Rebel Read online

  Other Books

  by Linda Windsor

  HISTORICAL FICTION

  Fires of Gleannmara Trilogy

  Maire

  Riona

  Deirdre

  The Brides of Alba Trilogy

  Healer

  Thief

  Rebel

  CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

  Piper Cove Chronicles

  Wedding Bell Blues

  For Pete’s Sake

  Moonstruck Series

  Paper Moon

  Fiesta Moon

  Blue Moon

  Along Came Jones

  It Had to Be You

  Not Exactly Eden

  Hi Honey, I’m Home

  NOVELLAS

  Brides of the Emerald Isle

  (with Vickie McDonough, Pamela Griffin, and Tamela Hancock Murray)

  Unlikely Angels

  (with Annie Jones, Diane Noble, and Barbara Hicks)

  REBEL

  Published by David C Cook

  4050 Lee Vance View

  Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

  David C Cook Distribution Canada

  55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

  David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

  Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

  David C Cook and the graphic circle C logo

  are registered trademarks of Cook Communications Ministries.

  All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

  no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

  without written permission from the publisher.

  The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

  This story is a work of fiction. All characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.)

  LCCN 2012935340

  ISBN 978-1-4347-6476-8

  eISBN 978-0-7814-0868-4

  © 2012 Linda Windsor

  Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard St., Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920

  The Team: Don Pape, Ramona Tucker, Amy Konyndyk, Caitlyn York, Karen Athen

  Cover Design: DogEared Design, Kirk DouPonce

  First Edition 2012

  To my mom and children,

  for their continued support and sacrifices to allow

  me time to research and write this novel.

  My son Jeff’s by-the-Good-Book faith helped keep me grounded,

  while my daughter, Kelly, challenged me to find ways to fish for men

  who discount Scripture from the other side of the boat.

  To David C Cook,

  for all their efforts to make this project the best it can be.

  And finally, to my heavenly Father,

  the Great Creator who continues to show me how to fish in places

  I never would have looked. Thank You, Jesus, for Your love and grace.

  Contents

  Note to the Reader

  Character List

  Genealogies of Britain and Ireland’s Historical Traditions

  Map

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Epilogue

  AfterWords

  Historical Aftermath

  Glossary

  Arthurian Characters

  The Grail Palace

  Bibliography

  Scripture References

  About the Author

  Dear Reader,

  A magazine article explaining what happened to the Davidic line after the nation of Israel scattered (1 and 2 Kings) started me on a research journey that resulted in this Brides of Alba series. Throughout the series, we learn of the Grail Church, formed specifically to preserve not just the Grail treasures, but two blessed bloodlines—the Davidic bloodline, preserved by the sixth-century BC marriage of Zedekiah’s daughter to the Milesian High King of Ireland, and the apostolic bloodline established in first-century Britain by Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus’s close circle of family and friends. Tradition holds that the lines exist through Britain’s modern royals. At the most, it’s plausible, given the numerous sources (some are listed in the Bibliography), and at the least, ’tis great fuel for fiction. I leave the rest to the reader to discern. (For more information on the Grail Church and the sacred bloodlines in Albion’s history, see Arthurian Characters on p. 361 and The Grail Palace on p. 365).

  In Healer, Book One, I introduced the O’Byrne brothers—Ronan, Caden, and Alyn. Their clan’s twenty-year feud, a result of the Grail Church’s arranged matches gone awry, is ended when a wounded, bitter heart and a lonely, forgiving one come together to heal the breach, proving all things are possible with God’s healing love.

  In the second book, Thief, I found a delightful old Scottish proverb that became the middle brother Caden’s theme: “Love of our neighbor is the only door out of the dungeon of self.” After being the villain in Book One, Caden needed a door out of his prison of exile and shame. But don’t we all have a prison of some kind? Mine is occasional dips in chemical depression. Sometimes I have to force myself out of my “cell” when I don’t feel like it. The reward is relief from my own troubles and the joy of helping someone else. In Thief, escaping his prison sets Caden free to live and love again. Even if his heart—and purse—are stolen by his match in mischief and in love.

  Now in Book Three, Rebel, Alyn O’Byrne doubts his calling into the priesthood after an alchemical accident in the East leaves the scholar riddled with guilt. He returns home, wounded and running from his destiny—and lands in the midst of court intrigue, church politics, and a marriage to a woman carrying another man’s child. While Lady Kella gets a hard-earned lesson in the difference between love stolen in shame and the wonder and forgiveness of God’s unconditional love, Alyn becomes an example of how God does not call the able but enables His called. So, like us, both are flawed, both have doubts, but a flicker of faith is enough for God to use them for His glory and good.

