This chapter describes how the Western Celts from Brithony decide to join forces with the beleaguered Saxons in order to protect their own interests. In the second part of the Chapter, Drustina decides she will have to make a spying trip of her own and the cost of getting vital information is painfully high.

Drustina has to choose between accepting being raped in order to gather information and take it back alive or to kill her rapist and probably be executed for regicide.

The Angry Mermaid 75

Y Morforwyn Dicllon 75.

With Carl, Helios and Symone away on their mission, Drustina, Hengis, Althred and several other Saxon Earls got down to the business of preparing some sort of defence against the anticipated Viking attack. They decided to use Cws as the main base to assemble their forces as its central location enabled easy replenishment of supplies for the army by sea from wherever supplies came. Cws could be approached from three different directions by ship so supply lines were harder to shut down. That same central position also enabled large forces to be despatched quickly from Cws as well.

To complement this land strategy, the navy was located in three different locations to ensure that the Viking fleet could not trap the ships in one harbour. Sotona and Cws were the two main bases with Porsea chosen as a third more easterly location to provide a swifter reaction to any invasion from the east. With their strategy decided, it only remained for the allies to reinforce their defences wherever and whenever they could.

To Drustina’s delight and relief, her Celtic roots brought forth the hoped for tribal dividend.
~o0o~

Several days after despatching Carl, Helios and Symone to spy on the Viking occupation of The Havre, Drustina was finishing her midday meal when Althred appeared at the entrance to her tent that had been erected ashore to provide larger quarters to handle the logistical burden of command. He looked hopeful as he spoke.

“A dozen none Viking ships and three vessels that look like longships have been spotted to the south, they are approaching the Nab, Hengis believes them to be Celtic but he’d like you to confirm.”

Drustina immediately put aside her food and stood up to collect her sword and scabbard from the tent post. Althred wavered.

“Shouldn’t you finish your lunch first?”

Drustina glanced at the half empty plate and shrugged as she used the large stone block to mount Seripatese. Her little mare snorted inquisitively and nuzzled Drustina’s knee affectionately as her mistress replied to Althred.

“It can wait. I must check these ships first.”

A quick Dash to the Nab Headland confirmed Drustina’s hopes. The emblems on the sails were certainly Celtic. Most were bearing her great uncle Dryslwyn’s badge while the three longships wore her distant cousin Penderol’s colours. Obviously the Celtic tribes were responding one way or another to the call.

As Drustina sat on her horse giving thanks to whatever gods had persuaded her cousins to ally themselves with the Saxons, Hengis rode up from the beach.

“Are they Celtic ships Dru?”

“They most certainly are. That fiery beast on the sails is the emblem of my uncle. I think I also know how those longships came to wearing Dumnonii colours but I will wait and find out for certain.

“What; your uncle has come in person?”

“I doubt it, he’s an old man now, but I suppose one of his younger kin is in command. Come, let’s away to the inlet. They seem to be heading for Cws Harbour.”

It was only a short distance and Drustina savoured the gallop as she gave Seripatese her head. The little mare spied the beach through the trees and she whinnied with delight as the group emerged from the forest to stretch their legs on the flat hard sand. Drustina, Hengis and Althred easily beat the ships to Cws harbour and advised the townsfolk that the ships were friendly. A noticeable wave of relief washed through the gathered defenders as the tension vanished and a festive air took over. Drustina stood on the only stone quay available and waved urgently as the ships approached. Hengis and Althred grinned as they watched their leader prancing about with excitement for they had never seen Drustina behaving like an excited little girl before; obviously she held her tribal roots dear.

~o00o~

As the ships came closer Drustina peered eagerly to see if she could recognise anybody. Her efforts failed her and she shuffled impatiently until the command ship had secured to the newly repaired quay. A tall man made to present himself to Althred but the Saxon earl directed him to Drustina. For a moment the man hesitated and stared uncertainly at the beautiful woman before him.

“We were told that Drustan, King Dryslwyn’s great nephew was here, commanding a great fleet."

“I am.” Drustina replied somewhat bemused until she remembered that the Brithony Celts had only ever known of her as ‘Drustan Scar-arse’ the boy who had killed Blueface. Then she remembered.

“Dammit! You wouldn’t have known. Drustan Scar-arse and The Lioness of Carthage are the same person.”

The tall Celt peered earnestly at the fine woman before him then replied.

