Crude, he remarked. Cursed crude. No one in their right mind would have drunk more than one sip of this.
Ah by the great hairy balls of the Lord of Hell! Dwaen was decidedly pale. Why would someone go to all this trouble to poison the stuff, then?
Why did they put that rat in your bed, Your Grace? To make you squirm, to drag it out and make you wonder when theyll finally kill you. Rhodry glanced at Jill. Think I should go berate the chamberlain?
It wont do any good, and spreading the news around might do harm. You could go down to the great hall and find out how easy it is for someone to get into the broch.
Rhodry did just that, but he came back with the discouraging news that it was remarkably easy, even at night, for any well-dressed man who was generous with his small coins. Merchants and travellers did it all the time, mostly to gawk at the dun and maybe to get a glimpse of the gwerbret or his wife. At times, even, after a particularly lavish feast, the gwerbret summoned the town poor into the ward to be given the leftovers. Jill and Rhodry both agreed that the only way they were going to keep strangers away from the tieryn was to raise a general alarm and have the gwerbret put the dun on full alert, a plan that Dwaen outright forbade, much to Cadlews annoyance and Jills relief. Rousing the dun would give her whole game away.
Since it would be several days before Lord Beryn would arrive at court to answer the formal charges, Rhodry resigned himself to keeping a close watch over the tieryn and hoping for the best. As the tedious time crawled by, he grew annoyed with Jill for leaving the whole job to him. It seemed that the only time he ever saw her was at meals; she was always off talking to the servants, gossiping with the women in the dun, or wandering around town where, for all he knew, she might well be in danger. By the end of the third day he was ready to shake her. They finally got a few minutes alone after dinner.
Just where were you this afternoon? Rhodry snapped.
Talking with the head of the merchant guild. It took me all day to bribe my way in to see him.
What did you want to do that for?
And then I went to the temple of Nudd to talk to the priests. Every merchant who comes through town stops to pray there.
So what? What do merchants have to do with anything?
Lots, my sweet love. I think me youre going to be surprised.
I dont want to be surprised, blast you. I want to know right now what youre up to.
All right. Here come his grace and Lord Cadlew now. Lets see if theyll ask the gwerbret a favour for me. I want to speak to our prisoner again.
Since his own curiosity was running high, Dwaen was willing to do just that, and Coryc himself was more than willing to grant Jills boon for the same reason. With four of the gwerbrets men along for a guard, they all trooped out to the gaol, a long, squarish stone shed, half of which served as a general dungeon for beggars, drunkards, and suspected thieves, and half as private cells for more unusual men. Inside one of these tiny rooms was their prisoner, sitting on a heap of fetid straw. When a guard opened the door he rose, setting defiant hands on his hips.
If you persist in refusing information, Gwerbret Coryc said, Ill have you hanged.
Stubbled and dirty, the prisoner ducked his head in a submissive nod. Several days of bad food and living with the results of the same had erased his contemptuous confidence.
This shouldnt take long, Your Grace. Jill stepped forward. Would you have the guard see if hes been flogged recently?
Although the prisoner fought and squirmed, a pair of guards pinned him and pulled his shirt up with little trouble. In the torchlight they could all see the fresh pink scars, about ten of them, criss-crossing his back.
Very well, Jill said. Now, lad, Ive got just one question for you. Whos Lady Mallonas lover?
Although for a brief moment Rhodry thought shed gone daft, the prisoner yelped like a kicked dog, and all the colour left his face.
So. Jill favoured him with a smile. I thought she had one, truly. Was it you? Youre good-looking when youre clean.
It wasnt, by every god of my people. I wouldnt have a thing to do with her when He broke off with a foul oath.
So, she was sniffing round you, was she? Its no wonder you refuse to talk. One word, and you start giving everything away. Very well, then, hold your tongue a while longer. Ill nose him out sooner or later.
With a nod to the guard to lock the prisoner up again, Coryc led the rest of them out into the ward.
All right, silver dagger, youve got some game afoot, and you can blasted well let the rest of us know what it is.
Your Grace, Jill said, Ill beg you a boon. If Im right, this crime is truly scandalous. So I dont want to make any charge or raise anybodys suspicions until were assembled in a proper court of law. Of course Ill tell you if you order me to, but I truly do think we should wait until your malover. Your wife will tell you that Im trustworthy.
She already has, actually. Very well. Your requests both fair and honourable. The gwerbret looked round with an apologetic smile, since he doubtless knew perfectly well that everyone there was burning with curiosity. After all, Lord Beryn should arrive on the morrow.
