The Angry Mermaid 105 or Y Morforwyn Dicllon 105

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After much preparation and planning, Drustina finally arrives at the scene of the main battle whilst it is in full flow. Her trebuchet proves to be the winning formulae and as the evening shadows are beginning to lengthen, she saves the day for the Hibernian defenders of Limerick.

The following day, whilst searching for her husband and battle companion, she is told of the missing treasures stolen from the Maigue Abbey. She reluctantly agrees to help the monk find the treasure and her good deed earns her and her men an unexpected reward.

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The Angry Mermaid 105
Or
Y Morforwyn Dicllon 105.

King Dal O'Dalgliesh was pleased that the Lioness chose to sit at the feast table for the early part of the evening then he was just as disappointed that she respectfully made her excuses and retired early. Her reason being her fears for her Saxon, Carl and her intention to rise early to go searching.

At the Crack of dawn The Angry Mermaid ghosted away from the City quay and rowed easily with the ebb that bore her steadily down the river. Only her loyal crew, the teenaged girl who had proven to be such an excellent guide and finally Gisela the Norse princess, accompanied her.

This was not intended as a military mission, simply a search for her husband. The young female guide was pleased that Drustina had invited her to join the search. She liked Drustina’s company and found the companionship much to her liking. Additionally, it enabled her to avoid the continuing drunken celebrations in Limerick that would have inevitably precipitated some unwanted attentions from some overbearing drunkards.

Naturally, the young guide fell in with Gisela for the two girls were of similar ages. They sat struggling to talk each other using their rudimentary Latin. Drustina stood smiling in silent reflection beside the tiller while listening to their stumbling efforts to chat.

Several times a soft call from the masthead alerted her to the possibility of a sail but on each occasion it was a false alarm. Eventually, The Angry Mermaid arrived at Foynes and al long last located somebody on the shore who had some positive information.
The Man was the Foynes Harbourmaster-cum- port reeve and he had hardly slept since Drustina and her trebuchet had departed upriver. Whilst Drustina and her forces had been away he had only seen the four Viking ships making haste downriver shortly after midnight.

“And you haven’t seen the other two of my Mermaid ships.”

“Nothing at all My lady, I have had old men keeping lookout all night. The young men all went with your army.”

“Then they must have hidden up in one of the creeks. Which one would be most likely Harbourmaster?”

“That’s hard to say my lady. He might have decided to play ‘Cat-and-mouse’ amongst the Islands off the River Clare or he might have hidden up a creek. The best one would be the River Deel, the entrance is virtually invisible behind the trees that come right down to the shoreline.”

Drustina grinned widely as she remembered that Carl had experience of the river Deel from his earlier visit. She would try there first. Fortunately the ebb had eased and the sea breeze was rising to carry them back upriver. After discussing conditions with the harbourmaster she decided to try the River Deel first. It was easy to spot the outlet because the mast of the Viking longship sunk by the flooded surge was still sticking up out of the tidal pool.

As they picked their way up the river, Drustina paused briefly to determine the chances of salvaging the sunken longship in the tidal pool. After checking it over she concluded it was feasible but it would take many hands. The hull was damaged at the stem but there seemed to be nothing wrong with the underwater parts. The flood surge had simply broached the ship then capsized it.
Her intuition proved right and as they emerged from the trees she was relieved and excited to see Carl and Heliox’s ships secured to the modest trading quay just below the island and the abbey. As she was mooring her ship Carl appeared looking very pleased with himself.

After flinging herself into his outstretched arms and kissing him passionately with relief, she wanted to know what he was so happy about. His grin widened as he explained.

“We captured the giant Viking.”

“Oh good man! How?”

“He fell asleep just before dawn. Heliox and I where the only two with sufficient armour to tackle him so we crept up on him and seized him before he could wake up. By the time he realised what was happening, we had his hands tied together and he was helpless.”

“Oh. So no heroics then, no dramatic battle.” She grinned knowingly.

Carl smirked back.

“I’ve learned just like you. No need for any stupid dramatics. We seized him while he slept. He had to sleep sometime. I tell you though he’s a huge brute.”

“Where is he now?”

“He’s tied up with rope and a chain. We found some manacles in the abbey. It begs the question why the monks need manacles.”

