Boudica's Daughters 3-4

3.

 

 

‘You will not see him again’ Boudica said. ‘I forbid it! How dare you go behind my back and lie in the grass with a man of your own choosing. You will do as I tell you where men are concerned!’

 

Siara and Gwynned stood before their mother. It was the day following Siara’s meeting with Amminus. Boudica had summoned her daughters as soon as she had paid the weathered old hunter for delivering his information with a bag of coin. Both daughters had dressed for the occasion – Siara in a long green dress, honouring the earth; Gwynned in red – her mother’s favourite colour - so as to honour the fiery Iceni queen.

 

‘I am in love’ said Siara in a mournful tone.

 

Boudica laughed. ‘Love! Ha! You foolish, foolish dolt. Do you think men declare their love for you out of the goodness of their hearts ? No – they tell you such things because you are a princess of this tribe…because they have plotted with their traitorous fathers to settle themselves on the throne. Who is this imbecile you have been lying with ? Tell me his name!’

 

Siara stared at the wooden floor. ‘I hesitate to say…’

 

‘You hesitate to answer your mother and queen ?’

 

‘I do not wish him to come to harm.’

 

‘I will be the one to judge if he is to come to harm – not you, a common slut!’

 

Gwynned stepped forward. ‘My queen, it is incumbent on me, as the eldest sister, to ask that you forgive dear Siara her indiscretion and assure you that I will do everything in my power to prevent…’

 

‘Quiet!’ said Boudica. ‘I have heard enough. I hold you, Gwynned, as guilty as she in this misdemeanour. It was you who facilitated these secret meetings, who acted as the cipher in this despicable affair.’

 

‘It is not true! I did no such thing…’

 

‘You will return to your quarters and sit together so as to ruminate on your transgressions. Then you will come to me tomorrow when I have decided on a suitable punishment. Guards! Escort them. They are not to speak – not to look at anyone. Now, get out of my sight, both of you, before my anger grows even more fierce!’

 

The two Iceni guards standing at the entrance of the royal house waited uncertainly to carry out the queen’s order. Siara and Gwynned bowed to their mother. Then they left the royal house in which the meeting had taken place.

 

‘Do you think she knows that you were together with Amminus ?’ said Gwynned as they were hurried through the village to the long hut where they lived.

 

‘Of course she knows’ said Siara. ‘Her spies have been watching me I am certain. But I will not say the name of my love, I will not!’

 

‘Sister, what will you do ?’ said Gwynned, her voice tinged with nervousness.

 

‘I will send a message to Amminus and we will leave this place once and for all. We will elope, no matter what my mother thinks.’

 

Gwynned gasped. ‘You cannot do such a thing, sister. You cannot give up your duty to the tribe. Our mother will despise you for eternity.’

 

‘She despises me now. She has always done so. You are the eldest, the one who will take the throne. I am nothing to her but an object of derision. I remind her too much of her younger self, before our father chose her to be queen.’

 

‘And what will become of me if you flee with Amminus ?’ said Gwynned. ‘How will I bear the weight of the Iceni throne without you by my side ?’

 

They reached the thatched long house. The guards remained outside after they had entered.

 

‘There is a simple answer’ Siara whispered. ‘Join us, sister. We will create our own kingdom, one that does not answer to our ungrateful mother.’

 

Gwynned closed the door skin and peered at the guards through a gap in the cover. She turned to Siara: ‘What you are saying is treason, sister!’

 

Siara took off her dress. ‘I do not care if what I am saying is treason. Our father will soon take his place among the dead. Then our lives will be subject to our mother’s every whim. I will be married off to some brute from a neighbouring tribe while you will be instructed to carry out her despicable deeds like a common slave.’

 

‘I certainly will not!’ said Gwyyned. ‘I will stand my ground.’

 

‘I am not a thing to be traded for political gain, sister. Sometimes I hate being a princess of our tribe. Sometimes I wish I were a peasant woman who herded cows and cooked broth outside a feeble dwelling for her husband.’

 

Gwynned went to her sister and held her. ‘You poor dear. When I am queen I will allow you to marry Amminus and you will both live within the royal house. Until then we must counsel our mother as best we can.’

 

‘I fear it may be too late’ Siara said. ‘Boudica will lead us to damnation. Her stubbornness will destroy us all.’

 

 

 

4.

 

 

Boudica walked into the king’s room, a room so warm that she felt a sudden yearning for barley mead to cool her throat. She undid the clasp of her cloak and let the garment fall to the floor.

 

‘Are you dead, husband ?’ she whispered.

 

Prasutagus’ eyes were closed, his head slumped to one side. Boudica placed her palm across his mouth, felt the old king’s breath – weak as a mayfly’s wing - brush her hand. As she did so the captain of her guard appeared.

 

‘Well ?’ said Boudica.

 

‘It is done’ he said.

 

He gave Boudica a bag of coin. Boudica nodded, opened the bag. She took two of the coins and placed them in his hand. ‘Now go’ she said. The captain bowed and went on his way.

 

Boudica sat in her wooden chair by the fire, watched the logs crackle in the hearth. She smiled at the thought that Siara and Amminus had coupled behind her back. How like her mother that girl was – disobedient, strong-headed, willing to deceive in order to attain her heart’s desire. Boudica had plied the old hunter with mead as he told his merry tale and she had paid him handsomely with the bag of coin when the story was done. And when he had ambled on his way she ordered her captain to follow him, deep into the forest where the old hunter lived. The hunter could not be allowed to live, not after what he had seen. Now he was at rest, face down in a shallow ditch, a stiff squirrel or two in his coat pocket for company. No one could be allowed to besmirch Siara’s true nature to all and sundry. For Siara would inherit her mother’s crown, even if that meant disposing of her sister - of that Boudica was certain. Why, it had been foretold in a druid’s prophesy. And now, with the sisters’ banishment, Boudica had a chance to engineer its will. The Iceni gods would be pleased if the prophesy came to pass. Boudica would be blessed in the bitter war to come.

 

Go to Parts 5-6 here: Boudica's Daughters 5-6 | ABCtales