his subject, he drew a deep breath and plunged onward. “I find them all odd, following so closely on one another, when just a few years ago, we de Burghs were all bachelors.”
Armes frowned. “What’s so odd about it? Seven healthy young men of marriageable age are bound to seek out spouses, especially lords from such an important family.”
“To carry on the dynasty!” Cafell noted, gleefully.
“Perhaps,” Robin admitted, though privately he didn’t accept that explanation. His brothers had never seemed intent upon reproducing until after they were wed. And why all of them at once? Dunstan had married late, but the others were doing so younger and younger. “Could it be that someone has put some kind of, ah, spell on us all?”
“Probably your own sire,” Armes muttered, and Robin blinked, wondering if he had heard her aright.
“Oh, he’s jesting, aren’t you, Robin?” Cafell said, playfully striking his chest. “Your brother warned us that you were a trickster.”
Robin felt his hopes ebb. Perhaps he was known for a few pranks here and there, but he was deadly serious, and he didn’t know how to impress his urgency upon the eccentric l’Estranges.
“I think he means it,” Armes said, and they both studied him with renewed interest.
“Why, Sister, I do believe you’re right! But, why would you want to—”
“He’s worried about himself,” Armes said in a rather disgusted tone that made Robin straighten, though he could hardly take offense at what was the truth.
“Oh, you poor boy!” Cafell exclaimed, patting his arm, which produced more little bell sounds. He glanced around, uncomfortably, but she only leaned closer, as if to impart some secret. “I wish we could look into your future, to reassure you, but Brighid frowns upon those things, you see. Although I admit she is growing more open-minded of late.” Cafell looked a question at her sister, who firmly shook her head.
“I do not think she would appreciate that sort of interference with her new family,” Armes said.
Robin felt his shoulders droop in disappointment. He didn’t want a bit of soothsaying; he needed a curse lifted. And even if these two were willing to help, it didn’t appear they had the necessary skills. Abruptly, he brightened as a new course struck him. “Perhaps there is someone else you know, in the same line of trade, so to speak, who might be able to consider the problem?” he asked hopefully.
Armes sniffed. “’Tis not as though we belong to a guild, young man!”
“We really know of no others with such talents beyond our own family,” Cafell explained gently. At Robin’s crestfallen expression, she patted him again. “Now, don’t despair. We shall think of something!”
The two women exchanged glances, then Cafell frowned pensively. Finally, she said, “Well, there is Cousin Anfri.”
“A complete charlatan!” Armes sniffed.
“How about Mali?”
“Dead,” Armes replied. “The l’Estranges are not blessed with many progeny.”
Robin wondered if the union with Stephen would change that, but Cafell suddenly yelped, startling him. “What about Vala?” she said.
“Oh, poor Vala, she was quite the beauty, and so gifted,” Armes said.
“Didn’t she marry one of the Welsh princes?” Cafell asked.
“Yes,” Armes replied. “What was his name?”
“Owain ap Ednyfed?”
“I believe so,” Armes said with a nod. “But I understood that she died not long afterwards.”
“Did she? I was of the opinion that was not certain, but it is possible,” Cafell said. “So much fighting over there through the years, you understand, one prince against another or Llewelyn himself, and, of course, against the king. We were lucky to be well away from it all.” She paused. “But I thought there was a daughter.”
Armes frowned. “I don’t recall. That was a long time ago, and there was only hearsay—”
“Perhaps, Lord Robin could go and see!” Cafell suggested. She leaned forward, whispering confidentially, once more. “Vala was very gifted.”
Robin perked up at this news. “Where would I find her?” he asked.
“Why, in Wales, of course. That’s where most of the l’Estranges are, except us, of course.”
Robin stared at the two women, who were smiling benignly, and stifled a groan. Stephen and his bride had returned from Wales with rumors of war at their heels, the Welsh princes seizing lands and rousing the people against Edward. Were these two gentlewomen trying to get him killed? Having no intention of marching into a country in the midst of battle, Robin eyed them askance.
The l’Estranges seemed to be oblivious to such danger, however, and they waited expectantly for his answer, so he choked out a polite thank you and excused himself with a nod. As he walked away, Robin realized he had reached an impasse in his efforts to lift the curse.
But his lack of success was hard to accept, for if he did nothing, then surely he would find himself wed. And soon.
Robin watched his host raise a cup in salute to the de Burghs and wondered, not for the first time, what on earth he was doing on the Marches while unrest was abroad in the land. Whether prompted by concern for his way of life or drunk on too much wine or just eager to escape the press of people at Campion, he had left his family home in search of the mysterious Vala, against all tenets of good sense.
Arriving unannounced, he had nonetheless been welcomed by the lord and lady, who proceeded to hold a feast in his honor, a celebration with which Robin was vaguely uncomfortable. From the veiled hints, he gathered that they thought his unexpected arrival, coming so soon after Stephen’s, meant that he and his brothers were engaged in some sort of covert mission for the crown. Robin would have laughed aloud, if it were not for the tense atmosphere that hung thick over the castle.
It wasn’t until late, after he had been regaled with the transgressions of Llewelyn and his brother David and their followers that Robin finally approached the topic that had sent him recklessly to the boundary between England and Wales. He leaned back in a casual pose and tapped the edge of the table.
“So, tell me, do you know anything of a prince named Owain ap Ednyfed or his wife, Vala?” Robin asked.
The lord and lady exchanged glances. “What of them?”
Robin smiled benignly. “Relatives in England were asking about her.”
The lord frowned. “She died long ago.”
Something about his curt reply made Robin alert, and he shook his head as a servant offered him more wine, for he needed his wits about him. “Was there a child?” he asked.
Again, the surreptitious looks were exchanged, and he could feel the lord’s eyes boring into him, probing him for secrets. No doubt, they thought him privy to knowledge of an uprising or the fate of their holdings. Little