“I am Udris of the Dumnonii; nephew of Penderol who is still high chief. I was the partner of Drustan on the day he killed Blueface. If you are Drustan you would remember me but I do not recognise you. You are a woman for God’s sake! How can a boy become a woman?!! You are an imposter!”

The word had hardly left his mouth but Hengis’s and Althred’s swords were sliding from their scabbards. Drustina was so taken aback by the slur that she delayed staying their hands for a moment. The next moment swords were being drawn on all sides. Drustina called for calm then realised only the Saxons and Gauls understood her. The majority of Udris’s men were Celts and knew no other tongues but Brithonic.

Drustina suddenly found herself struggling with her mother tongue so long had it been since she used it. When she finally found it however she let go with a stream of invective that brought the Celts up short. Such language as they’d never heard from a fish-wife’s lips, let alone a Celtic lady!

“Damn you all to hell, you stupid bastards! Are we not supposed to fighting the blasted Vikings and not each other? Put down your f-----g swords! NOW!!!”

Both Celts and Saxons stopped in mid strike as her angry scream stunned their ears. Only Hengis had ever heard such a noise before and he cursed as he turned to her.

“Dammit Dru, my ears girl! You’ll do that once too often and really offend somebody someday!”

“Udris turned with eyes ablaze as he repeated Hengis’s curse in Celtic for he had not understood Hengis’s language.”

“My damned ears woman! Are you some sort of sorceress? That sound was the devil’s cry!”

She resumed Talking in Latin, a tongue common to most of the chiefs Saxon, Celt and Gaul alike.

“Well it stopped you stupid fools from killing each other now listen to me! There are a hundred men all throughout this army who can vouchsafe for my being the Lioness of Carthage! Only you Udris, amongst all your men have seen the scar on my arse. I was but a thirteen-year-old boy back then but the scar still remains of course. And if you are not to believe my words then look! Here it bloody is!”

So saying, Drustina’s anger caused her to throw modesty and caution to the wind as she bent over and exposed her arse. Udris’s eyes widened as he noted not only the scar that stretched from just below her hip, around under her curvy butt until it finished just past her anus and to one side at the top of her inner thigh. Udris recalled Penderol’s words about ‘the boy nearly ending up with two arseholes’ when they were treating Drustan after the battle. Then as he noted the obviously feminine curves, his eyes widened appreciatively as he noted what were obviously the outer labia of a woman’s parts. The incongruity sat ill with his memory of Drustan the boy, and his famous victory over Blueface.

Then as Udris stood gaping uncertainly, Drustina turned to face him with her grey eyes blazing. Udris’s jaw sagged as he saw not only the last vestige of the scar ending at the top of Drustina’s inner thigh but also Drustina’s male parts.

“My God but you have ... you have a cock!”

“Well noted you oaf. Yes, I was once a boy and this thing still bloody works! — Small as it is!”

Udris swallowed nervously as his gaze lifted to study the curves under Drustina’s jerkin.

“Are those breasts as well?”

“Of course I’ve got bloody breasts you disbelieving fool! And they bear the scars of battle also! Look!”

After hitching up her britches she untied her jerkin and loosed her scarred breasts so that further proof of her duality bounced free provocatively. Udris was thunderstruck and wagged his head in confusion as he tried to get his head around the incomprehensible riddle that stood boldly before him re-fastening the lacing to her jerkin. His Christian sensibilities told him that the freak who stood before him must be some sort of witch, a sorceress, an agent of Satan but he was too frightened to accuse her. He would let the priest do that at some later date, preferably after the Viking threat was passed. For now, it was imperative to allay the greater Viking danger and if that meant an alliance with the hated Saxons, he was prepared to make that sacrifice. Every tribe in Europe feared the Vikings.

Having realised that he had already endangered the Celtic expedition by his impetuous suspicions and unfounded allegations, Udris paused to gather his thoughts. The idea of apologising to Drustina never crossed his mind for the Christian influences amongst the Celts had already burdened the tribe with religious misogyny. His omission however, had not gone unnoticed by Drustina; she simply chose to ignore it. Instead Udris sheathed his sword and this gesture singly served to calm the situation. Swords were returned to scabbards and peace was restored. Drustina then welcomed Udris to the alliance but her words were hollow for she already seen the true nature of her one-time companion in arms. The man was tainted by the new misogyny of the Christian church. However his fleet and small army were a welcome addition to Drustina’s meagre force.