Lord Beryn did indeed arrive during the noon meal. As Dwaens bodyguard, Rhodry was sitting next to the tieryn at the gwerbrets table when from out in the ward came the clatter and bustle of armed men dismounting. The enormous hall fell silent as everyone, noble-born and commoner alike, turned to stare at the door. With ten of his men behind him, Lord Beryn strode in, a tall man, rawboned and grizzled, with sweeping grey moustaches and narrow dark eyes that darted this way and that. Rhodry figured that he was about fifty winters old. He gestured to his men to wait, then strode across the great hall and knelt, with a profound grunt, at the gwerbrets side.
Now whats all this, Your Grace? Ive been wading through rivers of evil gossip, saying that Im trying to kill Tieryn Dwaen of Dun Ebonlyn. Its cursed well not true.
True or not, the matters serious enough to warrant an inquiry. Coryc rose to tower over him. If both parties agree, well convene the malover immediately. The priests are here and waiting.
Indeed? Beryn swung his head and glared at Dwaen. Listen, you little coward, Ive got every reason in the world to kill you, but if I was going to, Id call you out to a duel like a man if you had the guts to face me.
Rhodry grabbed Dwaens arm and forced him to sit back down.
Lord Beryn, I call for silence! Coryc snapped. Tieryn Dwaen, therell be no duelling in my hall.
With a dog-like growl, Beryn settled back on his heels.
My lord, Coryc went on, the tieryn has reliable witnesses. We are going to hear these witnesses in proper order, in my chamber of justice, with the priests of Bel there as well. Am I understood?
You are, Your Grace. Beryns voice began to shake. Didnt I accept Your Graces judgment on my son? Didnt I stand in your ward and watch without lifting a finger when
Dont vex yourself, Beryn. Coryc turned and made an ambiguous gesture with one hand. All the witnesses present? Good. Then come along, come along. I want this grievous affair settled and done.
The gwerbrets chamber of justice was a big half-round of a room, hung with banners in his colours. In the curve of the wall stood two tables, one for his grace and his scribes, one for the priests and theirs. The witnesses stood on the gwerbrets right, the accused and his supporters on his left. The rest of the hall was packed with spectators officials, riders, servants, even a few townfolk, a quiet but jostling crowd that spilled out through the double doors into the corridor beyond. As Dwaen and Cadlew laid their deposition concerning the archer and the dead dog, the rat in the bed, Vynas tale and the capture of the prisoner, the crowd stopped moving and seemed to crouch on the floor, straining to hear every word. Beryns colour turned from sun-bitten tan to red and back again. Finally, Rhodry was called forward to tell of the attack on Lady Ylaena. Hed barely finished when Beryn broke, charging forward to stand before the gwerbret.
Your Grace, never would I order such a cowardly thing! How could you believe it of me, attacking a woman!
His lordship forgets himself again. As of yet I believe naught, one way or another.
Beryn started to speak, but just then two guards appeared, shoving their way through the crowd and dragging the prisoner along with them.
You! Beryn snarled. You little bastard! What by every god are you doing here?
My lord! Coryc snapped. Do you know this man?
I do. His names Petyn, and I had him flogged and kicked out of my warband not long ago. He was stealing from me.
Although everyone in the crowd gasped, Coryc turned to look at Jill, who was smiling to herself as she stood out of the way near the wall.
All right, silver dagger, the gwerbret said. Its time for you to spill everything you know.
So it is, Your Grace. Jill came forward and made a reasonable curtsey, seeing as she was wearing a pair of brigga. Petyn, lets start with you. There you were, publicly shamed, turned out of the warband without a copper to your name. Ill wager you rode south. Where did you meet the man who hired you?
Petyn shook his head in a stubborn no.
I know what he looks like, Jill went on. A stout fellow, with a high voice, and hes a merchant pretending to be a scribe. He deals in perfumes and incenses, actually. He was a friend of Lady Mallonas brother, and he was kind enough to bring her news every now and then, until Graelyn died last year. Thats the brothers name, Your Grace Graelyn. But this incense seller was a rich man, and Ill wager he offered Petyn plenty, especially since he had him round up four other lads for the hire.
Here! Lord Beryns voice rose to a squeak. Are you talking about Bavydd? He used to stay in my dun with us, just every now and then.
So that was his name, was it? He gave a different one to the priests of Nudd here in town, but I figured it was a false one. Come on, Petyn. Are you really going to hang for a man who wouldnt lift a finger to help you?
