Page 46 of Wolfehound
“Are you going to tell me about procreation?” she said suspiciously. “Because I raise puppies, Mama. I know what mating is. I know what effort it will take to make a big family, so you need not embarrass yourself.”
Fair Lydia cocked an eyebrow at her cheeky daughter. “If you did not know how mating works, I would be very worried for you,” she said. “But I was not intending to speak to you about procreation between a man and a woman. Should I?”
Cambria shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “Grandmother told me.”
She meant Fair Lydia’s mother, because Carlton’s mother had died before Cambria was born. “When did she do such a thing?” Fair Lydia gasped. “She died when you were ten years of age!”
Cambria’s lips twitched as she struggled not to smile. “In the months before she passed on,” she said. “I was walking with her when we saw a soldier and a kitchen servant in a corner of the kitchen yard. She had her skirts up and he was between her legs. Grandmother had to tell me what they were doing because I saw everything and was curious. She never told you?”
Fair Lydia closed her eyes tightly, slapping a hand on her forehead in disbelief. “God be merciful,” she muttered. “Nay, she never told me. I am sorry she was forced to tell you at such a young age.”
“I’m not,” Cambria said, taking her mother’s free hand and holding it. “But that is not what you wished to speak of, is it?”
“Nay,” Fair Lydia said, opening her eyes to look at her daughter. “Something else. Bria, I want you to understand something. What I must speak to you about can never leave this chamber. You can never speak about it, ever. It is something for you, and only you, to know. I must swear you to secrecy, my Dearest. Do you understand me?”
Cambria grew serious. “Or course, Mama,” she said. “What is so critical?”
“You.”
“What about me?”
Fair Lydia grasped her daughter’s fingers as she composed her thoughts. “You are a young woman now,” she said. “I believe you are capable of understanding what I am about to tell you, but, as I said, it is something no one else can ever know. If they do, then your life could be in danger.”
Cambria grinned, but it was a puzzled sort of gesture. “What could be so important?”
Fair Lydia kissed her hand before continuing. “Let me start at the beginning,” she said. “When your father first brought you home to Folkingham, he did not intend that you should stay. I know we’ve always told you that you were an orphan and Papa brought you home from battle, and that was the truth, but you were never meant to remain at Folkingham. Unfortunately, when your father brought you home, I took hold of you and refused to let you go. I had just lost your brother a year earlier, you see, and I thought your father had brought you home to me to ease my broken heart.”
Cambria was listening closely. “But that was not true?”
Fair Lydia shook her head. “It was not,” she said. “It was the Earl of Warenton who told your father that he should allow you to remain, so we could raise you as our own child. He found another child to carry out your destiny.”
“Destiny?” Cambria said, her features twisting with confusion. “What destiny? Mama, you are not making sense.”
“I know,” Fair Lydia said quickly. “But I am trying to explain the circumstances of what I am about to tell you. Swear to me again that you shall never repeat this.”
“I swear. Of course, I swear.”
“You must not even speak to your father about it.”
“I won’t, I promise,” Cambria assured her. “But you are starting to scare me, Mama.Whatis so serious?”
Fair Lydia put a gentle hand on her daughter’s cheek. “I am not trying to scare you,” she said. “I simply want to stress how this information must never be spoken of.”
“May I ask why?”
Fair Lydia smiled faintly. “Permit me to finish the story and then you will know,” she said. “Your father and I are indeed your family, but before us, you had another family.”
Cambria’s brow furrowed. “I would assume so, since I know that I was orphaned,” she said. But then it occurred to her whather mother was trying to say. “Do… do you mean to tell me that youknowmy family?”
Fair Lydia nodded. “I know,” she said. “Your father knows, too. He does not want to tell you the truth simply to protect you, but I do not think that is fair to you. You are old enough now to understand. Everyone wants to know where they come from, what their bloodlines are. It is an inherent need to know who your family is and I do not think it is right for you to go through life thinking you were abandoned or unloved. I am certain neither is true.”
“Whoismy birth family?”
Fair Lydia gazed deeply into her eyes as she spoke. “The man who gave you life, the father of your bloodlines, is Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. Some call him Llywelyn the Last. He was the last Prince of Wales and your mother was Eleanor de Montfort. Your maternal great-grandfather is King John of England.”
Cambria’s eyes widened immediately. “My… mywhat?” she said. “Mama, that is not possible.”
“It is very possible because it is true.”
