The Uninvited Guest (18 page)

Gwen had already turned toward the horse but
stopped in the act of loosing one of the ties. “Leave me? Why would
you leave me?”

“
Because it’s safer that
way. I was sent to Aber to warn the cooks that we’d killed a boar.”
Gareth pointed with his chin towards the trail upon which he’d
ridden earlier. “On my way home, I encountered a tree which had
fallen across the path. I had to dismount to go around it, at which
point a branch hit me on the head. I fell down a steep slope into a
ravine.”

“
Was it an accident?” Gwen
said.

“
No. A man wielded that
branch.” Gareth wiggled his toes inside his boots. While he’d been
standing talking to Gwen, his feet had turned numb from the cold,
but at least he still
had
boots. “He left me for dead.”

“
Sweet Mary.” Gwen rested
her forehead against Braith’s neck. “Who is doing this?”

Gareth shook his head. “I wish I knew. It
has to be someone in the hunting party.”

“
Couldn’t it have been the
assassin? He could have seen the company ride into the woods and
when you left by yourself, followed you? You dismounted and he saw
his chance.”

“
I suppose it’s possible,”
Gareth said. “But wouldn’t it have been better for him just to hide
and let me pass?”

Gwen sighed. “You would
have thought so.” She put her hand to Gareth’s cheek. “I can’t
believe I could be happy you fell into a ravine. Is this why you
don’t want anyone to see you now? You want the culprit to think
you
are
dead, so he
thinks himself secure?”

“
That’s the idea,” Gareth
said.

“
What if it only increases
his confidence and he kills again?”

“
If he has acquired a taste
for murder, that is a very different matter,” Gareth said. “But I’m
hoping my death makes him feel safe, and encourages him to believe
he has literally gotten away with murder. If that’s the case, we’ll
have a better chance of catching him.”

“
What if it makes him act
rashly?” Gwen said. “Cadwaladr abducted me because he thought we
were closing in on him.”

Gareth shrugged. “He’s already acted rashly.
But I’m not dead. If this doesn’t work, I can always come to life
and we can try something else.”

Gwen took in a deep breath and let it out.
“All right. What do you want me to do?”

“
Can you convince Hywel to
meet me near the hay barn at dawn?” Gareth said. “I’ll head there
now and hide until I’m sure it’s safe to come out.”

Gwen put a hand to Gareth’s
cheek. “Hywel and
I
will meet you at dawn. Will you be all right until then? It’s
at least eight miles home.”

“
I’ll make it.” He wished
for a cloak, or that he’d had the foresight to pack a blanket, but
he hadn’t. And Gwen needed her cloak if she were to remain out here
until they gave up the search. “Do you have anything to
eat?”

Gwen shook her head. “Not if you didn’t pack
anything. Let me see to your head and then I’ll find Hywel. I found
the linen bandages. Did you think something like this would
happen?”

“
I always carry them,”
Gareth said. “Hywel made me a captain in his
teulu
in Ceredigion. I was the man who
had what we needed, when we needed it, or knew where to get
it.”

Gwen made him sit on a fallen log and began
to roll a bandage around his head. “It might be good to ask King
Owain if riding out to search for the assassin was his idea or if
it was suggested by someone else.”

Gareth groaned—partly in pain, but partly at
the enormity of their task. “Can you ask him?”

“
I’ll try to find an
opening. Or Hywel can,” Gwen said. “Nobody has talked to him about
his honor guard yet, or why Enid would want to lure Lord Goronwy
away from guarding his room.”

“
Lady Jane said that King
Owain knew Enid at one time, and that she introduced him to
Cristina,” Gareth said. “It would be nice to know how well he knew
her.”

“
I didn’t know Enid at all
in life, but I’m thinking I don’t like her in death.”

“
I’d be surprised if you
found any woman who liked her, barring her own mother,” Gareth
said. “Lady Jane claims she was sweet and loved by
everyone.”

Gwen loosed an unfeminine
snort of irritation. “
Loved
is right.” Gwen finished wrapping his head and
pressed her lips to the now-covered wound.

