Page 21 of Cadell the Dragon

Had she been naïve? Perhaps he had lost interest in his wife, but he had kept mistresses to see to the needs that had not, contrary to what she had imagined, disappeared as he grew older.

“I don’t know what to think,” she admitted in a low voice. “Which is why I need to speak to Efa. Whoever the father of her child is, there is no denying that she is afraid of me, and I need to know why. For this, I need you. I cannot talk to the girl, so she cannot answer my questions. I need to know whether…”

She could not say it. I need to know whether Efa was raped by a man I once loved.

Once again, there was no need to say more. Cadell had understood.

“I knew Rhun,” he said slowly. “He might have taken other women to his bed while he was married to you, which I understand is not what you might want to hear, but he would never have taken a woman against her will.”

As he had seen to the heart of her insecurities, she could be honest.

“That is what I am most afraid of. Now, with him gone, I don’t want to find out something that will force me to think differently of him. Something so despicable.”

“I understand. We will go speak to the girl without delay. It is most important.”

Johanna nodded slowly. It would be hard, but it had to be done. “Thank you.”

“I think we should ask the woman who seemed eager to protect her from me to come along. I found out earlier that she was the cook. It would make it look less like an interrogation and might help Efa to relax if she knows she had an ally with her.”

This concern for Efa warmed Johanna. It proved that Cadell was a protector through and through. He was a good man—not that she had ever doubted it.

“Good idea.”

“Do you want to go now?”

“Yes.”

The sooner she could put her mind at rest, the better.

6

When she entered the great hall, followed by the cook, Efa looked about to faint. Cadell had not missed the fact that the girl had wrapped herself in a cloak, despite the warm weather, which indicated that Johanna was right. She had something to hide—her swollen stomach.

Was Rhun the father? If Efa was, as Johanna suspected, four or five months gone, then it was possible that he had fathered this babe. Cadell had told the truth when he’d said he did not believe Rhun capable of forcing a woman. But equally, he knew that the master of Bryn Glas would not be the first man to take his pleasure with servants. And he remembered how every woman fell under the warrior’s charm.

So… Was that why Efa was worried? Because she knew the news of their dalliance would not be well-received? It was all too possible.

Johanna stood up at the two women’s entrance. Cadell could tell she wished she could offer words of reassurance but she had to rely on him to explain why Efa had been summoned and then translate everything. It would be frustrating.

“Lady Johanna called you because she has a question to ask you,” he started, placing himself slightly behind her. He didn’t want to give the impression that he was in charge, but he had to stay close. “She would like to know why you seem afraid of her.”

The fact that Johanna didn’t understand what was being said gave him the opportunity to phrase his sentences the way he wanted, and he was of the opinion that it would be better to be direct and to the point. The other woman was here to offer support, if need be. His job was to get to the bottom of this.

“I’m not afraid of her, exactly,” was the answer he got.

He translated this before asking his next question. “You always avoid being in her presence. Is it because you don’t want her to know you are with child?”

The girl gasped when he nodded pointedly at her stomach. Clearly she had hoped her situation would remain secret a while longer.

“I-I…” she started, before turning to the woman by her side, a look of helplessness etched on her face. The other woman seemed just as distressed.

“Why are you so determined that she not find out?” Cadell asked, softening his voice. This was obviously difficult for both of them.

“Because then she will throw me out,” Efa said, bursting into sobs. “And I have nowhere else to go, no one to turn to. I don’t want to have to give my baby up because I cannot raise it. I love my child.”

“There, there,” the older woman soothed, taking her into her arms. “Of course, you love the poor mite.”

Cadell turned to Johanna and translated what he’d just been told. She paled and he almost reached out to offer the comfort the cook had offered Efa.