CHAPTER 36
If our plan had worked, and the enemy believed us, we knew we would be contacted. The days dragged, however, each one passing with no news and time was running short. It took over a week for the word to come back to us. A note was pinned to one of the large oak trees, and Seth brought it to us. It read; a Gorgades was to come to the edge of the cottage garden the next day to discuss our terms of surrender. As with the terms of surrender discussions, they expected he would be safe from any attack, and be able to leave freely. This had been the news we were hoping for, and left a note in the same place agreeing to the meeting, and the terms.
That night we went down to the basement, as there were no windows down there, and celebrated our success so far. We couldn’t show any kind of unity, even in the confines of the cottage, to be sure that everyone believed our story and so this was the safest place. During the day, I paced by my bedroom window, to make anyone watching, think I was confined there, and every evening I would sneak down to the basement so we could discuss our plans. We couldn’t make any mistakes now, we had to work together to pull this off.
The next day, I stood at my bedroom window, and I put a dejected look on my face; it wasn’t hard as I was worried that things may not go our way. At long last the Gorgades appeared at the edge of the garden. He looked much like a man; but was covered, from head to toe, in long wiry hair. I saw my group emerge and they all moved to the middle of the garden, keeping a gap between them and the stranger. My window was open slightly so I could hear the proceedings.
There was no blizzard or strong wind that day, Cailleach Bheur had stopped her onslaught, in order for the talks to proceed. This was the first respite we had experienced since the beginning of the war, and I felt it was a sign that Cailleach Bheur believed she had won.
It was Eirickr who stood in front of the crowd, his strong deep voice echoed out as he welcomed the visitor.
‘Have you come with news for us from our Queen?’ He said. The Gorgades looked only at Eirickr and answered, his voice seemed to growl as he spoke; ‘The Queen has heard of your plight, what are your demands for surrender? She has agreed to listen and she will give you her answer tomorrow.’ Again Eirickr spoke, trying to sound humble as he did so.
‘We know we have lost, the Queen was greater than us, and Dagdar fought the superior battle. If it had not been for the treacherous Intercessor, we would have joined her forces from the beginning. She has led us on a foolhardy quest and we all see that now. She was willing to hide the word from the other Realm, in order to make a name for herself. We will not die in her name. We still fear the mighty Cailleach Bheur, however, and so we have thought of a way to honour her, as well as surrender, so we can show her how much she is worshipped. If she agrees to keep the weather calm for a short time; we also have the perfect way to show all who still might be against her that she is not to be disobeyed.’
A smirk spread across the Gorgades face and he told Eirickr to continue. ‘We want to take the Intercessor to the Ribble Valley. We will climb to the top of Pendle hill. Everyone knows of the witches who lived there, and the evil past of the hill, even most mortals will not climb it at night for fear of ghosts and spirits. Here we will hand Abigail over to Dagdar, the Queens commander, and he can do with her as he wishes. We are too afraid of the Queens wrath to meet her, but we know Dagdar will honour the rules of surrender. We have thought of a way that would make this surrender an even greater feat for the Queen.’
The Gorgades seemed very intrigued and was enjoying every minute of the grovelling talk. ‘So let me hear of this great plan and I will pass it all on to the Queen, so she can decide if it is worth her time.’ He looked all around the group then, and each of them played their part well, they looked dejected and beaten. He then looked up to my window. I was standing with my hands and head against the glass. In reality, it was so I could hear better, but to him it looked like utter despair. His grin widened as Eirikr went on.
‘We will meet Dagdar at the top of the hill on May Days eve. This is the day the Queen would normally give up her reign and hand over to Brigit. Think how symbolic this would be, instead of Cailleach Bheur giving up her rule; it will be the last day of the line of Intercessors, and this will surely show all how great she is.’
I could tell, even from this distance, that the idea pleased him. He couldn’t resist making a few sly comments about the superiority of his side, and the stupidity of following a mere mortal. He eventually left telling us, as he went, to be ready for his return the next day. He would have an answer to our demands then. Phase two of the plan was almost completed, we hoped the enemy would go for our proposal. With all I had heard and seen of Cailleach Bheur I really didn’t think she could resist it.