  Behind their stories is a setting filled with little-known traditions of Britain’s early history and church that shed light on the Arthurian legends buried in the mists of time. This setting is the late sixth-century Scotland of Arthur, prince of Dalraida, the only historically documented Arthur.

  Most scholarly sources point to Arthur, Merlin, and even Guinevere/Gwenhyfar as titles, so it’s easy to see why the Age of Arthur lasted over one hundred years. The Dark Ages become even darker when you consider that there was no standard for dating and even the records that exist are written in at least four different
languages. Neither names, dates, place names, nor translations are completely reliable. So I quote eighth-century historian Nennius: “I have made a heap of all I could find.”

  I read and reread Scripture as I worked on this project and endeavored to show how nature magic or early science, medicine, and astrology were studied and practiced by Christian priests, druids, and nonbelieving druids. It is their fruit—good or evil—and to whom they gave the glory for their knowledge and success that separates the wheat from the chaff. Imagine the fine line a priest and scholar such as Alyn walked. It’s no wonder he found himself in doubt at times.

  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:1–3)

  Bear in mind that druid in that time was a word for any professional—doctors, judges, poets, teachers, and protoscientists, as well as priests. Druid meant “teacher, rabbi, magi, or master,” not the dark, hooded stereotype assumed by many today. Alyn, though an ordained Christian priest, also qualified as a druid in this context. He saw beyond the parables, which he cherished and taught as a priest.

  And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. (Luke 8:10)

  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:5)

  In Matthew 10, verses 1–5, Christ equips the disciples with power over disease and demons. But He goes on to tell them not to use these gifts to amass fortune and recognition for themselves. They are instructed to go in poverty and depend on the generosity of those they help for their basic needs. Instead of glory and praise, they are to expect hostility sometimes.

  This series endeavors to show the Christian perspective of the mysteries of God—the science that was often considered by the uneducated as magic and its use for good and glorifying God, versus its use for self-edification and glorifying the unbelieving druidic scholars. It demonstrates that the more man understands of creation, the more reverence he should have for the Creator. Woven through all of the above is the emphasis on worshipping the Creator, not the creation.

  And since the church is made up of humans with all their flaws, the story begs the reader not to throw out the sinless Christ with the dirty church water. I once had done that myself as a college student, after seeing hypocrisy in the church and learning of the church’s many dastardly historical deeds. Praise God, I came full circle.

  My hope is to demonstrate the differences between Christianity, or Creator worship, and New Age thinking, which is really the Dark Age creation worship revisited. The reader will learn how much we have in common with nonbelievers and where we differ, so that we might build on our commonality a bridge to Jesus Christ. Maybe it will keep another from leaving the faith of their childhood or enable the reader to witness more effectively for Christ to those obsessed with man’s knowledge and creation.

  I mentioned in my last book how my daughter had been stalked and assaulted in college, blamed God and turned against Him, and became involved in Wicca, or white witchcraft. It was through research of the Dark Ages that I learned, by God’s grace, to witness to her effectively when she would not hear anything from the Word. I continue to include this type of faith-affirming information in Rebel.

  Everyone knows the story of how the disciples fished all night to no avail. Then Jesus told them to try the other side of the vessel. They did and netted a boatload. My child would not listen to Scripture, but Celtophile that she was and is, she was all ears about the history and oral traditions of that era and culture, which evolved into many of today’s New Age beliefs. These historical and oral traditions underscored or clarified what Scripture revealed and separated the sheep from the goats.

  The results of my fishing for my daughter were not as instant as the results the disciples saw. Our journey took many years before my daughter was ready to jump into the boat. But the net had been cast and repeatedly mended each time I found something new to share—some common ground to draw her to Christ. Both mother and daughter have emerged stronger from that storm—stronger in faith, friendship, and love. We still love the Celtic music, history, and lore of our heritage but know now what a vital part God played in it. I share this story because maybe someone out there needs to know how to approach a beloved nonbeliever who will not hear Scripture or traditional witness but must be reached from the other side of the boat.

  This is my calling. To reach out and enable others to reach out effectively to those who are swimming on the other side of the boat from the written Word—using a net that will bring them to Christ, the Living Word.

  Gone fishing,

  CHARACTER LIST

  * Indicates a historical character/place

  ** These Arthurian characters have been so mythicized that some scholars would say they never existed, while others would place them in different time periods. The references used in Rebel put them in the late sixth century and list them as historical. Arthur of Dalraida is known to have existed as evidenced in historical records of the time.