“Has he spoken yet?” Drustina asked.

“Not much,” Carl replied, “he only speaks Norse but he refuses to give anything away.”

“Let’s go and meet him.” Drustina decided.

Carl led The Lioness to the abbey while both girls allowed their teenaged curiosity to overcome any fears as they followed.

When they entered the gloomy room where the giant Viking was being held prisoner Gisela let out an involuntary squeal as she recognised the man.

“By Freya’s curse! That’s Guthrun, my father’s cousin; the man I was expected to wed!”

The giant reared up as he recognised Gisela’s voice and he roared thunderously.

“Damn you bitch! You were reported dead! Drowned on the Godwin bank!”

Gisela finally found her voice again as she spat her words.

“No ... damn you! I am not dead! You failed to reinforce our ships as you were supposed to that afternoon. Your friends ran like cowards from the Lioness’s bite! They left me for dead on a stormy sandbank with my ship smashed to pieces; but I lived! I lived despite spending a night clinging to a mast with waves surging up to my waist in a bitter winter sea.

Had the Lioness not found me, I would surely have perished from cold. I cursed you then and I curse you now! Lioness, please, give me a knife that I may end his days here and now!”

“You treacherous little bitch!” The Viking cursed. “You support your father’s enemies!”

“No. I fight a Viking King who preferred to see me dead, just for refusing to wed you! My own brutal father preferred me dead no less! Harald Coldblood...yes, he is well named! Damn you Guthrun, if I could, I’d kill you here and now!”

Gisela’s anger and pain got the better of her and she had to leave the room as tears forced their way to her eyes. She scuttled outside to hide her tears. Drustina then spoke to the Giant in more levelled terms and the man realised that this stunning fair-haired woman was no less than the famous Lioness of Carthage. His lustful eye overcame his reticence and he replied.

“So you are the bitch! The whore who gives no quarter. The she-kelpie of the seas.”

Drustina simply shrugged.

“You will not provoke me into killing you with my sword. I’ve been called worse, but now I must decide what to do with you!”

“Kill me. Let me die with my sword in my hand.”

Drustina’s lip curled in distaste.

“What and give you the chance to injure yet more men ... or women ... or children. To let you have the pleasure of a warrior’s death so that you can enter the realms of the Gods as a hero! Why should I give you that pleasure?”

“It is my right, my wish! You only captured me by trickery.”

“What! You mean when you fell asleep! How is catching you asleep a trick?”

“That was an evil tactic. You should have set upon me with your swords, you would have eventually killed me but I would have died as a warrior.”

Drustina almost squawked with derision.

“So my men have to die just so that you can indulge your heroic fantasies. Dream on Viking. You’re a prisoner now. You should have died with your men, fighting the maelstrom of flood waters in Askea.”

“Would you deny a Viking his last dying wish?”

“Yes!”

With that final sharp word, Drustina turned to Carl.

“You’d better secure him in your ship. I fancy Gisela might try to kill him if he is carried in mine. Besides, technically, he’s
your prisoner, I think.”

Carl nodded and preparations were made to return to Limerick.
~o00o~

Just as the three Mermaids were preparing to sail, a monk appeared on the quay. He was a survivor from the Viking attack on the abbey on the River Maigue. Drustina, Carl and Heliox turned from stepping aboard their ships as the man approached.

“Who are you?” Drustina asked.

“I am a brother from the Maigue abbey.”

“So what do you want of us?”

“I hear you defeated the Vikings last night.”

“We did.”

“Did you see a Viking ship with a red and green sail?”

“We have seen over a score of Viking ships, why particularly this ship?”

“The pirates raided our abbey yesterday and they made away with much plate and coin.”

Drustina heard Carl and Heliox gasp behind her and she realised what they were thinking. She was ahead of them however and she double checked the events on the river.

“How many ships attacked your abbey?”

“Just the one but we had no time to save our treasures.”

“Did this ship have a red hull?”

The monk stared at her.

“You have seen it then!”

“Yes. It lies at the bottom of the River Maigue near Ballynacarriga point. At low tide the stem post, stern post and mast are sticking right out of the water.”

The monk’s eyes widened with excitement.

