The Uninvited Guest (33 page)

Cadwaladr blinked, opened his mouth to
argue, but then without further protest, broke into a staggering
run, one arm pressed against his rib cage. Gareth joined him, his
own ribs aching with the effort. They ran a hundred yards, and then
two hundred, and then their trail turned north and opened onto the
main road that would take them west to Caerhun.

“
I hoped we were close,”
Gareth said.

Cadwaladr took the opportunity to stop
again. He bent over, his hands on his knees. “You are a hard
task-master.”

“
I want to live,” Gareth
said. It really was that simple.

They started down the main road, but had
gone no more than fifty yards when two horsemen appeared at the top
of the rise ahead of them.

“
Oh no,” Cadwaladr
said.

A moan began in Gareth’s gut and rose
through his body. One of the horsemen pointed at Gareth, who fell
to his knees. He couldn’t go another step.

“
Come on!” Cadwaladr
grasped Gareth’s arm, trying to get him to move, but no matter how
much Gareth wanted to see Gwen again, he couldn’t rise. Instead, he
began to crawl towards the side of the road. Cadwaladr staggered
and gasped beside him. Anything to give themselves a last chance to
live.

Then the horsemen were upon them. They
circled the exhausted men. “What have we here?”

Gareth looked up. Hywel had thrown back his
hood and was gazing down at them, both joy and pity in his
face.

“
I’m glad you’re here, my
lord.” Gareth hung his head. “I have much to tell you and
Gwen.”

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

“I
was only doing what was right!” Prince Cadwaladr said. “I told
you that.”

Gwen stood at Gareth’s left side, one hand
on his shoulder to make sure he stayed upright on the old stump a
farmer hadn’t taken out of his field. The healers had bandaged him
and Gwen had fed him, but she still didn’t think he should be
anywhere but some place to lie down. By rights, Hywel should have
sent him back to Caerhun. So far Gareth had refused to go.

When King Owain had seen Hywel returning to
the main body of his fighting force with Gareth seated on his horse
behind him, barely hanging on, he’d called a halt in a field only
seven miles from St. Asaph. His cavalry, comprising the bulk of his
and his sons’ men, had left Caerhun before dawn, letting those on
foot and the baggage carts follow as they could.

The king paced back and forth in front of a
small fire pit. His presence was imposing, even out here in the
open instead of in his great hall. “Gareth could have died!” Owain
said, sounding rather like Cristina. He threw out a hand towards
Cadwaladr who rested cross-legged on a blanket near Gareth. “Did
you think of that before you let Tomos half-kill him?”

Gareth had told Hywel and Gwen privately
that Cadwaladr himself was responsible for many of his wounds.
Gareth had allowed Cadwaladr his pride, however, because it seemed
prudent to have a secret hold over him rather than to expose all of
his lies to King Owain at once.

Thanks to Tomos and
Cadwaladr, Gareth had two broken ribs and a bruised abdomen that
would take a long time to heal. He was also suffering from hunger
and dehydration. The healers agreed, however, that he would live,
and he could make the return journey to Rhuddlan, provided he
didn’t fall off his horse. For Gareth’s part, he insisted that he
was
fine
, thus his
presence at this conference with Cadwaladr.

“
When Tomos said that you
suspected me of trying to murder you,” Cadwaladr said to his
brother, “I grew suspicious of him. It seemed to me that he was
sowing dissension instead of helping me. And I was
right.”

King Owain’s brow furrowed.
“Are you saying that you
didn’t
flee Aber?”

“
I was trying to find the
killer, just like they were.” Cadwaladr gestured to Gwen, Gareth,
and Hywel, though Gwen noted that he was careful not to meet
anyone’s eyes.

“
And you suspected Tomos of
the murders when nobody else did?” King Owain said.

“
I knew I was innocent,
didn’t I?” Cadwaladr continued to sip a cup of heated
wine.

“
Why didn’t you come to me
with your suspicions?” King Owain said.

“
After last summer, I
didn’t see how you could believe me,” Cadwaladr said. “I knew you
would think I was trying to divert attention from myself, the same
as Tomos.”

King Owain had stopped pacing entirely and
now stood with his arms folded across his chest, looking down at
his brother. Cadwaladr shifted under his gaze and swept a hand
through his hair, less finely coifed than was normal for him.

“
I didn’t hang you in
August, even if hanging might have been deserved,” the king said.
“We’ve broken bread together many times since. Why wouldn’t you
think I’d listen, especially if you had good reason for suspecting
Tomos.”

Cadwaladr shook his head. “If you don’t
speak to me, I can’t know your mind. I feared for my life.”

“
So you went to Rhuddlan,
rather than warn me of Tomos’ potential treachery,” King Owain
said.

“
I went to find proof!”
Cadwaladr said.

“
And did you?”

Gwen silently scoffed. Cadwaladr was making
this up as he went along. She wished she could step in and make him
tell the truth. Neither Gareth nor Hywel showed any signs of
countering Cadwaladr’s version of events, however, so she subsided
in the hope that one of them had a plan they hadn’t yet shared with
her.

“
I saved Gareth, didn’t I?”
Cadwaladr said, diverting King Owain’s question. “He couldn’t have
escaped without me.”

“
True.” Gareth put a hand
to his ribs and straightened his spine.

Hywel, who stood on Gareth’s other side,
bent his head. “You should be in bed, at Caerhun.”

“
It’s over ten miles to
Caerhun,” Gareth said.

“
And ten miles to
Rhuddlan,” Hywel said.

“
Better to go on,” Gareth
said. “I will lie down when Tomos is in a cell.”

“
Tonight,” Hywel said. “Or
tomorrow.”

It could happen, but it would depend on what
faced them when they arrived at Rhuddlan.

