Daughter of Time: A Time Travel Romance by Sarah Woodbury Read Free Book Online Page B

this
journey?” I said.
    “Leave her at Criccieth,” Tudur said
immediately. “We are far from England and she can do little harm
here. She’s only a woman, after all.”
    Geraint glanced at his son and then brought
his attention back to me. “Is Dafydd coming with us, or staying
here?”
    “He’s staying here,” I said. “He told me
that he had business in the north and hoped I would relieve him of
his duty to attend me. His insistence on it saved me from having to
refuse him space at my side.”
    “Then I would bring the woman,” Geraint
said. “I share some of my son’s concerns, but I also know that if
she is innocent, she would be fair game to one such as Dafydd. You
must admit his prowess with the ladies is nearing legendary status.
Just to spite you, he would seek to turn her head to him, knowing
that she has already shared your bed.”
    “That’s quite an indictment,” I said.
    “It is,” Geraint said. “I speak only because
I have your best interests and that of Wales constantly in my
heart.”
    “I will watch her, my lord.” Goronwy said,
suddenly more sure. “If she rides with me by day and stays with you
at night, there will be no chance for her to engage in any
mischief. By the time we reach Brecon, we will know her character,
for good or ill.”
    “Is that satisfactory to you?” I said to
Geraint and Tudur. Only Geraint would be riding with us. I needed
Tudur to keep an eye on Dafydd. Geraint, though as crafty as ever,
would have a harder time keeping up with my brother.
    “Yes,” Tudur said, nodding slowly. “I will
hold the north for you, as always.”
     
     

Chapter Five
Meg
     
    T his was so not
acceptable. It might be all right for Mr. Llywelyn Fantasy to live
his life in the thirteenth century—and it was clear now that he
must be part of some sort of intentional community in which a whole
lot of people were living that dream with him—but I had to get
going. Mom and Elisa would be worried sick by now. Had they called
the police? If so, what would they find?
    The thought nagged at me. I didn’t know what
had happened to my car or where I was. I remembered sliding into
the embankment next to the tree on which Trev died, but nothing
after that other than a gaping blackness. I concentrated, trying to
recall the impact. Wasn’t there a blue-gray sky? No snow, but a sea
instead? How was that possible?
    I lay in bed, listening hard. Sounds I’d
interpreted as a fan, or the sloshing of a washing machine, or
heavy breathing in and out, could easily be waves on a shore. We’d
spent a summer at Cape Hatteras after my dad retired and I’d loved
falling asleep to the waves rolling in and out. How far from Radnor
had Llywelyn taken me? Could I be on the Jersey shore
somewhere?
    It was hard to believe that I’d survived the
crash unscathed, except for an ache in my neck and a throbbing in
my head. Anna slept on, apparently completely fine and Llywelyn
himself had so far proved to be harmless, seemingly even forgiving
me for trying to kill him. I rolled onto my stomach and stuck my
face into the pillow, moaning at the thought. It was stupid,
stupid, stupid of me to have tried to grab the knife as if I
was some sort of karate expert.
    I’d taken a self-defense class at sixteen
where I’d learn to kick a guy in the balls, but had no real belief
that I could do it under stress, and most of the class had
consisted of role-playing games anyway, which Elisa and I had
hated. Hard to imagine a role-playing game that could have
effectively taught me how to respond to a man who claimed to be a
thirteenth century Prince of Wales . Then again, contrary to
all expectations, I hadn’t needed even the tiny bit of knowledge
that class had taught. Llywelyn had lain beside me in bed all night
and not touched me.
    It wasn’t as if I thought I was irresistibly
gorgeous, but I had enough experience with men to know that few
individuals of the male persuasion wouldn’t have at least tried. I’d