“Then you must help us recover the treasures!”

Drustina frowned. If her companions were to revisit the wreck to recover stolen gold, it was a safe bet that they would want to keep some, if not all for themselves. She realised they had been somewhat remiss in not recovering it when the wreck first sank. However she reflected that they had other, more pressing issues to deal with at the time. She turned to Carl and Heliox.

“Can we trust ourselves to recover what we can and not try pocketing our shares?”

Carl shrugged.

“First let us see if there is still treasure to be recovered. It’s more than likely that some robbing bastards have already been there. Plenty of men saw the ship founder.”

The monk intervened.

“If they were Limerick men or Clare men they would respect the holy artefacts.”

Helios snorted derisively then remarked.

“Gold is gold priest. Men lose their sanctity when gold is the prize.”

“It’s not a prize. This treasure is the abbey’s and rightfully belongs to the abbey. If any of your men pocket but the smallest trinket, they will be cursed.”

The monk was shocked by a second, and collective, derisory snort from all three commanders. It became obvious to him that holy orders and Christian beliefs were held in contempt by Drustina and her lieutenants. Drustina spoke again.

“It would be better if you appealed to my men’s higher morality and inherent honesty than try to browbeat them with superstitious fears and threats. Perhaps an honest deal would be a better approach; would you agree that my men can claim one tenth part of what they recover.”

The monk was firstly shocked that these Saxon and Gaulish heathens showed no respect for the true faith and secondly stunned that their commander should prove such a mercenary trader. He knew full well that the sooner they dived on the wreck, the better the chances of recovering the stolen treasures. Consequently, he was forced reluctantly to agree the deal.

“So be it then, I have no other option. You have me at a disadvantage woman.”

“It’s Lioness to you priest. If you don’t recognise my rightful status then we will offer you no help at all.”

The monk was shocked that a mere woman should address him so but once again this woman, this ‘lesser being’ had him at a disadvantage. Reluctantly he corrected himself.”

“Very well, Lioness. Ten percent it is.”

A ripple of satisfaction spread amongst Drustina’s band and she invited the monk to join her on her ship.

“We’ll be there much faster now that this breeze has picked up. Come let us make haste before the tide is too low to make the main channel. This creek all but dries at low water and that’s the time we should be diving on the wreck.”

The monk was forced to concede that a ride on a fast ship was infinitely better than walking the seven miles or so. He stepped aboard and looked askance at the two girls comfortably ensconced in the fold of the spare sail. He expected them to relinquish their comfortable bower to him but when the young guide made to stand, Gisela tugged her back.

“Let him sit with the men if he thinks we are lesser mortals.”

“But he is a holy man. I must show him respect.” The young guide protested.

“He didn’t show the Lioness respect. He is the first man since we arrived in these waters, not to have respected her title; he called her woman as though she is something less than he. If he can’t show respect then neither need we.”

The young guide got her first insight into the misogynistic ways of the Christian faith and it opened her eyes. She glanced up at Drustina who had been listening to this even while manoeuvring the Angry Mermaid and turning her in the river. Drustina glanced down and smiled at the guide before she cast a knowing glance towards Gisela. It was obvious to the young guide that Drustina agreed with Gisela. The guide settled comfortably back into the sail and snuggled up to Gisela to keep warm. The priest glared at them then reluctantly found space among Drustina’s men. At first he presumed to simply sit among them until one of the men berated him.

“Hey! Holy man, this bloody ship isn’t being pushed along by some sort of bloody miracle. Put your bloody hands on an oar and lend a hand!”

The priest was once again shocked by the disrespect to his cloth but he took up an oar and bent to the task. Later he was glad he had. Food was brought around by the two girls and only those deemed worthy of feeding were given the full ration of bread, butter and hot scuse with meat and mixed vegetables. Just as he was finishing his welcome ration Drustina called him to the stern.

“There is the estuary of the Maigue. When we enter it, you’ll see the wrecked longship.”

The priest scanned the marshy banks fervently then as the three ships approached Ballynacarriga point he spied the wreck.

“Holy Mary, mother of God, I see it!”

“Then get ready to join us under the water. It’s coming up to low-water time we’d best be hasty.”

