Page 115 of Boudicca

The Trinovantes Chief’s Guard arrived and stood quietly waiting. I wiped Adminius’s face as I’d so recently cleaned his father’s. He seemed very childlike, suddenly reminding me of how grief-stricken my daughters had been by the death of their father. “Come, Adminius.” Gently I guided him to his feet. “I will escort you and your father to his chamber.” My gaze went to Rhan. “Your sister will join us. She and I will help you prepare Addedomaros for his pyre.”

“Y-yes.” Adminius nodded shakily. “Stay with me. Please?”

“Of course.”

The crowd parted as our somber procession moved slowly from the field to the cave Addedomaros had made his lodge. It wasn’t as spacious as mine but every bit as well appointed. The guard carefully placed the litter holding their dead chief on the table. We had only been there long enough to begin heating herbed water to cleanse the chief’s body when Wulffaed and half a dozen of her daughters poured into the chamber, bringing oils and clean strips of cloth. Adara, our healer, was with them. One look at Adminius, who was slumped in his father’s thronelike chair with silent tears slipping down his cheeks,and she began brewing a tea. Its scent told me that it was a sleeping potion and I breathed a sigh of relief when Adminius gulped it down. As his head began to bob and his eyes close, I again put my arm around his shoulders and guided him to his father’s sumptuous bed pallet in the rear of the chamber. Before I could walk away from him, he grabbed my wrist.

“You are very kind,” Adminius rasped.

I patted his hand. “Sleep. Your tribe needs you clearheaded and strong.”

Chapter XXXVII

I hadn’t realized how much time had passed while I helped Rhan, Wulffaed, and her skilled daughters prepare Addedomaros until Cadoc and Mailcun joined us, proclaiming that the pyre had been built in the center of the field.

I nodded wearily. “Thank you, Cadoc and Mailcun. Has the stallion been added to the pyre?”

Cadoc’s nod was tight. “Yes. Maldwyn readied the stallion.”

Mailcun ran a hand through his graying hair. “Your horse master even painted Black’s coat with our tribal symbols and braided his mane and tail.”

“That is as it should be. Black will join Addedomaros in Annwn.” It was then that I rolled my aching shoulders, glanced toward the mouth of the cave, and realized it was fully dark. “I will have our fattest boar slaughtered and the choice cuts added to the pyre, which we will light tomorrow at dusk.” I looked to the Trinovantes shield. With Adminius drugged into a deep sleep, he was the ranking tribal member. “It would be my honor to host the feast after the lighting of the pyre, if that is acceptable to you.”

“It is.” Mailcun nodded. “Addedomaros would appreciate the fact that his feast meal was prepared by his favorite cook, the Mother of Twenty.”

Wulffaed’s face flushed with pleasure. “And a grand feast it will be,” she said.

“Wulffaed, if Queen Boudicca agrees, you and your daughters may go begin preparing for the feast,” said Rhan from her place at the head of the chief’s body. “All that is left to do here is to paint my father’s body and braid his hair. I can tend to that.”

“Yes, of course,” I said. “Wulffaed, you and your daughters may go, and thank you.”

As the women filed out, Mailcun cleared his throat. “Rhan, I would like to stay and aid in the last of the preparations for my chief.” His gaze went to Addedomaros’s still body. “I have spent more years by his side than not. I will miss him greatly.”

“My father would approve,” Rhan said.

Mailcun breathed out a long sigh of relief and joined Rhan, helping her mix the wooden bowls of body paint.

“Queen Boudicca.” Cadoc spoke my name softly. I wiped the herbal oils from my hands and went to my shield. “It is Maldwyn. I worry for him. Ending Black’s pain was difficult but the right thing to do.”

“Of course it was. Had Maldwyn not done it, the Trinovantes horse master would have. It was fortunate Maldwyn was there so swiftly. His touch calmed Black and allowed the killing blow to be gentle,” I said.

Cadoc nodded. “I agree, but Maldwyn is young. Outside of battle injuries, this is the first healthy stallion he has had to put down. He is not taking it well, my queen.”

“Thank you for telling me.” I touched my shield’s arm. “I will see to Maldwyn.”

Cadoc bowed to me before the icy darkness outside the cave swallowed him. As I turned to rejoin Rhan and Mailcun, my best friend and lover was there beside me.

“Go to Maldwyn. You should be with him tonight. He needs you,” said Rhan.

“And you?” I asked.

“I will finish preparing my father and then sit vigil with his body. I do not feel his spirit strongly. It is as if he has already begun his journey to Annwn, but I will be here to guide him if he loses his way.”

I lowered my voice for Rhan’s ears alone. “I do not wish to cause you any more pain today.”

She looked steadily at me. “You going to Maldwyn’s bed does not cause me pain. He is a good man and an honorable warrior. There isa vast kindness about him. And Maldwyn makes you happy. I wish for you to be happy. What we have together will not be diluted by your love for him.”

“No, it will not be.” I touched her cheek gently. “I am not sure I would be so generous if you were to choose another lover.”