Read Online The Good Knight (A Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mystery) by Sarah Woodbury - Free Book Online

him.”
    “King Owain has his hands full enough with his brother.” Gwen poured the mead she’d brought into a cup and handed it to Gareth. He took it but didn’t answer. He should have known she couldn’t be silenced so easily. After another look, she said, “I gather, then, that we aren’t going to talk about Cadwaladr either?”
    “What’s there to say?” Gareth said. “Even after all this time, he spreads lies about me. What I can’t understand is why I’m even in his thoughts. I was a tiny speck on his cloak that he flicked off with one finger all those years ago.”
    Gareth had come to Cadwaladr after the death of his Uncle Goronwy, who’d served King Owain’s elder brother, Cadwallon. Goronwy fell in battle with Cadwallon in 1132, in a war against a king of Powys over something Gareth couldn’t remember now. Land or power, it was all one to Gareth. He’d been a soldier for two years already, though in truth still a boy and fighting on the fringes of the battle. He’d been posted among the archers since they’d been short of men with bows and his shot was better than average.
    Upon Goronwy’s death, Gareth, now orphaned for the second time, had transferred his allegiance to Cadwaladr at King Gruffydd’s request. It was unfortunate for Gareth that this youngest prince hadn’t even half the courage of the eldest.
    “Apparently you weren’t a negligible speck to him,” Gwen said. “Now that you’re among Hywel’s company, Cadwaladr has been reminded of what happened and how you stood up to him. Perhaps you are one of the few men who ever defied him openly.”
    “The only one, I think,” Gareth said. “Or rather, the only one who lived to speak of it. He’s learned since his dealings with me that it’s not enough to dismiss someone. Better to kill him.”
    Gwen shook her head. “I really don’t want to know that. We’ve sung in his castle at Aberystwyth many times.” She leaned against the wall, her hands behind her back, studying Gareth. “I actually didn’t mean to talk about what happened between you and Cadwaladr, though we can. What I meant to point out is that Prince Cadwaladr is one of the few men in Wales who exactly fills the description of someone who’d want to murder Anarawd.”
    “Why is that?”
    “Because he rules in Ceredigion, on lands adjacent to Anarawd’s. Perhaps he didn’t want King Owain to control them through his daughter, possibly at Cadwaladr’s expense.”
    Gareth scrubbed at his face with both hands. “It’s true he has Irish connections. As do all the royal families in Deheubarth and Gwynedd.”
    “More than that, he lived there as a child,” Gwen said. “Hywel tells me that he only returned to Gwynedd upon the death of Cadwallon because his father felt that the remaining brothers must stand together to defend Gwynedd.”
    “We must keep speculation to a minimum,” Gareth said. “You might as well accuse Hywel, for he shares a similar pedigree—his mother was Irish!”
    “I’m not accusing anyone of anything,” Gwen said. “But speculation is how mysteries are solved. We ask good questions, and we see if any of the answers we find fit our questions.”
    Gareth ran his hand through his hair. “Good questions, you say? I’ve got one for you—when do I get out of here?”

Chapter Nine

    G wen lay still and silent on her pallet, thinking of Gareth and hoping he wasn’t too uncomfortable in his cell. When she’d returned to Hywel, he’d laughed off her concerns about Gareth’s well-being, but she didn’t think he was quite as complacent as he conveyed. Hywel had to know that even though King Owain had lost his temper and acted rashly, the king might not want to admit he was wrong about Gareth, even if they never found proof of his guilt.
    In addition, King Owain should have known by now that his brother, Cadwaladr, didn’t always relate the most accurate version of events. As she gazed up at the ceiling, she had a vision of that day