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that.”
    â€œThe Church will receive an abbey.”
    â€œA small price for a large betrayal.”
    â€œNot really,” Meg said grimly. “The Church has been seeking ways to lessen Henry’s power. Duncan will be beholden to Church rather than to king. No cry of excommunication will be raised. If I can see that, surely John can as well.”
    â€œBy Hell’s deepest reaches, John is a clever man,” Gwyn muttered. “Would that he were compassionate, too.”
    â€œThere is nothing in him now but a burning need to see his son inherit his lands.”
    Gwyn hissed again, shaking her head. “What ofyou, Glendruid daughter? Will you take Duncan as your husband?”
    â€œI refused.”
    â€œGood.”
    â€œThen John ordered Duncan to begin the slaughter immediately….”
    The old woman cocked her head as though listening. “I hear nothing from the bailey but wenches calling to one another about their sweethearts.”
    Meg took a deep breath and spread her hands. “I told him I would do what I must.”
    There was a silence so deep that the tiny sounds of flame eating into candle wax could be heard. After a long time Gwyn sighed.
    â€œIs it true?” Meg asked finally.
    â€œThat you aren’t John’s daughter?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œâ€™Tis true,” Gwyn said casually. “He is not your father. His stepbrother was a man full of laughter and smiles. Anna went to him two fortnights before her wedding.”
    â€œWhy?” Meg asked, shocked.
    â€œShe had no love of John, but knew the heir to the Glendruid Wolf must somehow be born.”
    â€œThe heir to the Glendruid Wolf?” Meg asked. “What are you talking about?”
    â€œA man who would be wise enough to bring peace to our lands.”
    â€œAhhh, the fabled Glendruid male . Instead, I was born. Female. A disappointment to all.”
    Old Gwyn smiled and touched Meg’s cheek with a hand as soft and dry as candle flame.
    â€œYou were a boon to your mother, Meg. She enjoyed John’s stepbrother, but she didn’t love him. She felt neither passion nor love for John. But you she loved. For you, she endured John until the vassals had learned to love you, too.”
    â€œAnd then she walked out to the haunted place and never returned.”
    â€œYes,” Gwyn said simply. “It was a blessing for her, Meg. Hell had nothing to teach her after living with Lord John.”
    Turning away, Gwyn looked at the herbal without seeing any of it.
    â€œWould that we would be blessed now,” Gwyn whispered after a few moments. “But I fear that by the time a man is born who can wear the Glendruid Wolf, there will be nothing left to inherit but the wind.”
    â€œWhat is the Glendruid Wolf?” Meg asked, perplexed. “I’ve heard vassals whisper of it occasionally, but they fall silent when they realize I’m listening.”
    â€œâ€™Tis a pin. A pin that was old a thousand years ago.”
    â€œWhat does it look like?”
    â€œA wolf’s head cast in silver with eyes made of colorless gems so hard not even steel can scratch them,” Gwyn said. “The pin is the size of a man’s hand.”
    â€œYou never mentioned this to me before.”
    â€œThere was no purpose. There was nothing to be done.”
    â€œAnd now?” Meg asked.
    â€œChange comes. A wise woman hopes for the best and prepares for the worst.”
    â€œWhat is the worst?”
    â€œWar. Famine. Disease. Death.”
    Meg barely suppressed a shudder at hearing her worst fears spoken aloud by Old Gwyn.
    â€œAnd the best?” she whispered.
    â€œThat the man who wears the Glendruid Wolf will bring peace with him.”
    A thrill of hope coursed through Meg at thethought of a land no longer riven by strife. The feeling was not unlike what she had known while she watched Dominic handle the peregrine with such exquisite