The Bard's Daughter (A Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mystery) by Sarah Woodbury Read Free Book Online Page B

didn’t say.
    Denis breathed in deeply. “Robert. Robert might have a motive.”
    Gwen took an involuntary step back. “Robert? Why him?”
    Denis looked towards the door to the hall, lit by torches on either side. “Because Collen entrusted him with three gold coins to hold for him.”
    “ Three coins …” Gwen breathed the words. “Where did Collen get three coins?”
    Denis turned back to her, his lips a thin line. “Never mind that. Needless to say, now that Collen is dead, those coins belong to Eva, or at the very least, to me. But Robert claims to know nothing about them.”
    Three gold coins . A man could buy a lifetime of ease for that, or land, or whatever his heart desired. Gwen wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to offset the cold, and held on, thinking hard. Robert was in a perfect position to implicate her father, since he was a man Lord Cadfael trusted. Could it be that simple? Could Robert have killed Collen and manipulated her father so that he would take the blame?
    Gwen shook her head. There was still too much she didn’t know—and she was running out of time to find the answers.

Chapter Six
     
    “ P ssst! Gwen!”
    Gwen sat up abruptly at the sound of Edain’s voice and bumped her head on the low shelf below which she’d been sleeping. The floor of Saran’s hut wasn’t the most comfortable place to spend the night, but it had the advantage, as before when she’d wanted to practice her music, of being private. She’d retreated here once she realized that her pallet in the upstairs room in which all the women at Carreg Cennen slept had a clear perimeter around it. Nobody wanted to sleep next to a murderer’s daughter.
    “ Where are you?” Gwen peered into the darkness of the hut. With no moon or stars showing, she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face. The fire in the brazier had burned out and Gwen shivered, pulling her cloak and then her blanket around her shoulders.
    “ Here!” Feet thumped on the floor and then Edain struck flint to light the candle he held. Gwen shielded her eyes from the sudden light, and then lowered her hand as her eyes adjusted to it. The glow illumined his face and the little corner in which Gwen lay.
    “ What is the hour?”
    “ Very late,” Edain said.
    “ Why have you come?” Gwen said.
    “ I haven’t found my bed yet because I’ve been thinking about your father,” Edain said.
    The intensity in Edain’s face had Gwen fully awake. “Really? Why?”
    “ I’ve been asking around about him.”
    “ Asking around ?” Gwen’s heart beat a little faster. “That’s very nice of you but I don’t want you to get into trouble on his account. Or mine.”
    Edain shrugged that off. “What are friends for?”
    Not sure how worried she should be, Gwen twisted on her pallet so that her back rested against the wall. “Tell me.”
    “ I spoke with Wyn in the stable and he said you talked to him.”
    “ I did. Did he remember something else?”
    “ No,” Edain said, “but his girl did.”
    “ Wyn has a girl?” Gwen genuinely laughed for the first time since she’d seen her father beside Collen’s body.
    Edain nodded. “It’s Nest, the kitchen girl. She and Wyn had … uh … found a quiet place in the corner of the stable to … uh … talk in private. Wyn was asleep when Nest heard people passing by, near the rear door, the one closest to the entrance to the pantry. One of the voices belonged to your father, although when he spoke, his words were slurred. The other she didn’t know. At least not right away.”
    Gwen stared at Edain, breathless. “But she does now?”
    “ Nest crept to the doorway and saw the couple before they disappeared. We had a bright moon last night, if you recall. The woman was giggling and your father had his arm around her waist.” Edain paused.
    Gwen stared at him. “So … who was it?”
    “ The moon shone full on her face. She followed your father down the ladder, but came hurrying back almost