Chapter 22

Gemma and Sarah had noticed that Eoric seemed to periodically wander off and sit staring off into space. They began to worry that something was bothering him, that perhaps he was somehow unhappy with one or both of them. The girls agreed to simply ask him what was on his mind. The next time Eoric wandered out into the courtyard they followed him and when he sat on the steps from the house down to the courtyard, they moved in front of him and asked their question.

"Eoric, what is wrong? Why are you shutting yourself away from us?" they asked.

The girls were surprised when Eoric's face blushed a bright red and he stammered when he responded.

"Errr, I'm not shutting myself away from you and nothing is wrong. I've just got some things to work out," he replied.

The girls could tell there was more going on than Eoric was telling them and they pressed him for an answer. Haltingly Eoric explained that he had used his abilities to slightly alter the minds of the East Anglian Queen and King Redwald's chamberlain. He was checking their memories periodically to catch up on any information that might be important to Dalriada.

Once he had explained what he was up to, Eoric looked at the girls to gauge their reaction. He knew tinkering with someone else's mind was a very serious thing and he was still somewhat guilty about having already changed one of Gemma's memories slightly. He was relieved when they made it clear they saw nothing wrong with this remote spying. The girls took the view it was better if their man could gather information while he stayed at home rather than have him away from them once more.

The winter months passed slowly, with the snow shutting everything down for most people. Eoric was still able to move around however, and he could even survive comfortably in the freezing waters of Loch Etive. The village reaped the benefits in the form of the constant supplies of fresh fish he provided and that helped to supplement their diet.

Eoric continued to have a recurring dream that showed the young man winning in battle and claiming the land for the Scots. He had been trying to figure out what the dream meant and who this figure could be. It was while he was talking to the monks about the possibility of them undertaking missionary work in the south, that he identified a clue. One of the monks had used the word Scoti to describe Donachd and the men from Antrim.

"My friend, why do you call Donachd's men the Scoti?" he asked immediately, his interest clear.

"Because that is their ancient name, my lord," the monk had replied, "all of the peoples of Dalriada, both here and in Antrim are Scoti."

Eoric grew thoughtful. Could the use of the word 'Scots' be a reference to the men of Dalriada then? Was the man is his vision claiming more territory for Dalriada? Eoric could picture the image of the man in his head. He looked every inch the King and he now wondered if he was destined to be a great King of Dalriada in the future. He recalled the man had called himself Kenneth mac Alpin and Eoric now made a mental note to try and identify any of the leading chiefs in Dalriada who might have names that were similar. He had experienced a vision that portrayed Eochaid Buide's death and had assumed that Domnall Brec, the King's son, would be the next king. Was it possible that it would be somebody else?

Both of the girls were now showing signs of their pregnancies. Sarah was slightly more advanced than Gemma, but both had swelling stomachs to deal with. The physical evidence of their condition seemed to please them however, and they shared experiences with each other as each new stage developed.

One problem had reared its head once the snows came. The positioning of the settlement might give it a strong defensive position, but it was difficult to walk around the sloping ground when it was covered in snow. The children loved it and they created slides for themselves wherever possible. That made the underfoot conditions even more treacherous and Eoric scratched his head to try and come up with a solution.

Villagers were organised into teams with wooden shovels to clear pathways between the various structures and Eoric split the village up into zones with a team nominated to keep each zone clear. He had also observed that the banks of the loch always seemed to lose their snow quickly and he guessed that the salt water was somehow contributing to the speed with which the snow melted.

He tested out his theory by pouring some seawater onto the snow and watched as the snow did indeed melt. He tried the same with ordinary water and could clearly see it wasn't as effective.

"It's the salt in the seawater, that's what makes the difference," said his inner voice.

Eoric used some energy to create another stone basin, this time close to the loch and he lit a fire under the basin before beginning to fill it with seawater. He organised a rota to continue to feed the fire until three days later the water had all evaporated off and a thin layer of white crystals was left behind.

The crystals were gathered up and Eoric sprinkled some onto the snow. It wasn't long before he could see the snow was melting and he smiled as he felt he now had a complete solution to the slippery rock in the camp.

After refilling the basin with more seawater, he took the first batch of crystals up to the camp and let the villagers sprinkle some on the paths they had already cleared. Very quickly the last vestiges of snow and ice melted and the bare rock was once more safe to walk on.

When the girls realised what Eoric had and that he was using it to throw onto the ground they pounced on him.

"Eoric! That's salt. It's much too valuable to be throwing away. Where did it come from? I've never seen that much salt in one place," said Sarah.

"Safety comes first and if we don't melt the snows someone is going to slip and hurt themselves badly. Anyway, there's plenty more where this came from so you needn't get so upset with me," he replied.

When he explained where the salt had come from the girls wanted to know how he had thought of such a thing. He explained how he had noticed the snow melting beside the loch and had made the connection with the seawater. The girls explained how it could be used to preserve food and also in cooking to help flavour dishes. They both hugged their very clever lover, telling him how wonderful he was.

As the snow melted Eoric had to make further adjustments to the streams and the tunnels coming out of each house to stop them becoming flooded. Ben Cruachan certainly gathered plenty of snow and the volume of water as it melted were huge.

