Drustan Meets King Dal O'Dalgliesh but even while she is made welcome, the Vikings appear offshore. Fortunately the Connacht tribes have made some reasonable plans for their defences and the Vikings are not aware that the Lioness and her forces have added immeasurably to those plans.

http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1819.htm
http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1547.htm
http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1548.htm
http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1549.htm
http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1540.htm

The Angry mermaid 99
Or
Y Morforwyn Dicllon 99.

When Drustina arrived at Dal O’Dalgliesh’s castle she rubbed her arse ruefully and remarked to Carl.

“I’ve been too long out of the saddle husband. Just over an hour’s gallop and my arse feels as though ‘tis on fire.”

“So does mine girl. You’d think that bouncing around on a wooden thwart half my life would have inured me to such discomforts.

“Different muscles and different bones, me thinks,” Dorvan grinned as they dismounted outside the Castle gates.

Dorvan called out and declared himself and the gates were swiftly opened. He explained to his guests.

“We keep the gates closed normally as also does the town. We don’t trust those Vikings. They’ve already raided once on the north shore but we eventually beat them back.”

He pointed to a small settlement across the river where some freshly prepared timbers formed a new palisade. Smoke was emerging from some chimneys indicating Celtic re-occupancy and Drustina stared at the settlement thoughtfully. Her thoughts were interrupted as the gates were opened and the Chief of the DalGleish clan called to his son.

“So who are these guests my son? Are you seriously trying to tell me you have the Lioness of Carthage with you?”

“No less father. The lady stands before you and does not bend her knee.”

“Why not woman?” The king demanded of Drustina.

Drustina looked him straight in the eye and replied.

“We are at least equal Your Majesty, I am a queen by any standard and I came by my titles nobly. I will not bore your with my full title and I’ll thank you to accord me my due respects.

Dal O’Dalgliesh glanced at the girl and realised the image of a pretty woman was misleading. His second assessment recognised the well used scabbard that contained what was obviously a sword designed for a smaller hand, a girl’s hand. The handle showed a polish, not of some jewelled, frivolous bauble, but of well crafted metal smoothed but dulled by frequent handling giving it a muted lustre. It was definitely a warrior’s sword, a well used sword that presaged combat and death.

He looked again at the group and noted with a royal eye used to recognising loyalty and respect; that her male companions stood casually but respectfully behind her as she declared her claim. Here was no ordinary woman.

Having made his summary, Dal O'Dalgliesh nodded sagely and indicated his invitation into his castle with his open hand.

“Follow me your majesty. I will have my wife show you suitable quarters. Is the young maid your maidservant?”

Drustina grinned just once as she felt Gisela bristle with indignation.

“Indeed not sir, she is my lady in waiting. She is a royal princess in her own right. I do however have my husband at my back, Carl, the larger Saxon with the red jerkin. Naturally we share our bed.”

“Ah. I see; it won’t affect your quartering, the room and bed is large enough.”

He called into a room off the great hall and his queen appeared with an entourage of ladies.

“We have guests your majesty. Please be a hostess to this estimable lady. She is the Lioness of Carthage.”

Queen Ursula’s eyes widened with surprise then she turned to her ladies and quickly organised the guest arrangements. By the time Drustina and Carl were settled and the rest of the party housed, a meal was being prepared. As Drustina lay bootless on the bed there was a knock and Prince Dorvan declared himself. Carl opened it and invited him in. Drustina sat up with her back against the wall.”

“Where is the princess staying?” She asked Dorvan.

“Two doors down," the Prince replied, adding, "there is a secure lock on her door.”

“An inside lock I hope, she is not my prisoner, she is a free companion of our band.”

“But is she not a Viking, a Norsewoman?”

“She is,” Drustina confirmed, “and a high ranking princess as well; but she is my companion and she chooses to stay by my side for her own protection and security. There are many Saxons, Gauls, Mercians, Celts, Picts and Scots who would dearly love to have her as their captive.”

“Who is she then?”

“She is Harald Cold-blood’s daughter.”

Dorvan stood stunned with incredulity.

“My God! You hold the butcher’s daughter captive?!!”

“No. I told you she is not my prisoner. She is as disgusted by her father’s handiwork as is every other woman and civilised man. Her story is not a pretty one and her treatment at her own father’s hands is evidence enough of Cold-blood’s bestiality. She is NOT to be locked in her room; she comes and goes as freely as each one of my companions.”

Dorvan nodded uncertainly. The thought of having the dreaded Viking King’s own daughter under his roof both intrigued him and worried him but his was not to reason why. He hoped to please the Lioness by therefore declaring

“There is a lock inside and out. I will give her the outer key so she has charge of her own protection. She is very pretty.”

Drustina smiled enigmatically as she warned the Celtic Prince.

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking she cannot look after herself young man.”

Carl then added his warning.

“She’s handy with a sword as well; very handy!”

“I was just thinking, that’s all. My father is on at me to find a wife. She is well formed and fair of face and as you say, of royal blood. All the high-born ladies in this city are like horses.”

Drustina snorted with amusement then lied to protect Gisela’s Lesbianism.

