The Fourth Horseman (24 page)

Earl Robert sat back in his chair, his hands
clasped before his lips, and contemplated the two Welsh princes.
“May I see the gem?”

Accepting that they were moving on from the
topic of the traitor’s identity, Hywel removed the emerald from his
scrip—having retrieved it the night before from Gareth—and placed
it on the table between them. Earl Robert leaned forward, turning
the emerald over with one finger. “Gwen found this in David’s
cloak?”

“
Yes, my lord,” Rhun
said.

Hywel cleared his throat. “When we spoke
with you shortly after David’s death, you implied that you didn’t
know him, but as one of your sister’s four horsemen, you did know
who he was, did you not?”

Robert looked up at Hywel and then back to
the gem. “I did.”

When Earl Robert didn’t continue speaking,
Hywel realized he’d received the only apology for being lied to he
was going to get.

The earl turned the gem over on the table
one more time and then flicked it towards Hywel in an act of
dismissal. “This is a poor specimen. Keep it.”

Hywel eyed him carefully and didn’t pick up
the gem. “My lord?”

“
It is payment from an
enemy to a traitor. Its very existence sullies my
house.”

Such an attitude was completely foreign to
Hywel. Gems and gold meant wealth, which led to power. But when the
earl didn’t retract his statement, Hywel reached out a hand and
picked up the emerald. “Of course.” He handed it to Rhun, who
stowed it in his scrip.

Earl Robert breathed deeply in and out
through his nose. “Whether or not Alard is friend, it is now
definite that not only do I have one traitor to my sister’s cause,
I have several.”

“
You have at least three,”
Hywel said. “I understand the delicacy with which I must speak on
this matter, but while David owed the empress his ultimate
allegiance, of late he’d worked within Ranulf’s retinue. It was
Ranulf who first told you that Alard was a traitor, and he has an
army of men loyal to him, many of whom would do his bidding
regardless of what he asked. Can you be sure of his
loyalties?”

“
I apologize for my
brother’s impertinence, my lord.” Rhun kicked Hywel under the
table. Hywel wasn’t bothered. Rhun was far more concerned about the
social niceties than he was, and Hywel had asked what needed
asking.

Earl Robert didn’t answer either of them
right away, and the two princes let the silence draw out. Then Earl
Robert seemed to shake himself. “As you indicated, it is not always
easy to know where a man’s loyalty lies, but I believe that my
son-in-law is faithful to me and to my sister.”

That was what Amaury had said, too. Hywel
bowed his head. “I apologize, my lord. I felt it necessary to
ask.”

“
Ranulf’s thoughts do tend
to focus on himself,” Earl Robert said. “You would not be the
clever young man I understand you to be if you didn’t wonder about
Ranulf. But I believe you must look elsewhere for your current
traitor.”

“
Yes, my lord,” Hywel
said.

“
When does Prince Henry
arrive?” Rhun said.

“
Tomorrow,” Earl Robert
said.

“
And the empress arrives
today?” Hywel said.

“
She’s already
here.”

* * * * *

Mari hadn’t been far from Hywel’s thoughts
from the moment she’d put a hand on his arm and asked for Gwen’s
whereabouts that first day at Newcastle, but he’d managed to push
his feelings for her to the back of his mind during his
conversation with Earl Robert.

They came back full bore, however, when he
saw her standing in the hallway with the look of someone who was
prepared to wait, her eyes downcast and her hands folded in front
of her. He was barely able to prevent his tongue from hanging out
of his mouth when he looked at her. He wanted her in his bed that
very instant, all the more so because she looked every inch the
Norman lady, aloof and untouchable. A snide comment rose to his
lips that he instantly swallowed. He didn’t feel snide about her at
all and didn’t want to hold her at arm’s length any longer. He
wasn’t angry at Mari. He was irritated at Earl Robert for not
stopping this traitor long before, at society for its overbearing
morals, and at himself for wanting her—not necessarily in that
order.

“
Mari, what are you doing
here?”

“
I came to find you,” she
said.