  *GODODDIN

  Angus—a name and a title of Queen Gwenhyfar’s protector king of Strighlagh (Stirling); capital of Gododdin

  *Arthur—High King or warrior leader of the Cymri kings (brotherhood of the Welsh and Britons); historic prince of Dalraida; no kingdom of his own except Gododdin through marriage to its queen, Gwenhyfar

  **Elyan—prince of Gododdin; Gwenhyfar’s brother

  **Gwenhyfar—queen of Gododdin; Arthur’s second or third wife; high priestess of the Grail Church; a Pictish princess born in Meikle

  O’BYRNE Clan of Glenarden

  (colors are red, black, and silver/gray)

  Aeda—Tarlach’s late royal Pictish wife; mother to Ronan, Caden, and Alyn

  Alyn—Tarlach and Aeda’s third son

  Brenna—Ronan’s wife; lady of Glenarden; a gifted healer; formerly of the Gowrys subclan

  Caden—see Trebold

  Conall—Brenna and Ronan’s son; older brother to Joanna

  Daniel of Gowrys—prince of Gowrys; friend of Alyn; cousin of Brenna

  Egan O’Toole—Glenarden’s champion

  Ervan—son of Vychan and Glenarden’s new steward

  Fatin—an African monkey; gift to Alyn from Prince Hassan at the Baghdad School of Wisdom

  Joanna—Ronan and Brenna’s daughter; named after Brenna’s late mother

  Kella O’Toole—daughter of Egan O’Toole and the late Wynn of Erin; foster sister to Ronan, Caden, and Alyn; scribe to Queen Gwenhyfar

  Rhianon—Caden’s deceased wife from Gwynedd of North Wales; daughter of Idwal and Enda; mistress of Tunwulf in Din Guardi; practiced witchcraft

  Ronan—Tarlach and Aeda’s eldest son; the Glenarden king/chieftain

  Tarlach—Alyn’s late father and former clan chief/king also known as “the Glenarden”; of royal Irish descent (Davidic bloodline)

  Teilo—Welsh bard; children’s tutor at Glenarden

  Vychan—Glenarden’s late steward

  Wynn of Erin—Kella’s mother; died in childbirth

  TREBOLD

  Aelwyn—Sorcha and Caden’s daughter; named after Sorcha’s late adopted mother, tavern owner and singer/scop who was a former gleeman with her best friend, Gemma

  Caden—Tarlach and Aeda of Glenarden’s second son; brother to Alyn and Ronan

  Eadric—Sorcha’s cousin; a master bard

  Ebyn—adopted son of Sorcha and Caden; rescued by Sorcha when his parents sold him

  Gemma—femal
e dwarf; like a second mother to Sorcha

  Lachlan and Rory—Caden and Sorcha’s twin sons

  Sorcha—Caden’s bardic wife; foster mother of Ebyn, and mother to Aelwyn and twin boys Rory and Lachlan; Myrna’s daughter; Aelwyn’s foster daughter

  PERTH

  Beathan—Fortingall’s druidic adviser

  *Bridei (Brude)—Overking of the whole Pictish nation

  Brisen—healing woman

  Drust—chief king of the southern Picts; cousin to Brude/Bridei (High King of all Picts)

  Elkmar—Prince Lorne’s captain

  Garnait—a prince; chief of the Miathi of Dumyat

  Goll—shoemaker in Crief

  Heilyn—Fortingal’s Christian queen

  Idwyr—druid/wizard of the Miathi

  Lorne of Errol—a prince of Perth; Kella’s betrothed

  Mairead—Grail high priestess of Mons Seion near Fortingall

  *Miathi—rebellious border tribe with stronghold at Dumyat

  KINGDOM OF LOTHIAN

  *Aethelfrith—Modred’s ambitious Saxon ally who overtook the Northumbrian throne after Hussa’s death, exiling his cousin, the rightful prince, Hering

  **Modred—king of Lothian; priest of the Celtic Church; Arthur’s cousin; son of Morgause and the late Cennalath of the Orkneys

  **Morgause—mother of Modred; aunt to Arthur; queen of the Orkneys; abbess of the Celtic Church

  RHEGED

  *Llywarch Hen—king of South Rheged

  *Merlin Emrys—Arthur of Dalraida’s late merlin adviser from Powys in Wales

  **Morgein—wife to Urien of Rheged; sister to Arthur; daughter to Aedan of Dalraida

  Ninian—Merlin Emrys’s protégé; abbess of the Grail Church

  *Taliesen—Rheged’s historical bard; author of The Book of Taliesen

  *Urien of Rheged—historical king of North Rheged; successor to Arthur as warrior-king leader of the kings of the north; immortalized in Aneirin’s Y Gododdin