Serpent (13 page)

“Are you telling me that you are agreeable to this contract that Edward has forced upon you?” she finally asked. “Will you agree to the king’s terms?”

Bhrodi’s warm expression faded. “If you are the contract, I will agree to it. If it were any other woman, I would not.”

He meant it as a compliment and,
this time, she took it as one. “He means to subdue you,” she said quietly. “Surely you know that. Llewelyn is dead. The only thing that stands between him and complete domination of Wales is Llewelyn’s brother, Dafydd, and you.”

Bhrodi wasn’t stupid; he knew what Edward wanted. In fact, he knew it better than Penelope did. Llewelyn and Dafydd, the great Welsh princes who had been waging war against Edward for over ten years, were weakening. Llewelyn
had been killed and Dafydd was on the run, but Bhrodi, secure in Anglesey with a population that deeply supported their hereditary king, was Edward’s last obstacle.

Edward had tried to capture the island nearly six months before when one of his commanders actually built a bridge
across the Menai Strait that separated Anglesey from the rest of Wales. It had been the Battle of Moel-y-don, a very significant Welsh victory when the English commander had brought a regiment of men over that bridge and had been soundly defeated by Bhrodi and his allies. Now, Anglesey remained firmly in the hands of the Welsh and Bhrodi knew that Edward had great plans for him; the marriage contract was an option Edward hadn’t tried before. Bhrodi knew, eventually, Edward would not be satisfied with an alliance. The man would want complete dominion.

But Bhrodi wouldn’t let on all he knew about it, and certainly not at this early juncture in his acquaintance with his future wife. Being English, he knew where her loyalties were and she could very well go back and tell her powerful father whatever Bhrodi told her
. He didn’t know her enough to trust her yet. Therefore, he was ambiguous in his reply.

“He means to secure peace,” he said quietly.

Penelope’s gaze was intense. “He means to secure
Wales
.”

“Mayhap,” he replied softly. “Time will tell.”

Penelope watched the man, now interested in his thoughts on the matter of an alliance between him and King Edward. She was very, very curious.

“Surely you will not lay down your arms simply because you marry me,” she said. “Edward wan
ts Wales under his control. If you marry me, he will expect your loyalty. That is the only reason he has offered a marital contract. The king doesn’t simply want peace; he wants
you
.”

Bhrodi regarded her carefully. “You speak as if you are attempting to talk me out of the contract.”

“I simply want you to understand what is being offered to you. Why do you think he sent the greatest knight in England to secure the deal?  He is offering you a bribe for your fealty.”

“I like the bribe.”

“Then you intend to take it?”

Something in Bhrodi’s face changed; his eyes hardened and his expression tightened
. Leaning forward on the table, his voice was low and gritty.

“I will do what is best for me, in all things,” he said quietly. “If I agree to this marital contract, it is because I want something, too. Do not think your king can outsmart me because he cannot.
I have proven that time and time again. If Edward and I strike a bargain, you can be assured that it will be to my advantage.”

Penelope could hear the cold steel of his voice, the power she had reflected on just moments before
. In that statement, she could see all of the kings of Anglesey speaking out to her. Bhrodi had that kind of strength in him and more. Her respect for the man grew. She backed down in her questioning; at the moment, she felt as if she didn’t have the right to question his motives. He was many steps ahead of her, evidently. He had seen far more battle action than she could ever hope to and he knew his enemy well. Bhrodi de Shera already knew his future.

“My father does not want to lose any more sons in Wales,” she said
after a moment. “That is why he has offered me. I had six older brothers; now I have five. Papa does not want to lose any more children.”

Bhrodi held the steely expression a moment longer before relaxing somewhat
. He reclaimed his cup.

“Sound reasoning,” he said as he poured himself more wine. “But he will lose his daughter to me.”

Penelope’s eyes glimmered with unexpected humor. “Mayhap he does not see it that way,” she said. “Mayhap he sees it as gaining the son he lost.”

Bhrodi saw her humor and couldn’t help but respond. It was the first time since he met her that he could recall seeing warmth in her face
. He grinned, revealing his big white teeth.

“There could be worse things in this world than being the son of The Wolfe,” he said. “He and I will make very strong bloodlines. Our children will be more powerful and noble and royal than anyone on earth.”

