Page 55 of Wolfehound
“What do you mean?”
“If I want to discuss something and you do not, you will simply silence me?”
He looked at her. “Of course not,” he said. “But this is not a suitable subject to discuss. If you know what it is, then you know why.”
She cocked her head. “Non-suitable for whom?” she said. “You? It is quite suitable for me, and before you try to silence me again, know that I feel you’re being quite unfair. You’ve known about this since the beginning and you never thought to tell me. Someone has, someone brave, and now I find out I am not who I thought I was. I am not the person you have told me I was, all of my life. I am confused and hurt and silencing me is not helping. I should be able to trust you with all things, Liam, and now I am discovering that when I need you most, you are not willing to help me?”
That broke him down completely. “Sweetheart, that’s not true,” he insisted softly, reaching out to take her hand. “Of course you can trust me. You may always trust me. And I can only imagine how you feel. But from my perspective, it has been pounded into my skull that this is a subject that can never see the light of day. I have been conditioned not to mention it, under any circumstances, because your life could be in danger if I do. And I would never do anything to put you in danger.”
She understood, but it didn’t quell her need to speak on it. “Please,” she murmured. “I just need to speak to you about it or surely I will burst.”
With great reluctance, he surrendered. “Very well,” he muttered. “Speak. I will listen.”
Relieved, Cambria wrapped her hands around his enormous forearm and pulled him with her as she started to walk. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. “I do not want to put anyone in danger, least of all myself, but I would be grateful if you could tell me what you know.”
They were heading into an open part of the bailey where no one was within thirty feet of them, all around. People were either over near the walls or back near the kitchen yard. Somewhere behind them, Bran was wandering, as the dog had followed them out of the hall, but he was sniffing at the dirt—and clearly uninterested in what they were speaking about. Once they reached a spot that was completely open, without nearby ears to overhear what was being said, Cambria came to a halt.
“As you can imagine, the revelation came as a shock to me,” she said in a low voice. “I am still in disbelief, but my mother would not lie to me.”
The light of realization went on in Liam’s eyes and he nodded his head as if his suspicions were correct. “Your mother told you,” he muttered. “I knew it would not be your father.”
“Nay, it was not my father,” Cambria said. “She did not lie, did she?”
“She did not lie.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since I escorted you to Folkingham from Wales.”
Her brow rippled with surprise. “Youescorted me?”
He nodded. “Remember that I was your father’s squire when I was young,” he said. “I was with him on the Welsh campaign. I had seen fourteen summers and, suddenly, I was in charge of a stinky baby and absolutely insulted because of it.”
He meant the stinky part as a jest and she smiled weakly, but it didn’t diminish the seriousness of the subject. “I knew you squired for my father,” she said. “I suppose it did not occur to me that you went to Wales with him or knew me as an infant.”
“I did, to both,” he said, his green eyes glimmering. “The battles in Wales were brutal and shocking for a young lad of my age, but they were something that helped me grow as a knight. As for the fat baby with black hair and blue eyes, she was no trouble. She was a happy baby, as I recall. And we took her from an encampment in Wales back to Folkingham.”
She mulled over his words because they were bringing about more questions. “Did you know who I was even then?”
“I knew.”
“Did you know my mother? My father?”
He shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “Your mother died long before I met you and I was not near your father when he was killed. I did meet your uncle, however. Dafydd. And I knew your cousins.”
“What cousins?”
Liam faltered, realizing she’d not been told about the others. He couldn’t very well refuse to tell her now that he’d brought it up. “There were other children, Bria,” he said, trying to be gentle. “Children of your Uncle Dafydd. You were the only offspring of Llywelyn, at least the only one we could find. There were rumors that you had an older sister named Catherine, but we never found evidence of her. I suspect she ended up like you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Adopted by another family to keep her safe.”
That revelation seemed to stun Cambria. “A sister,” she breathed. “I have a sister?”
He shrugged. “Possibly, but we may never know,” he said. “But your cousins—two boys and several girls—were taken away, much as you were. The girls were sent to priories and the boys sent to Bristol Castle. Before you ask, I do not know what has become of them. That was a long time ago, sweetheart.”
She was greatly torn hearing that there were other family members out there. Truthfully, that had never occurred to her.“I was just lamenting to my mother over the fact that we have no other family than my father’s brother, who has no use for him,” she said. “Now I find out that I actually have cousins and possibly a sister? That is astonishing.”
