Chapter 6:

The God hadn't been able to see Emrys once he'd become Dylan.  Before, he would have, but a veil hung over Gwynedd, obscuring the God's view.

Unknown to Emrys, Cadell had obscured the land, hiding himself from the God's sight.  The God couldn't see him at all. 

It had taken the death of a noble, the king's own wizard.  Killing him hadn't been easy.  It would have been impossible, had he not been able to use the hatred Merfyn, the king's brother, felt for the wizard. 
Merfyn thought he had killed the wizard for reasons of his own, but he'd been acting out a script written by Cadell.

A blood wizard, Cadell served Nysrogh, not the God.

With the God blinded, Cadell had been able to cause the sickness that had killed the queen.  That, in turn, had enabled him to cast a spell on the king, so that he dwelt on the death of his queen, not on the rule of his kingdom. 

One death led to another.  With each, Nysrogh and Cadell became more powerful.  Just two more deaths and he could kill the king and his brat. 

With them dead, the God would be chained, wrapped in chains wrought of their blood, but first Merfyn would have to accept Nysrogh as his lord.  He would have to give his sons as blood sacrifice.  Only their royal blood would blind the God to the killing of the king and his son.

All else had been done.  Cadell had won over Heddwynn, with promises of immortality and power.  Merfyn, he hadn't yet approached.  He wouldn't until all was ready, until he was ready to sacrifice Merfyn's sons and kill the king and his son. 

He knew Merfyn wanted to be king.  He also had proof that Merfyn had killed Rheinallt, the king's wizard. 

Would Merfyn sacrifice his own sons to be king, though?  Cadell thought he would.  He hated his brother more than he loved his sons.  Besides, he could promise Merfyn immortality, just as he had promised Heddwynn. 

Once the God was chained,  with annual sacrifices of the sons of nobles,  one boy for each of them killed on Nos Calan Gawaf, immortality could be theirs.  He hadn't lied to Heddwynn, but neither did he need him once Merfyn was king -- once Nysrogh ruled Gywnnedd.

* * *

Heddwynn looked in on his two boys, Folant, twelve, and Glynn, eight.  They were asleep in their beds.  He was doing it for them, he told himself.  He'd become a traitor for them. 

Although he commanded the king's guard, it was little more than a police force, so long had Gynnedd been at peace.  As long as Gwaid was king, that wouldn't change.

Oh, he was wealthy enough.  His men collected his taxes as well as the king's.  The king hadn't ruled since his queen had died.  His brother ruled in all but name, and he turned a blind eye to the illegal taxes Heddwynn collected as long as Heddwynn gave him his share. 

Still, there had been complaints to the king.  Some day the king might wake up and decide to rule.  Then where would Heddwynn be, if his graft were exposed?

Besides wealth, he wanted glory and power.  He dreamed of leading great armies in battle, his sons at his side. 

Merfyn, were he king, wouldn't be satisfied to sit behind Gynnedd's borders.  He would want to rule more than Gynnedd.  Maybe, like Heddwynn, he would want to rule the world; and with the backing of Cadell, the king's wizard, they could.

There was a price to pay, though.  Not from the God, did Cadell  obtain his power, but from Nysrogh.  He was a blood wizard, obtaining his power from blood sacrifice, the more noble the victim, the greater the power gained from the sacrifice. 

Descended from the God, the nobility were best loved by the God.  Of his own blood, their blood held power no commoner's blood had.  Nysrogh, feasting on the souls of the sacrificed gained power, giving power in return to Cadell, enabling him to perform magic. 

More than one boy, sons of lesser nobles, had disappeared, kidnapped by rogues employed by Cadell.  He had drained them of their blood, sacrificing their souls to Nysrogh.

Heddwynn had command of the only army present in Gynnedd.  Other than the king's healer, a wizard whose magic specialized in healing, Cadell was the only wizard in the land. 

Still, without Merfyn, they wouldn't be able to usurp the throne from the king.  Gwaid was protected by the God, and protected as he was, he couldn't be killed, not as long as the God watched over him. 

First they would have to blind the God, then kill the king and his son.  With their blood, the God would be chained, and Nysrogh would rule in Gynnedd with Merfyn as his king.

All it would cost him was his soul.

But Heddwynn didn't know whether he had a soul.  According to the God's priests, nobles themselves, only nobles, descendents of the God, looked on his face after death. 

For others, perhaps death was the end.  Although Cadell had become commander of the king's guard, he was of common stock., possessing no noble blood.

Perhaps, he would never have to find out.  Cadell had also promised him immortality.  Given enough sacrifices of noble blood, Cadell said they could live forever, the three of them, Cadell, Merfyn, and himself.  As long as they fed Nysrogh other souls, he would forgo taking theirs.  And given enough time, couldn't they rule the world?

Without Merfyn, though, they wouldn't succeed.  He was of royal blood.  Only the sacrifice of his sons, freely given by their father, would blind the God, allowing them to kill the king and his son. 

Merfyn would first have to accept Nysrogh as his lord, then give his sons in sacrifice to him.  Nysrogh would use those sacrifices to blind the God long enough for them to kill the king and his son. 

Then Merfyn would be king, and the God would be chained and powerless.  Nysrogh would feed off him, becoming all the more powerful.

Would Merfyn sacrifice his sons for power?  He wanted to be king.  Of that, Heddwynn was certain.  But was it worth his sons to him? 

Would he, Heddwynn, give his sons, if asked?  He wanted power.  He wanted immortality.  But he loved his sons.

They were different, the two of them.  Folant, the older, was already training to be a soldier, and in two more years would be accepted into the king's guard. 

Heddwynn was proud of him.  He worked hard, never complaining or shirking any task appointed to him.  He often spared with the prince and was the only boy who had come close to defeating him, the only boy his age to compete with him. 

A son like him would make any father proud.

Glynn, the younger son, was gentle and loving.  A child, he was not yet too big to be kissed and was young enough to be pleased when his father brought him a gift.  He had a smile that lit up his face and warmed his father's heart. 

Heddwynn might be a traitor, but he loved his family, keeping them separate from his conspiracy.  He was glad that it was Merfyn's sons, who were needed, not his.