Udris was naturally invited to join the war council and to dine at the high table.

That night as they discussed battle plans and ideas, Drustina was forced to grudgingly concede that even if Udris was a misogynistic bigot, he at least had a decent tactical head on his shoulders. However it irked Drustina that he tended to always address Hengis or Althred and almost ignored her, Drustina! The commander in chief no less! The more Drustina saw of Udris’s attitude to women, the more she had misgivings.

~~oo0oo~~

For a week Drustina’s forces kicked their heels awaiting the return of Carl, Heliox and Symone from their spying trip. Fortunately, with each day, more forces appeared as the word spread throughout Wessex and the Celtic tribes. Each new addition usually arrived with their own ships and this singular fact helped to put Drustina’s mind more at ease, nevertheless she fretted upon Heliox and Symone’s return. To occupy her mind she had her forces practice fighting in harmony whilst assessing each tribe’s preferred weapons and deciding how best to employ them when the time came for the battle. By far the easiest force to co-ordinate was the few cavalry horses and despite their being few in number, Drustina had pinned a lot of hope on the Vikings having even less, if any at all.

Horses were always difficult to transport by ship, especially the open Viking longboats. If the Vikings were to land any useable cavalry force, they would have to carry them in larger, clumsier transports and Drustina secretly hoped that by confronting the Viking fleet at sea, she might find a way to circumvent the long-boat warships and attack their supply train, especially any horse transports.

To this end, she had asked Symone to try and find out how many transports were available to the Vikings.

Eventually one evening, a hubbub down on the stone quay at Cws told Drustina that Carl and the two spies had returned. Drustina met them on the road as they galloped to her headquarters and she pumped them nonstop until they returned to her tent and immediately debriefed. Fortunately, Heliox and Symone had discovered the two main pieces of information. Roughly when the Vikings intended attacking and how many ships the Vikings had at their disposal. Symone had also assessed the types of ships and the news about transports was slightly less than what Drustina had expected. The information helped ease Drustina’s fears. The Viking force was not as large as first thought and they were planning to invade probably within the month of high summer. That meant the Vikings had little time to gather more forces. Drustina now set about honing her own forces to maximum battle-readiness.

Her initial hope was to somehow ambush the Viking supply train but this meant spreading her valuable ‘mermaid’ class of ships very thin as they were forced to scour the whole area between Ynys Whit and The Havre. All her experienced captains were under strict orders to avoid any engagement but each to use their ships’ speed to avoid contact. Their main function was to watch and report as quickly as they could. For her part, Drustina kept the bulk of her Mermaid fleet in two parts, one to north of the Vikings anticipated route and the other further south. She hoped, by dint of superior intelligence, to encircle the Viking rear and harry the supply train as the Vikings approached Ynys Whit or any other part of the Wessex coast. The whole problem however was one of timing. They only had a one or two day window to catch the Viking fleet at sea before it arrived off the Wessex coast and nobody knew where the Vikings intended landing.

To this end, Drustina based the southern jaw of her trap in Charburg under her own command and the northern jaw in the River Arun under Carl’s command. Althred had agreed to command the bulk of the Saxon fleet in and around the Solanta. The main flaw in this tactic was that the Viking fleet might slip through the trap before Drustina and Carl could spring the jaws. The surveillance that Drustina needed to prevent the Vikings slipping out, carried the worst risk of giving their presence away to the Vikings.

Maintaining a watch over the approaches to the Seine would only serve to alert the Vikings that their attack was expected and they, the Vikings, could therefore expect a pretty hot reception when they attacked the Saxon kingdom. The main objective for the Vikings was therefore to succeed in achieving surprise. There was nothing for it but to return a spy to The Havre and learn more of the Viking plans, especially the timing and the anticipated landing area. The more accurate Drustina’s information, the more chance she had of success. She felt that Symone and Helios had done more than enough on the first spying expedition so there was nothing for it but to make the second visit herself.

Drustina’s problems were many-fold and she concluded wearily that she would firstly be better fitted to analyse whatever information came her way. Having gained that information, she would then be best equipped to explore further avenues to exploit her findings. To this end, she found herself being landed ashore north of The Havre one blustery summer’s night as the rain hid their activities.

“I’ll be back here in three days unless I learn something too vital to delay. Have your jolly-boat wait off-shore close to that promontory each night at the middle hour and I will signal with a small light three times repeatedly until you see my signal. Now go; wait offshore and don’t get bloody caught by the damned Vikings, they’ll have ships passing this headland all day and every day between here and wherever there northern base is located. I suspect they are based somewhere near Yorvik but they could well have already invaded further south into Mercia.”