“You surprise me Dorvan, it’s my experience that Irish Celtic maids are generally very attractive girls. Anyway, forget about Gisela lad. She’s had some bad experiences and detests men. Don’t risk your manhood with her; she’d more than likely cut it off!”

Dorvan gaped uncomprehendingly for a moment then slowly got the jist of Drustina’s warning.

“Oh! Oh! I see where you’re coming from now. I see.”

“And furthermore, she’s still under my protection your highness so any abuse towards her is an abuse towards me. Besides, she’s not yet reached the age of independent royal consent; it’s higher than for ordinary girls because there are usually political issues attached to a royal union.”

Dorvan fell momentarily silent then turned to speak of other things. When Drustina realised where he was taking the conversation she simply told him.

“Those are matters we’ll discuss with your father and his chieftains over dinner later; you will obviously have your chance to speak then. Now my husband and I wish to take a brief sleep. This is the first proper bed we’ve shared for five days. Please give my apologies to your mother for missing the midday lunch, we are desperately tired.”

Realising he was going to learn nothing until his father was present; Dorvan made his excuses and left. Drustina turned to Carl and nodded imperceptibly towards the bed. He did not need much persuading.

~~oo000oo~~

Later, as they lay listening to the sounds in the courtyard below they both noted the sound of hooves clattering urgently as a messenger had obviously just arrived. The pair exchanged glances and frowned as they wondered what was afoot. They had not long to wait. A knock on the door declared King Dal was outside and they hastily made themselves decent before ushering him in. His face did not bode well.

“Vikings!”

“Where?” Carl asked as Drustina finished buttoning her Jerkin.

“They have been spotted to the north of Loop head, sailing for the river mouth.”

“That’s many miles away yet from Limerick. You must have a good watch system.”

“We are prepared and have signal fires set but we have no idea yet where they intend landing or their strength.”

Drustina exchanged a knowing nod with her husband who frowned.

“The same old equation Dru. They can move lots of men quickly and pick their landing ground. The defenders can only respond after the event.”

Drustina raised her eyebrows and squinted knowingly.

“Normally, yes, but we have four fast ships each capable of holding a score or more of men. We can deposit a hundred well armed men at some vital place to stymie their plans or at least slow them down.”

King Dal had been listening to this.

“So where are your ships?”

“Well hidden on the South shore.” Carl replied as Drustina finished donning her boots.

Dorvan answered for them for he knew the local names.

“They’re beached just below the Glin under the headland and invisible from the main river. They are about three miles from my tower.”

“Where are the Vikings now?”

“Still to the north of the Loop head. I’m betting that they have raided Galway and sacked the monastery.”

King Dal cursed as he digested the information but Drustina was more interested as to how Dorvan had gathered the information so quickly. When she asked, he explained.

“We use signal fires but they only tell us where the Vikings have attacked or been spotted. I’m only guessing that they’ve raided the Monastery. There is a holy relic their made of solid gold.”

“Then they’ll have definitely raided the monastery,” Carl remarked.

“All they do is steal and plunder.” Dal cursed again.

“And rape and murder,” Drustina finished.

“So which plan shall we adopt?” Dal turned to his son, “the water plan or the land plan?”

Dorvan glanced at Drustina hopefully and replied.

“The Lioness can add four extra ships and they are well placed to trap the Vikings from behind once they come past Foynes.”

“That depends on how many Viking ships there are.” Drustina added. “How many ships have you got, and how fast are they. Are they even designed to fight or are they just merchantmen fitted out for bowmen? Do they have oars? How fast are they?”

“Well they are not long ships but they are sturdy and each can hold a hundred men. We can fit sweeps if we have time.” King Dal replied.

“Then do it. I will come to the quayside now to see what needs to be done.

Without further ado, Drustina and Carl girded their weapons and followed Dorvan to the quayside while his Father King Dal set about organising the clan’s defences. When she reached the quay she viewed the ships with mixed feelings as her mind raced to form a plan. She needed a better chart of the Shannon estuary than the crude outline the Munster men had provided. When she asked Dorvan he pointed her to the fortified church attached to the castle by the city gate-house.

“There’s one in there. The priest acts as harbourmaster and presides over any disputes about the water rights and channels.”
It seemed a strange set-up to Drustina but if it worked, she was not prepared to condemn it. The priest appeared even as she approached the church door.

“The chart?” She asked.

He had anticipated her and the main chart was already laid out on the alter table that served also as a secular meeting place. Quickly she went over the chart’s salient points with Dorvan who had sailed the waters all his life. Several ideas came to her mind but the crucial element was the size of the Viking fleet. Dorvan also recognised this and had already sent riders to several salient points to report as soon as they were able.

‘At least they have their wits about them!’ Drustina told herself as she continued discussing the issues with Dorvan.

When the king returned, Dorvan and Drustina then discussed several water-plan options with the King and his chieftains. Three plans were hastily prepared for want of a more sophisticated signal system. Drustina only had red, green and white arrow flares. Even these crude options impressed the Clans-men for they had never seen such effective colours before.

