The Uninvited Guest (11 page)

“
We needed some place
private.” Gwen sat on a low stool while her brother perched on an
overturned crate. It was cold in the pantry and both had wrapped
their cloaks around their bodies and tucked their hands inside to
keep them warm.

“
I can see that,” Gareth
said. “No explanation is necessary, at least not to me. Did you
discover something?”

“
Gwalchmai has,” Gwen
said.

Gareth gave him a hard look. Gwalchmai
seemed to have grown two inches since Gareth had seen him last.
That couldn’t be good news for Meilyr if Gwalchmai’s voice was
about to change. Gareth hadn’t heard it in his singing last night,
but from the boy’s changing shape, it was only a matter of time.
“You’re not taking after your sister, are you?”

“
Of course not,” Gwen
said.

Gwalchmai shot Gwen a nervous glance before
clearing his expression. Gareth looked from one to another. He took
one step down into the room, and let go of the door frame. “You’ve
been working for her, haven’t you, Gwalchmai?”

Gwalchmai swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.”

Gareth turned on Gwen. “This isn’t a game,
Gwen. What if he uncovered something that got him hurt? You were
taken to Dublin because of such a misunderstanding!”

“
I know that, Gareth.”
Gwen’s voice was all patience. “But he was spying at the keyholes
anyway. Nobody notices a small boy—”

“
I was twelve two months
ago!”

Gwen ignored the outrage in her brother’s
voice “—even one as remarkable as Gwalchmai. I can’t stop him from
listening in on conversations he shouldn’t be a party to, but I can
teach him to be smarter about what he hears.”

Gareth chewed on his lip as he studied her.
She’d crossed her arms across her chest and her chin stuck out. He
turned on his heel to look at Gwalchmai. “All right. I’ll listen.
What did you discover?”

Gwalchmai leaned forward eagerly. “You know
what it feels like to stand at the front of the hall when it’s
full, right? You can see everything. Everyone turns towards you and
sometimes each face is a blur, and sometimes it’s like you can see
what each person is thinking.”

Gwalchmai shot Gwen a nervous glance but she
nodded to him. Gareth nodded too, though not with the same
understanding as Gwen, who patted Gwalchmai’s knee to urge him
on.

“
Last night, during King
Owain’s speech, I watched faces. Enid got up from her seat while
King Owain was speaking and walked out of the hall. She didn’t
return until after the attempted murder. Father and I were well
into our singing by then.”

Gareth turned to Gwen. “Why would Enid leave
in the middle of King Owain’s speech?”

“
There’s more.” Gwalchmai
looked down at his feet and Gareth could see his toes wiggling
beneath the leather. “I … uh … asked around a bit
afterwards.”

“
You didn’t!” Gwen said. “I
told you not to stick your neck out!”

Gareth didn’t say
I told you so
, though he
would have been justified in doing so. Instead, he said, “You might
as well tell us what you discovered.”

“
She met with a man, by the
corner of the stables. Alun was just coming from the latrine when
he saw them. It was dark and the man had his hood up so Alun didn’t
recognize him.”

“
That’s not so
unusual—either the meeting with the man or Alun not knowing him,”
Gwen said. “Enid met with many men, apparently” (she had the grace
not to look at Gareth) “and Aber is full of men I don’t
know.”

Gwalchmai shrugged. “Maybe so, but Alun said
the man pressed something into her hand and disappeared back into
the stables. Alun was in a hurry, since he knew he was missing King
Owain’s speech too. He didn’t think of it again until I started
asking questions.”

“
Of whom did you ask
questions, Gwalchmai?” Gwen said.

“
Not too many people,”
Gwalchmai said. “All I had to do was bring up the dead girl, and
that she was beautiful …”

“
Did you mention that you
saw her leave the hall?” Gareth tried to keep the urgency out of
his tone so as not to scare the boy, but by the wary look on
Gwalchmai’s face, he didn’t think he was entirely
successful.

“
Only after Alun said
something about seeing her last night,” Gwalchmai said. “I swear
it!”

“
Who else was with you when
you spoke to Alun?” Gwen said.

