The Fallen Princess Read Free Page A

what appeared to be the real story: Tegwen hadn’t run away
with a Dane. She’d been murdered instead.
    Gwen slipped her hand into Gareth’s. “We
have more to observe, but it might be better not to do it in front
of all these people. Can you get them to leave? Rhodri and Dewi
tried, but nobody seems to have listened.”
    Gareth surveyed the beach. Although most of
the dozen onlookers had the decency to move at least ten feet from
the body, and no one else was hovering over it like they were, Gwen
was right. “I’ll see what I can do. Ignore them and do what you
have to do to help Prince Hywel.”
    With a worried look at Hywel, who seemed to
be frozen where he stood, Gareth headed up the beach towards his
men in what wasn’t his usual stride. His boots dug into the soft
sand, and he knew he’d be dumping the fine grains out of them for
weeks to come. As he crossed onto drier sand, Gareth called for the
men to gather around him.
    “This has turned into a more delicate
situation than Prince Hywel first thought it would be, and we need
to contain this scene,” he said. “Many of you have had the
misfortune to participate in incidents like this before. I must
stay beside the prince for now, but I need to know everything that
happened on this beach between yesterday evening and this moment.”
Gareth pointed with his chin at his friend. “Evan, if you could see
to interviewing the people here? You know what to do. At a minimum,
I need them to stay further away from the body. A crowd of
onlookers watching his every move is the last thing Prince Hywel
needs right now.”
    “Of course, my lord.”
    Gareth turned away, taking a breath and
letting it out to settle himself as he looked down the beach to
where Hywel and Gwen were talking quietly over Tegwen’s body. Hywel
seemed to be recovering from his initial shock, which had been
uncharacteristic of him to begin with. None of them had encountered
a murder since last spring when a Norman spy had dropped a body at
their feet in the bailey of Earl Robert’s castle at
Newcastle-under-Lyme. While Gareth had been a key player in that
investigation, his task had been hampered by his unfamiliarity with
the area and a general prejudice against the Welsh displayed by
most every Norman he encountered. At least here at Aber that
wouldn’t be a problem.
    Always considering himself to be one of
Gareth’s men, even though he was only thirteen, Llelo had gathered
a handful of children to him and was bending forward to speak to
them, his hands on his knees. Gareth patted him on the shoulder as
he passed him on the way back to where Hywel and Gwen waited. “All
right there?”
    “Yes, sir,” Llelo said.
    “Let me know what you discover,” Gareth
said.
    “I already promised Gwen I would,” Llelo
said, looking slightly affronted that Gareth would tell him his
job. Gareth held back a smile.
    Gwen had mentioned designating tasks to the
other two attendants on the scene, Rhodri and Dewi, but they seemed
to have disappeared. As Hywel had dismounted from his horse, Adda
had tried to explain to him how inadequate to the task of
investigating the death Gwen had been. Gareth had brushed past him
with a disdainful look, but he probably should have found out if
Adda had discovered anything important. Contrary to Adda’s opinion,
Gareth was pleased with how Gwen had taken charge in his absence
and how quickly the investigation had moved into full swing.
    “I gather that you don’t recognize Tegwen
yourself, Gareth?” Gwen said as he reached them.
    He shook his head. “I never met her.”
    “She disappeared a few months before you
began your service with me, Gareth,” Hywel said.
    “And you, Gwen?” Gareth said. “You must have
grown up with her.”
    Gwen bit her lip. “Not really.”
    “Tegwen was the same age as I am.” Hywel had
returned to his usual matter-of-fact manner, pacing around the body
with his eyes on the ground as he talked. “She was the result of a
liaison