she would be next. She would succeed him. Not any of her brothers. But her. It terrified her; it also gave her a sense of importance, of confidence, unlike any she’d ever had. He had found her fit to rule—her—to be the wisest of them all. She wondered why.
It also, in some ways, worried her. She assumed it would stir up a huge amount of resentment and envy, her, a girl, being chosen to rule. Already she could feel Gareth’s envy. And that scared her. She knew her older brother to be terribly manipulative and completely unforgiving. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, and she hated the idea of being in his sights. She had tried to talk to him after the meeting, but he would not even look at her.
Gwen ran down the spiral staircase, her shoes echoing on the stone. She turned down another corridor, passed through the rear chapel, through another door, past several guards, and entered the private chambers of the castle. She had to speak with her mother, whom she knew would be resting here. Her mother had little tolerance for these long social affairs anymore—she liked to slip out to her private chambers and rest as often as possible.
Gwen passed another guard, went down another hall, then finally stopped before the door to her mother’s dressing room. She was about to open it, but stopped. Behind the door, she heard muted voices, their pitch rising, and sensed something wrong. It was her mother, arguing. She listened closely, and heard her father’s voice. They were fighting. But why?
Gwen knew she should not be listening—but she could not help herself. She reached out and gently pushed open the heavy oak door, grabbing it by its iron knocker. She opened it just a crack and listened.
“He won’t stay in my house,” her mother snapped, on edge.
“You rush to judgment, when you don’t even know the entire story.”
“I know the story,” she snapped back. “Enough of it.”
Gwen heard venom in her mother’s voice, and was taken aback. She rarely heard her parents fight—just a few times in her life—and had never heard her mother so worked up. She could not understand why.
“He will stay in the barracks, with the other boys. I do not want him under my roof. Do you understand?” she pressed.
“It is a big castle,” her father spat back. “His presence will not be noticed by you.”
“I don’t care if it is noticed or not. I don’t want him here. He’s your problem. It was you who chose to bring him in.”
“You are not so innocent, either,” her father retorted.
She heard footsteps, watched her father strut across the room and out the door on the other side, slamming it behind him so hard that the room shook. Her mother stood there, alone in the center of the room, and began to cry.
Gwen felt terrible. She didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, she thought it best to slip away, but on the other, she couldn’t stand the sight of her mother crying, couldn’t stand to leave her there like that. She also, for the life of her, could not understand what they were arguing about. She assumed they were arguing about Thor. But why? Why would her mother even care? Dozens of people lived in the castle.
Gwen couldn’t bring herself to just walk away, not with her mother in that state. She had to comfort her. She reached up and gently pushed the door open.
It creaked, and her mother wheeled, caught off guard. She scowled back.
“Do you not knock?” she snapped. Gwen could see how upset she was, and felt terrible.
“What’s wrong mother?” Gwen asked, walking towards her gently. “I don’t mean to pry, but I heard you arguing with father.”
“You are right: you shouldn’t pry,” her mother retorted.
Gwen was surprised: her mother was often a handful, but was rarely like this. The force of her anger made Gwen stop in her tracks, a few feet away, unsure.
“Is it about the new boy? Thor?” she asked.
Her mother turned and looked away, wiping a tear.
“I don’t understand,” Gwen pressed. “Why would you care where he stayed?”
“My matters are of no concern to you,” she said coldly, clearly wanting to end the matter. “What do you want? Why have you come here?”
Gwen was nervous now. She wanted her mother to tell her everything about Thor, but she couldn’t have picked a worse moment. She cleared her throat, hesitant.
“I…actually wanted to ask you about him. What do you know of him?”
Her mother turned and narrowed her eyes at her, suspicious.
“Why?” she asked, with deadly seriousness. Gwen could feel her summing her up, looking right through her, and seeing with her uncanny perception that Gwen liked him. She tried to hide her feelings, but knew it was no use.
“I’m just curious,” she said, unconvincingly.
Suddenly, the queen took three steps towards her, grabbed her arms roughly, and stared into her face.
“Listen to me,” she hissed. “I’m only going to say this once. Stay away from that boy. Do you hear me? I don’t want you anywhere near him, under any circumstance.”
Gwen was horrified.
“But why? He’s a hero.”
“He is not one of us,” her mother answered. “Despite what your father might think. I want you to keep away from him. Do you hear me? Vow to me. Vow to me right now.”
“I will not vow,” Gwen said, yanking her arm away from her mother’s too-strong grip.
“He is a commoner, and you are Princess,” her mother yelled. “You are a Princess. Do you understand? If you go anywhere near him, I will have him exiled from here. Do you understand?”
Gwen hardly knew how to respond. She had never seen her mother like this.
“Do not tell me what to do, mother,” she said, finally.
Gwen did her best to put on a brave voice, but deep inside she was trembling. She had come here wanting to know everything; now, she felt terrified. She did not understand what was happening.
“Do as you wish,” her mother said. “But his fate lies in your hands. Don’t forget it.”
With that, her mother turned, strutted from the room, and slammed it behind her, leaving Gwen all alone in the reverberating silence, her good mood shattered. What could possibly elicit such a strong reaction from her mother and her father?
Who was this boy?
CHAPTER TEN
MacGil sat in the banquet hall, watching over his subjects, he at one end of the table and King McCloud at the other, hundreds of men from both clans between them. The wedding revelries had been going on for hours until, finally, the tension between the clans had settled down from the day’s jousting. As MacGil suspected, all the men needed were wine and meat—and women—to make them forget their
