn may have stopped our wedding, but he could not kill what was in my heart.”

Madelaina was listening with growing suspicion. The man that was just in this chamber—the English knight—seemed to know what Celyn knew. His words were providing Madelaina with clues.

You never told her?

Realization dawned.

“It was him,” she said, gesturing toward the chamber door. “That knight. It was him .”

Celyn nodded, tears popping into her eyes again. “Aye,” she whispered tightly. “It was him. He is your father, Maddie.”

Madelaina’s features twisted with confusion. “ Him? ” she said, aghast. “He… he and our mother were…?”

Celyn shook her head quickly. “Nay, not that,” she said. “The woman you’ve always believed to be your mother is, in fact, your grandmother. And The Bryn is your grandfather, not your father. I am not your sister, but your mother.”

Madelaina’s eyes widened and she stumbled off the bed, staring at Celyn in horror. “ You are my mother?” she gasped. “But… but that’s not possible!”

Celyn nodded. “It is and I am,” she said, watching Madelaina struggle against an emotional breakdown. “I became pregnant and we planned to marry, but The Bryn discovered our plans and stopped us. He petitioned the Earl of Pembroke, because Chepstow was part of his properties, and had Bennet sent away by telling him a lie—he told the earl that Bennet had raped me, which was absolutely not true. But the earl believed The Bryn and Bennet was sent away in shame, his career in ruins. When people in the village realized I was with child, The Bryn told all of them that an English knight had raped me, so I was forgiven. The knight was not. When you were born, we felt it best to raise you as my sister, not my daughter, for your sake. Even though many in the village knew of the pregnancy, they managed to keep it a secret. You never heard that you were my daughter, did you?”

Madelaina’s eyes were like saucers, her hand over her mouth in shock. “Once,” she breathed. “When I was very young. A boy teased me about it, but that was the only time. And I remember that his mother severely punished him. I… I never thought any more about it. Mayhap I should have.”

Celyn watched her anxiously. “The people who knew of my pregnancy kept it secret for fear of The Bryn, I’m sure,” she said. “He is an apothecary and could easily poison their food or their water. So they believed. But The Bryn used to be a warrior, long ago, before he fell in love with Mother, who was also English. Did you know that?”

Madelaina wasn’t sure what she knew. Her mind was so muddled that she could hardly think. “Mother said she was born in Pembrokeshire,” she said.

“To an English family,” Celyn said. “Her father served William Marshal.”

More revelations. Madelaina’s hand came away from her mouth and she sank onto a stool, dazed.

“All of this does not seem possible,” she said. “I… I am at a loss for words. I do not know what to say.”

Celyn stood up and went to her. “Do not say anything,” she said, putting her hand on Madelaina’s head. “And you do not even have to address me as your mother. We may continue as we’ve always been, but you are old enough to know now. Old enough to understand that your real father, Bennet de Bermingham, is a son of the Earl of Louth. He was born in Ireland and he trained at the Blackchurch Guild. He is a fine man and a fine knight and what The Bryn did to him wasn’t right, but he did it to spare me and to spare you. You are born of Irish nobility and Welsh royalty, Maddie. That is something to be proud of.”

Madelaina looked at her. “That is what you think?” she said. “That I am proud to be Welsh and Irish? I do not care about that in the least. I feel as if my entire life has been a lie. You must let me come to terms with it before you go around telling me how proud I should be of my lineage.”

With that, she turned away from Celyn, unable and unwilling to look at her for the moment. There were a great many things rolling around in her head, not the least of which was the events of the evening. So much had happened, so much out of her control, and she was struggling with it. A man she didn’t know was evidently her father, and the woman she believed to be her sister was her mother.

It was overwhelming.

Feeling sick and disoriented, she pulled the little stool over to the hearth and sat there, staring into the flames and pondering the very sharp turn her life had just taken. She could have called Celyn a liar, but she knew the woman didn’t lie. But in this case, she’d certainly kept the truth from her. More than that, nothing she’d known was the same, nor would it be ever again. To top everything off, the man she knew as Trevyn wasn’t Trevyn at all, but someone who had flattered her and been kind to her, enough so that she’d let her guard down for him. Perhaps that had been a mistake.

Nothing was as she thought any longer.

God help her, the entire world was on its end.

Putting her face in her hands, Madelaina wept softly.