Penelope cocked her head. “They will be
my
children, not my father’s,” she said, “and that is the second time you have mentioned sons and children. Just how many do you expect to have?”

He could see trepidation in her expression and it amused him. She was fun to taunt
; humor, at the moment, was the one thing they had in common between them. It was something they both understood.

“At least a dozen,” he said, watching her from the corner of his eye. “I would say the first eight or ten should be boys
. We can have a few daughters as well if it pleases you.”

Penelope knew he was jesting with her; he had
that type of personality. Already she could tell that he liked to provoke a reaction from her.

“I am not entirely sure we can pick the sex of our children,” she said. “We may have all girl children. Have you not considered that?”

He scowled fiercely. “You wouldn’t dare!”

She bit off a grin. “I might. Just to teach you a lesson in humility.”

His scowl turned into an expression of outrage. “Humility?” he repeated, aghast. “I need no such lesson. I am Bhrodi ap Gaerwen de Shera and I will not have a house full of unruly girl children.”

“Why not?”

He was back to scowling, realizing she was baiting him. She was quite strong in her resolve not to let him bully her and he liked it more than he thought he would. She wasn’t intimidated by him in the least. After a moment, his scowl eased and he shrugged his big shoulders carelessly.

“Because they are expensive,” he said flatly. “Every one of those girls will need a dowry.”

“You are wealthy. You can afford it.”

He looked at her, a wry expression on his face, but was prevented from replying when Ivor came rushing into the hall
. Both Penelope and Bhrodi looked at the man, noting his rather wild-eyed expression. Bhrodi was immediately on his feet.

“What is it?” he demanded.

Ivor went to Bhrodi but he was eyeing Penelope. “De Wolfe is tearing up the compound,” he said. “They are missing a daughter.”

Penelope was running from the keep before Bhrodi could even turn to her.

⌘

Upon discovering Penelope missing from the armored wagon,
William had not been overly concerned and neither had Jordan. Penelope was known to wander and she was further known to prefer the company of her brothers, so they proceeded to the tent that housed the sons of de Wolfe only to find it devoid of their youngest girl child.

T
his, of course, garnered the concern of Scott and Troy, and most of all Patrick, the most powerful de Wolfe son, and soon they were milling about the tents in the English encampment looking for Penelope. A thorough search turned up nothing and when Apollo mentioned that he had last seen her in her quest to find the privy, all hell broke loose. The Wolfe Pack went into battle mode.

William had unleashed the full brunt of
The Wolfe’s fury on the unsuspecting occupants of Rhydilian in his quest to locate Penelope. His men tore through the gatehouse, upending beds and roughing up de Shera’s men. They rushed the entire wall walk, looking over the sides of the twenty foot walls and hoping they wouldn’t see Penelope’s crumpled body on the other side. They completely rousted the great hall, inspecting every nook and cranny, and disturbing the servants and soldiers who were sleeping there. All this in the quest for one small female who could possible mean the difference between complete peace and utter chaos.

The keep was the last frontier
to search and they tackled it readily. Just as the pack of de Wolfe’s men, led by William himself, came charging up the exterior staircase, Penelope bolted from the entry. She collided with her father somewhere at the top of the steps and William had to grab her so they both wouldn’t pitch over the side.

“Penny!” he gasped. “What happened? Are you well, lass?”

Penelope had a tight grip on her father, but not because she had nearly fallen over the side of the steps; it was because she was afraid he was going to go rushing into the keep after de Shera. Given the conversation she had just had with the man, she wasn’t entirely sure her father, as an elderly knight with age-diminished reflexes, could best him. De Shera was indeed deadly and powerful. What she did was in protection of her father.

“I am very well,” she assured him and the host of anxious faces around him. “De Shera and I were simply having a discussion
. I am sorry to have frightened you.”

William went from
being thrilled to see her to exasperated with her explanation as to why, exactly, she had been missing. He scowled.

“What do you mean you were having a discussion with him?” he demanded
. “I have yet to introduce you two.”

Penelope patted his arm patiently. “We came across each other earlier when I was looking for the privy,” she said. “We introduced ourselves and have been having a pleasant conversation.”

William was doing a slow burn at that point. He was furious that Penelope had taken it upon herself to seek out her prospective groom and more furious that de Shera had evidently been a party to it. He had seen how conceited and confident the man was; he could only imagine how he had persuaded Penelope into his lair.

