A Moment in Time (43 page)

"In time you will," he said with certainty, "and that collar will not remain upon your neck forever, Wynne. The day you become my wife, I shall remove it from your neck even as I have put it there."

"I cannot marry you," she cried desperately, leaping to her feet. "Why can you not understand? I am Wynne of Gwernach, wife to Madoc, prince of Powys!"

"Nay," he said. "You are Wynne, a Welsh slave belonging to Eadwine Aethelhard, the thegn of Aelfdene manor." Then he arose and looked down upon her. "You are Wynne, the most beloved woman of Eadwine Aethelhard."

"Call me whatever you will, my lord," she said proudly, "You cannot make me that which I am not, even by putting a slave collar about my neck. I will never be your wife." Then she turned and walked from the hall up the stairs into the Great Chamber.

She will love me in time, Eadwine Aethelhard thought stubbornly. She will love me. She must, for I cannot live without her now!

Chapter 13

Madoc of Powys had returned home from the valley below his castle to find his servants hysterical with fear and grief.

"She went out riding early yesterday morning unescorted," Einion told him bluntly.

"Why weren't you with her?" the prince demanded, struggling to stem the violent beating of his heart. "Where is my wife?"

"I wasn't with her because I had no idea she intended to ride, my lord," Einion told him. "Had I known, I would have been with her. Have I not kept her safe from harm her entire life? She told the stablemen and the men-at-arms that she meant to go no farther than the bridge. They let her go believing her safe. Then everyone became involved in his daily routine, and no one thought to ask if my lady Wynne had returned until her horse reappeared riderless."

"You sent out search parties?" Madoc demanded, knowing the answer even before Einion gave it.
Wynne!
he cried in his heart. Where are you, dearling?

"I headed the search myself, my lord, but it was almost nightfall. The following morning we left at first light. We did not find my lady, but we did find her tunic dress and her chemise. They were torn and bloodied as if some wild beast had . . . had
..."
Einion could not go on.

"She is not dead!"
the prince shouted angrily. How could this have happened?
How?

"We did not find a body," Einion, now recovering himself, admitted. "Not even parts of a body. No shoes, no jewelry. Nothing but those two pieces of clothing. It is almost as if . . ."

"Someone were attempting to make us believe that Wynne is dead." Madoc finished the thought for Einion, his mind already filled with possibilities and troubled thoughts.

"But, my lord," said Einion, "you have no enemies. Who would do such a cruel thing?"

Madoc shook his head. "I do not know, my friend, but I intend finding out."

During the next few days the forest was carefully combed for the merest sign of Wynne, but none was found. There was no body. No bones. There was absolutely no trace of the lady of Raven's Rock at all. It was as if the earth had opened and swallowed her. Madoc then commanded that it be made known throughout all of Powys that his young pregnant wife was missing and feared abducted. The similarity between their previous life together and now did not escape Madoc. A reward was offered to anyone who could supply the prince with information leading to his wife's recovery.

His next move was to go to Cai, for he could still hear Wynne's voice importuning him to make his peace with his brother. Had she defied his authority and gone to see Brys? He would not have believed her so foolish, and yet, though old and wise in many ways, Wynne was yet a child in others.

"Why do you find it necessary to visit me with so many soldiers at your back, dear brother," Brys greeted his elder sibling. "Do you not trust me?"

"No," Madoc replied, "I do not. My wife is missing, Brys. Would you know where she is?"

"Do sit down, Madoc. Will you have some wine?" Brys inquired. "Your insistence in getting immediately to the point is really quite unnerving and most uncivilized, brother dear."

"And your evasiveness, Brys, is typical. Do you know where Wynne is?" Madoc demanded, his piercing gaze causing Brys a certain amount of uneasiness.

