The big man glanced around curiously. " 'Tis bigger than Gwernach, that's for sure," he said, "but I see no unfriendly faces, lady."

Wynne smiled upon him. "There are never unfriendly faces where you are concerned, my Einion. How many broken hearts did you leave behind at Gwernach? Already I see several wenches casting their eyes in your direction."

Einion grinned. "A woman is part of a man's life, lady. 'Tis the natural order of things."

"Come," Nesta said, taking Wynne by the hand. "I will show you where we live." She led Wynne up a small flight of six steps and through a stone archway.

"Ohh, my!" Wynne gazed around her, totally surprised. Before her stretched a garden planted upon several levels, and directly ahead of her at the far end of the gardens was a landscape of mountains. She ran down several steps, across a stretch of garden, down several more steps. She scarcely knew where to look next, for it was all so beautiful. Finally she ascended three wide marble steps to a terrace that extended the width of the gardenscape. Beyond the balustrade was a sheer drop into a wooded mountain glen below. The view was wild, and wonderful, and totally breathtaking. Raven's Rock, Wynne now realized, sat upon the spine of a mountain dividing two valleys.

Wynne turned to find Nesta smiling at her. "I must seem a fool to you," she said, "but never before in my life have I seen anything so… so… so magnificent!"

"I'm so glad you like it," Nesta said, "but I will tell you a secret, sister. Although I have lived with this beauty my whole life, it still has the power to enchant and overawe me too. There is no place in the world like Raven's Rock."

In the blue sky above them there was a sudden cry of a bird and both girls looked up.

“ 'Tis old Dhu!" Wynne cried. "I am certain of it! He has followed me here!"

"Old Dhu?" Nesta looked surprised.

"My raven." Wynne laughed. "He has been at Gwernach my whole life and he is my friend! Ohh, I cannot believe it! It is an omen. A good omen! He was not at Gwernach when we left, you know. I looked and looked for him in the days before we left, but old Dhu was nowhere to be found."

"We have many ravens here at Raven's Rock," Nesta said with calm logic. "How can you be certain that this is the same bird?"

"I just know," Wynne replied with absolute certainty. Nesta laughed. "Another Celtic mystic," she said with good humor. "You and my brother will get on very well, I think. Come. Let us go indoors. I am beginning to feel a chill in the air as the afternoon wanes."

It was as Nesta spoke that Wynne realized the beautiful gardens in which she stood were surrounded on three sides by the castle itself. The living quarters of Raven's Rock were totally separated from the bustling courtyard. The only way into this area was through the archway. Closed off, the residents of the castle were not simply impregnable, they were totally and utterly impregnable. Wynne followed Nesta back across the gardens. To the right of the archway where they had come in was a gracious set of six steps leading up to the main entrance of the living quarters.

Inside, servants hurried forward to take their cloaks, and Wynne followed in Nesta's wake. They entered the Great Hall built of stone and timbers. Silk banners hung from the rafters. There were four large fire pits, and yet they were not fire pits, for they were set into the walls like bed spaces. Still, fires blazed merrily in them and they did not smoke. Behind the high board was a large, tall arched window that looked out on the mountains, offering a similar view as Wynne had seen in the garden. There were smaller arched windows set high on the east and west walls.

"What do you think of our Great Hall?" Nesta asked Wynne.

"It's wonderful," came the answer. "I have never seen anything like it before. How do you get rid of the smoke from your fire pits, Nesta? I've never seen any like them."

"We call them fireplaces, Wynne. Instead of the smoke going up and out a smoke hole in the roof, there is a tunnel in the walls for the smoke to escape up. It is called a chimney."

"I do not think you will find such wonderful luxuries at St. Bride's," Wynne said honestly. "How can you bear to leave Raven's Rock?"

"When Rhys sees how we live here," Nesta laughed, "I do not think I will have any difficulty in persuading him to make some little improvements for me. Come along now and I will show you to your own quarters. I stink of horse and long for a hot bath."

They exited the hall the way they had come and hurried up a wide flight of stairs. The stairs were stone, Wynne noted, and not wooden as at Gwernach. At the top of the staircase they turned right into a hallway lit by many torches.

"This is the darkest part of the house," Nesta told Wynne. "That wall," she waved her left hand carelessly, "is the courtyard wall, and as such, has no windows for safety's sake. The rooms on this side"-Nesta waved her right hand-"overlook the gardens."