Helios and Hengis frowned disapprovingly as Hengis cursed.

“You should let one of us do this. The risks are too great and you are too damned valuable. If you are lost and Carl learns of this foolishness, he will hang us high for allowing you.”

“I’ve given you my reasons, they are indisputable. See you in three or four days hopefully.”

Hengis and Helios watched with dread as the jolly-boat disappeared into the rain blackened night.

~o000o~

As the boat approached the shore, Drustina advised the boatman.

“Don’t take your boat into the surf, you might lose it. The sea is warm despite the summer rain, I’ll swim from here.”

Drustina had previously secured her sword and daggers to the small log she had brought along for floatation so it only remained for her to strip naked in the darkness. With her clothes fastened higher to a small branch on the log to hopefully keep them dry, she slipped over the side and swam for the shore. The boatman immediately returned to the Angry Mermaid and the ship then returned to sea to wait out of sight over the horizon and invisible to the Viking occupiers of The Havre.

On the beach the surf was not as bad as Drustina had expected and she was pleased with her landing. Her clothes were fairly dry and the night was not cold so she re-dressed and made her way inland before finding an uprooted tree where she took shelter from another rain shower and slept. The sun was well up when she awoke and resumed her journey towards The Havre.

Her disguise was that of beggar-woman, a widow fallen on hard times and wandering lost now that her husband had been killed in one of the Viking invasions. She spoke little Gaulish but her pretence was that of a Celtic girl who’d married a Gaul and had not learned the language before her husband had been killed. To improve her disguise, she rubbed dirt and mud into her clothes and skin to give her the appearance of some lost, wandering, unfortunate widow stained and dirtied by travelling the roads whilst begging.

Her disguise got her into the town by dint of being virtually invisible to other travellers and residents. Once in the city, she simply begged in the square whilst keeping her eyes and ears open. She learned little more that first day except that the Viking King had arrived recently with a troop of cavalry that he intended using for his invasion of Wessex. This was a relatively new Viking strategy and Drustina was forced to determine where the Viking army was training.

The site was not hard to find nor was it difficult to infiltrate. Drustina managed to get some work first by assisting one of the carters delivering hay and oats for the horses, then by simply staying over to muck out the horses and cart the manure away in the evening. This gave her an excellent opportunity to study the Viking horses and what she saw gave her some small confidence and food for thought.

The description ‘horses’ was the first misnomer, they were only one step removed from ponies but a closer inspection by Drustina’s well trained military eye showed them to be tough, hardy animals and well capable of carrying a small to medium sized man. However they would be hard put to move with speed and precision carrying any of the larger, heavier, armoured men in the Viking ranks. What she really needed was to see the Viking cavalry at practice but she only had a couple of days left before making a rendezvous with her ship. The next morning, she prevailed upon the local Gaulish miller to let her deliver an early load of valuable oats to the Viking war camp. Having inveigled him to agree she then made pretence of a mistake by delivering the grain directly to the practice field instead of the stabling area. Her hope being that the guards would assume she was just a stupid woman who had lost her way. Her ruse worked well and she enjoyed a good view of the practice charges as she guided her wagon past the edge of the practice area and approached an important looking officer. In broken Gaulish she intimated the nature of her load and asked where the man wanted the oats. From the back of his large horse, he glared balefully at the stupid woman then growled.

"You stupid Gaul? The horses don’t eat whilst they are training! Take your damned load to the stabling area over there by the trees.”

Drustina lowered her head and mumbled her apologies as she urged her team as directed. Unfortunately, as she raised her arm to crack the whip, her hood slipped down to reveal her pale golden hair. The high ranking officer noticed it because hair that pale was rare amongst Gauls who mostly had reddish or light brown hair. He shouted at the woman.

Wait a moment bitch! Your hair! Uncover all of it.

Drustina cursed silently as she peeled her hood back to reveal the tight plat. The officer urged his horse forward to take a closer look. With her head uncovered Drustina’s beauty was now revealed despite all the dirt she had rubbed into her skin as a disguise. The shabby tattered cloak also failed to hide her comely shape now that the hood was down and the front ties loosened to reveal her faded work-worn gown. Despite her filthy appearance, the fine line of her face and jaw gave her away and the officer could recognise a rare beauty when he found one. He challenged her and Drustina affected a cringing servitude like some petrified peasant woman. She was desperate to remain unrecognised but the officer was no fool.