"Why would I know where Wynne is, Madoc? I am sorry that you cannot keep a better watch over your wife, especially as she is expecting your heir. Breeding women are fanciful creatures, I am told. Is it possible that she has gone to Gwernach? Have you sent your riders to her brother to inquire if she is there?" The bishop of Cai languidly lifted his onyx-studded silver goblet to his lips and sipped at his wine. Then setting the cup down, he smiled at Madoc and said, "If I knew where your wife was, brother dear, I should not tell you. Your obvious suffering is really quite delicious. I would have never thought your weakness would be a woman, Madoc. How pedestrian and common you have become."

Madoc of Powys's dark blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do not tempt me to rashness, Brys," he warned.

Brys of Cai laughed scornfully. "You will not harm me, Madoc. It goes against your kindly nature. You have always used your powers for good. Besides, I am your brother."

Madoc shook his head. "You are right, Brys. I cannot seem to destroy you. I will not jeopardize my immortal soul even for the moment of supreme pleasure that killing you would give me. Not now. Not at this moment in time. But there will come a day, Brys, when the Celtic warrior in me will rise up, and I will finally kill you, even if I be damned for it."

"That is where we are so different, brother dear, for I could kill you right now," Brys replied, smiling.

"Where is Wynne?" Madoc repeated.

"I do not know," Brys said, and he smiled again; but Madoc also knew that Brys would accept death rather than divulge what he did know.

The prince of Powys turned and left his younger brother's presence. In the courtyard of Castle Cai his men and their horses milled about restlessly.

"Well?" demanded Einion.

"I believe he knows where Wynne is, but he will not tell me," Madoc said.

"Give me a few moments with him, my lord," Einion begged. "He will tell me!"

"Nay, he will not," Madoc said. "He would die first," and the prince leaned against his horse wearily. "She was here, Einion. I can feel it!"

"Do you think she's still here, my lord?" Einion asked. "Perhaps he has her hidden away. We should search Castle Cai!"

"Nay, she is gone," Madoc said. "I sense it. We must go too, my friend." He mounted his horse, giving the signal to his men to do likewise.

They headed out along the road back to Raven's Rock. They had gone not much farther than a mile or two and were reentering the forest when they heard a voice calling from somewhere amid the trees.

"Let the prince of Powys dismount and come into the woodland alone. I will tell him of his wife."

"It is a trick of your brother's," Einion said grimly.

"Nay," Madoc said, sliding off his horse. "It is the voice of good fortune, I think," and he walked forward into the trees until the voice bade him stop. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Who I am matters not, my lord," the voice said. It was a man's voice. "I know of your wife's fate, and I would tell you."

"Why? How can I trust you? If you know what has happened to Wynne and to our unborn child, then you are certainly connected with my brother, who has hatched this plot and wishes me nothing good," Madoc said.

"That is so, my lord," the voice agreed, "but though I am in service of your brother, he has wronged me and my family greatly. I dare not defy him openly, for I am powerless before him, but I can be avenged upon him in this matter without his ever knowing. Your brother wantonly killed my younger sister. He beat her to death, for she tried to escape him after he had forced her into an evil, carnal bondage of a sort I need not describe to you, my lord. Your good wife attempted to save my sister, and when she could not, she held Gwladys in her own arms and prayed with her until she died. But for her, my sister would have died alone and afraid. For that great kindness I owe your wife a debt, and I am not a man to avoid my debts."

"Where is my lady?" Madoc inquired gently. How like Wynne to have tried to aid one of Brys's victims even to her own detriment.

"Your brother sent for a man named Ruari Ban, an Irish slaver. He sold your wife to this man, who I know went to England with her. I do not know where in England, my lord. I am sorry."

"You are certain of what you tell me?" Madoc said.

"I am certain, my lord. I was in the hall when the wicked business was done. Your wife was forced into silence by your brother by means of threats against your child. Your brother has dealt with Ruari Ban in the past. He is, strange to say, an honest sort for a slaver. If you seek for him along the roads into England, someone should know where he can be found, my lord."

"I would reward you, my friend," Madoc said.

"Nay, my lord. I have, I hope, but returned the kindness that your wife rendered to my sister."