Ill hang no matter what I do, you little bitch! Why should I say anything? You seem to know the lot already.
What is this? Coryc slammed one hand down on the table. Jill, are you saying that this merchant is behind these murder attempts?
Not exactly, Your Grace. I dont think for a minute that he wanted to kill the tieryn. He wanted to push Beryn and Dwaen into open war and let them kill each other. Or maybe he was hoping youd believe it was all Beryns fault, and youd hang him for breaking your ban on the blood feud. Then he, Bavydd I mean, could marry the lady Mallona and take her away.
I see. Dwaens voice was more a sigh. Beryn, I owe you both an apology and some restitution for this.
No doubt, the gwerbret said. But that will be a separate matter. Jill, I take it youre laying a formal charge of attempted murder, as well as adultery, against this Bavydd, a merchant of Cerrmor.
Im not, my lord. He was just a tool.
Everyone was staring at Jill now, from the priests of Bel to the lowliest servant in the crowd. Rhodry had never heard such a crush of people keep such a silence.
Well, you see, Your Grace, Jill went on. They could have run off together any time and been safe in Cerrmor, under another gwerbrets jurisdiction, before her husband could track her down. Bavydds wealthy. He could pay Lord Beryn three times his wifes marriage-price when the matter came to court, and Ill bet his lordship would have taken the money, too, and not pressed the matter, because everyone tells me he didnt much fancy her any more. So why this elaborate plot? Your Grace, it had to be someone who hates Tieryn Dwaen, and theres only one person under Great Bels light that it could be.
Involuntarily, the gwerbret glanced at Beryn, but Jill shook her head in a mournful no.
Your Grace, youve all been looking for a man, havent you? Women hate just as bitterly and as well. Your Grace, everyone tells me that Lady Mallona doted on her son, and he wasnt just her only son, he was her only child. She must have hated Dwaen for having him hanged and brooded on it till she went mad. And then theres the serving lass. Who else could have got Vyna a place in Dwaens dun, all under the cover of kindness? And who else would have known that Vyna had a child they could hold hostage? Who else would have hated the Lady Ylaena, too? The women in your dun told me that Mallona was awfully taken with Lord Cadlew, and its also common knowledge that he spurned her cold. Ylaena was her rival. Mallona would have enjoyed her revenge, all right, if that pack of brigands had got Ylaena alone somewhere. But how could Mallona hire the men and give them orders? Send a messenger along the roads to announce she had a hire for murderers? Invite them into her husbands hall? Thats where Bavydd came in.
All at once Rhodry remembered Lord Beryn and looked his way to find the lord kneeling on the floor. It seemed that Beryn had shrunk into himself, turned old and grey and somehow smaller. With a drunken gesture Beryn raised his head and keened like a man over his dead.
Your lordship has my sympathy, Jill said. Truly he does. But I dont see why he should suffer for someone elses crimes.
No more do I, Coryc said. I want the lady brought here for questioning. Indeed, with his lordships permission, Ill summon an honour guard and ride to fetch her myself.
Like a warrior stabbed on the battlefield but determined to stand until he dies, Beryn staggered to his feet. By law he had the right to ride home and defend his lady with his life from these charges, and Rhodry stepped forward, half without thinking, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Beryn saw the gesture and began to laugh, a ghastly sobbing mirth.
Stay your hand, silver dagger. Your milksop lords safe from me. I only ask one boon, Your Grace. Dont make me watch her hang. I loved her once.
Done.
Coryc began to speak further, but the crowd broke, first into whispers, then into an excited gabble that grew louder and louder as the people swirled about. Coryc hesitated, then yelled at the guards to clear the hall and be done with it. In the confusion Beryn gathered his sworn men round him like a dressing for a wound and was swept away; when Dwaen tried to follow to apologize further, Rhodry and Cadlew held him back. The gwerbret was so thickly surrounded by clamouring priests that he never did bother to formally adjourn the malover.
Once the chamber was reasonably clear, Rhodry looked around for Jill, but he found her gone. Blast her! he thought. Whats she up to now? Since Dwaen was quite obviously safe, he left his hire and went after her. As he was walking down the stairs, he smelled something, a familiar scent a hint of cinnamon and musk, exactly that which had hung round the man whod tried to hire him for murder. Rhodry threw up his head like a hunting dog and raced down the spiral at a dangerous pace. For a moment, at the foot of the stairs, he caught the scent again, but the great hall was packed with gossiping people. By the time he made his way to the door out, he could find neither scent nor sight of the man who, he could assume, had to have been Bavydd of Cerrmor.