“Are you a Gaulish bitch?”

“No sir,” Drustina croaked, “I’m a widow.”

“Your accent! Where are you from?”

“I am from Celtic lands, I married a Gaulish trader but he was killed and I am now widowed. I seek work where I can”

“Celtic you say. Your hair is unusual for a Celt, normally they are red or gold, not like yours, almost cream. Are you sure you are not Saxon?”

“Drustina pretended offence and swore in Brithonic.”

“Damn you to hell! I am no Saxon!”

Her use of a Celtic language further intrigued the officer and he ordered her down from her cart as he dismounted. Drustina recognised the lustful expression in the man’s eyes so she knew what was coming next and she debated which way to handle it. It was her male persona that debated the issue.

‘Should she just endure a rape to maintain her disguise or should she fight and kill him.’

The latter solution would serve to complicate things and she might not escape retribution for the man had every appearance of high rank. His horse was not a Viking pony nor was his superb sword a common or garden weapon. His tunic was also of excellent quality. Drustina opted reluctantly for the former solution and hoped her male side would enable her to endure the invasion of her female core. She debated if she should put up a feeble struggle and even hurt him slightly before eventually letting him have his way and use her as a woman. She wondered if her male side could enable her to remain detached enough to endure the trauma. More importantly, she absolutely had to ensure he took her from behind to enter her female part. If he took her from behind, she had a better chance of making sure he didn’t discover her male parts, for if he did discover them, then she would have to kill him.
As she stepped down she carefully slid her belt around so that her dagger was under her breasts then she felt his hand upon her shoulder.

She cried beseechingly for effect.

“No sir, unhand me! I know your intentions; you cannot!”

He laughed coarsely and made to rip her gown open but she stamped on his foot in a pathetic attempt to stop him. He smirked callously as she winced when her bare foot caught his armoured shoe and she cried with genuine pain. Her act was changing to genuine anger and she debated letting him go further. Her fingers strayed towards her dagger but she realised the greater need was the Saxon victory as a precursor to regaining her own lands from the Viking invaders who had destroyed her home and family years ago. She would have to sacrifice her body, her dignity, her self-respect ... her everything. Nevertheless she was going to make him pay in some small part.

“Ow. Damn you; you brute!”

As he grabbed her again she concluded the inevitable was nigh so she twisted in his arms in order to present her rear to his assault however this left her more vulnerable for she would be hard put to deliver a telling stab if things got too dangerous or too violent. In his eagerness to satisfy his burgeoning lust he simply grabbed her around her neck and wrenched her backwards onto his organ as he yanked the hem of her gown up over her head. He started to hurt her severely and Drustina screamed in genuine pain coupled with anger but to his ear it sounded like terror and served only to accelerate his demands. One hand reached around her breasts whilst the other yanked her head back almost breaking her neck until she realised if she resisted further he would quite probably achieve its dislocation. Submitting finally, she cursed loudly as she felt his completed invasion into her most intimate parts. Her stomach churned partly from anger and partly from nausea.

As he started to pound she winced at the brutal pain but managed to keep hold of her sensibilities enough to prevent him reaching around to discover her male parts. She could hardly believe her own reactions when she actually felt relief that he was more interested with fondling her breasts. However even his obscene groping in that area proved grotesque enough to make her nauseas. His groping degenerated into crude squeezing; not hard but enough to be painful and reinforce the sense of total assault. The sense of total negation of her core being caused Drustina to heave as her female side reacted to the abuse. She vomited violently which caused him to roar with contempt as he continued assuaging his brutal lust.

“Puke all you like bitch! You’ll know what a real man feels like when I’m done!”

As her now genuine tears burned hot with anger, she only managed to cope with the insult to her very core by thinking of the sacrifice for the Saxon cause and what she would do to her abuser if she ever caught him on the battle-field.

Eventually as he sated his greed she felt his fluids invading her very core and finally she collapsed sobbing with seeming despair at the insult and injury to her very being. By now he was kneeling doggy fashion and he bayed with contemptuous delight as he withdrew and wiped his organ with her gown.

“Let that be a lesson to you Celtic whore. Don’t tangle with Norsemen! Now get on your bloody wagon and take that food to the horses.”

He stood over her prone form gloating then prodded her with his sword as he repeated his order.

