The Angry Mermaid 107 or Y Morforwyn Dicllon 107

Printer-friendly version

Author: 

Audience Rating: 

Publication: 

Genre: 

Permission: 

After sorting out how and why the giant Viking jarl escaped, Drustina enjoys a relaxing bath with the rest of the ladies but not without first having to explain her duality.

The reputed Voyage of St Brendan..gif

These are reputedly landmarks seen by St Brendan. Some of the images certainly bear plausible resemblances to modern locations like the Faeroe Islands,(Sheep) Iceland, (Lots of volcanoes and geysers), The Crystal Column, (Obviously an Ice-berg)Greenland and some of the central Atlantic islands.

I leave the reader to draw their own conclusions. One my conclusions is that St Brendan didn't leave his route marked out nor did he leave any 'Sailing directions'. (Possibly for Religious reasons.) The features however, might indicate he travelled both in high latitudes and middle latitudes, that is between sixty degrees and thirty degrees north. I wonder if the 'Flat Island' might have been 'Sable Island' or the 'Island of Foul Water' might have been Bermuda. There can be no knowing.

If he did make the crossing I think he possibly crossed to Newfoundland (The Fog on the Grand Banks)after passing south of greenland in the high latitudes (The Arctic Hell)and possibly returned along a Magnetic Rhumb Line starting somewhere about the latitude of Bermuda, whence to the Azores. All the features described and images have plausible realities in the Atlantic especially when one remembers that St Brendan would have had absolutely no idea of his longitude at any juncture of his voyage.

The Angry Mermaid 107
Or
Y Morforwyn Dicllon 107.

Drustina waited silently as Dorvan wagged his head in puzzlement while his father fumed.

“I have no idea how he broke free father! One minute I was stood with my back to him whilst I was discussing something with a scribe then the next moment I felt this arm like a tree trunk wrapped around me. He almost crushed the life out of me and I did not have my sword. Though not much good it would have done me. That brute had the strength of three men.”

“I’ll vouch for that!” Carl added as he finished wiping Guthrun’s blood from his own substantial blade.

King Dal was still not convinced.

“So how did he break free of the manacles?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t see it.” Dorvan replied angrily. “How can you blame me, I wasn’t involved with his transfer, I was discussing the loss of the Great book of Brendan with the scribe in the antechamber next door to the dungeon keep and the next thing I was pinned around the neck. The man is huge, he had a sword and I was unarmed. I don’t walk around the castle with my sword girded on all day and every day! I was only wearing my cuirass because I had been to the smithy to get a dent removed and it’s easier to wear it than carry it.”

Drustina could see that the king’s inquiry was going nowhere so she intervened tactfully.

“Perhaps if we were to have a look at the manacles that might shed some light. He might have sprung the lock or something.”

King Dal harrumphed irritably but felt forced to check on the Lioness’s suggestion. He led the party back to the castle and quickly recovered the manacles. His expression changed to one of incredulity when he was handed the manacles by a very apologetic captain of the dungeon guard. The king flipped the hinge and cursed.

“The bloody clasp is broken. How did this happen?”

Carl stepped forward and studied the heavy clasp and sheared pin. He took out his dagger and fidgeted briefly with the pin until it came free from the hinge. Where the pin had lain inside the hinge of the central locking swivel there was clear evidence of severe corrosion and by relocating the remaining length of pin back into the closing clasp he was able to apply enough pressure to bend the pin slightly. He held up the deformed pin and shrugged.

“My guess is he managed to somehow twist the centre manacle hinge and break the pin. It’s obviously been sheared and he was a bloody strong giant.”

King Dal inspected the bent pin and cursed.

“But how in hell would he have twisted his arms around, he must have had access to some sort of bar to make a lever and fulcrum.
How?!”

Drustina was already stepping towards the heavy oak door to the Dungeon keep for she had seen a glint of freshly scored metal on the lock bar bracket that was embedded into the stonework. After studying it she drew Dal’s attention to it.

“He might have snagged the chain-ring bolt onto this and then simply rotated his wrists inside the manacle ring. Judging by the corroded state of that pin it wouldn’t take much force.”

