Days of Air and Darkness - Katharine Kerr [31]
“Not after this.” Dwaen shuddered. “She must have been driven mad, the poor woman. Maybe she started hating her merchant, seeing him as the man who’d led her into these crimes or suchlike. The source of her dishonor, that kind of thing.”
“His Grace is much too kind,” Jill broke in. “I’ll wager she wanted to save her own skin and naught more. But she hasn’t ridden south.”
The men turned to stare at her. Rhodry was struck by how odd she looked, pale, yes, as might be expected, but cold sweat beaded her forehead, and her eyes stared across the room as if she were seeing someone standing there. When Rhodry glanced, he could see no one.
“Jill, what do you mean?” Dwaen said. “How do you know?”
She shook her head, on the verge of trembling.
“I don’t know how I know, Your Grace, but I do know. We can ride south all we want, but we won’t find her.”
In the end, Jill was proved right, but they did take a prize of sorts. The gwerbret left Tieryn Dwaen and Lord Cadlew behind to keep order at the dun, then rode out with Lord Beryn and a token escort from his personal warband. Rhodry went with them to bring back a report for the tieryn. In the blue twilight, they trotted fast down a dirt road and headed for the forest preserve where Beryn had his hunting lodge. By the time they reached the forest edge, night had fallen, forcing Beryn to slow the line of march. Their only road was a winding track between old oaks.
“I trust his lordship knows the trail,” Coryc shouted.
“Like a gamekeeper,” Beryn called back. “It’s not far now.”
In a bit, a faint glow appeared in the darkness ahead. Cursing under his breath, Beryn broke into a jog and headed straight for it. Rhodry kicked his tired horse and caught up just as they burst out into a clearing, where stood a long wooden building, half-house, half-shed. The glow came from its unshuttered windows, a pleasant firelight burning against the night’s chill. Out in front, three men were yelling at each other as they frantically tried to saddle their horses; they’d been warned by the unmistakable clatter of riders coming their way. Screaming a war cry, Beryn drew his sword with a flourish and charged. Sword in hand, Rhodry followed, but at the sight of the gwerbret and his men pouring into the clearing, the three fell to their knees and cried surrender.
“Where’s Mallona?” Beryn yelled. “Where’s my wife?”
“Not here, my lord. I swear it! We were waiting for Bavydd to bring her.”
The lords and their men dismounted and surrounded their prey.
Rhodry ducked into the house and took a good look round. Bedrolls and other gear lay strewn on the uneven wood floor; hunting spears hung on the wall by the rough hearth. Judging from the garbage strewn about, the pack had been waiting here for some days. Only one unusual thing caught his eye, a little silver chain lying on a bench near the door. When he picked it up, he found hanging from it not a pendant or silver bauble, but a raven’s feather. Reflexively, he slipped it into his pocket, then trotted back out and found the three men spilling everything they knew in the hope of a quick death, not a slow one.
Jill’s theories had been as accurate as they needed to be. Petyn had hired the fellows in a town to the south, where they were hanging round a tavern in hopes of getting work as caravan guards. He’d taken them to the hunting lodge, where Bavydd had turned up, scattering coins and bringing good provisions to buy loyalty. At first, they’d had their doubts about the job, until Bavydd made it clear they weren’t really going to murder Dwaen, just make it look like they were going to.
“But then he told us to take that lady on the road,” one of the men burst out. “I didn’t like that.” He shot his fellows a venomous glance. “Bastards, all of you, and Petyn was the worst.”
“Oh, bastards, are we?” snarled the other. “You were quick enough to take that fat merchant’s coin, lad.”
“That’s enough,” Coryc said. “What did the merchant tell you to do to the lady after you’d taken her?”
“Whatever we wanted to,” the lad said. “I didn’t like that, Your