“I won’t tell you again bitch. Get up! Go and feed the horses.”

Stiffly and with the loins burning with agony, she staggered to her feet and cautiously levered her tortured body onto the wagon seat. Softly, she urged her horses forward for she was too sore to endure any violent pounding from the rumbling wagon. As he laughed with contempt she glanced back with a single, enraged reproachful glare.

‘You’ll pay for that you bastard!’ She told herself; ‘or I’ll die making you,’ she finished as she painfully raised her bruised arm and flicked her whip.

Even as Drustina’s team shouldered into their harnesses another officer came up and saluted as he approached the rapist. The new officer’s loud voice was clearly audible to Drustina who had deliberately guided her wagon onto some grass so that the rumble of the wheels on the road wouldn’t drown out his words.

“Your Majesty. The left flank squadron led by Jarl Olafsun is slow to respond to visual signals; they will need extra training or they will be confused and delayed in the charge if your orders are too complex."

Drustina’s ears pricked up with shock as she now realised who the man that had just raped her was. He was none other than Harald cold-blood, the Viking king. Shocked and yet pleased at her discovery, she strained her ears and gently slowed the wagon so that she could still hear the shouted conversation. Harald’s impatience added to his loud voice.

“Well it’s too late to give them extra training now Norveg. We’ll just have to ensure they get time to respond to orders when we charge. Amend the order of battle so that they are ordered forward at least half a minute before the centre and right flanks; and give them a green banner so that I can see how they are responding from my command position to the right of the central squadron. We cannot wait another moon so we must sail in two days time. The next spring tides will be crucial to using the whole of that damned Solanta with water enough for my biggest ships to manoeuvre. Now show that woman waggoner where to send her load of grain before the stupid bitch gets lost again.”

As Norveg trotted over, Drustina hugged herself with vengeful delight. The rape by the Viking king had now proved worth it as far as the forthcoming battle was concerned. Despite the pain in her secret places, she was savouring the information she had just acquired. The brutal humiliation had all been worth it.

She now knew the strength and weaknesses of the Viking cavalry, the time to within a couple of days of the anticipated attack and she now knew the Viking monarch by sight. She knew from other reports that when fighting in battle, the Viking officers dressed little differently from their men and it was difficult to determine who was a valuable prisoner if any captives were taken. However, there rarely where any Viking captives taken in direct battle, because Vikings invariably fought to the death if they knew they were going to lose. At least now Drustina knew her enemy by sight. If they did defeat the Vikings and if they did take any Norsemen alive, Drustina would readily recognise Harald Cold-Blood if he was amongst the survivors.

It remained now to get back to her ship as quickly as possible.

She responded to Norveg’s admonishments with a stupid grin and made a genuine attempt to speed her horses forward. For now time was of the essence. Soon she was amongst the stable hands receiving lewd comments as they unloaded her wagon. With experience born of countless previous attempts, she handled the crude offers with finesse. Soon she was driving her wagon hastily back to town, but not so fast as to attract too much attention. It was essential now that she kept a low profile and returned to the ship.

When she arrived at the mill, she told the miller of her ordeal at the hands of the Viking king but the miller was not very sympathetic. Reluctantly, he acknowledged her plea of sickness and allowed her excuses about being unable to make another delivery. The miller grumbled about ‘bloody women being a liability’ and Drustina slipped away to make her rendezvous with The Angry Mermaid.

It was mid afternoon however so she would not be able to make a rendezvous before the middle hour. With time on her hands, she decided to take a meal at an inn by the north gate that covered the road to Griz Nez.

That night her rendezvous proved quick and successful as Drustina knew it would. The crew of the mermaid were well used to such covert activity and the ship spotted her signal even before the jolly boat had entered the water. Only minutes after the middle hour, Drustina was back on her beloved ship and wearing warm clothes while sharing her discoveries as Hengis made all speed to Ynys Wit.

~~oo000oo~~

Gazette of Characters etc.

