A Dishonorable Knight - By Morrison, Michelle Page 0,162
faster pace. Elena followed suit and wondered to herself, Now why couldn't Gareth have spoken so gallantly when he was dragging me through the Welsh mountains? Unbidden, his words of the day before popped into her mind. "I loved you even when I hated you." Why on earth should he have ever hated her? With commendable self-deprecation, she allowed that perhaps she had been a trifle difficult, but that had been before she had, well, grown up. Elena paused in thought to hold onto the lip of the saddle as she urged her horse over an enormous fallen tree. Safely over, she returned to her musing.
Elena wondered what would have happened between she and Gareth had they not clashed so much those first weeks. If he truly had loved her then, perhaps he would have confessed it sooner and she might even now be safely ensconced in Eyri Keep.
Well, she decided, there was nothing to be gained from might-have-beens. It was better to look to the future and wonder what it held for Gareth and her. Would he seek her out after the confrontation between Richard and Henry? Would he live to seek her out? No, she would not think of that possibility. Of course he would live--she willed it so and sweeter disposition or no, she was still as determined to have her will. Very well. If he did live, of course he would come for her and she would accept him only after making him grovel for forgiveness for abandoning her. There was only so much a lady could take, after all.
***
They rode through the seemingly endless forest for hours, the only indication of time passing was Elena's rumbling stomach for the forest grew no lighter than it had been in the morning, so dense was the foliage. When she thought she should faint with hunger, Dafydd finally stopped by a small spring and allowed the horses to drink and rest.
"Shall we see what the good innkeeper has provided for us to eat?" he asked as he helped her down from her horse and fetched the bag the young stableboy had given them.
"It could be dried beef and I would eat it, " Elena replied as she sank to the soft ground by the cheery, burbling stream.
Dafydd untied the leather thong that held the bag closed and peeked inside. "Looks like we have bread and cheese." Reaching into the burlap sack, he pulled forth a huge loaf of dark bread and a hunk of cheese protected in its cloth rind.
"I apologize for the lack of table linens, and tables, for that matter," Dafydd said as he presented the loaf to Elena with a flourish.
Elena laughed wearily while she tore off a piece of bread. Taking a bite, she reveled in the softness of the fresh loaf. "After the last month, linens and tables are the exception rather than the rule!"
"Traveled a bit, have you?"
Elena was surprised. Given that he had mentioned Gareth this morning, she had assumed Dafydd was well aware of their adventures. "Did Gareth not get a chance to tell you all that we accomplished in such a short span of time?"
"Actually, I don't even know Sir Gareth. Well, I know of him, but I've never been introduced, and until he was thrown into the dungeon, I didn't know if he was a supporter of Henry Tudor or not. In fact, I'm still not sure if his job there at Nottingham wasn't the same as mine: to learn what we could of Richard's intentions."
"But I thought--"
"That since we were on the same side, we knew of each other's existence? No, that would have put both of us in danger if one were captured and tortured."
"Then you were there to spy on Richard?"
"In a nutshell, yes. But was that not your position?"
"I didn't even know Gareth was spying on the king. He told me he had changed his mind and decided to support the king after all. Even after I had saved his life and offered my help," she said with a frown.
Dafydd cleared his throat and shifted his weight from foot to foot. He paid particular attention to slicing a wedge of cheese and handing it to her before speaking. "I'm sure it was for your own safety. War and spying are not lady's pastimes."
"Perhaps not, but it seems I have been in the middle of it since the Woodvilles attacked Richard's entourage."