Spring brought a number of significant events. The first was Gemma going into labour. Both of Eoric's girls were worried about this, as she was early and still had a full month to go they had calculated. He was banished from the room despite his protests and he had to sit in the main room of the house and connect with Gemma and Sarah to find out what was going on.

He felt the pain Gemma was experiencing, but also felt the birth of his first son. He remained connected to her and now also connected with this new life. Eoric sensed a presence returning his scrutiny and was so stunned he lost his connection. Before he could focus on re-establishing it, he felt something reaching out to his mind and he let his mouth drop open in wonder as he felt his son connect with him.

There wasn't much to read inside the baby's head, but there was a strong sense of questioning. It was if the infant wanted to know everything at once and Eoric could actually feel the information begin to build itself in baby Angus' mind.

"Are you my father?" came a little voice.

Eoric felt tears of joy stinging his eyes as he tried to reply.

"Yes, my son. Welcome into the world. I can see you are going to develop quickly with the ability to do what you have just done," he projected.

"Oh. I can see from your thoughts that the ability to read minds like this is highly unusual. Should I keep it hidden?"

"I think it might be best for now. I'm coming to see you," Eoric replied.

When Eoric entered the room the baby was wrapped up and Gemma was holding him tightly to her breast. Gemma was amazed when the baby was able to turn its head and a smile spread across its face at the sight of Eoric. She held the bundle out and Eoric took Angus from her.

"Well met, Angus. I hope you're not going to be this impatient for your whole life. You weren't due to be born for another month and you have your two mothers worried about your health. Please let them know you're okay," he said.

Baby Angus turned his head to look at Gemma and gave a strangled squeal. He looked round at Sarah and repeated the noise. The girls knew this could be no coincidence and they looked at Eoric questioningly.

"I think this little one is going to surprise you both with how quickly he develops. He's a smart one alright."

Eoric kissed the baby and handed him back to Gemma then bent to kiss her gently too. He hadn't missed the significance of this premature birth - now Gemma's child was first when it had seemed all along that it would be Sarah's. He put his arm around Sarah's waist and pulled her close so he could kiss her too. He could tell that there were no feelings of resentment from the little Saxon woman at all, just joy at the birth and anticipation that soon she would have her own son to hold.

Several days later, when Eoric was making one of his periodic checks on the Queen and the chamberlain he discovered that Æthelfrith had been active. The King of Northumbria had offered Redwald riches in terms of beasts - horses, cattle and sheep - if he would hand over Edwin. King Edwin of Deira was by now sixteen years of age and Æthelfrith obviously still saw him as a potential threat. His offer also carried a somewhat ominous threat of what would happen if Edwin was not handed over.

Eoric considered this to be a potential opportunity to weaken Æthelfrith. He had tinkered with the East Anglian Queen's mind for just such a chance. He could now work on her so that she would influence Redwald to refuse to hand Edwin over. Hopefully that would lead to bad blood between East Anglia and Northumbria, war even. He could also work on the chamberlain so that he too advised Redwald against complying with Æthelfrith request.

Eoric found a quiet spot and sat down to carry out this task. He gathered up some energy from the earth around him and began to extend himself. He knew that this would be the furthest he had ever tried to reach and had to continue to soak up energy as he sensed his presence speeding southwards.

After a few minutes he felt the Queen's mind and was relieved that everything seemed clear, her thoughts open to him. He planted the suggestion that handing Edwin over to Æthelfrith would be without honour, an act of treachery and sinful in the sight of god. He was surprised to feel the reaction to this last part of the suggestion, as it became clear that the Queen was a deeply religious woman.

It only took a few more minutes to alter the chamberlain's perspective of Æthelfrith's demand too. Eoric fed him thoughts that suggested the East Anglian lords and people would be set against Edwin being handed over. If Redwald was to take such a course, his own position as king would be seriously undermined. He added in the suggestion that Æthelfrith might have designs on expanding Northumbria by invading East Anglia for good measure and when he had finished he was happy that the planted thoughts had taken hold. Now all he had to do was sit back and see how his suggestions worked.

Two weeks after the birth if Angus, Sarah went into labour and one of the older women from the village attended her. Gemma wanted to perform this task, but Eoric had forbidden her from being out of bed for too long. The princess had lost blood during her own delivery and he was taking no chances.

This time Eoric was prepared when he sensed the questioning presence of the new infant that told him Connal had been born.

"Welcome into the world, my son," he projected.

"Where am I? Why am I here? Who are you?" came a little voice.

Eoric couldn't stop himself from smiling. Seconds old and already so many questions.

"Reach out with your mind and you will be able to find the answers to all of your questions, Connall," Eoric responded.

"Father? Ah, I see now and I understand that I must keep my abilities hidden. I can feel the presence of another and your thoughts tell me he is my brother. Angus?"

"Yes, his name is Angus and you should be able to speak to him as you are doing with me now," Eoric replied.

He felt the connection end and assumed that Connall was searching for his brother.

"I cease to be surprised by what happens around you, Eoric. But mark my words, these two are going to be a handful. They might have inherited at least some of your abilities, but they will be full of mischief like all other children. They will be almost like a pair of Bauchailleen!" came Merlin's voice from inside him.

Eoric chuckled anew at Merlin's suggestion. He accepted that life with the two boys was not going to be dull. Already he was looking forward to it. He quietly admitted to himself that it would be good to have others around him with similar abilities.