“Arday,” said Gwydion. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you before.”
She laughed lightly. “That was obvious! I was making sure that this magnificent feast got to the tables. How goes it, Gwydion?” Her dark eyes, full of promise, held his.
Gwydion smiled quite ready to take the lady up on the offer in her eyes.
Amatheon, who was sitting on Arday’s right, chose that moment to speak. He gestured to the lean, brown-haired man sitting next to him. “Gwydion, you remember Cai, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Gwydion said pleasantly, hiding his annoyance at being interrupted. “How goes it, Cai?”
Cai’s dark brown eyes brightened. “It goes well, Gwydion. And you? Any good dreams lately?”
Gwydion’s smile froze. “No,” he said harshly.
Taken aback, Cai glanced quickly at Amatheon. Stepping into the sudden silence, Amatheon said, “Cai’s hoping the Shining Ones sent you a dream about him! He’s just been named Captain of Uthyr’s teulu.”
“Congratulations, then, to the PenGwernan,” Gwydion said, recovering swiftly from his blunder. “Here’s to the Head of the Alder!” Gwydion lifted his cup and drank, while Amatheon and Arday did the same.
Cai grinned somewhat uncertainly at Gwydion, his face flushed.
“Ah,” Gwydion went on. “I remember the dream now. You see, a weasel was leading Uthyr’s teulu and they got lost in the forest—”
Uthyr’s laughter soared above the rest. “He’s got you on that one, Cai. You do look like a weasel. Lean, brown, shifty-eyed.”
“Shifty-eyed!” Cai retorted. “I’ll have you know that my wife says my eyes are my best feature.” He batted his eyes rapidly at Uthyr.
“And you’re sitting on your second best—your brains,” retorted Uthyr.
“That’s not fair. Everyone’s against me.” Cai leaned forward to call to the end of the table, “Trachymer! Help me out here.”
Trachymer, Uthyr’s chief huntsman, a taciturn man with a leathery face, didn’t even glance up from his meal. “Whatever it is, you deserve it, Cai.”
“What’s he mad at you for?” asked Amatheon curiously.
Cai looked at Amatheon in surprise. “Oh, he’s not mad. If he was mad, he’d be smiling.” Trachymer merely grunted, and kept on with his meal.
Susanna abruptly turned to Gwydion. “Tell me, what do you hear about Rhiannon ur Hefeydd?”
“Rhiannon?” he said in surprise. Rhiannon was a woman of the House of Llyr, and a cousin of his. She was the Ardewin’s heir, and would replace his uncle, Myrrdin, when the time came. But Gwydion barely knew her, for they had been at different colleges throughout their training. “What do you want to know about her?”
“Surely you knew that just a few months ago Dinaswyn sent Rhiannon to Prydyn to have a child by King Rhoram. I just wondered if you knew how she was, that’s all.”
“Dinaswyn didn’t mention it. The bloodlines of Llyr were still her responsibility at that point. Has Rhiannon conceived yet?”
“Not yet, I don’t think. But I heard Rhoram was quite taken with her. Things have been pretty rough with him since his wife died last year.”
“Then all appears to be as well as can be expected,” he said coolly. “Why are you concerned?”
“It’s just—well she’s a good person. A little quiet and shy. She went to Y Ty Dewin, of course, but I got to know her since she was always coming around Neuadd Gorsedd to look for her father. He was a Bard.”
“Why did she have to look for him at the Bardic college? He could have gone to Y Ty Dewin to see her anytime. It’s a school, not a prison.”
Susanna frowned. “Oh, he would never do that. He avoided her on purpose.”
“Why?”
“Oh, I never really knew for sure. Her mother died giving birth to her, and he always blamed Rhiannon for that, I think. And for something else, too, but I never knew what. Look, it’s just that . . . well . . .”
Bards were facile with words and the fact that Susanna was having trouble alerted Gwydion that she had something to say that he probably didn’t want to hear. “It’s just that what?” Gwydion asked impatiently.
Susanna took a deep breath. “People like you, and like Dinaswyn, you have your dreams. And you have your Book of the Blood to tell you who should mate with who, and when. You command men and women of the House of Llyr to mate with kings and queens. And, sometimes, like with your father and Queen Rathtyen, they find love. And sometimes they don’t, they just grit their teeth and do what needs to be done so that they can carry on the bloodlines. And the Dreamers never seem to care about the people that they order around. I was just hoping that Rhiannon would be happy living with Rhoram and bearing his child. And I was hoping that when the time came for her to leave Rhoram and return to Y Ty Dewin she would be able to bear it. I want her to be happy, because she always seemed so sad.”