Chronicle of Ages by Traci Harding Page B

before this time.
    When my appointed hast served his time, the Council shall appoint another who shall answer to me directly and also protect the best interests of the Tylwyth Teg. If such an appointed one be not to our liking I shall make ye aware of it, so choose thy High King wisely. Most of the events of thisnight will be a blur, for ye will maintain only that knowledge required to carry out the resolve we have reached this day. Except for thee, druid … Gwyn ap Nudd turned his attention to Selwyn. Thy memory remains intact, for it be thy penance to remember.
    Selwyn bowed his head sorrowfully, accepting the Lord’s punishment.
    The otherworldly warrior then rose up into the sky to supervise the retreat of his forces.
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    Upon finally reaching his destination, Samson beheld the bloody massacre at Craig-y-Ddinas. The rulers of five kingdoms, and a few of their kin, were the only people still alive at the site. They stood observing the same being who had addressed him just before sunrise.
    The Lord of the Night began spinning as he rose, whereby he transformed into a glowing tornado of energy. This mass suddenly exploded and thousands of tiny lights were shot out in all directions. The tiny balls of energy raced out over the site and beyond, each in search of a corpse to alight upon. As a single tiny light made contact with a victim, the life of that body was restored.
    â€˜Dear God!’ Samson was amazed beyond reason as severed limbs found their owners and healed without a trace. Weapons of impalement removed themselves from their victims and the dead and rotting construction workers arose to life.
    One of the glistening elemental orbs alighted on Cara’s forehead and she closed her eyes as a wave of physical relief washed over her and all her injuries faded away.
    Vortipor put an arm about her waist as she seemed to become a little light-headed. ‘How dost thou fare?’
    Cara opened her eyes and smiled. ‘Wonderful.’ She looked to her husband as she scanned her memory for the emotional hurt she had sustained. ‘I know what I have been subject to this night, and yet the vivid recollection of the event completely escapes me.’ Cara was grateful for that. But had Conan’s seed been removed from her body during the healing process? Would a conception be considered a battle wound in her case?
    Maelgwn surprised Tory with a long and meaningful hug, and she was happy to indulge his whim. ‘What did I do to deserve this?’ She fished for information.
    â€˜I have no idea,’ Maelgwn told her without letting up from the embrace. ‘I just have this need to hold thee.’
    All Tory remembered was a dress of flowers and seeing Selwyn, but nothing beyond that. She was now dressed in the riding clothes she’d worn to Llyn Cerrig Bach.
    â€˜So thou dost not remember last night either?’ Tory quizzed more directly.
    â€˜Not a damn thing,’ Maelgwn confessed, pulling back to look at her.
    â€˜Selwyn!’ both Tory and Maelgwn resolved at once.
    By the time the High King and his Queen had scaled the steep rise to the plateau of ‘the Rock of Fortress’, there was no trace of the Druid.
    â€˜Okay …’ Tory began to try and rationalise their situation. ‘Gwyn ap Nudd hast been appeased; we have no clue how, but …?’ She shrugged off that mystery for the moment. ‘Then what hast become of Conan?’
    â€˜Excuse I, Highnesses .’ Brockwell stressed the formality of Maelgwn’s new appointment, as he beckoned them back down the steep incline. ‘Bryce hast had an interesting thought.’
    As Tory and Maelgwn joined their allies down in the vale, Samson had made his way to the gathering of Kings also.
    â€˜What devilish transaction hast transpired here today?’ The Bishop demanded an answer. ‘What have ye done with Prince Conan?’
    Brockwell looked to the Bishop with contempt. ‘Whatever hast