The Unexpected Ally by Sarah Woodbury EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Author: Sarah Woodbury
- Language: English
- Genre: Medieval Historical Romance
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
St. Kentigern’s Monastery, St. Asaph
March 1147
Gwen
Abbot Rhys, formerly the prior of St. Kentigern’s monastery but
recently elected to abbot, was dressed for the weather in heavy robes,
cloak, and black boots. Before becoming a monk, Rhys had been a
soldier and a spy for King Henry and Empress Maud. He had also been
associated with several investigations Gareth and Gwen had been
involved in over the years.
When Rhys had greeted them last night, Gwen had noted the way
the gray had taken over what a few years before had been
predominantly brown hair, and that his beard was almost completely
white. His brown eyes were just as thoughtful and kind as ever,
however. Rhys had been leaning against the top rail of a paddock,
adjacent to one of the monastery barns, but at the sight of Gareth and
Gwen coming towards him in the predawn rain, he threw back his
hood, and his face lit with genuine affection.
“I’m glad you’re here, though I regret the need.”
Gareth lifted his (good) shoulder in a half-shrug and pushed back
his hood too. “We’re staying in your guesthouse. We might as well be
of service.”
The thin man standing next to Rhys wasn’t nearly as welcoming.
As Rhys and Gareth gripped forearms, the man tugged on the abbot’s
sleeve, a motion Rhys ignored at first, but then as the man did it again,
he turned to listen. “Abbot Rhys, surely it isn’t proper for a woman to
be here under these circumstances.”
“It’s all right.” Gwen gestured to the young monk in his early
twenties whom Abbot Rhys had sent to collect them. “As Brother Lwc
can attest, I was already awake.”
When the man made to protest again, Rhys put a hand on his
upper arm. “All is well, Anselm. Lady Gwen has my countenance.”
Now that Rhys had named the man, Gwen knew who he was: this
was Prior Anselm, the man who’d replaced Rhys when he’d been
elected abbot. Because Anselm had not risen from his bed last night to
greet them when they’d arrived, Rhys now hastily introduced them to
each other. Anselm was hardly taller than Gwen herself and had a nose
too long for his face.
Gwen tried not to take offense at Anselm’s objections. It wasn’t
as if she hadn’t encountered men like him before, and she was here
only because Rhys himself had asked for her. At Rhys’s calming words,
Anselm subsided, though his expression remained skeptical, and he
looked at Gwen through narrowed eyes. But since Gwen had earned
the right to stand at Gareth’s side, she decided she could be charitable.
Nobody liked having their strongly held opinions ignored.
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