She took the manacles and demonstrated how the ring bolt could easily be looped onto the locking bracket then she tried twisting it. The pin bent very slightly but refused to give and she muttered a soft curse. Carl grinned and gently removed her slender hand from the wrist rings. Then he got a firm grip and wrenched his massive hand around just as the giant Viking would have done so. The pin snapped for a second time with embarrassing ease and the manacle rings parted silently except from the soft tinkle of the sheared pin dropping to the floor. Carl smiled as he explained further.

“And until I winkled the broken pin out of both ends of the hinge, nothing would have dropped when he did it. The pin only fell out this time because I had freed it and scratched off some of the rust. Those manacles must be as old as the hills.”

Dal cursed for he still felt cheated of the ransom he might have been able to garner even if the lion’s share would have gone to Carl. Drustina grinned sympathetically as she observed.

“Well, it proves the monks haven’t imprisoned and manacled anybody for many a year and that’s not a bad thing. Come on Dal, let’s eat.”

King Dal grinned ruefully but persisted with his discontented gripe.

“All the bloody guards should have been watching him properly; especially as they were obviously handing him over.”

“Well it’s too late now. Let’s be thankful nobody was seriously hurt.” Drustina concluded.

Her words prompted a soft voiced protest from the ranks.

“My wrist hurts, he may have broken it.” Una whimpered.

Drustina turned and stepped forward to check Una’s wrist. The flesh showed angry bruising and when Drustina gently palpated it, the young girl cried.”

“Ow! Damn it, go easy!”

“I think it is actually broken my girl, fortunately not seriously. Can you move your fingers and thumb?”

Una winced but succeeded and Drustina smiled.

“We’ll have the bone setter splint your wrist girl and you’ll be okay in a couple of weeks. It doesn’t look as though there’s any serious deformity so it should mend straight.”

“It hurts!”

Of course it hurts girl! It’s broken! That’s what happens in battles. Be grateful it was nothing worse. He could have broken you in two had he got you in his grip. Ask Dorvan what it felt like.”

“He was bloody strong Lioness!” Dorvan replied somewhat ruefully. “Had I not been wearing my cuirass, he’d have broken my ribs.”

“Indeed he was;” Drustina added, “strong enough to break a girl’s wrist just by crushing it with his fingers.”

Carl nodded and grinned.

“These rusty old manacles didn’t stand a chance.”

Dorvan stepped towards Una and studied her deepening bruise.

“We’d better get you to the bone setter and thanks for making that brute let go of me.”

Despite the pain in her wrist, Una smiled coquettishly and Drustina grinned knowingly towards Carl as the pair made their way to the bone-setter’s infirmary. King Dal caught their shared smiles and turned to Drustina.

“Who is that girl?”

Drustina lied as she spotted an opportunity.

“I can’t say as I properly know your majesty, I’ve only known her for two days. We call her Una, all I know is that she did me stalwart service when we hauled that bloody trebuchet from Foynes. Then she stuck with us right through the battle when we were firing the contraption at the Viking ships at the Cock Rock. She put me right on a few wrinkles like finding suitable stone deposits. She’s a tough, brave and clever girl.”

Carl sensed what Drustina was about so he added his few pence.

“And she’s a pretty kid. Underneath all that grime and mud from the battle I noticed she’s got lovely yellow hair, just like ours and Gisela’s. I noticed when she helped us dive for the abbey treasures.”

“Where did she come from?” Dal asked the Lioness.

Drustina didn’t quiet tell a total lie. The truth was she still did not know exactly where Una’s father’s house was.

“I don’t exactly know. She just appeared at my side in Foynes and explained that she knew all the country from Foynes to Limerick. Apart from that I can tell you little else.”

King Dal didn’t think to ask the Lioness if she knew Una’s full name and Drustina sighed with relief. She hadn’t told any complete lies but once again, she had steered perilously close to the wind whilst being somewhat parsimonious with the truth.

Whilst King Dal stayed back to give both captains of the city guard and the dungeon guard a tongue lashing, Drustina and Carl strolled away towards the castle great hall. Carl chuckled as he teased Drustina.

“You’ll be too clever one day when you only tell those half truths!”

Drustina smiled enigmatically.