“
Is it about Amaury?” Hywel
said.

“
Amaury is doing well. The
bleeding is contained, and the healer says the arrow didn’t
puncture a lung. So he should continue to irritate you for many
years to come, my lord.” Mari cast a quick glance at him as she
spoke those last words, a smile on her lips, before looking down
again.

“
Are you … mocking me?”
Hywel bent slightly at the waist, trying to see into her
face.

Mari continued to stare down at her feet,
but Hywel could have sworn that her mouth twitched. Hywel found his
hand coming up to her arm, itching to touch her, and then he put
his finger under her chin and lifted it. As he had supposed, she
was smiling. He dropped his hand. “Why do you think I don’t like
Amaury?”

“
He is both too opaque and
too transparent for you,” she said.

Hywel bit his lip. He hadn’t considered
Amaury in that light before and wouldn’t have put it that way, but
Mari was right.

When he’d touched her, he’d moved closer
than propriety allowed, especially in so public a space, and would
have moved away again, except that Mari chose that moment to touch
his hand. Her blue eyes regarded him with a clear certainty that
caused his heart to skip a beat, and he held her hand tightly in
his.

Hywel cleared his throat. “Did you come here
to speak to me about Amaury or was there something else?”

“
It’s my father. I don’t
know what to think about him.”

Hywel pursed his lips. “I’m sorry, Mari. I
don’t know that I can be of help to you in this because I don’t
know what to think of him either.”

“
I want to believe that he
thought he was doing the right thing, but to have abandoned me, his
only daughter …” She bowed her head again, and this time when Hywel
lifted her chin, he saw tears.

With his other hand, he rubbed gently at
Mari’s arm, the smooth fabric of her dress teasing his thumb.
“We’ll find him and you two can have a chance to talk, long and in
private. Until then, you don’t have to decide anything about him at
all. While he valued you less than his obligation to the empress,
that is a tale many men might tell. He still loves you, that is
plain, or he would not have gone to such lengths to meet you.”

“
Last night before retiring
to bed, I spoke with Uncle Goronwy. He had no idea that my father
had been alive all this time. He’s had no contact with
him.”

Hywel’s thumb stopped moving. “You told
Goronwy that your father was alive?”

“
Yes, of course. Wasn’t I
supposed to?”

Hywel took in a breath and let it out. The
whole castle might know of Ralph’s resurrection by now, and there
was nothing he could do about it. “I forget that you aren’t used to
keeping secrets.”

“
My father is loyal to the
empress, and by appearing here, he has exposed himself for who he
is,” Mari said. “Honestly, it never occurred to me that he would
try to return to King Stephen after this.”

Hywel found his irritation turning to
admiration. “You are as devious as your father.”

“
Excuse me?” Mari
said.

“
You come to me all quiet
and obedient, but you told Goronwy about your father on purpose, to
prevent him from leaving you again.”

Mari’s mouth fell open. “I didn’t—”

Hywel scoffed. “Don’t lie to me.” Then he
sobered and grasped both of her arms to pull her closer. He looked
down at her, their faces only inches apart. “Never lie to me.”

Mari licked her lips. “Gwen told me to stay
away from you.”

Hywel felt the floorboards shift beneath his
feet at the change of tone. “I won’t pretend not to know what
you’re talking about. Gwen is right. You should stay away from
me.”

“
Gwen isn’t right. She
doesn’t know you like I do,” Mari said.

Hywel couldn’t swallow around his suddenly
dry throat. He desperately wanted to crush Mari against him and
kiss her. “How so?”

“
I’m not saying that you
are a good man in the way a priest is a good man, but I’ve watched
you for years, you know, ever since I came to Uncle Goronwy’s
house. When you make up your mind about something, you follow it
through. You demand the truth from others, and you don’t lie to
yourself either. And if you want something badly enough, you move
heaven and earth to get it.”

Hywel looked left and right, willing nobody
to be watching them so he wouldn’t have to step away from her. “I’m
not that honorable.”

