A Memory of Love

given him no heir. Then she had insisted upon coming on crusade when a responsible woman would have remained at Haven, praying for his safe return and doing her duty as his chatelaine. It was one thing for a queen or a princess to come on crusade, but the wife of a simple lord had no business being in the midst of such an adventure.

His thoughts began to stray to his cousin Katherine. He would need a wife when he returned home to England. His cousin's family had always hoped he would marry Katherine, and now he would. She was fair enough and obedient to boot. There would be no nonsense over his possession of her body, and Katherine would gladly give him heirs as quicldy as his seed took root. Aye, Katherine would be the perfect wife for him. Arriving in Acre, he hired a scribe and dictated a letter to his cousin Rafe.

Rafe de Beaulieu was surprised when in the spring of the next year he received his cousin's missive from Acre. 'You are to be married!' he told his sister. 'The Welsh wife has died, although I should not have thought a healthy girl like that would succumb easily, but she has! Edward wants you for his wife. When he returns home you will be wed, sister. This is just what the family has always wanted, Kate!' And yet while pleased for Kate, he grieved secretly for the beautiful Rhonwyn. If she had been his he would have kept her safe.

'We must pray for the lady Rhonwyn's soul,' Katherine said quietly. 'I liked her, for she was as good as she was beautiful. All the servants have told me that.'

'Pray for her then, sister,' Rafe said, and seeing her stricken look, continued, 'I am rough spoken, Kate, and well you know it. Forgive me. In my happiness over your good fortune I did not consider the misfortune of the lady Rhonwyn. She was beautiful, and we had no quarrel with her. I will pray for her also.'

It was Father John who brought Glynn the news of his sister's demise. The boy was, as was expected, devastated by the news. 'Do you want to go home to Wales?' the priest asked him. 'To your father?'

Glynn swallowed hard. 'Nay,' he said. 'Rhonwyn wanted me to be educated, and I will not disappoint her, good father. I will remain in school. I thank you for coming to tell me, for had I learned of this at Haven on my next visit, I should have given everything away in my grief. How did my sister die?'

'Edward did not say. I expect it was too painful for him,' the priest replied. 'We will learn the truth when he returns home to Haven, but not until then I fear.'

'I do not sense my sister dead,' Glynn said thoughtfully. 'I would have thought if she had died I should have known, we were that close, good father.'

'Do not allow your Celtic mysticism to overcome your Christian sense, my lad,' the priest warned him as he turned to depart.

Glynn murmured as if in agreement, but in his heart he did not acquiesce to the priest's words. Until he learned from his brother-in-law exactly how his sister had died-that Edward had seen it himself-Glynn could not believe that Rhonwyn was gone from this earth into the next. Not his sister. She had too strong a will to die young.

Alone in his dormitory Glynn began to play upon his lute, composing as he did so another ballad about a warrior woman called Rhonwyn, and he suddenly felt a sense of great comfort sweeping over him. She is not dead! he thought. But what has happened to her? It was then the thought entered his mind. He would go to Acre himself and find Edward. Then having learned the truth, he would find Rhonwyn.

Glynn ap Llywelyn went into the town several days later to seek out Oth and Dewi. His two guardians had been sent back from Wales by his father when Glynn entered the abbey school. In order to maintain themselves they hired out as men-at-arms for local folk traveling the countryside, but their base was in Shrewsbury, to which they always returned. They boarded with an elderly widow who felt safer by their frequent presence. Glynn made his way through the town's narrow streets to the widow's house by the river.

'Good morrow, Mistress Ellen,' he greeted her cheerfully. 'Can you tell me if Oth and Dewi are in town today?'

'Just back yesterday, young master. They are working my garden for me,' the old lady replied. 'Go along through.'

'Jesu, lad,' Oth said, catching sight of Glynn, 'you seem to grow bigger each day. What is it the good brothers feed you?'

The two Welshmen embraced Glynn.

'Father John has been to see me,' Glynn said without any preamble. 'He has had a letter from Edward saying that Rhonwyn has died.'

'I don't believe it!' Oth burst out.

'Nor I,' Dewi agreed.

Glynn smiled with relief. 'Good, because I do not feel the loss of my sister's presence at all,' he told the two. 'Edward must believe such a thing or he would not say it, but until I learn for myself just what happened, I cannot accept that Rhonwyn is gone from us. I mean to go to Acre where the crusade is now settled. Will you two come with me?'

'Aye,' they answered with one voice.

'Good,' Glynn replied. 'Now, I have considered this carefully. Neither Rafe de Beaulieu or his sister know my true identity. They will wonder if I do not come to Haven, and they will worry, for I am believed to be Edward's bastard. I shall visit them shortly and tell them that because I am considering the priesthood, I am being sent to one of the order's other schools in France for a year. As for the father abbott, you two shall come to him in three days' time, for he knows my true identity, and you will tell him that my father, ap Gruffydd, desires me to join him for several months, and you have been sent to escort me to him. We will then go to Haven and from there to the Holy Land.'

'What of Father John?' Oth asked. 'Will he believe your little tale of school in France? He is no fool, lad.'

'I will tell him the truth,' Glynn said. 'He cannot betray me lest he betray Edward's subterfuge to his kin. I do not believe he will do that.'

Oth looked at the boy who was now sixteen and practically a man. He would not have expected such a daring plan from the gentle Glynn, but it was obvious that the lad meant to seek his sister out no matter what anyone else said. 'What are we to do for traveling funds?' he asked in a pragmatic tone. 'Dewi and I have some coins put aside, but we'll need more than what we have.'

'I have my allowance,' Glynn said. 'I've never spent it but for strings for my musical instruments. I have almost everything Edward gave me last year, and I will ask Rafe de Beaulieu for more since I am going to France.' He chuckled. 'And if we run out of funds, I shall sing for our supper.'

'Well, then,' said Oth, 'there is nought to keep us from our travels, Glynn ap Llywelyn. We shall come for you in three days' time.'

And when they did the father was most sympathetic. 'Of course Prince Llywelyn would want his son with him under the tragic circumstances,' he said. Father John had told him of Rhonwyn's demise. 'We have been praying for the lady's good soul ever since we learned the terrible news.' He turned to Glynn. 'We shall eagerly await your return, Glynn ap Llywelyn. Go now and comfort your father.'

'You're a true Welshman,' Oth said approvingly as they rode through the city gates. 'You played your part well and never once looked guilty over the lies we told that good priest.'

Glynn merely grinned at his companion.

At Haven Gastle the boy appeared alone and told his tale to Rafe de Beaulieu and his sister. Father John lifted a questioning eyebrow but said nothing.

'So you are considering being a priest,' Rafe said enthusiastically.

'Why should this make you happy?' Glynn said.

'Because you are my cousin Edward's get. He will wed my sister, Katherine, when he returns from crusade. While you are a bastard, if Edward should die, you might attempt to usurp my sister's children from their rightful inheritance. As a priest I can trust you and your intentions, Glynn of Thorley.'

Glynn felt a terrible fury welling up within him. Rhonwyn was barely dead, according to Edward, and he was already planning a new marriage. I will kill him, Glynn vowed silently to himself, and then he caught Father John's eye. He swallowed his anger back down, but it still burned within him as he said, 'Your devotion to your sister is commendable, Rafe.'

'What is this all about?' the priest demanded of Glynn when they were finally alone.

'I do not believe my sister is dead,' Glynn replied. 'You scoff at my Celtic mysticism, but there has always been a bond between my sister and me. It is not that I am grieving or unable to accept the truth in this matter. If