Drustina finally makes her farewells to Connacht and resumes her circumnavigation of Hibernia. On the passage north she finds more bloody evidence of Norse duplicity.

The Mullet Peninsular where Drustina sheltered from the North-westerly storm.

The Angry Mermaid 111
Or
Y Morforwyn Dicllon 111

By the time the duelling pair had crossed the butts and presented themselves at King Dal’s pavilion the field was a mass of cheering women all wanting to congratulate Una’s champion. They still counted Drustina as a member of the sisterhood. Fortunately as soon as the conquest was completed, King Dal had foreseen the potential for tumult and he had posted guards to keep a pathway clear to his platform. As the pair approached he called for calm and eventually got it. Once the noise subsided he spoke.

“You gave your opponent quarter Lioness; we were expecting blood.”

“I’m not in the business of butchery your majesty. My objectives have been realised so why waste a man’s life?”

“Your objectives Lioness; pray enlighten me.”

“The earl renounces his betrothal to the lady Dalgeish. He forgoes his claim to compensation after choosing trial by combat. However, despite his defeat, I believe that the word reconciliation should mean something. The sale of Una Dalgliesh as a bride was a crime committed as much by her father Sean Dalgliesh as it was committed by the Earl of Gorvan. I would therefore request that Your Majesty shows some degree of plurality here and sends a message that women are not for sale either as brides or servants.”

“What about dowries?” Dal asked.

“That should be something agreed by the bride and its value should remain the property of the bride even after being wed. I believe her father must learn his lesson as the earl has learned his.”

“Which is?”

“Earl Govan’s lesson was to learn to look before you leap your majesty.”

Dal chuckled softly for the Earl had certainly been presumptuous in assuming he could easily defeat a mere woman. He then asked about Una’s father.

“And Sean Dalgliesh’s lesson?

“The lesson is this. There is no price higher than a woman’s rights! Or a man’s for that matter. He should pay back the monies that the earl paid him.”

Dal nodded and smiled as he thought privately, ‘This woman is a true winner of men’s hearts!’ So he agreed the lioness’s terms.

“Very well Lioness, Sean Dalgliesh must return the monies to the Earl. Now to more pleasant proceedings; the marriage of my son Dorvan to the maid Una.”

He turned to his queen and she nodded with satisfaction for the Maid Una was certainly pleasing to the eye and she would bring fresh strong blood into their family. She smiled as she whispered to her husband.

“They are truly in love with each other and the maid brings mongrel vigour to our family stock. She will make a fine queen when their time comes. Yes Dal, I am more than happy for our son to marry her.”

Dal stifled a belly laugh as he whispered back.

“My God my lady, you speak like a bloody horse breeder but I take your point.”

He turned and smiled towards the young couple with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you both prepared to be wedded?”

“What! Now?!” Prince Dorvan gasped.

“It’s as good a time as any; the Lioness no less, can bear witness and time is of the essence for she is keen to be gone. The Bishop is on hand to perform it and her father is here to give her hand. Do you see any obstructions? Lady Una, are you happy to be wedded this very day?”

Una’s eyes widened with delight and Dorvan’s smile nearly split his face as Una flung herself into his arms. Drustina smiled for their feeling towards each other were obvious. The king stood up and glanced towards the Earl of Gorvan.

“Is there anybody here with reason to protest this marriage?”

There was not a single whisper from the earl or any of the assembled crowd so the king ushered the bishop forward. The holy man was a little flustered and he spoke firmly.

“Not here your majesty, not on a field where duels are fought and sometimes blood spilled. That is not the setting for a marriage for it creates a bad precedence. Let us go to the cathedral and do it properly before God in a place of peace and tranquillity.”
Drustina grinned; the man had a point, at least by the mores of his faith. King Dal grinned and announced to his bishop.

“Lead on your grace. Let’s get these lovers wed.”

And so they were.

Two days later, after a feast that doubled as Dorvan and Una’s wedding breakfast plus The Lioness’s farewell supper, the fleet of four Mermaid ships set forth to round the northern tip of Hibernia.

~o00o~

The navigators faced a stiff South-westerly breeze as they beat their way westwards down the Shannon estuary. Drustina studied the sky thoughtfully then pulled close alongside Carl and shouted.