They came to the end of the hallway, and Nesta turned right once more and opened a carved oak door. "These are the family apartments," she told Wynne. "My chamber is here and yours will be in the prince's quarters there." She pointed.

"We each have a single room to ourselves?" Wynne was amazed, for at Gwernach only the lord and his lady had had such privacy. Then she blushed. "I cannot sleep in Madoc's room, Nesta. We are betrothed, but we are not wed yet."

Nesta laughed her tinkling laugh. "My brother's apartments have more than one room, Wynne. Come and look!" She opened another set of doors and led Wynne through. "Madoc has a room for sitting by the fire and reading. Another for bathing. One for sleeping. Of course, there is the chamber of the prince's wife, not to mention rooms for clothing and servants. As you are to be Madoc's wife, it is only fitting you have the proper room."

"I have only come to Raven's Rock to see if Madoc and I can like one another," Wynne protested nervously. "I am not to be held to the betrothal if I do not choose to be."

"Oh, Wynne, if you do not wed with my brother, what will happen to you?" Nesta asked her, distressed.

Before Wynne might answer Madoc's sister, however, the door to the chamber of the prince's wife opened and a pretty girl came forth. She had nut-brown hair and warm brown eyes, and she wore a simple tunic dress of pale blue. "Welcome to Raven's Rock, lady. I am Megan, and I am to serve you," she said in a sweetly melodious voice.

"Well," Nesta said, sounding slightly relieved, "I will leave you in good hands if Megan is to be your servant, dear sister. I am off to have my bath."

"You will find Gwyn has already drawn it, my lady Nesta," said Megan.

Nesta hurried out without so much as a backward glance.

"I have taken the liberty of arranging a bath for you also, my lady Wynne," the servant girl said. "Let me help you with your garments. You must be weary after your long ride from Gwernach."

Wynne allowed herself to be led into another room, where a great oak tub bound with large bands of polished brass sat steaming with the evidence of its hot water. Megan swiftly aided her new mistress to remove her clothing and then helped her into the tub.

"Ohhh," Wynne said as the warm water touched her skin. "That's wonderful! Thank you, Megan, for being so thoughtful."

"You will find a stool to sit upon, my lady, and while you enjoy the water I will take your clothing to the laundress."

Only when she had hurried out did Wynne realize that for the first time in days she was totally and completely alone. It was quite a lovely feeling. She glanced about the room. A bathing room. It was a most novel and yet practical idea. The tub obviously remained in it all the time and did not have to be put out of sight in some cabinet. Where did the water come from? Wynne wondered. Then as she looked about her, her eye fell upon what she had at first thought to be a stone sink. It was not, however, for about it hung a bucket. This bathing room had its own well for water! The idea was simple and yet so obvious. And, of course, the water was heated in the large fireplace that took up almost an entire wall of the room, for there was a large cauldron hanging to one side away from the flame now. And the fireplace heated the bathing room as well! There was even a window through which she could see those wonderful mountains. It was all most marvelous!

The gardens. A bathing room. The mountains. It wasn't going to be very difficult to be happy here at Raven's Rock. It was, of course, much larger than the manor house at Gwernach had been. She hadn't seen the cook house yet, or the bakery, or met any of the servants, but there was plenty of time for that. It amazed her that the castle was in such good order, considering that Madoc's mother had been dead for several years. Nesta must be an excellent chatelaine, and she had but three months to learn from her all she needed to know about the domestic arrangements if she were to do as well.

Wynne's thoughts came to a screeching halt. What on earth was she thinking? She didn't want to marry, yet here she was considering all she would need to know regarding the concerns of Madoc's home. She was in a trap, and the trap was slowly closing about her. She was being wooed by Madoc's charm and patience, and now by his wonderful castle. It wasn't fair. Everything was conspiring against her, and yet… She stemmed the tide of her anger. She must be coolly logical about this situation in which she found herself. What exactly was wrong with it? Why had she been so determined all her life not to marry?

She reviewed the facts in her mind. Her father had betrothed her to Madoc. She was to be free to refuse the marriage if she chose. Madoc had agreed to it. Her father would not have made the match if Madoc were not a good man. Owain ap Llywelyn was not a man to be swayed by wealth and prestige. Madoc was attractive, albeit in a mysterious way. He was kind, thoughtful, and patient. He said he was in love with her and that he wanted her to love him. He offered her a life of comfort and happiness. Logically, she could find nothing wrong with any of this.