What they were sworn to do, they would do, no matter what.
It was a reputation that followed them around and one William used to his advantage. At the moment, he had a particular task that he would entrust to men of such skill. Although Alexander wasn’t officially part of the Unholy Trinity, he was a spy and an assassin with skills to match Kress and Achilles and then some. He tended to work on his own, as that was the way he preferred it, but with Maxton missing, William needed Alexander’s particular talents. And he needed Bric purely because the man was the best swordsman William had ever seen.
He needed that power.
“Then let me be plain, good men,” William said after a moment, moving to the table near the hearth that contained a pewter pitcher of wine, covered with a cloth. He removed the cloth and began pouring the tart, red wine into a matching pewter cup. “The king is amassing a good deal of Welsh support. This has been going on for the past few years, steadily, but I am seeing more and more of John’s insertion into Wales. You are aware that he married his daughter to Llywelyn last year, the last great Welsh prince, which virtually seals his alliance with the Welsh. I am sure this has not gone unnoticed by men who watch the winds of England’s politics.”
Kress, who had been listening carefully, shook his head. “He has been quite solicitous in Wales,” he said. “He visits frequently, so I have heard.”
William nodded. “He does,” he said. “He has been a guest at my own properties in Wales and I have accompanied the king on a few of his forays into the country, but I will be honest when I say that I have accompanied him simply to watch him. John is, and always has been, a man who bears watching.”
Kress looked at him as if waiting for more to come forth, but William abruptly fell silent. Kress leaned forward in his chair.
“And, my lord?” he said. “What do you wish us to do? Watch him for you?”
William shook his head. “Nay,” he said, lifting his wine to his lips. “I am to make an alliance that will balance out John’s power in Wales. It is never good for John to have too much power, especially in Wales. John has made a marriage with his daughter and a Welsh prince, so I shall make a marriage of my own.”
“With whom?”
William took a long drink before answering. “That is why you are all here,” he said. “I need men of the highest order for this task. A bride must be escorted to her husband and you four shall be her escort. Bric, you shall be the muscle. Achilles, you shall be the guard dog. Sherry, you shall be the wisdom and the decision maker. Kress… you shall focus on the bride and nothing else. You will be her shadow, her chaperone, her nurse, and her Father Confessor if she needs one. She is to be your focus and nothing else. Am I making myself clear so far?”
The four men nodded, coming to understand somewhat why they’d all been gathered. “You are, my lord,” Kress said. “Who is this bride?”
William continued. “Her name is Cadelyn,” he said. “She currently resides at Castle Rising in Norfolk. She is a ward of the Earl of Arundel, Hugh d’Aubigney, but he has tucked her away in the wilds of Norfolk to keep her hidden.”
Kress looked at the others curiously before speaking. “Hidden from what?”
William turned to look at the group. “From John,” he said frankly. “From any man who should become too ambitious if he knew who she really was. You see, Lady Cadelyn is as rare as any mythical beast. She is the daughter of Owain Dant y Draig, a descendent of the last King of Rhos, and Nesta ferch Madog,a direct descendent of the last king of Pengwern. She is, quite literally, the purest Welsh blood imaginable, a daughter of two ancient Welsh kingdoms, and her father came to me after she was born and begged me to protect her. Even then, there was rumor of her birth and she was being sought, not only from the English, but from the Welsh. An offspring like that could inspire unimaginable power from both sides.”
Kress stared at William a moment, rather dumbfounded. When he’d come into the chamber, he knew that he was to be given a mission. William had been alluding to such a thing for the past few weeks, so Kress knew something was happening. He simply didn’t know what it was until this moment and the reality of what William was telling them all settled hard.
“And we are to escort her?” he asked. “Escort her where?”
William held up a finger as if what he was about to say was a brilliant move on his part. “I have arranged a marriage with Tatius de Shera,” he said. “You know who de Shera is, do you not?”
Kress immediately nodded. “The Earl of Ellesmere,” he said. “The House of de Shera is older than nearly any other house in England. It predates any Saxon families, or even the Northmen settlers. Legend says that the House of de Shera descends from a lost Roman legion. I have fought alongside the younger de Shera brothers long ago, Atilius and Fabius, but never Tatius. He remains at his castle, The Paladin, up near Chester. I hear that he rarely comes forth.”
William held up a hand as if to beg patience while he answered questions that were not even yet spoken. “I traveled north several months ago at the request of Tatius,” he said. “That was the trip where I asked you to remain in London because the king was at Westminster.”
Kress nodded. “I recall, my lord.”
William wandered over to another chair that sat facing the hearth, lowering his aged body into it. “I will be honest, Kress,” he said. “Tatius is not a man who should hold the earldom. He is a poet, a man of gentle hobbies, but he is a drunkard. He does not take pressure well. He has younger brothers who essentially rule the earldom and the armies, and I suspect that they would like nothing better than to be rid of Tatius or, at the very least, have the man out of the way so they can rule unencumbered. It is not an ideal situation, but Tatius is the only brother unmarried and heisthe earl. He asked if I knew of the child of Owain Dant y Draig, having heard of her existence from the warlords of Gwynedd. It was he who suggested the betrothal and I agreed.”
Kress cocked his head curiously. “He knew of her? How would he even know?”
William sat back in his chair. “Her birth was no particular secret when it happened, I suppose,” he said. “Men heard of it. That is why Owain panicked when he thought of the child being used, or stolen, or worse, and rightly so.”
“And he asked you to keep her hidden?”
“He did,” he said. “But I was not surprised when Tatius brought her up. Rumors of the child of Owain and Nesta have abounded for years, and The Paladin is very close to Wales. His summons was to confirm those rumors and ask for her hand in marriage if she was still alive.”
“And she is.”
William nodded. “She is,” he said. Then, he lifted a hand to emphasize his point. “De Shera has an army to protect her, making it the best of all solutions, as the girl is of marriageable age. Moreover, Tatius needs to breed sons if he is to hold his earldom and preserve the de Shera bloodlines. Can you imagine the lineage of a son with royal Welsh and ancient Roman bloodlines?”
Kress lifted his eyebrows at the thought. “He would be an impressive beast,” he said. “But why marry this Welsh princess to an ineffective earl?”
William’s yellowed eyes glittered in the firelight. “Because Cadelyn is the hereditary ruler of Rhos and although her parents are gone, she still holds their properties in Wales, properties that I have been guarding since she was very young. Though her father died many years ago, he asked me to not only protect his child, but to protect her lands. Conwy, Colwyn Bay, and a place calledMynydd Tywyll, or Mountain Dark. It is the last great Rhos stronghold. It was Owain’s wish, should she ever marry, that it be at Mountain Dark. With Tatius inheriting Welsh powerful properties, the ineffective earl will not be so ineffective any longer.”