Mabina.... Ch 1 The youngest daughter and Twin to
Drustan.... Ch1 Her twin brother.
Grandpa Erin.... Ch1 The twin’s grandfather.
Giana.... Ch1 The twin’s grandmother.
Caderyn.... Ch1 The twin’s father.
Herenoie.... Ch1` The twin’s wise and beautiful mother.
Morgaran.... Ch1 The Twins oldest brother.
Aiofe.... Ch1 The twin’s oldest sister. Famous for her beauty.
Tara.... Ch1 The twin’s second oldest sister. Famous for her grace.
Feidlim.... Ch1 Twins aunt (Caderyns’ beautiful sister.)
Mogantu.... Ch1 Twins uncle (Married to Feidlim.) Chief of the Gangani tribe.
Brun.... Ch1 Twins 2nd cousin and the Acaman clans’ blacksmith.
Feorin.... Ch1 Twins second brother. Also training to be a blacksmith.
Rhun.... Ch 2 Feidlims’ son and Feorins’ favourite 1st Cousin. (Both red-heads.)
Arina.... Ch 4. Child of a Demetae fisherman, (rescued by the three siblings.)
Penderol.... Ch 6 Dumnonii Minor chief.
Udris.... Ch 6. Young Dumnonii warrior. Ch 6
Dryslwyn.... Ch 7 High chief of the whole Celtic nation. Dwells in Brithony. Ch 7
Bronlwyn.... Ch 7 Dryslwyn’s wife (and queen.) Ch 7
Magab.... The moor who taught numbers.
Eric.... Saxon galley slave rescued from Corsair pirates.
Carl.... Another Saxon galley slave rescued by Drustan.
Torvel.... Celtic galley slave rescued from the same captured corsair ship
Arton.... Turdetani Chieftain Holder of Gibral Rock.
Carinia.... Arton’s wife.
Isobel... . Arton’s adopted daughter.
Appotel.... King of the Turdetani Tribe. (Southern Iberia.)
Bramana.... Queen. (Wife of Appotel)
Pilus.... King of the Capetani.
Shaleen.... Pilus’s queen and sister to Bramana.
Pedoro.... Lord Marshal of the Southern border region.
Lady Shulaar.... Lord Pedoro’s wife.
Taan.... The scullery maid.
Isaar.... Pedoro’s oldest son.
Ferdie.... Pedoro’s 2nd son
Sular.... Pedoro’s 3rd son
Gontala.... Pedoro’s youngest son.
Shenoa.... Pedoro’s only daughter.
Portega.... Tyrant King to the west.
Portua.... Portega’s grandson.
Jubail.... Old Fisherman.
Mutas.... Magab’s younger brother and usurper.
Walezia.... King of Malta.
Alviar.... Megalomaniacal bishop of Carthage. (Hates Drustina.)
Ethelia.... Female healer who treats Drustina during her pregnancy.
Seripatese.... Drustina’s faithful horse.
Astos & Amitor.... Minor royalty who govern Alexandria. King and Twin Queen.
Meronee.... Nubian Queen of Nobatia The northern Kingdom of the Nubians.
Horam.... The Egyptian master Boat builder.
Muraa.... King Astos’s male partner.
Tuk.... Makurian general.
Fantu.... Makurian Captain.
Irene.... Emperor Leon’s only child.
Leon.... Byzantine Emperor.
Zano.... Byzantine general who defeats the Bulgars with Drustina’s help.
Urthos.... The Gaul elected captain of the 4th ship. Ex Barbary galley slave.
Horus... . Horam the boat-builder’s son.
Sister Catherine.... Leader of the pirate nuns.
Guthrun.... Jarl of Bornholm.
Etheline.... Guthruns’ wife the countess of Bornholm.
Capenda.... Taras’ mare.
Athun.... Gay king of Dark Age Denmark.
Queen Elthorn.... King Athuns’ Consort.
Iselda... . Athun and Brendigan’s, younger (middle) sister.
Heingist or Hengis..... Drustina’s loyal Danish pilot who becomes her 1st Mate
Brendigan..... Athun’s older sister and consort queen of Svenland.
Bjorn.... . The captain of the Palace Guard. King Athun’s gay partner.
Morgan and Amethyst..... Drustina’s twin children.
Dalcimon..... Queen of West Friesia.
Andrar..... Prince of West Friesia (Dalcimon’s son.)
Jupus..... Carl’s stallion.
Heliox..... Drustina’s second mate and deputy navigator (Ex Belgiie fisherman)
Gisela..... Viking princess captured after the Battle of Godwin Sands.
“Althred..... Young Saxon Naval commander who allies his fleet with Drustina
Symone.... Young teenaged rape victim who join’s Drustina’s band.
Edburg.... The Angry mermaid’s cook.
Harald Cold Blood.... The Viking King, father of Gisela (Ch 69)