All the while Gryff reminded himself it was true: he was ashamed; the Welsh should submit; rebellion was treason; Edward was destined to win.

And all the while, he and Will never spoke about the other truth – that his life was more valuable to a king he had barely met than it was to his own father.

Chapter Seven

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He dreamt he and his brothers had found the fairy in the lake. She stood at the edge of the water, lent-lilies and snowdrops in a carpet at her feet, with the mountains all around. She wore a coarse brown dress and Nan’s face, a cloud of golden hair spilling free across her shoulders. They were waiting to see which of them she would name a king.

You must give the sword to one of us, said Rhodri, though Rhodri had never come with them to search for the fairy in real life.

But she had no sword, so she took the knife from her bodice. She held it in her outstretched hand, looking at each of them in turn. She was going to give it away to one of them, only because she had been asked. It sent a terrible dread through him. He knew it would mean disaster for her, and for him.

“No.”

It was barely more than a mumble as he jerked awake. He must have been restless in sleep, for she was already kneeling beside him. Her hand was on his shoulder, her face a little troubled as she looked down at him.

He swallowed down the dream fear and tried to speak naturally.

“Do I wake the house with my cries?” he asked.

She shook her head and lifted her eyes briefly to the window where light streamed in. After another day spent in labor to make her aunt’s home more fit, he had slept the night through to full morning. They were to leave for Lincoln today.

He could still feel the mountains of his dream around him, smell the lake, taste the beginning of danger. His own hand came up to cover hers at his shoulder, and hold it there while he willed his muscles to unclench. They stayed that way for a quiet moment, tension draining from him while she waited patiently, radiating calm as his breath steadied.

He waited for her to pull her hand away. She didn’t. His heart gave a sudden hard beat, a jolt that was not fear.

She was looking at his face. His mouth. Fixedly.