“The secret is always to pretend you aren’t certain or can’t rightly remember everything. Uncertainty is your best friend in politics and your worst enemy in war.”

They both turned as a giggle followed by a snort revealed they had a forgotten listener.

“I’ll remember that Lioness!” Gisela grinned.

Drustina turned in annoyance.

“Remember you do big-ears. Now go and see how Una is doing with that wrist.”

Drustina watched her walk away and found herself appreciating the provocative sway of Gisela’s hips. Fortunately, as a woman, Drustina was well adapted to hiding her feelings and she turned to Carl thoughtfully.

“What are we to do with the girl Carl? She’ll never take a husband.”

“I dunno’” Carl confessed as his gaze lingered on the same provocative hips and arse. “She’d make any man a fine wife if it wasn’t for her disposition.”

Drustina had immediately recognised her companion’s preoccupation and she pinched his arse.

“Oy! Eyes off you randy Saxon. This isn’t a rape and pillage raid!”

Carl sighed and turned to walk beside his wife as he remarked.

“Ayee. I suppose she’ll find a partner to suit one of these days.”

“She will,” Drustina replied, “let’s just make sure it’s safe for her when she does.”

“Since when did she become our responsibility?”

“Since I offered her my protection as my prisoner and later demonstrated that protection. She now has a legitimate expectation and it would be a betrayal if I now rejected her. Despite having been involved in battles and Nodens knows what else, she’s still just a kid Carl.”

They strolled across the castle courtyard and took their ease in the great hall until King Dal rejoined them and they sat to eat. Soon the hall filled up and Drustina was quietly pleased to see Dorvan arrive while chatting eagerly with Una. She gently nudged King Dal who was chatting to Carl and had not yet noticed.

“I think your son might have found himself a wife your majesty.”

Dal turned, saw the couple laughing and holding hands and frowned thoughtfully.

“Look at her hair, it’s covered in mud. She needs a clean and a wash lioness.

“Hah! Don’t we all?” Drustina replied. “I’ve got the stink of battle all over me and so has she. We all sweated and struggled to drag that trebuchet to the Cock Rock. Then we went grubbing through the mud and soil to find stones. Finally we were literally crawling and groping in the mud of the Maigue searching for the Abbot's precious trinkets. I can assure you, the stinking muddy waters of the Maigue don’t make for good washing.”

Drustina pointedly sniffed down her cleavage under her dirty battle jerkin and wrinkled her nose.

“I hope your castle runs to some sort of bath and wash facilities. We girls have additional needs when it comes to keeping clean.”

Dal avoided any unnecessary vulgarity and simply replied.

“You’ll have to speak to my good lady wife about washing. I don’t usually frequent the women’s general quarters except to share my lady’s chamber.”

Drustina sniffed appreciatively.

“Good. Methinks that kid will scrub up well. We each need a wash.”

“Be my guest. Now what of these damned books? The Bishop is pestering me to find them.”

Drustina shrugged somewhat despondently.

“I don’t hold out much hope unless the raiders simply threw them away after ripping the jewels off the covers. The real problem isn’t the jewels, it’s the hinges and clasps. The damned holy men used gold and silver ones on the Great Book of Brendan. I can’t think
of a better incentive to get your priceless documents destroyed than to bind them and fasten them with gold.”

Dal pulled a wry smile.

“Right, you’ve given me the bad news. Have you any good news.”

Drustina nodded upwards to symbolise the sky as she answered.

“Well it hasn’t rained since the raid and it doesn’t look like rain tomorrow. If the pages were thrown away they might still be okay.”

“How can you say it won’t rain?” Dal scoffed.

Drustina gave him a withering look.

“Above all else I’m a navigator and a seafarer. What’s the one thing I study constantly?!”

Dal halted himself with embarrassment.

“Oh, yes; of course, sorry!”

Drustina then qualified her observation.

“I didn’t say it won’t rain, I said it doesn’t look like rain. Hopefully if the pages are out there we’ve still got a chance of finding them undamaged if they are still dry. The other good news is that we’ve got lots of searchers. All my companions have travelled many miles on the sea. Most of them would be really keen to see what this monk wrote. How many charts did he make?”
Dal hesitated.