He looked around to see several men already stripping naked and his eyes widened with shock. He heard the girls giggling and he turned to scold them only to find that not only were they getting naked but so was the Lioness herself. The lure of gold was too much to resist. Needless to say his shock was compounded into horror when he saw the Lioness’s duality; a beautiful female form with male parts. He had no time to protest however for already the three ships were being secured and men were already plunging into the water. Drustina shrieked at them for their impetuosity.

“You stupid fools! If you all slosh around like beasts of the fields, you’ll muddy the waters and nobody will find anything. Swim on top of the water unless you find something that resembles the treasure. Now you heard the holy man. There is plate and coin. Go carefully and be systematic.”

After her scolding, the men calmed and quickly set about a slow, methodical, painstaking search. Most of the men spent time searching around the lower side thinking that the gold would have spilled out of the capsized ship as she had ripped her planking out on the stakes. Eventually, a substantial hoard of coins and assorted valuables were recovered and laid out on a make-shift table covered by a sail in Carl’s ship. When several hundred coins and goblets had been recovered, Drustina called the priest out of the water.

“See now holy man, we can start to determine what’s what.”

The priest was relieved to be excused from the cold, unpleasant task of diving and he clambered naked onto Carl’s ship to inspect the salvaged goods. As he scanned the valuables his brow furrowed as he turned to Drustina.

“The coins could the abbey’s or anybody’s but I am puzzled. I do not recognise any of the artefacts.”

“What d’you mean?” Drustina demanded.

“I mean none of this stuff belongs to our abbey. It must be stuff they’ve plundered on earlier raids.”

“Well where’s your stuff then?” Drustina demanded.

“I don’t know it must be here somewhere! They stole all the plate and chalices, not to mention rings and statues of the Virgin! I can see none of our stuff here!”

Drustina cursed softly then shrugged.

“We’ll have to widen the search.”

“The men continued diving and searching but save for a few more coins and some smaller trinkets, they found nothing.”

Drustina turned to Carl.

“What d’you think they might have done with it?”

“I just don’t know. The only thing I can think of is that when the Viking Commander realised he could not avoid the stakes, he threw the loot over the stern with an idea to come back for it at a later time.”

Drustina grinned. It was the most plausible answer she could think of and she reached up to kiss her handsome husband.

“You’re not just a pretty face are you? We’ll form a line across the river and scan methodically.”

The priest was impressed at how quickly Drustina’s instructions were followed and he watched hopefully as the men carefully and very slowly started upriver from the sunken longship. They hadn’t gone a hundred yards upstream when a shout alerted everybody. One of Heliox’s men had trodden on a bag of some sort. He felt carefully around his toes and cautiously struggled with a heavy leather bag. It was so heavy it took two men to lift it to the surface. After untying the leather ties, they peered inside and gave a whoop of excitement.

“This is it!”

Others clamoured excitedly around and confirmed the man’s find. It was quickly returned to Carl’s ship where a separate area was cleared and the contents were carefully tipped out. The priest let out a cry of delight as he confirmed them to indeed be the property he sought.

“How can I ever thank you?”

“By declaring to whoever disputes our ownership of that other stuff that we came by it legitimately.”

The priest turned to examine the earlier hoard and realised it was indeed greater than his own recovered property. He grinned at Carl and Drustina.

“I have no interest or claim to that pile. I didn’t even know it existed. It’s obviously the loot from some of their earlier raids.”

“Good. “ Drustina nodded with Satisfaction. “Please make sure you tell King Dal. Remember we are not thieves.”

“Are you not interested in where it came from?” The priest asked.

“It was probably stolen from other abbeys. What do they want with gold?”

The monk sensed the hidden question; the woman ... the Lioness was obviously better read than the common or garden Hibernian. He groped for an answer and failed to find one for he knew the answer she would give would expose the whole hypocrisy. Their prophet was born in a stable, raised as a carpenter then shunned wealth when the call from God came.

‘Why indeed do we need gold?’ He asked himself.

His silence was sufficient answer and in the eyes of Drustina’s companions, it gave legitimacy to their ownership of the other gold.

With this certainty, they happily cast off and returned to Limerick very much richer men.

~~oo000oo~~

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