The Good Knight (A Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mystery)

among Madog’s company, with a tithe set aside for Owain Gwynedd. Gareth had acquired a short knife, which now rested at his waist.
    “Take these.” He handed three coins to Gwen.
    “I—I can’t,” she said, rejecting them out of hand, even though her eyes widened at the sight of them. Coins were rare in Wales and she’d never had any of her own.
    “What do you mean, you can’t?” Gareth said.
    Gwen shook her head. “A man who is dead last held those coins. Perhaps the lord who ordered Anarawd’s death gave them to him. How can I take them for myself?”
    Gareth tsked at her through his teeth but didn’t push them on her, and instead slipped them into his own scrip. “I’ll hold them for you until you need them.”
    Gwen hadn’t banished the sick feeling in her stomach at the events of the day. “I can’t believe someone has plotted to murder a king.”
    Gareth laughed under his breath. “What you can’t believe is that you witnessed it. Murdering one’s king is a well-established tradition in Wales and you know it.”
    Of course Gareth was right. And if Gwen were smarter, she wouldn’t be the one to tell Owain Gwynedd about this particular murder. Unfortunately, leaving the task for Gareth alone was the coward’s way and that was a path Gwen refused to take.
    It was another long walk before the fort of Caerhun rose before them, half-finished—or rather, half-falling down and patched here and there with wattle and daub or foraged stone. King Owain understood the importance of the old Roman fort. It guarded a centuries-old east-west road across Gwynedd. The Romans had built the fort and improved the road, but the Welsh themselves had passed this way for as long as they’d peopled these lands.
    The English had sought to force the Conwy River many times over the years. While today King Owain’s domains were at peace and stretched all the way to the city of Chester on the border between England and Wales, that hadn’t always been the case. King Owain, and his father Gruffydd before him, had chosen to defend what amounted to the only useable ford on the Conwy River.
    Gwen checked the sky as they turned into the entrance. The long summer dusk was upon them, giving them perhaps another two hours of light. They’d traveled all of ten miles the whole day—a few hours’ walk when things were going well. A pity they hadn’t. Particularly for Anarawd.
    “How long before we must ride?” she asked Gareth.
    “Give me an hour, two at most,” Gareth said. “Both Braith and your father’s horse need food, rest, and the comfort of a stall for a short time at least.”
    Gwen nodded and turned towards the dining hall with some of the other men, looking forward to the opportunity to sit down. She bent at the waist, stretching her back. Her hair had come loose and she pushed it out of her face, and then looked up to find Gwalchmai planted in front of her.
    “Father says you’re going on without us.”
    “Yes,” Gwen said. A wave of soldiers swept around and past them and she wrinkled her nose at the press of humanity. Maybe she wasn’t hungry after all if she had to eat with all of them.
    “I’m sorry about Father,” he said. “You know he doesn’t mean anything by what he says. Or doesn’t say.”
    Gwen smiled at her brother. He was only an inch or two shorter than she was. By next year he’d top her and the year after that he’d be a man, according to Welsh law. “Thank you for trying to protect me, but there’s no need and you’ll only make Father angry.”
    “It’s time someone stood up to him,” Gwalchmai said.
    “Isn’t that what I’ve been trying to do?” Gwen shook her head. “Leave that to me too. You have a great future ahead of you, from the moment you sing your first note in King Owain’s hall. And it’s Father who’s taught you everything he knows, who’s poured all of his love of music into you. There’s nothing there to feel sorry about or regret.”
    A man brushed past her and Gwen started when she realized it was Gareth. He glanced back at her and winked before entering the hall.
    “Are you sure?” Gwalchmai said.
    Gwen’s heart swelled with love for her brother. If nothing had gone the way she’d wanted in her own life, at least she’d done the right thing by him. “I’m sure. As I told Father years ago, I’m ready to follow my own road.”

Chapter Six

    G areth and Gwen had ridden through the dark and now reached the highest point on the road