“Not many I’m told. It is said that when he returned he had found a paradise island that was green and fertile. It seems he was loath to let others discover the route. He only made a chart of the islands and things he saw, not the route he travelled.”

Drustina shrugged. The book was already hundreds of years old for Brendan had been around in the fifth or sixth centuries.

After the meal, they talked at length with the abbot and the bishop about the monk’s voyages until Drustina decided to go to bed. She felt filthy and was looking forward to a good bath. When she stood, Gisela and Una followed her actions like a pair of shadows. Dal’s wife caught Drustina’s eye and nodded slightly towards the door that led to the women’s quarters. She briefly chatted about her concerns because her husband had explained about the Lioness’s dualities. Drustina agreed to go modestly unless the other ladies including the queen’s daughters were agreeable. Drustina grinned and explained to the queen that it was a racing certainty that the younger ladies would want to see the freakish arrangements. They always did.

“I’m afraid it’s inevitable your majesty,” Drustina shrugged resignedly. “People are always curious. I will bathe alone if you wish.”

“No. There is not enough hot water for that. We’ll just have to go slowly Lioness. I do not want to frighten my daughters.”

Drustina smiled inwardly, she knew full well that the queen probably was secretly curious and it was a certainty the younger women would also want to look. Because she did not feel in the least bit threatened by the women’s curiosity, Drustina agreed to the queen’s arrangements.

The queen and Drustina decided a strategy whereby she led the Lioness and her two acolytes towards the ladies bath quarter. In a small antechamber were there was cold water, Drustina and Una relished the removal of the filth of the last few days. They were so covered in mud that the queen had suggested that they prewash the mud and dirt before joining her and Gisela in the communal hot tub.

During the prewash Drustina got her first proper look at Una’s long golden hair. As Carl had said, the girl was stunningly attractive and Drustina had to fidget with her breech cloth to hide her male response.

Una was unaware of Drustina’s duality and she had stripped naked unconcernedly. Once she had rinsed the muddy camouflage from her hair she innocently asked Drustina.

“Why don’t you go bare? We are all girls here. Are you ashamed of your scars and disfigurements? You have no need to be.”

Drustina wagged her head and grinned to herself before replying.

“You have not heard the stories about me have you?”

Una’s forehead wrinkled uncertainly.

“What stories?”

“It might be unseemly for me to go completely naked. I am not entirely as other women.”

“What d’you mean?”

“Ask Gisela when we join her and the queen in the hot bath. I will still wear this breech for modesty. Then, if the queen is agreeable, I will let you learn about my body.”

Naturally Una became overwhelmed with curiosity and quickly rinsed her hair of the remaining mud before accompanying Drustina to the communal tub. While Una had rinsed her hair, Drustina had changed her battle stained breech cloth for a clean one. They appeared in the main bathroom and joined Gisela and the queen with several attendants. Drustina was prepared for the inevitable questions. Firstly of course their eyes fell upon the numerous scars and several of the ladies shuddered as they tried to imagine what awful trials and tribulations must have caused them. There was a clamour of questions before the queen brought order. She explained.

“Now ladies, my husband has told me about the Lioness of Carthage so if we are patient, I am sure Drustina will spend a little time explaining how she got the worst of her disfigurements. Then, if the Lioness is agreeable, my daughters will join us.”

Drustina nodded unconcernedly and the three daughters joined the ladies in the large tub. Inevitably the first questions were about Drustina’s wounds and the youngest daughter shrank away at first from the gruesome burn on Drustina’s shoulder and back. Eventually she was allowed to finger the puckered skin until she became comfortable with the fearful disfigurement. With childish innocence she observed.

“You are right to keep it covered my lady. How do you wear your gowns?”

Drustina felt a pang of regret for truly, she always had to wear a half-shouldered gown and arrange her hair whenever she dressed for feasts. Subconsciously she realised the young girl had exposed a raw nerve and it explained why Drustina tended to dress in jerkins and britches for most daily and regular attire. Whenever she attended a festival other women inevitably whispered about the disfigurement because she could never fully conceal it if her hair was flying free during a dance. The queen sensed Drustina’s regrets and quickly moved the agenda forward. She approached it from a novel direction and Drustina felt bound to admire the queen’s diplomacy.

