"They believe," she whispered softly, "that I am Rhonwyn. Address me as such else they kill us for their own error."

"What is it you say in that barbaric tongue, Rhonwyn uerch Llywelyn?" one of her captors asked roughly.

"I am calming my servant," Kate replied. "She is frightened by you and by what she has seen this day. These English are not strong."

"Strong enough when they choose," the man laughed.

"Who are you, and why have you done this?" Kate asked him.

"In time, Rhonwyn uerch Llywelyn" was the answer.

Almost all the male inhabitants of Ainslea had been slaughtered, but for those who had managed to flee. The women and the children, however, were herded together to be driven into Wales where they would be sold as slaves. One old man was left to tell the tale to any who came seeking the lady of Haven Castle. The village was then fired, and the Welsh rode off with their captives and their loot-for they had sacked whatever had value including several milk cows, the poultry, a team of oxen, and a small herd of sheep.

Late in the afternoon Kate and her servant were taken in a separate direction by four of their captors. Mab began to whimper again with fright, moaning that they were going to be ravaged and killed for certain.

"Be silent!" Kate said sharply. "If they intended such villainy they would not have brought us this distance. It is something else, and I am interested to learn what."

"They will kill us when they learn the truth," Mab sobbed. "You should have told them back in Ainslea, and surely they would have released us, lady."

"Nay," Kate said. "They would have killed us then for they could not allow me to alert my sister-in-law to their perfidy, whatever it may be. I must maintain this masquerade for the time being until I can learn what is afoot. Then perhaps I may speak the truth. Or mayhap not, Mab. Now, pull yourself together, lass. We will not show these Welsh that we are afraid."

"Are you, lady?" Mab quavered.

"Aye, I am," Kate replied. "I should be a fool not to be fearful, Mab." Then she reached out and patted her servant's hand in a gesture of comfort, giving her a small smile.

"My name is Ifan ap Daffydd," the leader of her captors said. "We will overnight at a small convent, lady. If you attempt to escape or try to tell the nuns who you are or that you are captive, my men and I will kill the holy women. Do you understand me?"

"Aye," Kate said, "I do."

"Tell your servant what I have said, and tell her if she continues to whimper and whine as she has been, I will personally slit her throat. There are good Welsh women at my brother's castle who can serve you. You do not need this English cow."

"Nonetheless, Ifan ap Daffydd, I will have her," Kate answered him. "She has been loyal to me since I arrived at Haven. Perhaps you do not value such traits in a servant, but I do. She is not used to seeing such slaughter as she has viewed this day. You will leave her be, for she is my responsibility."

"Your Welsh is odd," he said to her.

"I have been living among the English for several years now and have not spoken my own tongue. I am surprised that I can recall it at all," Kate told him blithely. "Besides, each end of Wales speaks a different dialect, Ifan ap Daffydd, yet we all manage to understand each other."

"Aye, we do, especially when it comes to your tad, Rhonwyn uerch Llywelyn," he replied, and then he laughed.

When he had ridden ahead again Kate explained to Mab what had been said, couching the Welshman's threats in gentler language. "You must not carry on any longer, Mab, for you are irritating these men, and they could punish us both for your behavior."

"I will try," Mab said.

"You must succeed," Kate said firmly.

"Where are they taking us?"

"To the castle of Ifan ap Daffydd's brother, whoever he may be," Kate said. "From what this Ifan has said, I suspect it has something to do with the Welsh prince, but what, I do not yet know."

When they reached the small convent where they were to overnight, Ifan ap Daffydd explained to the porteress that he was escorting his sister to the castle of their brother, Rhys ap Daffydd, lord of Aberforth. They were welcomed and fed, and then offered pallets in the guest house. The nun apologized that they had but one space for guests and could not separate the sexes.

"I will sleep outside the guest-house door with my men so my sister may have her privacy," Ifan ap Daffydd said gallantly. "We are used to sleeping beneath the night sky, good sister." Having seen the interior of the place, Ifan ap Daffydd felt secure, for it had but one door and the two windows were too high for his captives to use for escape.

In the morning they attended Prime, and then they were given brown bread, a snip of cheese, and cider before they departed. Kate took a coin from her purse and pressed it into the hand of the porteress.

