The Unexpected Ally by Sarah Woodbury Read Free Book Online Page A

the royal court of Gwynedd.
Besides, I’m in no condition for a sea voyage.”
    The monk bowed to them and departed, at
which point Gwen began pouring breakfast mead into cups for each of
them, and Hywel reached for a serving spoon to ladle porridge into
his bowl.
    Gareth turned to Conall. “You should know by
now, but it’s only fair to remind you again, that our
investigations have a tendency to be far worse than any sea
journey.” Gareth accepted a cup from Gwen and looked at her over
the rim. “In fact, sometimes they include them.”
    Gwen smiled, though Hywel knew that the
memory of her journey to and from Dublin as Cadwaladr’s captive was
one of the worst periods of her life. “I will do as you ask and
speak to the monks.” She gave a low laugh. “Heaven knows I’ve done
it before when you didn’t want me wandering about by myself. I’ll
need a sketch to show them, Gareth.”
    “I’ll make several.” Gareth nodded his head
to Hywel. “If we discover anything that pertains to the king or to
you, my lord, I’ll let you know immediately. But until then—”
    “Until then, I am the edling .” Hywel
spoke matter-of-factly, surprised to find himself completely
unresentful of the fact that he was leaving the investigation of
Erik’s death to others. “My duty is to my father and to address the
treachery of my Uncle Madog.”
    Gareth snorted into his cup. “You do seem to
have your share of treasonous uncles, my lord.”
    Hywel looked up from his wooden bowl, taking
in Gareth, Gwen, and Conall in a single glance. Despite another
murder, a healing shoulder wound, and a brush with death, his
friend was laughing again. Hywel was glad to see it. He wasn’t sure
where Gareth’s amusement and the general banter around the table
was coming from, but it was a welcome change from the heaviness of
heart they’d all felt over the last few months in the wake of
Rhun’s death. “It may be that our interests will coincide before
we’re through.”

Chapter Five
    Gwen
     
    G wen wasn’t pleased
to be relegated to questioning the monks as she had at Aberystwyth
and Shrewsbury, but she understood why Hywel had given her this
task and Gareth had backed him up: they were genuinely afraid of
losing her.
    She understood too why the men felt that way
and couldn’t add to their burden by knowingly putting herself in
danger again. Staying behind at the monastery did mean that she
could check in with Tangwen and Gwalchmai (who were still asleep)
every so often. Above all, she was a mother, so she couldn’t be
sorry that she would remain safe—for her own sake, for Tangwen’s
sake, and for that of her unborn child.
    She also wasn’t sorry that staying behind
gave her a chance to speak to Abbot Rhys again. He’d been a monk
for only ten years, but that Rhys would become the abbot of his
monastery had been a foregone conclusion from the moment he’d
chosen the Church as his vocation. Gareth had trusted him almost
from the moment the two had met, and Rhys had become a friend to
both Gwen and Gareth in the subsequent years. Although Rhys had
initially balked at Gwen’s participation in the investigations that
came their way, he had grown to accept her presence, learned from
her, and now treated her in the fashion of a proud and beloved
uncle. As a rule, priests and monks didn’t get to have children,
and she was pleased to have adopted him in some measure into her
own family.
    Thus, after she’d eaten and checked on
Tangwen again—and resisted the temptation to lie down on the pallet
beside her daughter—she went in search of Rhys, finding him in the
abbot’s quarters. These were a suite of rooms in the west range of
the cloister. As she arrived, he was finishing breakfast.
    At the sight of her entering the room, Rhys
pushed away his bowl with its remains of porridge and rose to his
feet to greet her. “Did you find something?”
    His expression was so hopeful, Gwen hated to
disappoint him, but she shook her head