Dragon's Lair by Sharon Kay Penman Read Free Book Online Page A

he must have gotten his black hair from his mother, though it was not likely that he'd ever know for sure. He had no memories of her, nothing but the gossip of an old woman who'd been the refectory cook in his father's parish. He'd never even been told her name.
    Aubrey was taking a long time to read a brief letter, and Justin wondered if he felt the same unease, the same desire to be elsewhere, to be anywhere but the bishop's palace at Chester. The last time they'd spoken, it had ended badly, with his father angrily warning him to keep silent and him hitting back with the only weapon at hand, telling Aubrey that Queen Eleanor already knew the truth. Justin knew the queen's letter made use of the surname he had no legal right to claim, for she'd shown it to him before sealing it. He imagined the words Justin de Quincy must have leapt off the parchment at his father; had he taken it as a royal threat? A reminder that the queen knew the secret he'd sought to hide for so long?
    When Aubrey at last looked up, it was with a smile that was as fleeting as it was forced. "Well, the queen must have great faith in you, Justin, to entrust a matter of such importance to you."
    It had not sounded like a compliment - there was too much surprise in his father's tone for that - and Justin acknowledged it with a shrug. "It is not as if I am expected to find the missing ransom all by myself. I can rely upon the Earl of Chester for what ever help I need. And Davydd ab Owain, too. I daresay no one is more eager to retrieve the ransom than he is."
    Aubrey nodded, "Yes... Davydd must be in a frenzy, and he has never been known for his serene, steadfast nature in the best of times."
    This was an ideal opening and Justin was grateful for it; he much preferred to confine their conversation to the facts of the robbery, and he suspected that his father did, too. "The queen told me that you know both Davydd and his wife, the Lady Emma. What can you tell me about him?"
    "Davydd's father was a remarkable man, a great prince. Davydd is neither."
    It was a harsh assessment, but Justin knew that his father was not a man to make allowances for human frailty, not even his own. "What else?"
    Aubrey gestured toward a carved wooden bench and they both sat, somewhat awkwardly. "I suppose you ought to know the manner of the man you'll be dealing with. Davydd has ruled Gwynedd east of the River Conwy for the past twenty or so years. After his father's death, Davydd and his younger brother, Rhodri, banded together and ambushed their half-brother Hywel, the heir-apparent. Hywel was slain; a pity, for he was a fine poet. Davydd and Rhodri soon turned on each other and for a brief time, Davydd ruled all of Gwynedd. These days he divides his time between his castle at Rhuddlan and his manors in Shropshire."
    Justin's eyebrows rose. "A Welsh prince dwelling in England?"
    "I imagine his wife prefers Shropshire to Wales; how could she not? But Davydd also sets great store by his ties to the English Crown. He is King Richard's uncle, if only by marriage, and rarely misses an opportunity to boast of it."
    "You do not like him much," Justin observed, and Aubrey's mouth quirked.
    "Few do," he said dryly. "Davydd does not hold the hearts of his people in the palm of his hand. He is a man of mediocre abilities who has been blessed with good luck, high birth, and a very beautiful wife."
    Justin was remembering what he'd been told, that Emma was he illegitimate daughter of Count Geoffrey of Anjou. Geoffrey had been dead for many years, so Emma must be well past her youth. "You mean she was once a beauty?"
    "Was and is," Aubrey said, faintly amused by Justin's polite attempt to disguise his disbelief. "She is a year or two past her fourth decade, which doubtless sounds as old as Methusaleh to a lad of twenty. But trust me in this, Justin. Emma of Anjou is still a beautiful woman."
    Justin was surprised, both that his father had remembered his age and that he spoke so warmly of the