"Thank you, good sister," she said. "Will you pray for my sister-in-law, Katherine?"

"I will, my child," the nun said.

"What was that all about?" Ifan ap Daffydd demanded to know as they rode off.

"I gave the nun a coin from my purse. I doubt you thought to do it, Ifan ap Daffydd. Then I asked her to pray for my sister-in-law, Katherine. There was no harm in it. I spoke our tongue, and you were free to hear it. It is customary to pay for one's lodging if you can, and what with your boasting about taking your sister to your brother's castle, it would have been expected that you offer the nuns who sheltered us a small donation for our food and accommodation. You men have no sense of propriety."

He laughed." I had heard that you were a firebrand."

"Had you?" she remarked dryly.

They rode all day and sheltered the second night in a dry cave, for there were no religious houses or villages along their route. Their supper and their breakfast the following morning was roasted rabbit, hot in the evening and cold in the morning. They slept, wrapped in their cloaks, on the dirt floor of the cave, a fire at its entrance to discourage any wildlife from entering. They rode all of the third day, finally coming to Aberforth Castle shortly after the early sunset of that autumn day. The castle before them was small but dark and forbidding. Kate shivered nervously, but then pulled herself together as they passed beneath the portcullis into the courtyard.

When they had dismounted they were led into the castle's great hall. There were no fireplaces, but rather a large stone fire pit in the center of the hall that blazed, heating the entire room. To Kate's surprise the stone walls were hung with beautiful tapestries, and there were fragrant herbs scattered upon the stone floor that gave off a sweet odor when stepped upon. Upon the dais was a high board, and seated there eating was a richly dressed black-bearded man with piercing dark brown eyes and black hair.

Ifan ap Daffydd hurried forth, bringing his prisoners with him. He bowed low, and then straightening, he said, "I have brought Rhonwyn uerch Llywelyn as you requested, my lord brother."

The lord of Aberforth looked up and perused Kate. "You do not look like your mother," he said in a rough voice. "Nor do you favor your tad particularly, lady. However, I see ap Gruffydd's mother in you. She had hair your color. Your mother had hair like gilt thistledown."

Kate was curious, and she realized she was expected to reply. "You knew my mother?" she said.

"Briefly, though intimately," he chuckled.

"Why, my lord, have you kidnapped me and had me brought here?" Kate demanded to know. "My husband will be most vexed. He is not a wealthy man and cannot be expected to pay you too exorbitant a ransom."

Rhys ap Daffydd laughed. "You have your father's overweening pride and your mother's spirit," he replied. "I want no ransom from your husband, lady. It is your father I have occasion to deal with, and as he will not listen to reason, I thought perhaps if I had custody of his daughter he might be more amenable to… ah, negotiation."

"You have a quarrel with Prince Llywelyn, and so you have kidnapped me?" Kate was both astounded and outraged. "You are a coward, my lord, if you cannot deal with ap Gruffydd without threatening a woman of his family! I will not help you."

"You do not understand, Rhonwyn uerch Llywelyn," Rhys said. "Your father has gained his title from the English, but nonetheless we have honored that title because it meant that Wales was left in peace by the English. Now your sire refuses to do fealty to King Edward, thus breaking his bond with England. Edward Long-shanks is not an easy man and will not bear this insult. When he comes into Wales to punish your father, we will all suffer for our prince's misbehavior. I have friends in England who have requested that I reason with your father, for all our sakes. Since he has refused to grant me an audience, I must gain his attention in the only way I can, by bringing you here to Aberforth. Your father will not allow you to be harmed."

Kate remembered what Rhonwyn had said the few rare times she had spoken of her father. It was very unlikely that ap Gruffydd would come to his daughter's aid if it did not serve some good purpose for him. Kate could see that Rhys ap Daffydd was no true patriot. What he did he was doing for his own gain. She suspected he meant to attempt an assassination of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd when he came to rescue his daughter. She saw her own country's hand in such a plot. It was absolutely disgraceful and dishonorable. "Well, my lord, you can but try to reason with my tad," she told him, "but he never really cared greatly for me as I was not a son."

"What happened to the lad?" Rhys demanded.

"What lad?" she countered.

"Your little brother" was the reply.