out, smiling over the hall.
'You will never kneel to me again, dearling,' he told her. 'As my wife you are my female equal, my other half.' Then he put a goblet of wine in her hand, kissing it as he did so.
They sat at the high board and Wynne said, 'There are so many men, my lord. Are there no women here at Raven's Rock but Nesta and the servants?'
'None,' he replied. 'My mother had no liking for strangers. As she and Nesta were content, I was content. If it displeases you, however, you may invite the daughters of other houses to keep you company.'
'When Nesta goes to St. Bride's I shall be alone, my lord. Perhaps my brother will allow my little sister, Mair, to come to us.'
'Your grandmother will be lonely without Mair. I can see she quite dotes upon the child,' Madoc remarked.
'My mother died quite unexpectedly giving birth to Mair,' Wynne told him. 'Grandmother has raised Mair, and she is more a daughter to her than a grandchild.'
'Your grandmother could come to Raven's Rock if you desired it, my dearling,' Madoc offered.
'Grandmother must remain with Dewi,' Wynne reminded him. 'My brother cannot oversee Gwernach without guidance.'
'I promised you that I would send someone to aid the boy, Wynne. Tomorrow you will speak with the man I have chosen to be your brother's bailiff. His name is David. He is a loyal and clever man. When my brother Brys went to Castle Cai, I sent David to be the bailiff. My stepfather was incapable of managing his estate, and Brys was too young and inexperienced. He was, in fact, just Dewi's age. David tells me that they got on quite well. If your instincts warn you otherwise though, you must tell me and I will choose another. If David and Dewi do well together, I think your grandmother would enjoy coming to Raven's Rock. We could offer her great comforts in her old age, and in our house Mair could aspire to a more important family from which to choose a husband than she could at Gwernach. What say you, lady?'
'You are so good, my lord,' Wynne answered him ingenuously. 'You seem to have a care for my feelings at every turn. I do not know if I shall ever be able to match your solicitude. Yes, I should like to have my grandmother and sister here with me at Raven's Rock if I could be certain my brother was safe.'
'David, with your permission, will go to Gwernach shortly; and if all is well with the arrangement, then the lady Enid and Mair will come to live at Gwernach after our marriage,' he told her.
'Not before?' Her disappointment was quite evident. 'Nesta will be wed at the Solstice. I shall be alone the whole winter long.'
He smiled. 'I want that time for us, dearling, that we may truly learn to know one another with no other distractions. You will not want for entertainment, I promise you,' he said, and his look was suddenly smoldering.
She felt her bones turning to jelly in an all now familiar pattern, and she knew that he knew it. Her breathing was suddenly quick and her tongue flicked out to moisten her lips, which had gone dry. 'What is this magic you do, my lord?' she said low.
He smiled a slow smile and, leaning forward, kissed her lips in a leisurely fashion. Wynne found she could not pull away. She wasn't even certain that she wanted to pull away.
'I think the time has come for us to progress past kissing,' he told her softly.
'When?' she asked breathlessly, and then blushed, wondering what he must think of such unmaidenly, such unseemly eagerness.
'Very soon,' he promised.
'What comes after kissing?' she inquired.
'Caressing,' he told her.
'Who caresses whom?'
He chuckled. 'I caress you, dearling, and you caress me.'
'How do I caress you?' she demanded.
'I will instruct you most thoroughly in the art, you charmingly shameless wench,' he said, laughing now.
'Oh, Madoc,' she said, and his heart quickened, for she so rarely used his name, 'is it wrong for me to be curious and eager? I truly am and I cannot help it. When you kiss me I find I am beset by feelings I do not understand, but I also find I want to go forward that I may learn what follows. I have had no mother to teach me, and Grandmother has said little regarding the relations between men and women.'
'Ahh, dearling,' he said, and his voice was tight with his own emotions, 'I am glad you have
'Madoc, my brother,' said Nesta, breaking into their conversation, 'I think it is time that Wynne and I retired. We have not slept in a decent bed in several days, and she must be as exhausted as I am.'
Wynne arose from the high board and, seeing her do so, Gwyn and Megan left their places at the table, below the salt, to follow their two mistresses from the hall.
The two girls kissed each other good night, and Nesta, yawning copiously, entered her own sleeping chamber gratefully. Wynne had not paid a great deal of attention to her own chamber earlier. Not in the least sleepy, she looked with interest about the room. There was a fine fireplace in which a good blaze now burned, and the room was quite warm and toasty. Beautiful tapestries woven in soft roses, blues, greens, and a natural cream color showed gentle landscapes filled with flowers, birds, and butterflies. They hung from ceiling to floor, covering much of the cold stone walls. Wynne had never seen anything like them.
Her windows opened onto a.mountain and garden view. There were three fine-carved chests for her belongings, a table, a chair with a woven seat and a cushion, and a large, beautiful bed with pale rose curtains that appeared to have been spun from a spider's web, although actually it was simply a delicate sheer wool. Wynne was enchanted by them, for she realized they would keep her bed quite draft-free and yet they were exquisite. The bed was piled high with a featherbed and the most beautiful fluffy white furs she had ever seen.
Megan helped her from her elegant garments, taking even her chemise, to Wynne's surprise; but she quickly replaced it with a loose-fitting garment with long, billowing sleeves. The gown was of the finest sheer linen. 'Your sleeping robe, my lady,' Megan said as she laced it shut with silken ribbons that ran from navel to neck.
'I've never had one,' Wynne admitted. 'It's lovely.'
'You'll find many things here that exist nowhere else in our land,' Megan told her. 'Our lord prince has traveled as far as Byzantium.' She then walked over to a small door set in the wall and opened it. 'Your necessary, my lady,' she explained.
Peering in, Wynne saw a small stone bench set between the walls with a neat round hole carved in it. On a shelf above it a bronze oil lamp burned. Next to the seat a pile of neatly folded cloths had been placed. 'This is truly amazing,' Wynne said.
' 'Tis but one of a thousand things that will astound you, my lady. Raven's Rock is truly like no other place.' She shut the door to the necessary and said briskly, 'Let me brush out your beautiful hair and then I'll help you into bed, my lady. You must be exhausted with all your travel.' She undid the single, heavy braid Wynne favored, untangling it with supple fingers, brushing the hair until it shone like a swatch of black silk, then pinning it up so her mistress could sleep more comfortably.
'There's a bed space for me in the little chamber where I hang your garments, my lady. Your Einion will have his bed space with the prince's body servant, Barris, in our lord's dressing chamber.'
'But are you warm enough? Surely the hall would be warmer for you.'
Megan was touched by Wynne's concern. 'Do not fret, my lady Wynne. The fireplace from my lord's reading chamber backs up against the bed spaces. We are all quite comfortable. The prince would have it no other way. He is a good master and there is none better!'
Wynne had seen this loyalty all day long since their arrival at Raven's Rock; Megan's easy assurances and her obvious devotion to Madoc were all such good signs, Wynne thought after the servant had left her alone. Everything was going to be fine once she accepted it and stopped fretting at every turn.
Wynne tried to sleep, but she couldn't. She was simply too excited by her arrival here and all the wonderful things she had seen this day. Impatiently she arose from her bed, throwing back the lavender-scented sheets and the warm furs. Walking over to her windows, she gazed out. There was a wide crescent moon hanging in the