“I don’t like the look of that sky.”

“D’you want to call it off and wait a few days?”

“If we keep doing that, we’ll probably end up over-wintering somewhere in Hibernia. Besides, once we’ve rounded the Loop head we’ll be going north and this South Westerly wind will speed our voyage. Let’s push on.”

Carl shrugged and pressed on as the Loop head loomed out of a rain squall that passed over the four ships and raced on eastwards up the Shannon. Even before they rounded the Loop, the four commanders could see the mountainous swells rolling down from the northwest. Each knew if a north-westerly gale got behind them it could set the seas into towering peaks. Without being ordered from Drustina, each commander started preparing their ships for the inevitable beating. Pr-prepared cattle-skins were stretched over the hooped supports to prevent heavier seas and excessive spray breaking over the freeboards. When they rounded the Loop they soon found their expectations being fulfilled. Their ships started rising and falling several meters as the swells rolled past and under them. Drustina calculated that they had perhaps a day before the threatening skies spewed forth the anticipated gale. At one stage, as Heliox tacked close under her stern, he called out.

“I would not like to be out in the storm that spawned these seas!”

“Neither would I,” Drustina agreed, “and it’s definitely coming soon. Hopefully we can get behind Ynys Arran before it strikes.”

“Well Brendan’s charts show plenty of islands to duck behind and plenty of deep inlets as well. We can take shelter at any number of places.” Heliox replied to add reassurance to his own and Drustina’s concerns.

“Yes, we’ll push on but keep a safe distance from the coast. Those rocks and cliffs would be lethal if we got horned in a bay. Look at those breakers on the north side of the Loop head. That spray must be splashing up some hundreds of feet high to reach over the tops of the cliffs.”

The sight cast a sobering thought in everyone’s mind and each commander was secretly grateful that the south-westerly wind put each Mermaid ship on a broad reach enabling them to make good and safe progress over the swells.

During the night, the anticipated gale held off and the four ships found they had made excellent if bumpy progress. As Dawn broke the four commanders concurred that the gale was imminent and likely to develop into a full-blooded storm. They decided it was imperative to seek shelter. In this they had much to thank for Brendan’s detailed charts. On the Angry Mermaid Drustina chuckled with her crew as they consulted the charts and tried to ignore the illustrations. Gisela stared at the strange creature tucked away in the top left hand corner.

“What’s that, it looks like some sort of seal with dragon’s wings?”

“Who knows,” Drustina shrugged. “There’s no knowing what lies out in the great sea. Don’t worry too much about creatures. Believe me when I tell you that out there on the waves, your biggest dangers are storms, thirst and hunger if you intend to cross the great ocean.”

“What about whales? Brendan said they were attacked by an angry whale.”

“The only whales I worry about are the big black and white ones. The bulls have a huge fin as high as a man and they are very dangerous if you upset them. It was probably one of those that took umbrage at St Brendan trespassing on his patch of sea.”

“He should have carried some whaling lances like the Stony Islanders do.” Gisela added. “They actually hunt whales.”

“Well, I’m not in the business of chasing whales or hunting them or eating them. I was once saved by some small whales during the battle with the Corsairs near Gibral. I count whales as my friends.”

Gisela gaped disbelievingly but did not dispute the Lioness. So far all of what the Lioness had told her had been shown to be true except when she openly admitted that she didn’t know or wasn’t sure. She fell silent as Heliox came close again to shout across the wave. Drustina was studying the high cliffs then shouted across to Heliox.

“I think that headland must be Achill and that northern one looks like the headland off the Mullet peninsular. There should be a deep sheltered bay between them and we’ll weather out this gale in its shelter. The approach looks wide and clear.”

Heliox studied his copied chart and frowned before bellowing back.

“Does this bay have a name? Only the entrance is marked clearly. There is no knowing what we will find inside the headland.”

“It matters not,” Drustina replied, “I’m more concerned about those clouds and this increasing storm. Nodens knows when it will abate and those cliffs wouldn’t offer any mercy to a stranded ship. Judging by the profile presented by that passage there’s got to be some sort of shelter behind that headland. Fire off a signal arrow.”