“Where did you learn of these marvels?” King Dal demanded.

“Byzantium.” Drustina replied monosyllabically, little realising how tremendously impressive this single word was to the less well travelled Dalglieshes. Next she offered some hastily contrived plans.

“A red flare means the Viking fleet exceeds twenty ships and we had best try to lure them to our waiting land forces where we should hopefully outnumber them ashore.

A white flare means between ten and twenty ships. Then we will follow them up as far as Foynes while you come down river to meet them there and hopefully we can defeat them using the Island as a trap to divide their forces. Can you assemble your land army near Foynes?”

“It would take a day. I will try to speed it along but I would only have two thousand men.”

Drustina nodded as she explained further.

“We fire a green flare if there are less than ten longships. We should be able to beat them on the water if we can trap them at or near Foynes Island. If we do beat them afloat, we can force them ashore on the south side and into the arms of your land forces.”

“What of the North shore?” Dorvan asked.

“If their fleet is too large there is little we can do to stop them landing over there. We have not the forces on that side to mass an army. The plan then would be to try and hold them at Foynes so they can come no further up the river.”

“You speak only of holding them; can we not meet them in open field and smash them?” Dorvan complained.

His own father tutted at this suggestion.

“Listen to the Lioness lad. We need a week to assemble a proper army and it’s right in the middle of harvest time. Besides, these bloody Norsemen are no walkovers! Wherever we meet them there’ll be plenty of bloodshed!”

Drustina nodded and made to mount her horse. King Dal told his son to join her and return to Glin where they would expect to first meet and even possibly cross swords with the invaders.

“If you’re so keen to fight lad, maybe some time with the lady will temper your views. When you do meet with them, you’ll find it very different encounter from the training ring. Your opponent will genuinely be out to kill you!”

Dorvan did not know how to respond to such a dire warning but his youth deprived him of the wit and understanding to realise all the dangers that faced him. He grinned a little nervously and mounted his horse.

Two hours later tired horses brought them to his Tower home at Glin but Drustina did not stop there. She hurried on to the deep inlet where her ships were tucked well away behind a steep wooded cliff where the casual observer would not see them as they sailed up the river to Limerick.

They prepared as much as they could for battle and simply waited out of sight. As darkness overtook them, Dorvan appeared on a fresh horse.

“There are between twenty and thirty ships. The signal fires from Loop head have been spotted. They tell us that number and we are fairly certain. They rounded Loop head just now. I have sent a messenger to my father.”

“How many men have joined your banner this evening?” Drustina asked the prince.

“Two hundred. They are arriving in dribs and drabs as they get the call.”

“Good well done. We’ll make a commander of you yet. Our next move is to send some men to the north shore to pretend to be a large force. The idea is to try and dissuade them from landing on that side whilst making them think that this southern shore is deserted. They’ll probably be hoping to make an un-opposed landing. Thirty ships with at best one hundred men per ship, that’s a maximum of three thousand men."

Drustina’s next move was to despatch Heliox and his ship with as many men as was safe to land on the north shore. Heliox’s second voyage conveyed horses, arrows and men to reinforce the decoy. Eventually they had landed nearly two hundred men, twenty horses and thousands of arrows. Drustina was eternally grateful that King Dal had seen fit to have his watch-towers abundantly stocked with such weapons. The bow and arrow was cheap and abundant whilst being by far the most effective weapon for it pierced both armour and chain-mail. Furthermore if men ran out of ammunition, they were often still far enough away from their enemies to run away and hide or simply sneak back into the forests if the land was wooded. One thing the Celtic defenders could do was unleash wave after wave of deadly artillery against any force attempting to land on the north shore. Her last instruction to Heliox was almost superfluous.

“If they land on your side, shoot to kill as many horses as you see. There won’t be many but horses give mobility. The slower they are on land, the more time we have to match their forces."

As she was advising Heliox she was also instructing Dorvan.

“Just remember, so far we have an intelligence advantage over them. They have no idea what to expect but our signal fires will have told them we are expecting them. They will be desperate to try and gain whatever advantage they can so they’ll favour an un-opposed landing. The only remote beaches they are likely to find are downstream west of Foynes. The land is wild and wooded in those parts. That means once they are off the beaches, they’ll be tramping through dense woodland and we can ambush them at almost every tree. You know your own forests gentlemen. They don’t. The only things they’ve got going for them is their reputation and their armour; oh and their superb fighting skills. These men will not be pushovers gentleman, your best defence is the ambush with bow and arrow. Try and avoid a sword fight unless you are a trained soldier with some decent armour.”

As a last word of reassurance, Drustina declared.

“I have faced these Vikings many times before gentlemen. Inside their chain and plate they are difficult to kill; but not impossible.”

~~oo000oo~~

BELOW ARE THE ADMIRALTY CHARTS FOR THE RIVER SHANNON WESTERN HIBERNIA.

http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1819.htm
http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1547.htm
http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1548.htm
http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1549.htm
http://www.westernyachtclub.com/chartsbundle/CHARTS/1540.htm

Character list.
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/44661/angry-mermaid-ch...