"Surely there is something I can do for you," Madoc insisted, but there was silence now, and the prince realized that his informant was gone. Hurrying back to his own men, he remounted his horse and cried, "To Raven's Rock!" and while they rode, he told Einion of what the faceless voice had told him.

"You believe him?" Einion asked. "You are certain that this is no trick?"

"I am certain!" Madoc said grimly. "It is just the sort of evil that Brys would attempt."

"What will you do now, my lord?"

"I must think on this carefully, Einion. My decisions will affect Wynne's fate and that of our child."

When they had returned to Raven's Rock, Madoc locked himself in his tower room, considering the best course of action to take. One thing he was certain of, he had to speak with Nesta, for she was a part of this too. Flinging open the tower window, he said,
"Codam is ainm dom. Codam is ainm dom.
Te
se Codam!"
In his mind's eye he pictured a raven, old Dhu. Then he felt his wings flapping smoothly as they raised him up, and he flew through the window, catching the spiral of the wind as he headed southwest toward St. Bride's.

The day was waning quickly, and Madoc knew that he must reach St. Bride's before sunset or he would be forced to spend the night in the open, for it was the dark of the moontime. He flew over Gwernach and was pleased to see it so prosperous, its herds of fat cows grazing on the lush hillsides, sharing their territory with the deer. He could smell the salt of the sea long before he saw it, but when he did, the sun was fast sinking into a bright scarlet horizon. Then the turrets and towers of St. Bride's appeared, and the great black raven landed itself upon a fanciful stone balcony overlooking the dark sea.

"Madoc is ainm dom. Madoc is ainm dom. Te se Madoc!"
he said, and was once again restored to his human form. The prince looked out over the sea, which was placid at the moment. He concentrated and called out in his mind to Nesta.

She came, joining him suddenly upon the balcony, her loose gown billowing gently about her, her swollen belly quite distinct. "Madoc! What is it? You would not have come were it not serious. Is Wynne all right?" She kissed his cheek.

"Wynne has been abducted and sold into slavery," he began without preamble.

"Brys!"
Nesta said. "This is Brys's doing, isn't it?"

"Aye, it is. The time is drawing near, Nesta, when I must kill him. There is no other way."

"God will find a way, Madoc, but in the meantime, what of Wynne? Do you know where she is?" Nesta looked very troubled. "Poor girl!"

"We had argued the past weeks over Brys," Madoc said. "She could not believe he was so evil that he could not be redeemed. She wanted us to forgive him, that our family be reunited. She wanted that for her child and for yours, my sister. All I have been able to learn of her whereabouts is that she has been taken to England by an Irish slaver called Ruari Ban. I must trace him first before I can find my wife. I wanted you to know, Nesta, for I must begin my search immediately. I will most likely not be at Raven's Rock when your child is born."

"Does Wynne's family know of her abduction, brother? You cannot keep it from them. Her grandmother, the lady Enid, is coming to St. Bride's in a few days' time to help me when my child is born. I would be most uncomfortable, Madoc, keeping such news from her."

"You may tell her for me, Nesta," he said. "And tell her not to worry, for I will retrieve Wynne and get her safely home."

"Have you reached out for her?" Nesta asked.

"Aye," he said, "but it is as if I am shouting down a hollow tree. There is nothing, yet I know she is not dead. Death has a very different feeling to it."

"Perhaps it is the child, Madoc. Perhaps the child blocks your path to Wynne," Nesta suggested.

"You heard me," he replied.

"Aye," she nodded slowly, smiling, "but you and I have been together my entire lifetime, brother. Besides, you called me from within my own castle. You are trying to reach out to Wynne over a distance of many miles. She is undoubtedly frightened and very concerned for your child. Believe me, that fear for her baby is consuming her, and she cannot hear you, for she can think of nothing but the safety and the survival of her babe. All her energies are trained upon that,
I
know, for mine would be, Madoc."