“Pleasant conversation?” William repeated, his jaw flexing. “I cannot believe my ears.”

“Why not?” Penelope asked innocently.

William opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted w
hen Bhrodi suddenly appeared through the entryway, the expression on his face one of great concern. He saw de Wolfe, and all of the heavily armed men behind him, and began to speak but William cut him off.

“Given the fact that you and my daughter have not yet been formally introduced, when did it occur to you that having a conversation with her without the presence of chaperones
would be a good idea?” he asked with thinly restrained rage. “Mayhap this is the way they do things in Wales, allowing unprotected women to be in the company of strange men, but in England we do things a little differently. We have care for our women’s safety and for their reputations.”

Bhrodi could see that he was in a very bad position; de Wolfe was furious that Penelope had been alone with her prospective groom and had every right to be. Bhrodi wasn’t foolish; he had been taking a chance when speaking alone with the woman
but he had considered it worth the risk. It was still well worth the risk because he had briefly come to know a woman of astonishing beauty and intelligence. However, protocols dictated chaperones and escorts upon such a meeting. Therefore, he was in a weak position to defend himself and struggled not to sound as if he was at de Wolfe’s mercy.

“My lord, I assure you that nothing improper took place,” he said evenly. “I found the lady wandering in the bailey and we introduced ourselves. We were simply speaking on the current situation and on the future in general. I was preparing to escort her back to your encampment quite soon.”

A small lie, but de Wolfe didn’t have to know that. Already the man was about to explode. Bhrodi could read the distrust and disgust in the man’s expression. But William was prevented from replying when Penelope stepped in.

“Papa, nothing unseemly happened in the least,” she said, sounding irritated, as if her father had no basis for his anger. “Do you really think I would let it? Do you trust me so little that you would think I would allow a man I just met to take advantage of me?”

William tore his gaze away from Bhrodi, looking at his small and agitated daughter. “You know better than to allow yourself alone with a man,” he rumbled, avoiding her questions and grasping her by the arm. “Come, now. We are returning to England on the morrow.”

“Wait,” Bhrodi stepped forward
, his expression one of concern. “What do you mean by that? You came here for a reason, de Wolfe. You came all the way to Wales to offer your daughter to me in marriage to cement an alliance. I will gladly accept your contract.”

William was
simmering with fury as he looked at Bhrodi. “I withdraw the offer,” he grumbled. “You are not worthy of my daughter, a man who would undermine propriety simply to gain his wants. You are a spoiled and insufficient man, de Shera. Edward will have to find you another bride if he wants an alliance.”

He spelled out his intentions, leaving no doubt that the arrogant Welsh lord was an unsuitable match for Penelope.
The decision had been made. But along with that declaration came the obvious; if they were not here on a peace mission, then they were in enemy territory. Tension filled the air as the de Wolfe knights began to form a protective barrier around William and his daughter. Without another word, the English contingent headed down the stairs except for Penelope; she dug her heels in, preventing her father from dragging her down the steps.

“Papa,
wait
,” she insisted, forcing the man to come to a halt. “I agree that we should not have been alone in conversation, but I am glad that Lord de Shera and I were able to speak without you or Mamma hanging over us. There was much less pressure and it was an honest conversation. You know I was opposed to this marriage contract but after speaking with him, I… I do believe it might be an amiable agreement, after all.”

William just looked at her and shook his head
. He tugged on her arm, forcing her to take the top step. “Not now,” he grumbled. “Come with me.”

Penelope grabbed the hand that was holding
onto her and began to peel the fingers away. “Papa
, stop
,” she commanded, holding firm on the top stair. “I am not going anywhere until you listen to what I have to say.”

William’s fury was gaining steam. “This is
my
decision, not yours,” he hissed. “It has been my decision from the beginning. You must trust that I know what is best for you and you will cease to shame me in front of everyone with your arguing.”

Penelope jerked his hand free of her wrist and jumped back, out of his reach. “You are embarrassing
me
,” she snapped softly. “You are so stubborn, Papa. You did not listen to me when I told you I did not want to come here, so I came. Now that I am here, I believe you were correct in wanting to broker this marriage and I am willing to stay. Will you listen to me on something that will affect me for the rest of my life or will you ignore me as you have always done? You do not always know what is best for me, Papa. Sometimes, I can be correct, too. I am not an idiot.”

