Born of No Man by Tracy Cooper-Posey

Author:Tracy Cooper-Posey [Cooper-Posey, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ancient Historical Romance (Arthurian)
Publisher: Tracy Cooper-Posey
Published: 2018-07-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“What is Danum, anyway?” Olwen demanded as the women cleared the worktable of their sewing. She helped Lynette lift the limp Maela to the table. Mabyn slid a folded cloak beneath the girl’s head.

“It sounds Latin,” Mabyn said, staring down at Maela’s still figure.

“Perhaps it was the Roman name for Cair Dain?” Lynette suggested.

“The Saxons use the Roman names for places,” Iva said. “They won’t use our names. Might rot on their tongues if they do.”

Maela stirred and moaned. Then she rolled over and pushed herself up on one arm. Her face was still devoid of color. She hung over her arm, her head down.

“Careful, she’ll vomit,” Mabyn said.

A bowl was thrust beneath Maela’s head. She clutched it, breathing hard. After a long moment, she sighed and sat up properly. She pressed her forehead into her bent knees. She trembled.

“What do you know about Cair Dain?” Lynette asked her, settling her hip on the edge of the table so she could face the woman.

Maela lifted her head. Her loose locks spilled around her face. “I had forgotten about Danum. All these years…until just now when you said the name. Then I remembered. It meant nothing when I was young. Now, though…” She swallowed. Her eyes glittered with sudden tears.

Everyone else remained perfectly still, as if they were afraid to interrupt her.

Lynette wanted to shake her and demand she tell her everything, at once. Instead, she waited, as everyone else did.

Maela wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I was…I could not have been more than ten. Perhaps only eight or nine. There was a meeting in my father’s hall. A secret meeting, I think. My father and a Saxon delegation.” She swallowed. “They were giants. Hairy, filthy beasts and they smelled…”

The woman shifted uneasily. Talk of Vortigern and Saxons together tended to do that to the strongest man.

Lynette glanced at them impatiently. “Everyone has always known Vortigern invited the Saxons here. This was years ago, she said. Be quiet and let her finish.” She looked at Maela. “Go on. You were at that meeting?”

“My mother was there. She was…she spoke Saxon, of course. And she spoke our language. The Saxons did not. She translated for my father, for he spoke only a little Saxon and didn’t want to be misunderstood. My mother put me in a corner and told me to stay still and silent as a mouse. I was too young to understand, but I was…” Maela glanced around the room. “I was afraid of my father and I didn’t want him to see me there and get angry, so I stayed silent as my mother insisted. The men talked, back and forth—it was slow because my mother had to explain what each had said to the other. I heard everything they said at least twice and often four times over. I think that is why I remember it so clearly.”

“Remember what?” Olwen breathed.

Lynette glared at her.

Maela frowned. “You must understand…it meant nothing to me then. I didn’t know the Saxons were our enemies.

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