Still… lying to her about it went against everything he stood for.
Kevin wasn’t the wily type. He wasn’t slick or conniving like some of his fellow Executioner Knights, nor was he subversive unless it was in the line of duty. He was the honest, upstanding, stalwart member of the group.Their conscience.But something told him that the woman standing in front of him was valuable. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did. Perhaps she could help him if he could make a friend out of her. But given what he had to tell her, he wasn’t sure how he could do that.
He took a deep breath.
“The toll booths, the court on Tuesdays, they are all part of bringing order to this region,” he said. “I believe that starving children should be fed and that money should come from the community. I believe that the unjust should be punished and that men who are wronged should have their moment to prove their innocence. Those are my beliefs, my lady. That is what I explained to old Lord Breidden when he asked me to assume command of his property. He wanted the Welsh to be treated fairly and I agreed. He did not make this decision lightly, nor did I. Do you understand me so far?”
Juliandra was listening intently. “I do,” she said. “I am sorry that my father refused to pay your toll. Now that I know whatyou are doing with the money, I am in support. I shall tell him so.”
Kevin sighed faintly. “I appreciate that,” he said. “I have only been here a few short months and, in that time, the only Welsh lords who came to visit me were men named Aeron ap Gruffudd and Glynn ap Hywel. They were not welcoming in the least.”
Juliandra’s expression tightened with recognition. She knew those men. “They would not be,” she said. “Their families are very old. Aeron is descended from Dafydd ap Owain, one of the last princes of Wales. He hates anything English, so do not take his hatred personally.”
“You know him well?”
For the first time, she averted her gaze, looking uncomfortable. “He has offered to marry me, several times,” she said. “My father does not like him because he is too warring and he has told Aeron so. But still, he keeps offering. Aeron has told every man in this land that I am meant for him.”
Kevin’s gaze lingered on her. “I take it that you do not feel that way.”
She shook her head, her dark hair glistening in the candlelight. “Nay,” she said flatly. “He is unpleasant at best. My father is right– he only thinks of aggression and politics. That is not what I want in a husband.”
“I see,” he said, realizing that he was pleased she wasn’t married. He didn’t know why he should be, but he was. “Where does he live?”
Juliandra lifted her eyes, looking at him. “West,” she said. “There is a lake and a small village about ten miles to the west, and his stronghold is there. It is called Llanwyffyn.”
“Does he have a big army?”
She shrugged. “Big enough,” she said. “I do not know how many, but big enough.”
Kevin didn’t press her. She was already figuring out that he was trying to probe her, but he could tell how valuable she was in her knowledge of the area. In the few months he’d been here, he’d not found one person, lord or otherwise, who had been willing to talk to him and tell him about the land.
Perhaps he’d been looking in the wrong place.
If he could only keep her here.
He was going to have to resort to something… subversive.
As an honorable knight, lying did not come easily to him, but to a lord who had inherited a Welsh stronghold and a desire to preserve the lives and safety of his men, he realized he was going to have to. He couldn’t tell the lady about her father because surely she would never speak to him again, and this moment was too valuable to waste.
For the safety of everyone, and for the knowledge he so desperately needed, he was going to have to make her believe her father was still alive somehow. Perhaps if she knew that, and realized her cooperation was the key to her father’s release, he was going to have to make that decision.
But he felt so dirty for it.
All of his fellow Executioner Knights had lied at one time or another in the course of a mission for the purpose of the greater good. Now, it was Kevin’s turn to learn something about himself… could he pull it off? Or was truth, in this case, so important to him that it would cost him essential information in this land of people who didn’t want him there? It simply wasn’t in his nature to be dishonest.
But he was going to have to try.
It was one of the most difficult choices he ever had to make.
“Then I thank you for the information,” he said quietly. “You are mayhap the only person in all of Wales who wants to have a constructive dialogue with me. Most believe I am their enemy.”
Her bright green eyes were watching him. “My father is not a warring man,” she said. “I have not been raised to hate the English.”
“Your father is a merchant, I understand.”
“He is.”
Kevin grunted. “At least he hates the church and not the English.”