King Owain turned to Gareth. “Your message
was cryptic, but enough to get me moving. Tell me what you
discovered.”

“
He discovered that Lord
Tomos is a traitor!” Cadwaladr was in his element, now that it
appeared that his brother had accepted his story. He was probably
envisioning himself restored to his lands and seated on the king’s
right hand.

King Owain’s mouth turned down at the
corners. “When Tomos left Rhuddlan before my wedding, we knew what
he was, though not why.” The King studied Gareth, who nodded.

“
I followed the boy, Pedr
ap Marc, to Chester,” Gareth said. “Linking Enid’s death to the
assassination attempt had troubled me from the start because Pedr
was a feeble choice for assassin. He came at you boldly and without
subterfuge, completely unlike the murders.”

King’s Owain face had frozen into a mask at
the mention of Pedr’s name. “You said his name was Pedr ap
Marc—”

“
Yes, my lord. He is the
son of Marc ap Iefan—”

“
Who was my man,” King
Owain said. “A knight in my
teulu
.”

“
Marc died, but his son has
born a grudge against you for ten years. At some point, he ended up
at Rhuddlan.” Gareth had begun to hold himself even more stiffly.
He eased to his feet and stood, balanced evenly on each leg. Gwen
stood close to him, her arm around his waist. “Tomos pointed him in
your direction. That is all.”

“
And Enid?” King Owain
said.

“
Having conferred with
Gareth, I believe I can speak to that now.” Hywel stepped
forward.

“
You had a relationship
with Enid many years ago and he used that,” Hywel said. “He paid
her to slip poppy juice into Lord Goronwy’s drink so that she could
enter your room unnoticed. Lord Tomos’ plan was to discover you in
bed with Enid when it was his turn to stand watch. He may have
convinced Enid that you would then marry her, since he believed
that once Cristina found out about your liaison, she would refuse
to marry you.”

“
More likely she’d have had
Enid murdered herself,” King Owain said, to the general amusement
of those present. “But I threw Enid out of my room.” King Owain’s
brow furrowed. “Nobody saw her leave.”

“
Lord Tomos was otherwise
occupied, moving Lord Goronwy to his room,” Gareth said. “By the
time he got back upstairs, Enid had left.”

“
The linen closet in which
she was found, as you may recall,” Gwen said, “is in the opposite
wing. That’s where Enid went and where he killed her. Perhaps
they’d arranged to meet there if all didn’t go well.”

“
My guess is she tried to
blackmail him,” Hywel said.

“
So he dumped her in the
trunk in the linen closet,” King Owain said. “What about the dead
servant in the bath room?”

“
We’re just guessing, since
we haven’t spoken to Lord Tomos and he is the only one of the
conspirators left alive, but I imagine it was Ieaun who perpetrated
whatever mischief Tomos wanted done inside Aber,” Gwen said. “And
because Lord Tomos wanted no visible connection between him and
Enid, he gave the poppy juice he’d brought from Rhuddlan to the
servant, who gave it to Enid. She met Ieuan in the stables during
your speech.”

“
His death was a matter of
Tomos cutting his losses and tying up loose ends,” Gareth
said.

King Owain thought about that, and then
slapped his thigh. “Well, we have a loose end to tie ourselves. I
will hang him.” King Owain rocked forward on the balls of his toes.
“He’ll know that.”

King Owain studied his trio of detectives.
“You should be lying down, Gareth.”

“
I hurt no matter what I
do,” Gareth said.

“
You are resolved, then, to
see this through?” King Owain said.

“
Yes, Sire.”

King Owain nodded and turned to Rhun. “Have
the scouts returned?”

“
Not yet,” Rhun
said.

“
Get everyone ready.
Madoc’s men should be in place around Rhuddlan by now, and we
cannot allow Tomos to escape our net.”

“
Yes, Father.” Rhun bowed
and left the fire circle.

Gwen helped Gareth towards her horse, his
arm across her shoulders and his cloak wrapped around her body
along with his. “Do you think once we’re married we could spend
some time together?” Gwen said.

Gareth started to laugh but then stopped
himself, his hand to his ribs. “I will speak to Hywel. I don’t care
who murders whom after our wedding. We are going to Anglesey. I
haven’t visited my manor since July.”

“
Do you have a steward
too?” Gwen said.

Gareth nodded.

“
Not one recommended by
Tomos, I hope?”

Air burst from Gareth’s lips and he bent
slightly at the waist, his hands reaching for his knees though he
couldn’t quite make it. “Stop making me laugh!”

“
I like making you laugh.
You don’t laugh nearly enough.”

Gareth straightened, wobbling on his feet
because Gwen didn’t make a very good crutch and she was afraid to
hold him tightly. He turned her toward him. She slipped her arms
around his neck and lifted her chin.

“
I promise to laugh every
day, just for you.” Gareth bent his head and kissed her.

Gwen pulled him tighter and
felt the
“Ow!”
rising in him before he broke away. She gasped. “Sorry!
Sorry!”

Gareth pulled her to him again and this time
really did laugh. “Sweet Gwen, I need you with me.”

“
Always.” Gwen smiled
again. “And especially right now.”

“
What do you mean?” They’d
continued walking until they reached her horse, a medium-sized
stallion everyone called ‘Bun’ for no reason that Gwen could
discern.

“
How are you going to ride
him without me behind you, holding you up?”

“
Ah,” Gareth said. “That
was my devilish plan all along.”

Hywel had come up behind them and overheard.
He laughed and then clasped his hands together as a platform for
Gareth’s boot, to give him a leg up.

“
Dear God, that hurt,”
Gareth said, as he pulled himself to a sitting position.

“
Having second thoughts, my
friend?” Hywel said from Gareth’s stirrup.

Gareth looked down at Gwen. “I will make it.
Come up here, girl. Let’s go.”