I would like to thank everyone who will take the time to read this historical-fantasy book.
The story takes place in Wales, around 1300, concerns two important families who have bonds of kinship and friendship, together with shared secrets.
Elemen...
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For William, having to leave the castle was giving him an intense feeling of unease and apprehension.
He knew it was his duty to go and see for himself that his people were all right. Until then it had never weighed on him. He liked to be out and about from time to time, away from Caerphilly and the constant pressure from his parents to find a wife.
Above all, it allowed him to be alone with himself and his ghosts. Strangely enough, in a castle however large it might be, it was difficult.
Now, for the first time, to his surprise, leaving that morning had cost him a lot. Reason told him that after what had happened, moving away currently would help regain some balance and detachment. At least on an emotional level. Inside, however, something rebelled against that reasoning.
As he rode on his black stallion Blackmantel, silently at his cousin's side, William could not stop thinking about her.
Needless to say, he was worried about the possible presence of spies in Caerphilly.
In truth, he was reluctant to leave her. Despite all those years of being forced to stay away from her, she still remained in his soul.
After the conversation he had with his father, William had become increasingly convinced that there were still things around that woman that he was unaware of.
What, for instance, was so important in that painting, apart from some resemblance to her great-grandmother, that his father had to lie to him? And so bad even!
Heck, all the Giffard had several traits in common!
He must have spoken out loud because his cousin said to him:
<<Did you say something? >>.
Kay had disapproved in clear terms of his behaviour towards Megan, and in the end he was right.
Although the cousin was hurt by what had happened to Simon, he would never be corroded by guilt as he was.
No one, not even Kay, had ever known the whole story. Everyone was convinced that Simon had been killed by his wife Abell because she had a mistress and wanted to be free to continue her affair. Only William knew that the woman was trying to have an affair with him. He had met her before his brother, a few years before he received his knighthood.
Despite his young age, he had established a secret relationship with her, believing himself infatuated and trying to get the memory of Megan out of his head. Knowing him to be young and inexperienced, she had manipulated him to her liking, proving morbid, twisted, and greedy.
When he decided to break off that relationship, Abell had shouted at him before disappearing that he would make him pay.
A year later, she had reappeared. She had established some kind of relationship with Simon at court at Cardiff Castle. Her brother knew nothing about what had been between them.
