Page 70 of The Queen's Huntsman
Like the hob cake, the colors of her garment shifted according to her environs—subtly though enough that if one was watching for it, it was easy to note.
“She’s refreshingly candid,” Gwendolyn said, not quite realizing that her attention had returned to the Faeries conversing ahead—nor what that gesture might imply to anyone watching.
“He’s well and truly stolen your heart, has he not?”
Gwendolyn didn’t bother to deny it. “More’s the pity.”
“Have you told him?”
Gwendolyn eyed her good friend with chagrin, then lied to him for the first time in all their days. “No. Why should I? As you can see, those two are—”
“Notenamored,” Bryn contended. “That is not what I see. And, really, you should tell him, Gwendolyn. I know I am not the man you will love… you need not coddle me like a babe. Nor need I forgive you for following your heart… and neither for what has happened to our parents. You grieve as I grieve, and if I ever gave you the impression I blamed you for any of it, ’tis I who must apologize.”
Gwendolyn was grateful for his absolution. It was true, she could not help whom she loved, and if she could, it really wouldn’t be Málik. Loving him was problematic.
“Indeed, if you must know,” he continued. “I forgave you long ago for my demotion, as well as for loving Málik.Gods. How could I not when you honored your promise to Loc, even though I knew you loathed him? I merely could not find it in my heart to forgive myself for leaving you to rot in that chamber, with no aid forthcoming. And I knew what they were doing to you, still I did so little for too long.”
“Oh, please! What could you have done?” Gwendolyn argued. And then she answered for him. “Naught, Bryn. There is naught you could have done.”
“But that is where you are wrong, Gwendolyn.Iam the one who summoned Adwen. I am the one who suggested to Innogen she might barter with him for your release.”
“You?”
He nodded. “I knew she was wise enough to understand that her son meant to kill you, and that your death would make you a martyr, crippling his reign before it began. I went to her with this, and she understood, even agreed. With her permission, I arranged it all under the guise of my loyal service to Loc. But I came to know a few good men who did not condone his treachery. He has many among his ranks who, while they’d not be willing to oppose him, would lay down their arms if only given half a reason to do so—an opponent they can believe in.”
Her spine straightened of its own accord. “But… not me?” Gwendolyn surmised by his tone.
Bryn sighed, the sound like a whoosh of wind. The circles beneath his eyes appeared to deepen with the slant of his eyes.
“Because I am a woman?”
He shook his head, pursing his lips.
“Because I am too young?” she pressed.
He shook his head again. “I don’t believe so. They see you as weak…”
Weak.It was the very thing Gwendolyn feared—that too many would see her as her father’s daughter, but not her father’s heir.
“These men do not wish you ill, Gwendolyn. Still, there are many who do not believe you have what it takes to defeat Locrinus. He is ruthless and will stop at nothing to win. He was raised by that bloody witch to believe himself the only suitable candidate for Pretania’s throne, and the only reason he did not murder his sire himself is because his mother beat him to it.”
Gwendolyn’s eyes widened in shock. “Innogen killed Brutus?”
Bryn tilted her a look. “Did you not know? Even before thedroguewas fully in effect, she plunged a dagger between his shoulders.”
Gwendolyn’s hand moved to Borlewen’s blade, her palm cradling the hilt. “Gods,” she said. “What a viper!”
“Aye, well, you only know the half of it,” Bryn said. “She called me to her bed more than once. I’m certain you did not know that either?”
Gwendolyn blinked quickly in succession. “Her bed?”
He nodded.
“And you went?”
Now it was Bryn’s turn to flush. “You may think me crass, but I’m not sorry I did,” he said. “How do you think I proposed the trade for Durotriges?”
“Gods,” Gwendolyn said, again. In a thousand years, she could never have imagined Bryn selling his body for favors.
