The Good Knight (A Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mystery)

after her until her footsteps faded along the passage, thinking hard about what she would tell Hywel. When the maid arrived, Gwen had to bite her tongue not to hurry her along as she fumbled with the ties on Gwen’s dress. Finally done, Gwen trotted through the castle to Hywel’s office. She poked her head around the doorframe. The room was empty. She ducked back into the hallway. Humph .
    She leaned back against the wall and was wondering where in the castle Hywel might be and how long she’d have to wait for his return, when a woman giggled nearby. Gwen peered into the room again. Hywel had left the bedroom door two fingers’ width ajar. More giggles emanated from the room, along with a sharp bark of laughter that could only have been Hywel’s voice.
    Gwen lifted her eyes to the ceiling, hoping Hywel wasn’t bedding the daughter of a visiting king. He usually had more sense than that. Gwen drew the door to the corridor closed, cursing her employers intemperate ways under her breath, and was about to turn away when Gareth came through the exterior door.
    “He’s busy,” she said.
    Gareth halted in mid-stride. “Why am I not surprised?” He studied her. “Why do you want to see him?”
    Gwen checked both ends of the corridor to make sure they were alone, pulled out the seal, and gave Gareth the gist of her conversation with Cristina. While Cristina had asked to be left out of it, Gwen had no intention of obeying such a request. The stakes were far too high to muddy the waters with falsehoods.
    “I don’t like this,” Gareth said.
    “Don’t like what?” The door beside them opened to reveal Hywel, just tucking in his shirt. “Come in. You didn’t have to wait outside.”
    Warily, Gwen stepped into the room while Gareth masked his discomfort with a cough. This time, Hywel had closed the door to his bedroom all the way. Hywel walked around his desk while Gwen and Gareth stopped in front of it. Gwen set the box containing Anarawd’s seal before Hywel and opened it.
    Hywel took in a long breath. As Gwen had, he fingered the fine workmanship, before saying, “This is Anarawd’s.”
    “It is,” Gwen said. “Cristina found it in Cadell’s room. She asked that I not tell you that it was she who found it.”
    Hywel looked up, his eyes lit from that inner well of amusement that he could never quite suppress. “Did she now? And what was she doing there?”
    “Helping us,” Gwen said. “Or so she said.”
    “That sounds remarkably unlikely,” Hywel said. “And while it’s nice to have recovered the seal, it proves nothing. Someone could have left it among Cadell’s things to implicate him.”
    “That’s what I told her,” Gwen said.
    “In fact,” Gareth said. “While I did see her hurrying from the barracks last night as she claims, she could be lying about where she found the seal to misdirect us.”
    “There is one thing I do know,” Hywel said. “My father will not take kindly to any insinuations against King Cadell unless the proof of his participation in these events is more substantial.”
    “If this is Cadell’s doing,” Gwen said, “and I’m not saying it is, he shouldn’t have kept it at all.”
    Hywel shrugged. “I can see why he did. It was valuable. He couldn’t throw it away.”
    “It’s too bad the killer didn’t simply keep the seal on his person,” Gareth said. “We could have caught him with it and then he could have led us to his master.”
    “It seems to me, that instead of implicating Cadell, it widens the circle of suspects,” Gwen said. “When do we start looking at King Owain’s brother, Cadwaladr?”
    Hywel’s mouth turned down. “Just because he mistreated Gareth, doesn’t mean he killed King Anarawd. Why would he?”
    “It’s no secret that Cadwaladr thinks his lands inadequate,” Gwen said, warming to the idea. “Maybe he and Cadell made a deal. Maybe in payment for murdering Anarawd so that Cadell could take his throne, Cadell promised to expand Cadwaladr’s holdings in Ceredigion.”
    “Cadwaladr has been very friendly with Cadell of late.” Hywel tapped his chin with one finger. “But is it likely? And what about Cristina? What if Cadwaladr is working with her to implicate Cadell? Isn’t that equally likely? He could have all of Deheubarth were that the case.”
    For Gwen’s part, she wouldn’t put anything past Cristina. If anyone were to threaten Cristina in some way, or betray her, she would take revenge. But her animosity