Eluned scoffed at this. “He is but a man.”

Though she wanted nothing more than to shake her mother until she saw reason, Gwenllian forced herself to breathe deeply, balling her hands into fists. She spoke carefully, emphatically.

“He is no fool, I tell you, but a man who is ever watchful for betrayal and expects it in every corner, especially from Ruardean. This is why he wed me to Morency, surely you see that.”

“Full well do I see it, why think you I am here if not to bring you away?”

Gwenllian lowered her voice to a hiss.

“I cannot leave here to plot against the English king with you. The first hint of rebellion with the stink of Ruardean on it shall mark me as traitor.”

“You know well enough how to evade the king in Wales.”

Gwenllian threw up her hands. “Am I to hide in the hills forever, while the king claims my husband’s head? I will not condemn him.”

Her words hung between them. Eluned said nothing, only stared at her daughter, a dawning comprehension in her face.

“Do you care so much for his head?” she asked, incredulous.

Gwenllian tried. She tried very hard to say that she did not care. Even more did she try to hide her sudden self-consciousness. She turned her face down, willed the heat in her cheeks to abate, and took another tack.

“What of William, mother? Do you forget my brother in these schemes? What future will there be for him, with a mad father and a treasonous mother?”

“William is a child and his future is Ruardean.” At Gwenllian’s look of disbelief, Eluned waved a dismissive hand. “Is possible to navigate the politics in ways that leave him at an advantage. Let it be my concern and not yours.”

“How can it not be my concern?” Gwenllian did not care now that her voice was raised. “You wish to risk his life and his fortune, and mine. You risk all of Ruardean, and Morency too!”

“Yes! I risk it! We will not sit idly by when there is a chance to fight, and win.”

“There is no such chance!” They were fairly shouting now. “Even if there were, I would not risk it!”

Her mother did not answer. They only stood looking at each other in furious silence until her mother spoke in a voice of deadly calm.

“Think well on this, daughter. Only with your strength can we be victorious. But we must fight, with or without you.”

At this, Gwenllian’s fury hardened into ice. She tried to remember the love and relief she had felt only moments before, upon seeing her mother. But she could not.

“If you fight, is certain my husband will hang as traitor, and I by his side.”