“
Gwen—” Gareth caught her
wrist. “You stay safe. No midnight rendezvous with anyone
anywhere—not in the stables, in the kitchens, or outside your door.
If someone wants to speak to you in private, make sure you get
Hywel to come with you. You’re vulnerable alone.”

Gwen sat back on her heels. “I will do as
you say.”

Gareth gazed at her. He’d been very
husbandly in his warning and she’d taken it better than he’d
expected. At his continued silence, Gwen added, “I promise. You’re
right and I won’t argue with you about it.”

“
Thank you. I’ll feel
better about the work before me if I know you’re safe.”

“
What are you going to do?”
Gwen said.

“
While you keep an eye out
for our killer at Aber,” Gareth said. “I’m going to find out what
our would-be assassin was doing earlier this week, and where he
came from.”

Chapter
Fourteen

“S
tay safe, Gareth.”

They’d allowed themselves only a little more
time to talk. Gareth had imparted all that he knew or had
discovered that day and Gwen had done the same. Then, Gareth took
Gwen’s face in his hands, kissed her, and turned away to melt into
the woods, heading east. Gwen stood in silence for another dozen
heartbeats, thinking of all they’d talked about and what it meant,
before turning away. She tugged at Braith’s bridle to get her
moving. Fortunately for Gwen, the horse hadn’t balked when her
master departed nor insisted on going with him.

Gwen hadn’t needed to ask which ‘hay barn’
Gareth had meant. Hundreds dotted the countryside, but he could
mean only one building, and it wasn’t really a barn. It was one of
many outbuildings connected to Aber. Although King Owain was
rebuilding much of Aber in stone, and its walls enclosed a space
some seventy yards in diameter, it could hold only a limited number
of buildings, people, and horses. Some of the less noble guests
who’d come for the wedding had found lodging in the village tavern,
hard by the Aber River, but space had been made for others in a
manor house that also had extensive stables, fields, and barns
associated with it.

The
hay barn
, however, was Aber’s most
remote possession, and sat over the top of Aber’s greatest and
least well kept secret. In addition to the bath room that Cristina
and Gwen so enjoyed, the Roman who’d originally built Aber had
built escape tunnels beneath it. One led north, to the beach, and a
second led south, into the mountains. The hay barn had been built
over the top of the southern exit.

It was a good choice as a meeting place and
would allow Hywel to gain access to Gareth without appearing to
leave the castle. It might be more difficult for Gwen to get away
from prying eyes, but somehow she would do it. Perhaps they could
openly lodge Gareth’s horse there, since Gwen knew for a fact that
the stables inside Aber and those at the manor house were full.
Gwen could excuse herself to check on Braith.

Gwen picked her way through
the trees, leading Braith, keeping alert for a sign of Prince
Hywel. Because she’d delayed so long with Gareth, she’d fallen far
behind the last line of men. Someone would notice that she had
disappeared and start a search for
her
. It would be best if she
forestalled that problem by finding Hywel first.

It was Rhun, however, whom she ran into.
Literally. She was following a path that dead-ended at a screen of
bushes. She heard what she thought was Hywel’s voice coming from
the other side, and pushed through the brush, only to bump into
Rhun’s back. He and Evan were standing together under a large,
leafless oak.

“
My apologies, my lord!”
Gwen said.

“
Gwen!” Rhun turned around,
a forced smile on his face. “We were just speaking of you. Braith
shook her head and snorted. Rhun patted her nose absently. “You
miss your master, don’t you?”

“
I don’t have a good
feeling about this.” Evan pressed his lips together in a thin line,
his eyes on Gwen.

“
I don’t believe Gareth is
dead,” Gwen said. “I would know it if he were.”

“
He was headed home,”
Prince Rhun said. “He has to be somewhere in these
woods.”

“
But we don’t know where he
fell, if he fell.” Evan kept his eyes on Gwen. “What if he was
abducted, as Cadwaladr abducted you last summer?” He was speaking a
painful truth and she longed to tell him that Gareth was alive.
Shout it, in fact.

Instead, she said, “I know, Evan. Gareth
could be miles from here by now. Without Braith, if he was
conscious and was well enough to start for Aber, he’d be
walking.”