William forced himself to draw in a deep, calming breath; he had to or else he would be putting her over his knee.
Penelope was very much his daughter, clever and unafraid to speak her mind. He had raised her to think for herself. He had to keep reminding himself of that as his intense gaze fixed on her.

“I know you are not an idiot,” he said. “But you are young. You do not understand fully what is in men’s hearts
or who they truly are. De Shera used coercion to bring you inside where he could be alone with you; do you not understand that? He broke propriety for his selfish wants. If he wanted to speak with you, he should have waited until the time was right. I cannot abide by a man who will circumvent me to get at you.”

Penelope lifted her eyebrows. “Just as you circumvented my mother’s intended husband those years ago so you could get at her?”

It was a low stab, directly to William’s honor. Everyone in the north of England knew how The Wolfe had once been the captain of Lady Jordan’s intended husband those years ago. He carried on an affair with her until he was finally able to marry her. It was the legend of The Wolfe, long romanticized until reality and fiction blended. The truth was that William, long ago, had used subversion to be with the woman he loved. But the situation back then had been markedly different; he wouldn’t allow Penelope to use that circumstance as a parallel comparison. There was no comparison at all.

“I loved your mother,” he muttered
. “Where love is concerned, anything can and will happen. But de Shera does not love you, Penny; he simply wanted to be alone with you and to compromise your reputation. God only knows what he would have done had your clandestine meeting with him been allowed to continue.”

Her expression was serious. “Then you do not trust me?” she asked, hurt. “Do you truly think I would have allowed the man any liberties at all?”

William sighed faintly, glancing at Paris and Kieran as he did so. “I trust you, love,” he said. “It is de Shera I have issue with.”

“My lord, I swear to you I would not have molested her,” Bhrodi spoke up
in his own defense; he had to. The fact that Penelope was defending him filled his heart with a joy he hadn’t felt in over two years. She was stirring something inside of him that he thought was long buried. “I will again reiterate the circumstances; Lady Penelope was standing alone in the bailey and we spoke. Because it was cold and misty, I invited her into the keep to offer some shelter. She sat on one side of the table and I sat on the other. I did indeed invite a beautiful woman into my keep, alone, but it was not for the reasons you think; it was because I very much wanted to speak to her, this woman whom you intend for me. I have not touched her, nor will I, until she is properly mine. This I swear on my oath as a knight, and on my ancestors as the kings of Anglesey. If you still do not believe me, then I suppose there is nothing left to discuss. But I will say one last thing; you insult me by believing I have only ill intent where it pertains to your daughter. If the situation was reversed and based upon your reputation alone, I would not have thought the same thing of you. I would have assumed you were honorable until proven otherwise.”

They were prudent words, ones that William could not readily reject
. De Shera made perfect sense and he could feel himself waver.
Honorable until proven otherwise
. In fact, the man had him dead to rights. Perhaps William was the one who was wrong in all of this. He had instantly assumed the worst, about everything. It was the zealous father in him, protecting his daughter against all harm regardless of the facts. Protecting her against an arrogant young lord who, if he was honest with himself, reminded him a good deal of himself when he was younger. Perhaps that was the problem all along; Bhrodi was much as he had been, once.

William glanced at Penelope; she was looking at de Shera with a hint of respect in her expression. Coming from Penelope, that was like moving the Walls of Jericho; earning the woman’s respect was nearly impossible. William’s stan
ce began to waver a little more and he sighed heavily, looking at all of the knights on the steps below him, men who rushed to do his bidding without question.

His gaze traveled over Scott, big and brawny, and Troy, dark and tall, and to Patrick, who was an enormous mountain of man, and finally to Edward and Thomas, his youngest sons
. Both of them were broad and dark, like their father. Sons he adored more than he could express, but then he looked at Penelope… God, could he really let her go? Was this something he was ready to do? He simply wasn’t sure. Perhaps he was looking for excuses not to let her out of his sight. Perhaps that was really what this was all about.

“
Very well,” he finally said, turning to look at Bhrodi. “Mayhap you are correct; mayhap I should have given you the benefit of the doubt. But if your daughter disappeared under similar circumstances, what would you think?”

Bhrodi lifted his eyebrows. “What you thought,” he said honestly. “But I swear to you, once again, that nothing improper occurred. We were simply talking.”