The Uninvited Guest (14 page)

“
What does he think? That
the youth stumbled into Aber on a whim? Someone paid him to kill my
father! We could ride all the way to the fort at Caerhun today and
not find him, even with fifty men searching. If he had help, he
could be past the Conwy River by now. Or hiding in a cave in
Arfon.”

“
Let me help with that.”
Gwen entered the room at a trot, just as Gareth finished wrestling
himself into the padded shirt he wore under his armor. He’d been
hoping not to wear it again for a few more days at least. She’d
brought two squires with her, and they immediately went to assist
Hywel.

“
You’ll have to do what you
can while we’re gone,” Hywel said to Gwen as a squire buckled a
bracer around his forearm. “Gareth and I are going to waste the
whole rest of the day. We’ll be lucky to return by
dark.”

“
All of our suspects are
going with King Owain, though, aren’t they?” Gwen said. “Prince
Cadwaladr mounted his horse a moment ago with Taran beside
him.”

“
Along with a dozen other
barons, any of whom might have murdered Enid,” Hywel
said.

Gareth glanced at his prince. He’d never
seen him more irritated. Hywel was genuinely worried about his
father. Gareth looked down at Gwen. “Talk to anyone you can think
of who might get us further down the road to catching our
murderer.”

“
Search everyone’s room if
you have to,” Hywel said. “I don’t care who they are.”

Gareth glanced at Hywel, glad to have him
lift a restriction that had hampered them in their quest for
Anarawd’s murderer last summer. “Who’s to say our killer didn’t
hide the assassin’s body inside the castle, somewhere that hasn’t
been discovered yet? The linen closet and the bath room were
excellent choices. We knew about Enid’s death so quickly only
because of the activities of Cristina and her women.”

“
Get Cristina to help you,”
Hywel said. “She’s always good for this sort of thing.”

That prompted a smirk from Gwen, who hadn’t
objected to their barrage of instructions. “Stay safe, you.” She
wrapped her arms around Gareth’s waist.

His arms were tight around her. He’d touched
her and held her—even kissed her—half a dozen times today. Gareth
was looking forward to many more similar instances. He rubbed her
back and then she released him.

“
I’ll do my best,” Gwen
said.

Gareth and Hywel left the barracks just as
the last of the hunters rode underneath the gatehouse. Fortunately,
Evan had been as good as his word and their horses waited for
them.

Gareth swung himself onto Braith. He glanced
towards the dozen men of the garrison who would remain behind. They
clustered on the battlements and at the entrance to the great
hall.

“
Which way did the King
ride?” he said.

Alun stood next to a fellow named Rhys, who
last summer had ridden with Gareth, Hywel, and Prince Rhun to
Aberffraw to rescue Gwen. Aber Castle, at least, would remain
well-manned in their absence.

“
West!” Alun
said.

Gareth lifted a hand to his friend. Other
men had ridden east and south, forming a ring extending outward
from the castle.

Hywel rolled his eyes. “I said he would ride
west. And did you note that my father and many of the men with him
were carrying spears, not lances? It’s a boar hunt, I tell
you.”

Gareth shook his head at the vagaries of
kings, and then he and Hywel rode under the gatehouse, down the
slope from Aber, and turned west onto the road to Bangor. They
could see the tail end of the king’s company a quarter of a mile
ahead. Some of the tension in Gareth eased. It was a fine winter
day, he knew the area well, and he and Hywel were in no danger of
losing the king’s party if it turned off the main road and headed
into the forested mountains to the southwest of Aber.

“
My lord, tell me what you
have been reluctant to mention about our assassin,” Gareth said. It
came out more like an order than a request, but Hywel only glanced
at him and grunted under his breath.

“
I was wondering when you
would bring that up again.”

“
So you do know
him?”

“
Maybe.”

Gareth groaned inwardly. Did his lord have
to make this so difficult, especially after all that had happened?
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Hywel shifted in the
saddle. “It means
maybe
, but given all that has happened, and that I’m only speaking
to you, I won’t keep this to myself any longer … do you remember
the story I told you about my first assignment from my father when
I was fourteen?”