Heliox studied the gap between the headland of Aghill and the Mullet and agreed that the Lioness was making a justifiable move. The arrow was fired and the four ships hauled around to steer strait for the middle of the gap. The westerly wind took them quickly forward and they were pleased to see a large sheltered bay opening up to the north behind the Mullet Headland that was the southern tip of the Mullet peninsular.

“Fortune smiles on us,” Heliox remarked.

Drustina was about to riposte with some remark about experience and common sense but kept silent. She had had every expectation of finding some sort of shelter but was doubly pleased to find such a pleasing and sheltered prospect. In that much she was forced to agree with Heliox. The wide bay provided excellent shelter; it simply remained to find a satisfactory anchorage with good holding ground. She smiled as she looked across towards Carl’s ship to see his leadsman already arming his lead.

‘Probably sand around here She thought, ‘better prospects further up the bay where wave actions didn’t disturb the bottom so much.’ She called across to her beloved Carl.

“Bit ambitious aren’t you Saxon?”

“Just curious Dru. The coarseness of the sand might give us an idea of the intensity of wave action hereabouts.”

“I’m going right up as far as it’s safe to do so. If there are any settlements, they’ll be in one of the secondary bays deeper inland.”

Carl waved as the leadsman recovered his first cast and showed the bottom sample to his captain. It also indicated a reassuring depth. He shouted across...

“Coarse sand; as I expected!”

Drustina waved acknowledgement and each ship tightened sail to beat further up the bay. In the bow of each ship the leadsman was constantly sounding until Drustina saw a likely looking inlet that promised shelter from even the worst imaginable storm. She signalled to her commanders and prepared to anchor. This time each commander ‘chain stoned’ several substantial stone discs that is stone discs secured at intervals along the anchor rope to secure a strong hold on the sea-bed. Even as the stones splashed overboard, Drustina felt the first cold drops of rain and reached under the leather canopy to don an extra coat. Gisela grinned as she emerged from under the canopy with some hot soup and proffered it to her heroine.

“I wasn’t going to distract you while you were manoeuvring.”

Drustina smiled 'thank-you' and took the hot, welcome broth while The Angry Mermaid slewed around and brought up head to wind as the anchor cable (Rope to land-lubbers) took hold.

“D’you see any life ashore?” Gisela asked.

“Drustina peered towards the small inlet and shook her head.

“No. It doesn’t look very inviting; there’re no trees and it's pretty bleak. I suppose we’d better lower that new jolly boat King Dal gifted to us. It’s nice and light and it’ll be easy to lift over that cobbled shore. There seems to be turf above the splash line.”

The light leather boat was easily launched into the water and Drustina invited Carl and Udris to join her ashore. After a short row, the commanders stepped ashore and the boat returned to pick up others. Eventually about a score of them had landed and they started to spread out in search of a suitable camp site. It wasn’t long before a shout from Udris’s group alerted the others and they ran to join him. The site that they met with sickened them.

Where there had once been a tiny village was now only a cluster of burned hovels that lay amidst the scattered bodies of the villagers. Mostly men but a few women and no children.

Drustina stood staring mutely at the carnage and despite her many years of combat the sight still sickened her. The smell of burned flesh sent a retch of nausea through her belly. She did not vomit but came as near to as made little difference. Her men likewise stood sickened and silent for several minutes before their leader recovered her composure and gave more orders.

“Four stay here to gather the bodies while the rest fan out and search for survivors.”

After scouring the area for the rest of the day they concluded that if there were any survivors they must have abandoned the site and travelled further inland to seek shelter in another village. As dusk fell they lit a fire and set up camp. At dawn the following morning there was an alarm for the lookout shouted that he had spotted movement to the north. The whole camp roused about to face the unknown. Drustina set a patrol of six men to scout north which was the only direction likely to produce an attack. Her men had thoroughly scoured the whole of the peninsular to the south.

Eventually Carl returned with three terrified women who only relaxed when they saw Drustina and Gisela. It did not take long to confirm that Vikings had raided the settlement and forced the women to flee whilst the vastly outnumbered dozen or so village men had tried to stand and fight. The Vikings had raided only two days earlier and the confirmed number of ships identified the Vikings as probably the survivors from the failed attack on Limerick. The women’s story tallied with the evidence that Drustina’s men had found and arrangements were made to bring the escaped women survivors back to the camp.

