Page 53 of Cadell the Dragon

“I told Connor what I had heard as soon as I arrived this morning. We decided to come warn you, thinking that Bryn Glas might well be one of the places they were talking about. If only we had taken fresh horses, we might had arrived in time to save Rhun.”

“’Tis not your fault. No one forced those men to attack us.”

“Indeed, and you can be sure that I will write to the king to inform him of the abuse committed in his name,” Lord Sheridan’s outrage was audible. “It is good timing, actually, as there was something I meant to ask him.”

With those words, he stood up. Matthew followed suit.

“Thank you for your hospitality. We will ride back now.”

“Night has almost fallen,” Johanna protested. “Wouldn’t it be safer to stay the night?”

“The moon is bright tonight and we have promised our wives to visit a neighbor in the morning.”

“Then I will not keep you.” She stood up in turn. “Know that you have my eternal gratitude for what you did.”

They had not managed to save Rhun, but it made no doubt that she owed Cadell’s life and the safety of the women of Bryn Glas to the Hunter brothers.

“It is nothing. My lady. Cadell.”

Lord Sheridan nodded and left. He had been too polite to betray any curiosity tonight, but he would be wondering what had happened to put a stop to her wedding to Cadell. He and his family had been amongst the people invited. Heaven knew what Siaspar had told the guests to explain the cancelation of the ceremony but she trusted he would not have put the blame on anyone.

The door closed with a soft click, and she found herself alone with Cadell.

Though she suspected it would never happen, she found herself hoping that he would draw her into a kiss. As if to make clear that such intimacy was out of the question, Cadell helped himself to another cup of ale and asked, his expression grim, “Tell me all you know about this Rhiannon, then.”

They had found the letter, as instructed, in Rhun’s tunic, stained with blood but still legible. Cadell had translated the Welsh words to her but unfortunately, if the contents of the missive made the girl’s predicament obvious and justified her cousin’s worry, it did not offer much useful information about where they could find her.

Mother took ill shortly after the wedding and Sir Humphrey sent her to the nearest convent to recover. I am alone with him at the manor and uneasy. I fear an evil design on his part, even if I cannot pinpoint why exactly or guess what he has in mind.

If Mother doesn’t come back soon, I shall have to flee and come to you, to Bryn Glas. I doubt Sir Humphrey would pursue me all the way to Wales, but I am daunted by the long journey on my own, especially with the border being so near. Having just arrived here, I do not know anyone and my stepfather’s people are all loyal to him, as you would expect. They would not help me and even denounce me if they ever got wind of what I plan.

Dear Lord, the girl seemed to be in difficult situation indeed.

Johanna closed her eyes, and concentrated on remembering all her husband had ever told her about his family in general, and his cousin in particular.

“Rhun actually grew up in a small town a few miles further down the coast and only acquired Bryn Glas a few years before our wedding. His parents were already dead by then. He had a few uncles but only one aunt, who is Rhiannon’s mother. I think she has a brother, or had. He might be dead, I’m not sure.” Discouraged by what little information she could recall, she sighed. “I’m sorry, I know this is not much, but Rhun rarely talked about his family. He only mentioned Rhiannon because of the exceptionally strong bond they had as children.”

“It’s a start. And she does mention the border in her letter. Maybe the stepfather’s home is not too far into England. It would make sense, and explain how he met her mother.”

“Yes.” Johanna said, though something was niggling at her. “But Rhiannon mentions a ‘long journey.’ If she knew Bryn Glas was not so far, she might not feel so daunted. I wonder… Could she be talking about the border with Scotland instead?”

Rhun’s last words had been cut short. Had he been trying to say “near the Scottish border” when he’d died? It was not impossible.

Cadell nodded slowly. “Yes, perhaps. What else do you know about Rhiannon? How old is she? What does she look like?”

“I know she is much younger than he is—was.” Her voice wobbled. Though she had spoken of her husband in the past tense a lot in the last few months, this time it resonated differently. This time she had seen him die. The shock of it was still very fresh. “So maybe a little over twenty summers. Her name is Rhiannon ferch Ifan. She must be rather fair because I remember he once said that she looked nothing like him and Rhun was unusually dark for a Welshman. She speaks English, that much I know, his whole family did. Oh, and she has a slight limp, from what I understand, because she broke her leg as a child. This was one of the reasons he was so protective of her. Because no one else cared.”

“Very well.” Cadell threw another log into the fire and straightened up, decision etched all over his face. “I’m looking for Rhiannon ferch Ifan, a Welshwoman of fair complexion, in her third decade. She has a limp. She lives with her stepfather, Sir Humphrey, but she only recently arrived in his home. She has an ailing mother in a convent near their manor house, not far from the Scottish border—possibly.”

“Yes.”

Johanna stared at him, unable to offer any encouragement. This was hopeless. Finding the poor woman would take him months at best, and what would happen to Rhiannon in the meantime was anyone’s guess. Her letter had to have been written weeks ago, to have had time to reach Rhun. Had the stepfather attempted anything since then? Had she found the courage to flee? If she had, then even if by some miracle Cadell managed to locate the stepfather, he would have gone to all that trouble for nothing. Rhiannon would be gone.

At least she had said that she intended to come to Bryn Glas. If she did flee and reach the castle, Johanna would be here to welcome her.

Unable to resist, she took Cadell’s hands in hers.

“I’m letting you go because I understand your need for time,” she said, staring into his amazing, warm eyes. “But know this. If it were up to me alone, we would go find Rhiannon together and we would spend this last night before going to England in each other’s arms.”