Gwalchmai’s brow furrowed
as he thought. “Iorwerth, of course, plus some other men in the
garrison who sat at the table. Prince Rhun stopped by at one point,
I think. Lord Taran and Lord Tomos were sitting at the far end with
several men from King Owain’s
teulu
. Nobody to worry about. I
wouldn’t have said anything at all if Prince Cadwaladr had been
there.”

Gareth eyed Gwalchmai. He was innocent
enough that he hadn’t balked at saying that name, the one they’d
been trying so hard not to think on. “Have you heard anything to
suggest that Cadwaladr is behind the attack on the king, or the
murder of Enid?”

“
I don’t know if he killed
Enid, but rumor has it that he hired the man who tried to kill King
Owain,” Gwalchmai said. “It has to have been him. That’s what
everyone is saying.”

Gareth clapped Gwalchmai on the shoulder.
“Thank you, Gwalchmai. Your information is extremely helpful.”

“
I do know how to be
discreet. I promise,” Gwalchmai said.

Gareth grunted his not-quite-approval and
held out his arm for Gwen to take. As they headed back through the
kitchen, she said what he’d been thinking. “I wouldn’t be sorry if
it were him, but Cadwaladr does make a convenient scapegoat,
doesn’t he? It would be easy enough to whisper Cadwaladr’s name
here and there and get people talking.”

“
Makes you wonder if the
real killer has thought of that, doesn’t it?” Gareth
said.

Chapter Nine

G
wen and Gareth stopped dead in their tracks as they entered
the great hall. If they’d thought it full when they’d left it with
Hywel and Taran to inspect the assassin’s cell, it was packed to
the rafters now. It appeared as if everyone had been waiting for
one of them to come through the hall, because their joint arrival
brought half the crowd to their feet, craning their necks to see
who had come in, while the other half elbowed a neighbor in hopes
of discovering one tiny scrap of information that they hadn’t known
before.

“
What’s happening?” Prince
Rhun had been seated on the dais with several of Cristina’s
bridesmaids—Mari and Rhiannon among them—but now scooted back his
chair and approached Gareth and Gwen. “We have to tell our
guests
something
.

“
I don’t know what to tell
them,” Gareth said. “A man—a boy, really—tried to murder your
father last night, and now we have the dead body of Cristina’s
cousin, Enid, to deal with.”

“
And I hear the assassin
has escaped and Lord Goronwy was found in the cell in his place!”
Rhun said. “I was assuring Rhiannon just now that it couldn’t be
true.”

“
It is true that the
assassin escaped,” Gwen said. “But I have no idea how the nonsense
about Lord Goronwy got started. He was ill this morning, but is in
his own room.”

Prince Rhun gazed at the two of them, his
hands on his hips and his mouth working, though no sound came out.
So rarely was this prince discomfited that Gwen didn’t know how to
respond to him. “People are wondering if they should fear for their
lives,” Rhun said. “We could have a panicked run for the gate if
we’re not careful.”

“
Your father can’t allow
everyone to leave,” Gareth said. “The one thing we do know is that
one of them—one of the people in the hall right now—is the
killer.”

Rhun smoothed his mustache along his cheeks.
The motion caught Gwen’s attention and she focused on his fingers.
She’d never noticed how small Rhun’s hands were. Gareth’s were like
serving platters in comparison. She stared at them, finding her
throat closing over the words of comfort she’d been planning to
say. To her relief, Rhun neither wore a raised ring nor had fresh
scratches along his left forearm, which his open sleeve
revealed.

“
Gwen?” Rhun looked at her
closely.

She shook herself. “For what it’s worth, we
don’t believe everyone is in danger. These attacks were not random,
my lord. They have purpose. We will find the pattern. It’s just
that it’s only been a few hours since we found Enid. We need more
time.”

Rhun turned his head to gaze at the crowd of
guests, who seemed to have settled somewhat as Gwen and Gareth
talked with Rhun. “My father is worried. We have to do
something.”

“
We’re doing all we can,”
Gareth said.

“
Of course you are.”
Although Rhun’s jaw clenched, he forced a smile—perhaps to show
confidence and unconcern to his people who were watching him—and
clapped a hand on Gareth’s shoulder. “And I’m keeping you. Continue
your work.”