Despite it having been the scene of carnage and the murder of their menfolk, the women recognised that Drustina’s camp was still the safest place. Some four score of armed warriors would easily protect them from the thirty or so Viking raiders who had attacked without warning. Once the women were calmed and made to feel safe they talked at length to the Lioness. They spoke of things that were wearisome familiarity to the Lioness, murder, rape, torture, kidnap and all the other usual crimes like theft, enslavement and many others. The lioness listened sympathetically for she fully understood what anguish it brought to the women.

Finally after they had exhausted their litanies of despair and the tears were slowly drying up, Drustina gently started to ask questions that were important to her like numbers and any snippets of conversations that might give pointers to where the raiders were bound. The Lioness needed to know if the raiders were returning around Scotia to Norvegia or if they were returning to Baile ar a Claith.

Through the evening the women spoke at length of all that they could remember until exhaustion overtook them. Drustina’s men were also tired for the stormy passage had taken its toll on sleep. Excuses were made as the survivors took advantage of the fire and shelter that Drustina’s men had fashioned. Drustina’s men slept as ever in their greased leather bags that were weatherproof enough for all but the most intensive deluges. The shelter also served to keep off the wind and cold for by now the storm was raging in its teeth.

Dawn brought the worst of the wind and rain with occasional flurries of sleet that caused much discomfort when men emerged from the warmth of their sleeping bags.

“Blasted weather!” Carl cursed as the inevitable call of nature forced him out of the bag he shared with Drustina.

She grinned and curled up cosily.

“You shouldn’t have drunk so much last night!”

Carl looked back and grinned.

“You’ll have to get out of there eventually, you can’t hold it forever!”

She grimaced and curled up only to feel another bag snuggle up to her bag as Gisela wriggled ‘grub-like’ to cwtch up. The girl grumbled light-heartedly.

“This is worse than Norwegian snow; it’s just so damp it cuts right through you.”

“Been out have you girl?” Drustina asked.

“Yeah I had to; I shouldn’t have drunk so much either.”

“You’ll learn,” the Lioness grinned.

“What time will breakfast be?” Gisela wondered.

“When you get out and attend to the fire you lazy bugger!” Drustina chuckled.

“Uugh, I was hoping the village women would do that.”

“They’ve got enough to worry about; the last thing they want is the added burden of four score of lazy warriors to cook for. We’ll fend for ourselves as we’ve always done on campaign.”

Eventually, Drustina was forced to vacate her warm bag and was secretly grateful that she could piss like a man if she wanted. She clenched the relevant muscles and stoppered the female plumbing whilst relieving herself before braving the icy stream to wash. She mused that the stream that was the reason d’áªtre for the settlement having been located there. It was purely a token wash to refresh her face and hands. Then she joined her companions to collect more driftwood and cook some food to stave off the cutting cold of the storm. Once the fire was blazing again and the shelters added to, the men gathered gratefully towards the warmth. They were contentedly eating their food when the village women approached them. They looked starved and bedraggled.

“Have you food enough for us?” Their spokeswoman asked. “The Norsemen stole all our stocks.

Drustina cursed but she could not see them starve. Feeding the women would leave them short and they would have to find more food later on at another settlement. The food issue was further compounded when the midday sun rose to its highest. More children and younger women arrived from various outlying hiding places. Carl turned to the Lioness.

“We can’t feed them all.”

Drustina nodded, Carl was right.

“Ask the women what food sources they usually exploit; I’m thinking of wild meat mainly; deer or boar.”

The women confirmed that the main sources of wild meat were fish and seals. The land was devoid of trees and therefore devoid of forest creatures. Drustina sighed as she set some men to fishing from the rocks and anchored ships. The wind was too strong to consider weighing anchor to go fishing. Others were sent with bows, arrows and spears to hopefully shoot a couple of seals. In this the storm benefited the hunters for the seals had sought shelter from the stormy surf and they lay unsuspecting on the rocks while the onshore gale took the scent and sound of the hunters away from the beasts. By evening they had enough meat to feed the survivors from the village for several days. Drustina was glad to have at least helped the women and she savoured the gratitude in their eyes, especially the eyes of the younger women who would have been easy targets for the Norsemen’s rapacity and greed.