“
I didn’t say you were
honorable. In fact, I’m almost hoping you’re not.” And with that,
Mari went up on her tiptoes, pecked Hywel once on the lips—and
fled.

Hywel found himself standing alone in the
corridor, still feeling the soft pressure of her lips on his and
genuine laughter bubbling up in his chest.

Chapter
Twenty

Gwen

T
he bells for
sext
, the mid-day prayer, came and went as Gwen sat with Amaury
and held his hand, though the Norman knight didn’t know it. He had
survived the night and was neither dead nor fevered, just asleep.
Gwen looked over at Gareth, who stood speaking with the healer.
Gareth had been busy at the friary all morning: he’d spent an hour
in consultation with Philippe, examined the bodies of both John and
the archer, and questioned anyone else who had been willing to give
him a moment of his time.

At Gwen’s glance, Gareth finished his
conversation with Matthias and walked to the bedside. “I’m glad to
see Amaury alive, but we should return to the castle.”

“
Will Amaury be safe here?”
Gwen said.

“
Guards are posted around
the friary because the empress is now in residence. Philippe
assures me that, if the arrow was meant for Amaury, he will be
well-protected here.”

Gwen was still concerned. “I feel as if
we’ve missed something.”

“
I know,” Gareth said. “We
started out many steps behind the traitor, which is usual, of
course, but few weeks have ever gone as badly awry as this one, and
I don’t feel like we’re catching up.”

“
Prince
Cadwaladr was such an easy
villain
,” Gwen said
.
“In
Gwynedd, his name is synonymous with treachery.
But here, it’s different. There
are too many possible culprits
, and either
our informants don’t tell us the truth, or the traitor gets to them
before we do and silences them
.
”

“
Or they’re dead, or are
accused of murder and treason themselves,” Gareth said.

“
You mean
Alard?”

“
Alard and Ralph,” Gareth
said. “Neither of them has survived this long by being stupid. I’d
rather be working with them than hunting them.”

“
Are we hunting Ralph?”
Gwen said.

“
Philippe seems to think we
should be,” Gareth said. “While I wish we’d learned more about what
he knows in the few moments we had with him, he refuses to come in,
and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“
Perhaps Ralph is afraid he
might accidently betray Alard, by word or deed,” Gwen said.
“Philippe hasn’t changed his mind about Alard, even with the new
evidence we’ve discovered.”

Gareth scoffed. “Philippe thinks Alard was
the archer.”

Gwen stared at him. “How does that make
sense?”

“
The dead man was one of
Philippe’s. Philippe claims that his man came upon Alard and died
trying to bring him in. Naturally, Philippe says the horse, bow,
and arrow were Alard’s.” Gareth shrugged. “It would explain the
lack of callouses on the dead man’s fingers.”

“
It might explain that but
nothing else,” Gwen said. “The idea is so absurd, I can almost see
how Philippe could believe it.”

“
I don’t want to speak more
about this here. It’s time we went back to the castle, and we can
talk on the way.” Gareth took Gwen’s arm and led her out of the
infirmary. They crossed the courtyard to the gatehouse and started
down the road to the castle. Gwen was glad that she had boots on
instead of her slippers, which were back in her tent at the Welsh
camp, but she still took two steps for every one of
Gareth’s.

“
Let’s think about the
series of events we have here,” Gareth said, settling into a
loose-hipped stride beside Gwen. “Four emeralds come to Newcastle,
sent by William of Ypres. David acquires one, either for services
rendered, about to be rendered, or by theft, which I still haven’t
ruled out entirely. Regardless of how or why, he attacks Alard, who
kills him in self-defense, or so he says, and then Ralph kills John
for the same reason. We don’t know if John ever had an emerald on
him. He didn’t when I examined him.”

“
After Ralph killed John,
he could have taken the emerald,” Gwen said.

“
Are you suggesting that
Ralph could be our traitor?” Gareth laughed. “Ralph knew of the
emeralds, obviously, since they are what brought him to Newcastle
in the first place. I suppose he could have arranged for the archer
to shoot Amaury, knowing we’d assume the arrows were meant for
him.”