From Legion Headquarters in
Caer Lugubalion, Brydein, I send you greetings.
I put pen to parchment in honor of my wife, Gyan—formally, Chieftainess Gyanhumara nic Hymar of Clan Argyll of Caledonia—who celebrates her natal day today. We have been married a few short months,
just since the Calends of July, and we met each other for the first time only
three months before that. Yet I feel so closely bonded with her in heart, soul,
and mind that it seems as if I have known her my entire life.
If you were to ask me what first caught my attention about this remarkable woman, I would have to confess it was her
exotic beauty. Her brilliant copper hair, sea-green eyes, berry lips, the wild
blue doves winging across her forearm all beckoned to me to learn more about
her. Since I knew her to be a warrior—though untried in battle at the time
of our meeting—I had expected her to act aloof, cold, haughty, arrogant.
From the moment my hand gripped her arm in welcome, I knew she was none of
those things.
And I think I knew—on some level, at least, if
not overtly—that my heart stood in grave danger of declaring its undying
allegiance to her even as I realized that to do while she remained betrothed to
Urien might plunge our lands into another war.
Fortunately for both our peoples, Gyan proved
herself a canny diplomat and hid her feelings about me until the time was right
for both of us to declare our love.
Problems remain, of course. Though together Gyan
and I defeated the Scots and bought peace from that quarter for a season, the
Saxon and Angli kings remain a looming threat. Urien stands to become chieftain
of his clan, and may God deliver us all from that day. And I cannot shake the
disturbing thought that, should Gyan and I have children, they might fall
victim to treachery from without—or within.
But I also have deep abiding faith in that which
makes us strongest: our love for each other, and the love of our God, our
families, our clans, and our friends. Against an alliance of that nature no
power in heaven or on earth stands a chance.
Arturus Aurelius Vetarus,
Dux Britanniarum
Reblogged from Blissful Book Reviews, 31 October 2013,
the Eve of Samhain
Follow the Tour
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Scribble a note on the wall of the Maze so you can find your way out again... ;-)