The Bard's Daughter (A Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mystery) (7 page)

“
From whom did you hear it? Ifan?”

“
From Ifan?” Denis’ face contracted as he dismissed the servant. “Of course not. I heard it from Collen himself.”

“
Why did Collen say he and my father fought?” Gwen said.

A wary expression crossed Denis’ face. “Collen asked Meilyr if he would introduce him to Prince Cadwaladr of Ceredigion. Your father refused.”

Gwen swallowed down her disbelieving laughter. Could this conversation be any more strange?

In the face of her silence, Denis gazed towards Collen’s cart. Gwen could just make out Ifan’s shape in the darkness. As she studied Denis’ profile, Gwen realized that there was something about Denis that didn’t sit right with her. His demeanor, his diction, and the way he dressed, spoke to her of a man whose station was far above the one he was actually living. He presented himself more like a nobleman than a merchant.

“
What did Ifan tell you?” Denis said.

Gwen hesitated, unsure if it was her place to say, but then decided that if Ifan was going to tell Gruffydd anyway, Denis would know soon enough. “He said that my father helped Collen with Lord Cadfael, and then Collen refused to acknowledge the favor.”

Denis looked away, his jaw working. “That’s not what Collen said to me.”

“
I’ve heard three different stories so far about the conversation between my father and Collen,” Gwen said. “Many lies have been told of late.”

Denis jerked his eyes back to Gwen’s face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
If my father didn’t kill Collen,” Gwen said, “someone else did and arranged things so the blame would fall on him. Who could have done that? And why?”

Denis snorted. “Meilyr was found beside the body with a harp string at his feet and blood on his hands. He is the murderer. You’re wasting your time. He should pay Eva the
galanas
he owes her and let it go.”

“
If my father is found guilty, there won’t be any
galanas
,” Gwen said.

Denis had been looking around the courtyard, not really listening, but Gwen’s words brought his attention back to her. “What did you say?”

“
Sir Gruffydd told me that Lord Cadfael plans to hang my father,” Gwen said.

Denis moved closer, his face only a hand’s span from hers. “He wouldn’t!”

“
Apparently, he would,” Gwen said. “In that event, Eva would receive no payment.”

Denis’ throat worked, but he didn’t answer. Gwen smiled inwardly. Eva was beautiful, but Gwen’s brief encounter with Denis told her that he admired money more than beauty. And if Eva didn’t receive the
galanas
, she might not be worth his time.

“
There has to be someone else with motive,” Gwen said. “Please think! You were Collen’s partner. Who might want him dead?”
Besides you, yourself
, which Gwen 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 immediately. Your father didn’t follow her and Nest retreated to where Wyn slept, not wanting to pry and assuming they’d had a lover’s quarrel. Other than the rarity of seeing your father with a woman, she thought nothing particularly of it. She went to sleep.”

Gwen’s teeth ground together at Edain’s insouciant grin. He was drawing this out on purpose. “Who—was—the—woman?”

“
Eva, Collen’s wife.”

Gwen sucked a breath in so hard she started coughing. Edain leaned forward and clapped her on the back. With a hand to her chest, Gwen regained control, breathing deeply. “I hadn’t expected that. She’s so beautiful, and—and sweet!”

“
Not so sweet, apparently, that she didn’t meet with your father on the very night her husband was killed.”

“
In the very place her husband was killed.” Gwen twirled the end of her braid around one finger.
Had Eva really dosed Meilyr with a potion and left him in the pantry?

“
If Collen was already dead, she would have seen him on the floor there,” Edain said. “That would be why she came back.”

“
Except that she didn’t raise the alarm,” Gwen said. “And just left my father there by himself.”

“
Could she have killed Collen?” Edain said. “The rock hides sounds well. The three of them could have argued …” His voice trailed off as he reconsidered his theory.

“
What about the harp string?” Gwen said. “It’s not as if my father carries one on his person. And as Nest pointed out, my father was drunk.”

“
Perhaps Eva brought the string to the pantry. Perhaps she intended to kill Collen all along?” Edain said. “Alternatively, if Collen was already dead when Eva and Meilyr arrived in the pantry, Eva has to be involved, else why
not
raise the alarm.”

“
So she could blame the murder on my father?” Gwen bit her lip. It was one thing for her to pursue this line of inquiry, but Edain was a servant. He could find himself in serious danger—or lose his position—if he helped her any more. She put a hand on his arm and squeezed once. “These are interesting thoughts, Edain. Thank you so much for coming to me.”

Edain’s face colored. “You’re welcome. I was sure that I could help.”

“
It would probably be better if you didn’t mention our conversation or what Nest saw to anyone else, not until we know more,” Gwen said. “A murderer is still loose in the castle and I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

“
If you say so, Gwen.” Edain ducked his head.

“
And you might say the same to Nest. She and Wyn are the only ones I’ve found so far who saw my father last evening.”

Edain’s brow furrowed. “You’re worried for them? You think they could be in danger?”

“
We don’t know why Collen was killed,” Gwen said. “My father is in a cell, which might make people feel safe, but if my father didn’t do it, than somebody else did. I’d like to know who that is before you, Nest, or Wyn expose yourselves by coming forward as witnesses on my father’s behalf.”

Edain studied Gwen for a moment without speaking. Then he nodded and rose to his feet. “We’ll be careful.” He touched Gwen’s shoulder and disappeared through the far doorway, leaving Gwen again in darkness.

In retrospect, Gwen was surprised that only Nest and Wyn had seen her father and Eva together, and only Nest saw Eva closely enough to recognize her. Carreg Cennen was crowded with people, and yet, perhaps that made it all the easier to carry out a plan to murder Collen and implicate her father. With so many strangers, the usual residents didn’t know everyone and were more likely to turn a blind eye to the activities of others.

It could be, also, that others had seen Gwen’s father, but hadn’t spoken of it because nobody had questioned them. If Gruffydd had been conducting a proper investigation, he would have interviewed all of the servants and castle residents. But he wasn’t, for reasons Gwen still didn’t understand. Gwen herself had tried, but few people were willing to talk to her about the murder.

Gwen lay back down on the pallet and gazed upwards to the shelf above her head, though she couldn’t see it in the darkness. All things considered, Saran was right. Gwen preferred being a bard’s daughter to the daughter of a murderer.

Chapter Seven

T
he next morning, Gwen slept later than she intended. It was already dawn by the time she awoke. She rolled up the pallet on which she’d been sleeping and hurried out of the hut. In the middle of the night, during the long hours when she wasn’t sleeping, she’d come to the decision that she should bring what Edain had discovered to Gruffydd. Perhaps her information could spark him into movement. Despite his lack of action, she trusted him more than she did Robert or Cadfael. Maybe he’d at least be willing to listen.

But before Gwen was half way down the path towards the kitchen, Saran waylaid her. “I heard that you have been trying to help your father.”