Saxon Fall by Griff Hosker

Author:Griff Hosker [Hosker, Griff]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Sword Books Ltd.
Published: 2014-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Aileen was soon with child and it seemed propitious for the mares came into season at the same time and Wolf was put to work. Soon we had twenty mares which had been serviced by the stallion. We would have to wait eleven months to see the result. As soon as the other mares from our existing herds came into season Wolf was in demand. I took Myrddyn at his word and left with Pol and Lann Aelle to find a new home for my family. I decided that I would just improve the castle close to the monastery of St.Asaph. The land there was just as good for horses as the island and with the fort at the head of the Clwyd Valley and Deva protecting the Dee we would be as secure there as anywhere. It had been deserted since the time of Asaph. We left the monastery untouched out of respect for the memory of our friend Bishop Asaph but there was little communication with the monks there.

I took my equites to the fort soon after the nights became a little shorter. Aileen insisted upon coming with us. I was learning that she was a strong minded woman. Where her husband went so would she. I had discovered many things about the new woman in my life. She was a fine archer and hunter. She could handle a blade too. As she told me, “If a Saxon tries to enslave me, then he will learn, the hard way, that I can fight for my own freedom.

There was a hall at the fort but the structure had fallen into disrepair since Gawan had moved to Deva. The walls were sound but the ditch needed deepening. While half of my men toiled there Pol and I began to build a much bigger hall. We demolished the old one. I remembered Castle Perilous and we used that as a model. The ground floor was to be the stables. The horses would be safe and it would provide heating for the living space above. Upstairs was where we had my eating hall and the bedrooms. A second hall for my oathsworn was attached to one end of the building.

All of my warriors joined in the building. We cut the huge timbers from the forests; choosing the straightest beams that we could find. The bark was stripped and they were each cut to the same length. Myrddyn oversaw the position of each wooden support as the hole was dug. Cobbles and rocks were brought to secure the wood in place. More rocks were found and Roman concrete used to build a wall between the beams which would support the roof. The skeleton of the hall looked a strange structure but once we had filled in the gaps with hazel, ash and lath it looked more like a home. It would take some days for the walls to dry but they would keep out the wind and the cold when they did so.

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