Read Online Children of Time (The After Cilmeri Series Book Four) by Sarah Woodbury - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sarah Woodbury
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welcome you here, too, my lord,” Aeddan said.
His addendum had a genuine laugh rising in my chest. Aeddan had been awestruck over Bevyn’s appearance. Me, he could take or leave . I stopped in front of Huw. At the sight of his bright eyes and smile, I let the laughter show. I ruffled Huw’s hair as I had when I’d seen him last. But then I dropped my hand as I acknowledged that he was nearly as tall as I and two years a man. “What are you doing here at Chepstow?” I said.
“We’re merchants now, selling our wool at the market in the village,” Aeddan said, with obvious pride. “This is my uncle’s house.”
“He’s out visiting,” Huw said.
I turned to look at Bevyn. “How did you know they were here?”
“We’ve kept in touch ever since your abduction when you were sixteen,” Bevyn said.
His words made me suddenly ashamed. I hadn’t asked about Aeddan and his family, not once. I’d hardly thought of them again after that summer, except vaguely in passing, and only then because the memory of my vulnerability still ate at me. Aeddan must have read regret in my face because he bowed his head. “You’ve had many things on your mind, my lord.”
Which was true, but not necessarily an excuse. How many others had I left behind in the last six years? How many had I used and then forgotten in the immediacy of daily life as a Prince of Wales? Rather than my rescuers, it was Dai, my surviving abductor, whom I’d later tracked down, only to find that he’d lost his leg below the knee as the result of a riding accident. I’d left him as he was, unable to find it in me to punish him more than fate already had.
Bevyn clapped me on the shoulder. “No use going from an angry drunk to a maudlin one. I didn’t bring you here for that.”
I blinked at him, my head clearing. “Then for what?”
“Let’s settle in first.” Bevyn nudged me towards a stool near the central fire and when I sat, Huw handed me a bowl of broth. I sipped it, feeling the salty warmth fill my stomach and glad to have it inside me instead of mead. Bevyn went to the doorway, spoke a few words to Evan who had remained in the street, and then closed the door. He approached the fire. “The men stand guard and the town is quiet. We may speak freely now.”
I took another sip, studying Bevyn over the rim of my bowl. I raised my eyebrows in expectation of an explanation for all this. So far, I’d done everything he’d asked. It was time he enlightened me.
But now that it came to it, he seemed to have trouble knowing where to begin. He opened his mouth, closed it, glanced at Aeddan, who nodded, and then tried again. “There have been … some complications with this journey we’re taking tomorrow,” Bevyn said.
I really wished I hadn’t drunk all that mead. Between it and the heat from the fire, I was having a hard time focusing and I could tell from Bevyn’s hesitation that this was important. I rested my elbows on my knees and took another sip of broth. “Tell me.”
It was Huw who spoke, after a glance and a nod from his father. “It was only this afternoon that the message from London reached us. Bevyn was to speak to the king this evening, but …”
“He is not available,” I said. “You’ll have to make do with me. What is it?”
“Our contacts in England are worried,” Bevyn said. “Everyone knows that you are coming to England for the wedding of William and Joan, and many believe it is a ruse to draw you out of Wales. To draw you to your death.”
This was more like the Bevyn I knew. I rubbed my chin. “Do you believe that it is Humphrey de Bohun himself who plays us false, or someone else?”
“Not Bohun,” Aeddan said. “In fact, we haven’t heard anything from that quarter other than that he welcomes you to England. Others, however, do not wish you well. For example, the son of Owain Goch, Hywel, still plots with Valence to unseat your father.”
Owain Goch was my father’s older brother, whom
His addendum had a genuine laugh rising in my chest. Aeddan had been awestruck over Bevyn’s appearance. Me, he could take or leave . I stopped in front of Huw. At the sight of his bright eyes and smile, I let the laughter show. I ruffled Huw’s hair as I had when I’d seen him last. But then I dropped my hand as I acknowledged that he was nearly as tall as I and two years a man. “What are you doing here at Chepstow?” I said.
“We’re merchants now, selling our wool at the market in the village,” Aeddan said, with obvious pride. “This is my uncle’s house.”
“He’s out visiting,” Huw said.
I turned to look at Bevyn. “How did you know they were here?”
“We’ve kept in touch ever since your abduction when you were sixteen,” Bevyn said.
His words made me suddenly ashamed. I hadn’t asked about Aeddan and his family, not once. I’d hardly thought of them again after that summer, except vaguely in passing, and only then because the memory of my vulnerability still ate at me. Aeddan must have read regret in my face because he bowed his head. “You’ve had many things on your mind, my lord.”
Which was true, but not necessarily an excuse. How many others had I left behind in the last six years? How many had I used and then forgotten in the immediacy of daily life as a Prince of Wales? Rather than my rescuers, it was Dai, my surviving abductor, whom I’d later tracked down, only to find that he’d lost his leg below the knee as the result of a riding accident. I’d left him as he was, unable to find it in me to punish him more than fate already had.
Bevyn clapped me on the shoulder. “No use going from an angry drunk to a maudlin one. I didn’t bring you here for that.”
I blinked at him, my head clearing. “Then for what?”
“Let’s settle in first.” Bevyn nudged me towards a stool near the central fire and when I sat, Huw handed me a bowl of broth. I sipped it, feeling the salty warmth fill my stomach and glad to have it inside me instead of mead. Bevyn went to the doorway, spoke a few words to Evan who had remained in the street, and then closed the door. He approached the fire. “The men stand guard and the town is quiet. We may speak freely now.”
I took another sip, studying Bevyn over the rim of my bowl. I raised my eyebrows in expectation of an explanation for all this. So far, I’d done everything he’d asked. It was time he enlightened me.
But now that it came to it, he seemed to have trouble knowing where to begin. He opened his mouth, closed it, glanced at Aeddan, who nodded, and then tried again. “There have been … some complications with this journey we’re taking tomorrow,” Bevyn said.
I really wished I hadn’t drunk all that mead. Between it and the heat from the fire, I was having a hard time focusing and I could tell from Bevyn’s hesitation that this was important. I rested my elbows on my knees and took another sip of broth. “Tell me.”
It was Huw who spoke, after a glance and a nod from his father. “It was only this afternoon that the message from London reached us. Bevyn was to speak to the king this evening, but …”
“He is not available,” I said. “You’ll have to make do with me. What is it?”
“Our contacts in England are worried,” Bevyn said. “Everyone knows that you are coming to England for the wedding of William and Joan, and many believe it is a ruse to draw you out of Wales. To draw you to your death.”
This was more like the Bevyn I knew. I rubbed my chin. “Do you believe that it is Humphrey de Bohun himself who plays us false, or someone else?”
“Not Bohun,” Aeddan said. “In fact, we haven’t heard anything from that quarter other than that he welcomes you to England. Others, however, do not wish you well. For example, the son of Owain Goch, Hywel, still plots with Valence to unseat your father.”
Owain Goch was my father’s older brother, whom
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