“Well,” William cast him a dismal look, “if you recall that skirmish Hereward told us about a few months ago…the one in Llandeilo when Cedric returned to—”
“To kill King Rhys.Oui, I remember,” Brand finished for him.
“Hereward told me that Gareth killed Cedric and disabled Dafydd.”
Brand’s face went pale at the same time his daughter plunged into the solar.
“Forgive me, William. I was with mother.” Tanon curtsied without pausing on her way to his outstretched arms. Or rather, she attempted a curtsey. Her protruding belly prevented her from bending overmuch.
William almost didn’t recognize her. Her long ebony curls tumbled free around her shoulders. Her cheeks were lightly bronzed from the sun. But it wasn’t her healthy appearance that struck the king, or even her sure, unhurried steps. Her smile gleamed with confidence he hadn’t seen in her before. Something in the way she angled her head that revealed the inner strength she’d always possessed but concealed behind her dutiful gaze.
She accepted the king’s offered hand and rose up on the tips of her bare toes to plant a kiss on his bristly cheek. “Mother insists on getting out of bed. I know this birth was the easiest for her yet, but really, who ever heard of a woman walking about after such a trauma to her body?”
While she spoke, William gazed at her, his heart gone soft with love long ago.
“How do you fare,ma précieuse?”
“Oh wonderfully,” she replied with a cheerful smile that made her dimple twinkle. “I’ve barely been ill at all.”
“You’re staying here until after the child is born,oui?” William asked her.
“Oui, but I fear Madoc may end up killing one of father’s knights before then.” She slanted her teasing smile to her father and winked at him. “I jest. You know Madoc is as sweet as a newly born lamb.”
Brand flicked his gaze back to the window and winced as Madoc flipped one of his guardsmen completely over his shoulder. “Oui, a lamb.”
“Sit down,mon amour.” William swept his arm toward the nearest chair. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
Tanon eyed himcuriously, taking the seat he offered.
William paced before her with his hands folded behind his back. Tanon cast her father a bewildered glance and something in the gentle concern of his gaze made her feel like she was six years old again.
“Tanon.”
Her eyes shifted back to William.
He stopped pacing and spread his gray gaze over her. “Do you know the identity ofWyfyrn?”
Her shoulders straightened. She had anticipated this day, worried what she would tell him if he ever asked her. But she wasn’t a child anymore. She wouldn’t lie to protect what she loved. She would stand up for it in the face of any threat. “Oui,I do. He’s a man who has sworn to defend his people. As you have.”
William’s eyes narrowed on her. She didn’t blink under his scrutiny but met the power in his gaze with the courage that declared her a Risande. The king smiled.
“I do not involve myself in what takes place on the marches,” William reminded her. “I made a peace agreement with Rhys, but I’ve left the governing of the borderlands to the lords who rule them. I ask you this for the satisfaction of my curiosity only.”
Someone knocked at the door. Brand called out for whoever it was to enter.
When Tanon saw her husband, she rose to her feet and went to stand by his side.
“William.” She turned back to him after Gareth greeted him with a formal bow.
“You told me once that you considered it a noble thing to protect something you love,oui?”
“Oui,I did.”
“Then I ask you now to leaveCymru’s champion to his duty of protectingCymruand let this matter end.”
The king studied the couple for a moment that, in Tanon’s estimation, lasted for an eternity. He cut a glance to Brand, and nodded. “Very well. You may both go.”
Sighing a breath of relief, Tanon offered him her most heartfelt smile, then grasped Gareth’s hand and turned for the door.