The following morning the storm abated enough for the companions to set out past the Mullet headland and into the ocean proper as they resumed their circumnavigation of Hibernia. Two days later they entered the large settlement on the Oak grove inlet (Derry) and reported the news of the Norsemen’s raid.

This news caused consternation in Derry for it was generally presumed that the Local King O Neil had a treaty with the Norsemen. Drustina was more interested in buying food and ensuring that the local chief attended to the needs of the widowed villagers on the Mullet Peninsular. This done she wanted to take advantage of the westerly breeze that would speed them around the northern tip of Hibernia and into the Celtic Sea. Noon the next day found her fleet speeding eastwards then south to make excellent time towards the Lough of Belfast.

When they arrived the following day, they were not surprised to be met by an ambassador from the King O’Neill of Ulster. King Dal had obviously sent messages to the O’Niells for they were the most Powerful Celtic monarchy in Hibernia at the time. Drustina related all that she had encountered especially the Viking raid on the Mullet peninsular for this land was definitely part of the O’Niell kingdom.

As they parleyed in the great hall of the local chief, Drustina explained her fears to King O’Neill’s ambassador who was in fact the king’s younger brother.

“I suspect the Norsemen are planning to somehow surround your kingdom. The attack on Limerick and King Dal of Connacht was obviously a supposed to be a major step towards that ambition. They would then cut Hibernia in half and prevent your king from allying himself with Connacht or Lienster.”

Now that this was explained to the ambassador he nodded thoughtfully.

“We had a treaty with these people. How could they butcher a whole village?”

Drustina rankled slightly as she clarified his words.

“They didn’t butcher the whole village ambassador. They fought with the men and killed them in combat. The women and children had time to escape but they are in desperate straits now. They are short of food and men to hunt for meat. What’s worse is that the raiders stole all the villagers’ winter larder. If they are not to starve, you will have to despatch help soon. The citizens of Derry are helping even now but their resources are limited.”

“Damn those treacherous bastards! We had a treaty.”

Drustina shrugged and chewed thoughtfully on her bread.

“You don’t have to tell me about Norse treachery, but I want your promise you’ll sort out the problem on the Mullet Peninsular.”

“What drives them to such barbarity and greed?” The Ambassador wondered aloud.

Gisela stirred uncomfortably and Drustina sensed the girl was disturbed by something. She gently rested her sword-calloused hand on the young princesses’ shoulder.

“Come on girl, out with it.”

Gisela looked up and glared angrily.

“You don’t know anything about Norvegia it is much further north. You know nothing of the hardship and hunger, the wind and the cold, the snow and the rock!”

Drustina cursed.

“I know well enough of the damned cold though that was in Pola and Dane mark; as to bloody rock and barren land I’ve seen plenty of that as well! And we’ve all endured those cursed winds and snow.”

Gisela wagged her head angrily.

“Yes, all of these, but never all the time and all at once, year in and year out. Our people yearn for rich, valuable,fertile land.”

The lioness snorted derisively.

“Land! Land! Don’t talk to me of the value of land, I have lived with one ambition to recover my own family’s land but I’ve never stolen gold or silver, I’ve never killed for gold. Your people are greedy and murderous!”

It was Gisela’s turn to curse.

“I no longer count them as my damned people.”

“You may not count yourself as a Viking girl but they do ... and they are slow to forget.”

The ambassador’s jaw dropped as he turned to Drustina to confirm.

“Are you saying the bitch is a Viking?”

“She’s not a bitch, she’s a girl, and I’ll remind you she’s under my protection! You don’t know her story; I do.”

“Is she your prisoner?”

“Yes and no!”

“I don’t understand you!” The ambassador snapped.

“It’s simple. As far as you are concerned, Gisela is my prisoner.

“As far as Gisela is concerned, she is not my prisoner.”

“I still don’t understand.”

Drustina let out a long impatient sigh.

“I’ll put it simply. She enjoys my protection and she enjoys my pratique. Now there’s an end to it.”

~~oo000oo~~