face, nor by her rank breath nor the soft groans that escaped her friend’s lips as she was moved.
She went again to the entrance, pinning back the woollen curtain and opening the wicker door.
The distant mountains had torn the clouds open and the snowy peaks were bright as burnished brass where the sun struck them, dark as lead in the deep shadows of the coming evening. Even the looming clouds were tinted pink and orange so that as Branwen gazed out at them, they hardly seemed real.
‘The world is putting on its best finery for you, Linette,’ said Branwen, deeply moved by the stark beauty of the scene before her. ‘It must have known you wished for something glorious to send you sweet dreams.’ She turned and looked at Linette. The pale girl was gazing way beyond her, a bright light glowing in her eyes.
Branwen smiled and turned again to the mountains, leaning in the doorframe, her arms folded against the chill air. ‘I’d say the Shining Ones sent this twilight to us,’ she said with a sigh in her voice. ‘They are still watching over us, I know it in my heart.’ She paused. ‘I have been thinking that it is time we quit the king’s employ. What do you say, Linette? Once you are well, shall we be gone from here? Back to the mountains and the forests. I have done my duty, haven’t I? My duty to the king, I mean, and my duty to Gavan ap Huw, of course, rest his soul.’
She looked again at Linette. The pale girl’s eyes still gazed into the west, but she did not respond to Branwen’s words.
‘I am worried for the king,’ Branwen continued, looking out towards the mountains again. ‘He’s taking a dangerous course in trusting Prince Llew. Should I stay and protect him against treachery, do you think? I don’t know. Is it even safe for me to stay here with Llew in the ascendancy? Might he convince the king to be rid of me once and for all? I wouldn’t put it past him …’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘I shall ask Rhodri, he always gives good counsel.’ She smiled to herself. ‘I already know what Blodwedd’s advice would be.’ She deepened her voice in affectionate imitation of the owl-girl. ‘ “This small king of men is no more to you than a pebble on a beach, Branwen – yours is a higher calling!” ’ She laughed softly at the thought. ‘That is what Blodwedd would tell me, for sure. And she may be right. All these months with the king may have been time wasted.’ Her thoughts shifted. ‘Or maybe Iwan will give me wise advice.’ Her voice lowered, almost as if she had forgotten that Linette was within earshot. ‘I know I could trust him with my life …’ She let out a sigh, wondering whether to pursue this line of thought. Linette might have some advice for her, or maybe just the act of voicing her confusion aloud might give her some clarity.
‘Linette? What does it feel like to be in love? Do you know? My mother and father loved one another very deeply, and it was a calm love – easy, respectful. Is that what love is like always? Because if it is, then I don’t know what I am feeling for Iwan. Sometimes he drives me to a frenzy with his glib tongue … and at other times he is so gentle and kind that …’ The words stalled in her throat, too big and heavy to be brought up into her mouth. She stood listening to her heart beating. A tingling heat burned under her ribs. She could as easily have wept as burst out laughing.
After a while, she carried on speaking, in a voice little above a whisper. ‘Sometimes when he smiles at me, I feel … oh, I don’t know how to describe how I feel … powerful … vulnerable … strong and weak all at once.’ She turned to look once more at her friend. ‘Love is such … a …’
The words died in her throat. She took a faltering step towards her still and silent friend.
‘… Linette … ?’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I must find Rhodri. He will know what to do. He will make her better.
Branwen ran like a mad thing through the wet snow, her feet slithering under her, the air like arrows cutting into her lungs. A wild panic had hold of her. Something had happened that