“Tall or not, soldier or not, we could have stopped him. If he was one of her father’s men, all the better for your purposes.”

“David, in Welsh the word for ‘tall’ is hir.”

“You think that was Carwyn Hir himself?”

Marcus nodded.

“So, you permitted the leader of those bandits to escape your grasp.”

Marcus resented him laying out the betrayal of his duty so bluntly.

“It is a good thing my ears do not remember what they hear. Still, I understand why you did not want him taken. Knights need their quests, and it would have ended the rebellion in one afternoon. That is no fun.”

The little jest did not fool Marcus. David had guessed the real reason. “It would have also proven Nesta’s complicity beyond all doubt,” Marcus admitted.

“Ah. Well, it appears that you have made a choice, doesn’t it. The woman over your king. I think that you made it long ago. That was why you had Sieg and me assist you today, instead of your own men. Will you go join her father’s bandits in the hills now? The alliance of a marcher lord would give them status and power beyond whatever numbers you bring with them.”

A shock of instant comprehension made Marcus freeze.

David was right. The alliance of a Lord Marcher would immediately turn those bandits into an army. Word of it would make their numbers swell a hundredfold. It would change everything.

That was the marriage Llygad had arranged for Genith. Genith was intended to marry a marcher lord, but not Marcus of Anglesmore, the King’s man. Llygad had planned on a different Lord Marcher, with different ambitions. One who chafed at his duty to the crown, and considered himself sovereign. One who would support an uprising that would cast off England’s hold not only on the Welsh, but on himself. Who exactly, Marcus did not know, but there were many who would be tempted.

It was brilliant, and it could work. Small wonder that Nesta had been so tenacious in seeing her father’s will done.

Exhilaration at his discovery mixed with a deadly pulse in his heart. It was one thing to suspect that Nesta was involved in a dangerous plot. It was another to know for certain.

“I have not made the choice you accuse me of, David. I merely chose to avoid having to hand her to Stratford as a traitor.” And he never would, if he could help it. The question was, could he?

“It sounds as if she is a traitor.”

“Not to her country. Not to her people.”

“An interesting argument. I will have it carved on your grave after the ax falls.”

His new certainty left him restless and furious again. A part of him wanted to smash his fist into David’s face. Anyone’s face. But David’s ruthless probing had also cleared his head, and his options suddenly loomed very sharply.