Page 91 of First Light
Do the wolves have anything to do withthis?
Lachlan?
His was the only name she’d written a question mark after because the thought of Lachlan killing his wife seemed utterly ridiculous to her when she wrote it down and even more ridiculous after their conversation the night before.
According to Lachlan, he’d wanted to give up the throne. Carys knew from details Duncan had mentioned that the Alban throne wasn’t like the Anglian or the Cymric. There was a chief chosen from among the clans, but it wasn’t a strict a hereditary title. The capital was in Sgàin for military and trade reasons, but if Robb ever displeased the other clan chiefs, he could be replaced, and he would be.
So the idea that Robb’s son would give up the throne to be the consort of the Cymric queen wasn’t a revolutionary idea.
Except maybe to Lachlan’s father.
Robb immediately went to the top of her list. He struck Carys as an ambitious person and far more likely to believe that Dafydd’s daughter should give up her crown instead of his son. Or why give up the crown at all? Maybe Robb envisioned a combined kingdom, uniting two old allies.
She jotted down another note.
Who rules Anglia, and could they be involved?
She needed to meet with Dafydd and find out what he knew about his daughter’s marriage and future plans, but she needed to speak to Lachlan first and reassure him that he’d dropped off the suspect list.
I did not kill Seren.
Would he even talk to her after seeing her notebook?
“Shit.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, so the sex was probably a mistake.”
Her body didn’t agree. Her body felt loose and satisfied and… powerful somehow. Her body was ready to get out of bed, do a naked booty-shake in front of the fire, and saunter down the hall to get a cup of hot coffee.
God, she missed coffee.
A knock came at the door, followed by Bonnie’s voice. “Here to light the fire, my lady.”
Carys pulled the blankets over her shoulders and dragged the bed curtains closed. “Come in. It’s not locked.”
She could feel Cadell resting above her on the roof. “Cadell?”
Nêrys?
“I want to speak with Dafydd today if I can. Can you talk to Mared about that?”
I will communicate with her right now.
Carys felt the loss of his constant presence and turned her attention to Bonnie, clutching a blanket around her shoulders so it wasn’t obvious she was naked when she poked her head from behind the curtains. “I bet there’s a ton of cleaning to do today, right?”
“Oh, not as much as you’d think.” Bonnie glanced at her as she made the fire. “You turned in early. The girls said you asked for a maid to help you out of your gown when the music was still going strong. Not much for parties, are you?”
“It was a lot to take in.” She ducked back behind the curtains. The room was freezing cold. She missed her woodstove. She missed her house and her bed and her central heating.
And coffee. She could not emphasize that enough.
Bonnie seemed slightly sympathetic. “I imagine it was a new experience for you. Lord Duncan was up bright and early today. I think he already ordered a tray from the kitchen for your breakfast, so that will suit you. No need to go down to dine with the ladies in the morning room if that’s coming up.”
“Great.” Carys peeked her head out from behind the curtains. “Wait, am I supposed to be dining with the ladies in the morning room?”
“If you like.” Bonnie glanced at her, noticed her bare shoulders, andher eyebrows went up. “Then again, maybe not. Good thing Lord Duncan ordered that tray.”
Why was he always trying to make her eat?
“Yeah, that was… thoughtful.” Or intrusive. No, it was thoughtful. The last thing she wanted was to look everyone in the face this morning after she’d run out of the party. “Bonnie, did people seem to notice that I left early?”