“
You burned the holding of
one of his knights who’d rebelled against him,” Gareth
said.

“
Who’d defied him, more
like,” Hywel said. “I still don’t understand what the man was
thinking, but I did as my father asked. Afterwards, having lost
everything but what he stood up in, the man took his family south.
My father kept track of him. A few months later, the man died of a
fever. End of story.”

“
Except …”

Hywel sighed. “Except, if I’m not mistaken,
our assassin is that man’s son.”

Even with the foreshadowing, Gareth hadn’t
been expecting that. “Do you have a name?”

“
For the boy?” Hywel shook
his head. “No. The father was Marc ap Iefan.”

Gareth grunted. “Biblical.”

“
There’s irony for you,”
Hywel said.

“
I can see why you didn’t
want to say anything unless you were sure,” Gareth said. “I gather
you haven’t mentioned this to your father?”

“
No,” Hywel said. “And I
won’t, at least until we have the boy back in our hands. It would
unlink the assassination attempt from our murders,
however.”

“
Maybe,” Gareth said.
“Unless, in failing to kill your father, the youth unleashed his
rage on an innocent girl.”

“
Not so innocent,” Hywel
said. “Remember the poppy juice? Enid was up to something last
night that got her killed.”

“
What if Enid’s task was to
dose the guards and free the boy?” Gareth said. “He killed her in
order to cover his tracks.”

“
That’s all very well and
good, but what about Ieuan?” Hywel said. “The assassin was in the
cell when Ieuan died. And then there’s Lord Goronwy. Why did the
assassin care about him at all?”

“
Because Goronwy was
guarding King Owain’s door,” Gareth said.

“
Right,” Hywel said. “I
knew we could come around to my father’s life if we thought hard
enough.”

“
By putting Goronwy to
sleep, the assassin got him out of the way,” Gareth said. “After
the boy killed Enid and stuffed her into the trunk, he
…”

“
Exactly,” Hywel said. “He
did
nothing
.”

“
He left Aber, even though
the king’s door was unguarded,” Gareth said. “Why did your father
survive the night unharmed?”

“
It all comes back to
Enid,” Gareth said.

“
And Enid is dead.” Hywel
shot Gareth a grin. Their back and forth speculating about the
murder seemed to have cheered him considerably. “But
we’re
not dead and as long
as that is the case, we’ll keep asking questions!” He spurred his
horse and after another few yards, caught up with the king’s
party.

They’d reached a crossroads where three
paths diverged. One led northwest, to Bangor, another due west, to
Caernarfon, and a third went southwest, into the upland woods. With
a flick of his hand, King Owain assigned a dozen men to each
avenue, with him choosing the upland route that would take them
southwest, into the mountains. If boar hunting was really on the
agenda as Hywel had predicted, this was the best place to
start.

“
We spread out!” the King
said.

His followers obeyed, taking to the woods on
either side of the road and positioning themselves a hundred feet
apart. Gareth moved forward at a steady pace but hung back with
Hywel. He didn’t really think the assassin would have gone to
ground in such a remote spot. If Gareth had tried to murder King
Owain, he would have run east, just as quickly as possible.

“
We have too many
suspects.” Hywel lifted his chin to indicate his father’s
companions, who included Cadwaladr and Taran. Gareth was glad to
see Rhun sticking close to his father’s side too.

As the woods thickened, Gareth found himself
losing track of the comings and goings of his companions. Due to
the heavy undergrowth, Hywel had moved thirty yards away. Braith
was putting her hooves down carefully to avoid unseen holes, and
skirting fallen logs and grassy hillocks. He didn’t want to hurry
her.

Up ahead men raised their voices, calling to
one another. Suddenly, King Owain gave a roar of approval, though
Gareth couldn’t see the men ahead of them because of the screen of
trees between them and him. “What’s he doing?” Gareth said.

Hywel brought his horse closer to Gareth’s.
“Let’s circle around to the left. We need to get closer.”