“
Are you saying we should
give up?” Rhun said.

Hywel stepped out from behind a tree not far
from where Gwen stood. “We shouldn’t give up, but perhaps we can do
a better job of retracing his steps. If some of us return to the
site of the hunt, we might discover the actual path he took.”

“
We should have done that
from the start.” Rhun’s eyes lit. The bright blue reflected the
light of the torch he held, which he handed to his brother. “I’ll
go.”

“
I’ll gather the others.”
Evan glanced once at Gwen, sorrow clear on his face, and departed
with Rhun, glad to leave her presence. Gwen’s heart contracted for
him, and she regretted the deception she and Gareth were going to
play on everyone. At the same time, Evan had inadvertently given
her exactly what she’d needed: a chance to speak to Hywel alone.
Hywel glanced behind him, as if he too wanted to flee, so Gwen
stepped closer and put a hand on his arm. “
He found me
.”

Hywel ducked his head so his nose was inches
from hers and matched her whisper for whisper. “What did you
say?”

Gwen tugged Hywel away from the bushes in
case an unseen hunter passed by close enough to hear. “I’ve just
seen Gareth. He was hit on the head on purpose—and left for dead.
Gareth thinks it best if he stays dead.”

Hywel glanced away, his brow furrowed.
“What’s his plan? How can he be useful to me if he’s dead? It would
mean he can’t return to Aber.”

“
Exactly,” Gwen said. “If
the murderer thinks he’s safe from detection, he’ll remain at the
castle, leaving Gareth free to hunt for clues he’s left
behind.”

“
What do you
mean—clues?”

“
From whence did the poppy
juice come, for example? And if our lost assassin is who you think
he is—yes, Gareth told me just now—then he must have left traces of
himself across Gwynedd. He had to sleep somewhere, right? Talk to
someone?”

Hywel nodded. “So that’s it. He hunts our
murderer from the outside, while we keep asking questions on the
inside. I approve, but—” he gestured to the woods, “I have a dozen
men and dogs here. He would have me hunt in vain to keep up his
masquerade?”

“
Yes.”

Hywel snorted a laugh. “Gareth has spent too
long in my company.” But then he nodded again. “He’ll need
supplies.”

“
He wants us to meet him at
the hay barn at dawn.”

“
Then we’d better hurry. We
have much to do before then.” Hywel turned and raised a hand to his
mouth. “Gruffydd! Where are you, man? Come here!”

Ten heartbeats later, a man entered the
clearing from the east and trotted up to the prince, breathless.
“Yes, my lord?”

“
Find my brother and tell
him that I have escorted Gwen back to Aber. She can’t—” he glanced
at Gwen, calculation in his eyes, “—she can’t search
anymore.”

Gwen hastily arranged her features in a mask
of grief.

Gruffydd nodded. “Yes, my lord.”

Hywel passed his torch to Gruffydd, flicked
a hand at Gwen indicating that she should mount Braith, and pulled
himself onto his own horse which he’d left to crop whatever grass
the beast could find under the trees. “Let’s go.”

They rode the miles back to Aber faster than
Gwen had ever ridden in the dark, faster even than when she and
Gareth had come to Aber together last summer after the death of
King Anarawd. Still, it was after midnight before the gatehouse
loomed above them. King Owain had set a watch, as usual, and a
man-at-arms was there to greet them.

“
Rain’s coming,” he said as
he let them through the wicket gate.

Gwen sniffed the air. It did feel warmer
than an hour ago. She was glad for Gareth’s sake, since he didn’t
have a cloak. She hoped that the rain would hold off long enough
for him to reach the hay barn.

Once inside Aber, the extent of the
garrison’s concern for Gareth’s well-being was clear in the number
of men on watch and the bristling of spears on the battlement. A
stable boy ran across the courtyard, his boots pounding hollowly on
the hard-packed earth.

Even Gwen’s father had stayed awake. He came
out of the guardhouse and caught Braith’s bridle as Gwen reined in.
“You didn’t find him?” Meilyr tipped his head to look into Gwen’s
face and his eyes glinted in the torchlight that flared on either
side of the gate.