“Well ladies. The next thing is something that has irked me since I realised I was a girl and that is the way we women are treated by the bishop and his priests. They treat us as lesser beings and yet we are the only ones who can bring forth life. Drustina is a lady who has felt this oppression more than any of us because her very nature sets questions that the bishops cannot answer."

All the girls except Gisela listened avidly for they had all heard various rumours. Gisela had seen the Lioness during her toilet and knew about the male parts though she had never seen the Lioness completely naked. She kept silent however for she knew the other girls were far less informed. Una was the first to ask because of her earlier unanswered question.

“How are you different Lioness?”

Drustina sighed softly and firstly prepared them by explaining.

“I was born seemingly a boy because nobody noticed how I was different from other boys. I looked like a boy for my childhood years and it was not until the coming of my womanhood that I learned how I was different. Just like you girls, I started my seasons and I was eventually forced to recognise that those signs in my private parts were evidence of my womanhood. I have a boy's parts were a boy's parts should be and a girls part behind it. I have born children and fathered them and it is this duality that the Bishops cannot countenance. Several times they have tried to have me executed for being an abomination. Do I look like an abomination? Do I act like an abomination?”

Her questions were to determine if there was any prejudice before she revealed her innermost secrets. The girls sat silent for several seconds before Una boldly answered.

“You are too beautiful to be an abomination and you are too kind.”

“Not to mention brave and honest!” Gisela added. “I have benefited from all your good qualities. You are certainly not an abomination.”

Drustina sagged with some relief and smiled at the Viking princess.

“Thank you for that Gisela, we have known each other long enough to know each other well and therefore you to have the right to say that. I need to hear what the princesses feel for it is they who are the most innocent here.”

The three daughters exchanged looks with their mother who simply shrugged then nodded her head slowly before adding.

“I see no abomination here girls. All I see is a remarkable heroine who has helped save your father’s kingdom and ensured our survival. Do not be afraid, you are safer here than anywhere else in the castle; as am I.”

The three daughters relaxed, smiled and nodded eagerly as the older one spoke for them.

“Can we see it then?”

The queen glanced questioningly at Drustina and added her own request to her daughter’s question.

“May we?”

“Very well your majesty. I will stand.”

An expectant silence settled as Drustina stood then started to unfasten her breech cloth. Instead of the expected gasps and shrieks of excitement, the silence continued as all eyes fastened on her penis. Eventually Gisela spoke.

“You know I’ve seen your cock before Lioness for we have had to make nature’s calls when we are on the Angry Mermaid but I have never seen your balls or your girl parts. Please will you show us?”

The queen gasped at Gisela’s crude terminology and quickly insinuated the proper terminology.

“Young lady, we call that a penis, we call the balls, testicles and we call her girl parts a vagina. Please refer to them as such in the presence of my daughters they have led sheltered lives by your standards, very sheltered lives indeed. However,” she added, turning to Drustina, “Lioness might I respectfully ask that you allow me to confirm what you say?”

Drustina sat on the edge of the tub and raised her right knee to expose her seemingly enlarged labia and her vagina. She explained in more detail.

“My testicles sit inside the outer labia lips but they work and you can feel them. They are not as sensitive as a man’s because they are slightly smaller and further up inside; but they do work and I have fathered a child in Egypt. If you trace the labia lips back towards my anus you can easily see my vaginal opening.”

She reached under and splayed the inner labia to reveal her most intimate parts. The queen and her princesses moved in for a closer inspection then they gasped softly, mainly because this particular feature connected The Lioness firmly to their sense of sisterhood. Una spoke again.

“And you’ve had children?”

“Yes certainly, including two sets of twins, I am a twin myself, my sister Mabina became Queen of the Lusitanie. My husband Carl can vouch for all of this.”

Having allowed the girls to see the deepest sources of both her vitality and fecundity. Drustina settled back into the tub and savoured the hot water. Her savouring of the hot tub was followed by a rare luxury, namely close attention to her golden hair by the queen’s personal attendants. This time however, the three princesses joined in as their curiosity led them to examine the unusually pale hair of Una and Gisela as well as the Lioness’s. The youngest princess could not resist asking.

“Why is your hair yellow Gisela?”

