‘But there is nothing—nothing—that speaks of the Princess!’

‘There are the facts! Your wife’s family makes no secret of their dislike of you.’

‘Ours was an arranged marriage! They chose to betroth their daughter to me.’

‘In the same way a farmer with a failing farm and one shabby mare puts her to a sturdy stallion from a fine stable.’

‘Now you go too far!’

‘The alliance of your two families benefited Princess Wenna’s kin far more than it did your own! Your father agreed to the match to avoid a possible uprising. Four years ago there were still men who supported her clan. Your father acted to ensure peace. But times changed, allegiances shifted, and Wenna’s family lost their own power. It was she who had the better end of the bargain in the end. And her brother, Rhodri! That creature is more buzzard than man, the way he watches you, waiting for any sign of weakness. He’s not bold enough, or foolish enough, to challenge you directly, and he knows there is no necessity. He will bide his time, and the day will come when you are under attack and he will sit on his sword hand sooner than come to your aid. He will do nothing, nothing but watch and gloat and then take pleasure in picking over your bones!’

‘And you think Wenna would allow this?’

‘What say has she in the matter?’

‘She is my Princess!’

‘And what is a princess for if not to provide her lord with an heir?’

Silence. He has nothing to say to this. For what can he say? I am right. But being right does not make my words any less poison to his ears. He struggles to hold his temper.

‘My wife has my trust. Her family is allied to mine. I will honor that alliance unless or until I am given a reason to doubt it.’

‘Have I not just given you such a reason? Did not the vision open your eyes to the truth?’

‘Some might say the interpretation is … unreliable.’

‘You would prefer to doubt the word of your shaman than hear harsh truths about you wife?’

‘Who is to say they are true? Some people might say that the interpreter has forgotten her art, her gift, her place, and has shown herself to be nothing more than a jealous woman!’

Now it is my turn to have to master my anger. I speak calmly, though I do not feel calm. ‘And anyone who listens to such people, to such talk, is a fool.’