The Beast of Caer Baddan by Rebecca Vaughn Read Free Book Online Page A

pay.”
    “Now you are worrying again,” Swale said. “The Parisi gave us much, and you have never actually missed paying the men.”
    “But it did come very close, and I do not like that. If I was the emperor, I could levy tax, and then the Army would never be short of funds or supplies-”
    “If you were the emperor!” Annon cried, and his eyes grew wide as if he was seeing stars.
    “Hush!” Owain said. “I was trying to make you realize the difficulty. I shall not follow after my grandfather’s path.”
    One thing that Owain knew he must always fight was the actions of Mascen, his paternal grandfather, who had died the night of his birth. It was supposed by his grandmother, Ceindrech, that Owain had received Mascen’s soul. If that was so, then whatever had caused his grandfather to kill the reigning emperor, take control of the Three Cities, and wage a fruitless war in faraway Gaul, must also flow through Owain. He considered Mascen to be a monster who had ruined beautiful Albion for his own vanity. What every he was or did, Owain was determined to be nothing like him.
    “But, Prince Owain!” the boy protested. “You could take possession of the treasury in Caer Gloui! You would control the Three Cities and all of the emperor’s fortresses that still stand around the island! The Kings of Albion would have to bow to you!”
    “Annon! Silence!” Owain cried, his brow knotted in a stern frown.
    “But, Prince-”
    “The people still suffer because the unnecessary wars that my grandfather created when he declared himself the emperor of these lands. He destroyed this great island. I protect it. That is all.”
    Annon grew silent at the rebuke.
    Swale shook his head as if baffled at Owain’s persistence.
    “You make the Army your excuse for not marrying,” he said, returning to the original conversation. “But the truth is what both Britu and I suspect. You fear a wife shall force you to stop chasing other women.”
    Owain just smiled.
    It did not bother him that Swale would not understand. Owain never confided in any of them, although they were his closest friends, and so did not expect them to be able to empathize.
    “After the Eire return to Glouia to sack Caer Corin, and you know full well they shall,” Owain said, “and assuming that I am once more able to defeat them, speak of it again. Perhaps you shall have better fortune in persuading me.”
    “We must go to Atrebat,” Britu said, in a daze.
    He set his letter down on the table and stared at his food.
    “Oh?” Owain said. “Your father wishes you back?”
    Yet once he had spoken thus, Owain knew that it was far more serious than his cousin's ordinary paternal troubles. Britu’s face had gone white from horror.
    “Britu,” Owain said, his eyes growing in concern. “What is it?”
    “The Gewissae,” Britu said, his own face filling with fear and rage at once. “The Gewissae are rebelling.”
    “What?” Swale cried. “No!”
    “They are,” Britu replied. “My father has had spies watching those people for seven years. They are moving men. Not livestock, not families, but men, warriors. They are preparing for war.”
    Owain knew what that meant. He must have been eighteen when the Gewissae last crossed out of their designated land and into his uncle's kingdom, Atrebat. Owain had been in the Kingdom of Gwent, fighting invading Eire when news came of the destruction, but he had long understood that Britu witnessed the wreckage for himself.
    “We shall leave immediately,” Owain said.
    Swale gave a silent nod.
    “The Army cannot move fast enough,” Britu replied, his eyes burning with dread.
    “We shall go now and take the knights with us,” Owain replied. “The soldiers shall follow as quickly as they can.”
    “Good,” Swale replied. “I shall give Sir Vesanus the order.”
    As he went on the errand, Owain left the meeting tent, pulling Annon beside him.
    “Although you shall not be fighting this war, Annon, I want you to