Gareth followed. They picked their way
through heavy vegetation, so thickly overgrown in places that
Gareth considered dismounting. Hywel, however, would have none of
it. “This way!”

They hadn’t ridden more than a quarter of a
mile before Hywel proved he had a nose for this sort of thing. He
and Gareth came out of the woods and into hillier terrain, well
above the rest of the hunters. They moved in pockets below them,
the bright colors of their tunics a contrast to their dark cloaks,
and easily visible among the mostly leafless trees and winter
vegetation. Gareth’s new position gave him a vantage point that
looked over the woodland to the gray sea, a dozen miles to the
north.

“
What are you doing
here?”

Gareth twisted in his saddle to see Prince
Cadwaladr riding towards them from the west, flanked by two of his
men.

Gareth had no desire to say even two words
to Cadwaladr. Fortunately, Hywel moved his horse to intercept his
uncle. “Keeping an eye on things—and on my father. And you?”

“
The same,” Cadwaladr said.
“Owain is behaving recklessly by riding out today.”

Gareth blinked at that. Cadwaladr’s tone
suggested that he actually cared about someone other than himself.
Either that, or this was a ploy to support the idea that he had
nothing to do with the attempted murder of his brother.

“
Then, I suggest we keep
him safe, Uncle,” Hywel said.

Hywel and Cadwaladr urged their horses back
down the hill to the woodland, followed by Cadwaladr’s men, though
not before each eyed Gareth warily. Gareth let them get ahead of
him, keeping to his watch. William Rufus, a King of England, had
died from a stray arrow while hunting with his men.

Once under the trees,
Gareth couldn’t miss Owain Gwynedd. Taller than all but a few of
his men, he had dismounted and stood with bared head and hefted
spear in a circle of twenty men.
Goddamn
it!
Hywel had been right. So much for the
man hunt. King Owain had found himself a boar.

Gareth hated boar hunts. Enough men died
from battle without losing lives and limbs in the service of
hunting a two hundred pound angry pig. The circle of men faced a
clump of bushes from which grunting noises came. The barking of the
dogs rose to a cacophony and Gareth reined in Braith two dozen
yards away. If the boar got loose from the circle of men, he didn’t
want either his horse, or himself, gored.

“
I pegged you for a hunter,
not an onlooker.” The voice came low from Gareth’s left and he
turned to see Lord Tomos, Rhuddlan’s steward, gazing speculatively
at the scene before them.

“
I’m not here to hunt
boar,” Gareth said.

Tomos glanced at Gareth, amusement in his
face. “Others have spoken of you today.”

Gareth allowed his face to freeze into a
polite mask. If Tomos had spent any time with Cadwaladr, he’d have
heard an earful.

At Gareth’s silence, Tomos tsked through his
teeth. “After your endeavors last night, you’re worried what people
might say of you? No one in the hall but you had the skill and the
instincts to save the king. I assure you, the only topic under
discussion is your quick thinking and your efforts now to bring
Enid’s killer to justice.”

“
I’m very pleased to hear
that,” Gareth said. “Do you have any thoughts that might bring this
investigation to a conclusion?”

“
One name rises to the
surface.” Tomos gestured with one hand to where Cadwaladr had
dismounted to stand beside King Owain. “Prince Rhun spoke to me of
your exploits last summer. Not everyone could have faced down the
king’s brother and lived.”

Gareth felt himself relax, if just a little,
and bowed slightly in Tomos’ direction. “It wouldn’t be appropriate
for me to speak of those events, but thank you.”

Tomos leaned closer. “We are all worried for
the king’s safety. If there is anything I can do—anything at all—to
help in your investigation, please don’t hesitate to ask me.” Tomos
straightened.

“
There is one thing,”
Gareth said.

Tomos turned to him, a flash of surprise in
his eyes before he mastered it. Gareth got the impression that
Tomos’ offer was for form’s sake only and he hadn’t expected Gareth
to take him up on it.

“
Yes?” Tomos
said.