By the time Gwen found a stool in Hywel’s
office, she’d convinced herself that she was crazed to think Rhun
had anything to do with Enid’s murder. The man was as close to an
innocent as a prince could be.

Gareth leaned against the wall by the
window, his arms folded across his chest. The silence between them
stretched out as they waited for Hywel to return from settling Lady
Jane. Gwen studied the grains in the wood floor. She could keep
herself entertained for a long time with them if it meant she
didn’t have to think difficult thoughts. While she and Gareth had
been busy over the last hours, they’d had no trouble talking, but
now that they were alone and quiet, it wasn’t so easy.

Gwen picked up a biscuit
from the remains of the breakfast Hywel had left on his
desk.
“Do we know anything at all, for
sure?”

“
I know I want to marry
you,” Gareth said.

Gwen stopped with the biscuit half-way to
her mouth. She set it down. “Do you really?” All of a sudden, tears
pricked at her eyes and she bent her head to hide them. A fat
droplet plopped onto the fabric of her dress.

Gareth left the wall and knelt on one knee
in front of her. “Yes, Gwen. My feelings for you haven’t changed.
Not in five years. Do you believe me?”

Gwen nodded, though she still didn’t look at
Gareth. She wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. “Why did
all this have to happen now?” A wail of self-pity rose in her
throat.

“
Murder and treachery has
never been rare in a royal court, Gwen. You know that.” He reached
up and caught a tear from the tip of Gwen’s eyelash. “It’s just our
bad luck to have two so close together that require our attention.”
Gareth ducked his head. “Do you still want to marry me?”

“
Yes,” Gwen said, sure of
that at least, if she was sure of nothing else.

Gareth stood, lifting her to her feet. He
ran a finger along the line of her jaw, and then bent his head to
kiss her.

She clutched at his shoulders, her head
spinning as he released her. “It is a little strange to think we
could be married in a few days,” she said. “Owain and Cristina have
had nothing but uproar around their wedding plans.”

“
What would a wedding at
Aber be without a murder?” Gareth said.

Gwen gave him a teary smile. “True.”

“
Do you want a big wedding
with many guests, too?” Gareth said. “We could delay as long as
needed to prepare—”

Gwen shook her head. “No, no. I don’t want
that.”

Gareth took her face in his hands. “I want
you to wear my ring. I want you to be my wife. How that comes about
matters not at all to me as long as it does.”

“
Have you spoken to my
father since you returned?” Gwen said.

Gareth barked a laugh. “I knew I’d forgotten
something.” He rolled his eyes, making Gwen laugh too. “With all
this going on, I never mentioned it—”

Pounding feet and shouts came along the
corridor, reaching a crescendo as they neared their door.

“
Oh no,” Gwen said. “More?
It’s not even noon!”

Gareth turned towards the door. Gwen plopped
back onto her seat. They’d know soon enough what had happened and
how bad it was. Sure enough, a moment later, Evan appeared in the
doorway. “Lord Hywel said I could find you here. He requests your
presence.”

“
I bet he does,” Gwen said,
under her breath.

Gareth shot Gwen a quelling look. She smiled
back at him beatifically.

“
What’s happened now?”
Gareth said to Evan.

Evan shook his head. “Just come.”

They followed him into the great hall where
King Owain was waving his hands above his head, trying to get the
crowd around him to be quiet. At the sight of Gwen and Gareth, he
gestured over the heads of the onlookers and the pair shoved
forward to reach him.

“
Look at that.” King Owain
said, pointing to a twisted effigy of two dolls—him and Cristina
presumably—hanging inside the massive fireplace. The dolls had been
singed all along their length. “The curse again. It seems to have
come as an uninvited guest to my wedding. I have no choice but to
postpone the ceremony now.”

“
Owain! My lord, no! Don’t
say that!” Cristina edged through the far doorway and planted
herself in front of the King.

Gwen had been thinking a great deal about
her own wedding yet had all but forgotten that this wedding was
supposed to take place by early afternoon that very day. Cristina
must have been crawling the walls, wondering whether or not she
should array herself accordingly.