“Because I was born a Viking.”

“But you do not hate us or attack us.”

Drustina intervened tactfully before the questions became too invasive.

“Gisela was badly treated by her family and I captured her in battle. Because she was then my prisoner, she had my protection. She is now a battle companion and a free woman but she still enjoys my protection.”

“What about Una’s hair?” The queen asked. “It is even paler than Gisela’s.”

Drustina tactfully skirted the question.

“I don’t know. Yellow hair sometimes turns up amongst my people especially if the Saxons have been around.” She grinned disarmingly before continuing. “Perhaps one of Una’s antecedents had yellow hair. My grandfather Erin had yellow hair when he was young, and my twin sister has as well.”

Una cast a thankful glance towards Drustina who then stepped out of the bath to indicate that her bath was complete.

“Well ladies, if I might excuse myself, it’s been a busy few days and I’m tired. I must catch up on some sleep. I will be up early in the morning to give the whole day to the search for the pages of ‘The Great Book of Brendan’. Let us hope we find them for I would dearly like to sight them.”

Her words and actions gave Una a perfect chance to avoid any more questions for she copied the Lioness by declaring her fatigue. She wrapped her hair in a large towel and followed Drustina to the Lioness’s allotted guest chamber. Once in the privacy of the room Una sighed with relief.

“Thank you Lioness for deflecting their questions. If they compelled me to reveal my identity they would have to return me to my father, I am still his property.”

Drustina ‘harrumphed’ irritably.

“You are nobody’s property girl! Even if he adopted you, you are still a free woman.”

“I am not yet sixteen so I cannot choose my own husband. If he marries me to that bully before I am sixteen, I am trapped for life.”

“So what if you marry Prince Dorvan before you return to your father’s house?”

Una almost shrieked with disbelief.

“What!! Marry the Prince!!? He wouldn’t truck with a commoner like me!!”

Drustina gently placed her fingers on Una’s lips to quieten her.

“Quiet girl, you’ll waken the whole bloody castle by screaming like that. So what makes you think that? He was very enamoured of you when I saw you coming to dinner.”

“But I am a commoner, and furthermore a bastard. My father has always said he would have the devil’s job getting me off his hands and that I should be thankful that he has managed to find me a husband. Illegitimate girls are not royal marriage material! The king would never allow it!”

Drustina nodded thoughtfully before replying.

“Things can change girl. I know Prince Dorvan well and he does not judge a woman by her blood-line. I know for a fact he has turned down several prospective brides and always for very sound reasons. I will speak to the prince on the morrow. Now where are you sleeping tonight?”

“The queen said Gisela and I must share the second bed in this room.”

“Not with me you won’t. My Saxon will be here shortly and we’ll be indulging our marital rights. Help me spread this counterpane between my bed and your bed by the opposite wall.”

The pair created a reasonably private bower for Drustina and just as they were finishing, they heard Carl and Gisela outside the door. Everybody was so tired they quickly climbed into their allotted beds and Drustina savoured Carl's huge arms embracing her. In the other bed Una whispered briefly with Gisela while she tried not to giggle at the sounds coming from behind the temporary curtain.

“Are they always that noisy?” She whispered to Gisela.

“Shut up and sleep girl. We’re helping with the search in the morning. Carl just told me.”

Una gasped and swallowed in panic.

“But I can’t! My father’s house is just across the river from the abbey. Somebody is bound to recognise me and I cannot disguise my hair with mud for people are bound to ask why!”

“Oh shit!” Gisela cursed. “I’ll speak to the Lioness and the Saxon in the morning, now go to sleep!”

~~oo000oo~~

up
99 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

suspect that Una couldn't have found

A better guardian and advocate than Drustina. (Of course we.already saw her working on the king.) Hmmmmm I've always expected Drustina to reclaim her homeland and settle into a long quiet life. Now wondering if she will go exploring to the west.

Exploring to the West.

Not in this story Woody. Her Children might but Drustina's story begins and ends in Wales.

bev_1.jpg

Continuing west

I can understand Drustina settling down in Wales. Could her children exploring west be your next epic? Think about it, maybe?

This continues a fun read.

Thanks, Bev.

Much Love,

Valerie R