Nan did not understand all the words, but she understood bribery well enough. Lords and kings did not call it that, though. They called it a fine, and they spent much time in discussing numbers and nests and goshawks and peregrines. The sums made her head spin, and some concessions caused her Welshman to blanch so that she wanted to insist she was not worth so much. But she bit her tongue against it, because this was not about her or her worth. He must be allowed to rule, whatever the cost, for his people’s sake.

In the end, they came to an agreement. The king would have a greater share of the wealth of Aderinyth, a claim to a number of nests and a portion of trained birds, and her Welshman would rule.

When she understood it, she was overcome by a rush of confused feeling: relief for her husband, faint dread for herself, and anger that the king had demanded so much. It so overwhelmed her that she was glad to lower herself into a deep courtesy and hide her face.

“Do you regret it?” her Welshman asked her that night as they lay in bed. “That I remain a prince and you must be a lady. Say me the truth.”

“For myself? Nay, I cannot,” she answered honestly, rubbing a lock of his hair between her fingers, still amazed he was hers. “So worthy are your people and so well do you love them, that I would feel only sorrow if you must be parted from them.” She moved even closer, pressing her naked skin against his, and smiled. “Certes I will do my best to be worth the price you have paid.”

They rode back to Aderinyth the next day. Already the sight of the hills filled her with a contentment she had never known. It fit into a place inside her that she had not known was empty.

Tell me where I belong, she had demanded of her lady. And here was the answer.

At the top of the mountain pass they paused to rest before the descent and looked out over the valleys, the high peaks and rolling green hills. She knew the falconers were even now planning which of them would teach her their sport, and the ladies waited to attend her as she learned the ways of her new home. There was much to do, and she found herself not fearful of her new place and purpose, but eager. She would serve them with all the strength and compassion in her.

She looked at him as he surveyed it, the wind lifting his hair, his face soft with love as he looked out at the land he had longed for.

“You are home, Welshman.”

“Now it is home in truth,” he said. He turned to her and took her hand. “You are here, and it is home.”

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THE END

Author’s Note