Page 116 of First Light

Yes. Cadell’s voice came in her mind.

“Yes.” Carys agreed with him. “So why did you tell Dafydd to leave her death as an accident?”

“Because she was already dead, and finding who killed her would not bring her back to life. Destabilizing the peace of Briton is not worth vengeance for one life, even the life of a beloved daughter.”

Carys was starting to understand. “But you know she was murdered.”

“I have no doubt of it, and I never did,” Eamer said. “That woman was healthy as an ox and suffering from a chest infection. There was no reason she shouldn’t have recovered.”

“But her death wasn’t worth disturbing the peace?”

Eamer narrowed her eyes. “Have you ever seen war? Do you know what happens when society breaks?”

“No.” Carys’s voice was soft. “Not really.”

“This place is not your world. Peace is not natural to the Shadowlands. We are magic and myth and every dark impulse that exists inside you. We must claw civility from the mud with power and domination. Because when peace breaks, good people become animals to survive.”

Carys stayed silent. Eamer had clearly seen more than Carys ever had.

“When peace breaks,” she continued, “who pays the price? Women. Children. The weak. But women and children most of all. No one wins a war. They are victors but never winners.”

Carys was humbled by Eamer’s clear passion for the vulnerable. “Is that why Seren was killed? Because she threatened the peace?”

Eamer sat back, and her eyes softened just a little bit. “Our island was at war for centuries. Millennia, maybe. The peace the queens brokered in this place has lasted for over a hundred years because good rulers and wise counselors put that peace over our own personal passions. Seren didn’t understand that. Neither did Lachlan. They shouldneverhave married.”

“But Dafydd said that Lachlan was going to hand the crown to his brother Rory.”

Eamer nodded. “If they’d been successful in convincing Robb, the clan chiefs would have approved his younger brother, and a crisis would have been averted. But I don’t know if Robb would have been convinced.”

“Why not?”

“Robb was set on Lachlan being king. Determined to see it happen.” Eamer’s smile was rueful. “He should have left Lachlan in your world. Rory would be a far better ruler even though his father is loath to admit it.”

“Why?”

“Dafydd raised Rory, and there is no finer man in this realm than Dafydd of Cymru.”

“You love him.” Carys felt herself soften for the stern woman who clearly loved her father’s twin.

“Love?” Eamer lifted her chin. “I didn’t marry my husband for anything as trivial aslove. I married him out of respect.”

“You’ve never answered my question, Queen Eamer. Why did you want to speak to me?”

“Because you’re turning over stones that are better left alone.” Eamer leaned forward. “I can’t stop you, but I can warn you. Friendly faces are foes in the Shadowlands. Brutish honesty is the key to surviving here. Seren had no true friends in this place. Trustnoone.”

“Even Cadell?”

Eamer was quiet for a long time. “Who knows the mind of a dragon? Cadell was gone when Seren was killed. Have you ever asked him why?”

Cadell was waitingin Carys’s room when she returned. The dragon was standing near the window, gazing out over the lights of the village and the twinkling blue lights of the forest in the distance.

“Cadell?”

“She’s right.” His face was a mask. “I never should have left her. It is my fault she died.”

“Eamer probably doesn’t know you went to take care of your children. She wouldn’t doubt you if she knew that.”

“It doesn’t matter. I should have been here for Seren.” His eyes were cold. “I didn’t even suspect she was in danger.”