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Day Four
Rhys
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With the murder of Hugh, Moriddig’s death had briefly been made secondary. A fresh body always had to take precedence. Nonetheless, Rhys hadn’t forgotten that he had two deaths to investigate. For that reason, he endeavored to track down Adam, Moriddig’s brother, once again. Lord Owen had insisted that he’d dispensed with Moriddig’s services. Moriddig had also argued with a woman inside his wagon right before his death. Adam had said nothing about either event. Rhys needed to know what he knew.
“I didn’t tell you that my brother was leaving Owen’s service because he was dead. What difference did it make?” Adam shook his head sadly.
Rhys thought he once again heard tears behind Adam’s words, as well he might, given the magnitude of his loss. “So it is true.”
Rhys had found Adam in one of the pavilions, Hugh’s eisteddfod ledger in hand. Now he snapped it shut and gave Rhys his full attention. “It’s true, though—”
Rhys pounced at the hesitation. “But some of the details are wrong?”
Adam appeared to have hesitated because he was uncomfortable with the truth, but under Rhys’s steady gaze, he couldn’t keep silent. “My brother told Lord Owen he was leaving, and only then did Lord Owen tell him he would dispense with his services.”
Somehow, that was exactly what Rhys had suspected had happened.
“When was this?”
“The day before he died.”
“But he still performed for the king that night?”
Adam was astonished at Rhys’s ignorance. “They were keeping his departure a secret until after the festival! Neither was prepared to announce their separation in front of the king.”
“How was Moriddig’s mood after that conversation? Was he offended that Owen had let him go?”
“Not at all. He was the one who’d instigated the break. He was as confident as ever, as well he should have been since he’d already found himself a new place with the Bohuns.” Adam had been watching Rhys’s face, and when Rhys gave no sign of surprise, he nodded. “You knew already. Was this a test of me?”
“I endeavor not to believe anything anyone tells me until I confirm it independently. I had been told of this move. How did it make you feel? Your livelihood depended on him.”
“It was fine with me one way or the other. I was my brother’s steward. Where he went, I went.”
“So you would have gone with him? Left your home and the people you know?”
Adam seemed surprised by the question. He scratched at his scalp under his hood, the same beautiful blue one he always wore. It had been helpful to Rhys in finding him amidst the crowds. “He asked me how I felt about it before he began his negotiations with the Bohuns. I told him I would go, and he proceeded with his plans.”
“So you knew from the start?”
“Of course I knew. Even were I not his steward, we were brothers! I know he could be prickly, maybe more with me than with anyone else, but he was honest, and he cared about me as I did for him.”
“What about Patrick?”
Adam waggled his head back and forth in a kind of denial. “Moriddig didn’t discuss it with him at first.”
“Was he upset when he found out?”
“He didn’t find out until the day Owen released Moriddig. We hadn’t wanted to risk impairing his performance in the festival, but once it was confirmed, Moriddig didn’t feel right about keeping the secret any longer.”
“You’d feared he’d be unhappy.” It wasn’t a question.
“We knew he would be! How could he not, young as he is and faced with leaving behind everything he knows? He was mightily relieved we had somewhere to go, however.”
“You’re saying he was going to come with you?”
Adam spread his hands wide. “I thought so. We didn’t really discuss it at length, or at least I didn’t. I was there for the initial conversation, but then Moriddig implied I should go and leave Patrick to him. By the next morning he was dead, and it no longer mattered.”
“Was there any hope that Lord Owen would hire Patrick to replace his father as a bard?”
“I do not know.” His expression turned momentarily eager. “Did he say so?”
“Not to me.”
Adam subsided. “So I feared. All the more reason to hope Patrick succeeds at the festival.”
That seemed a good way to slide into the next round of questions. “Tell me about that initial bribe.”
“That initial what?” Adam looked genuinely confused.
“Decades ago, Moriddig won his first festival because he paid Hugh to bribe the judges.”
Adam threw back his head and laughed. “Is that what you heard?” He waved a hand. “He was always going to win. The only reason he bothered to pay Hugh was because he was afraid other men would do the same. He didn’t want to be put at a disadvantage.”
“Has he ever paid a fee since?”
“Of course not.”
“Did you know it was that initial bribe that set Hugh on a path where he took them regularly?”
“I suppose I did know that.” He wrinkled his nose. “I couldn’t stop him, and he did become rich doing it.”
“Did Lord Owen know?”
Adam’s scoff gave Rhys the answer before Adam said the words. “He sees only what is right in front of him. Now, the old lord, Gruffydd, was a different matter. He did know.”
“And looked the other way?”
“I think he admired Hugh’s resourcefulness. He was wily, that one, before his mind went.”
“What about more recently? We hear Hugh was trying to make amends.”
Adam rubbed his nose. “He was more than trying. He was a changed man.”
“Did you know he was ill?”
Adam pressed his lips together. “I did know. It was worrying, but he didn’t seem in any immediate danger.”
“When we first interviewed you, you said every bard at the festival could have wanted your brother dead. Would you say the same of Hugh?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking when I told you that. I don’t think it true of Moriddig. I certainly don’t think it true of Hugh. Unless—” He stopped abruptly, like before, unwilling to finish the thought.
“Unless what?” Rhys shouldn’t have had to prompt him, but sometimes voluble witnesses closed up when they realized how much they’d said.
“Unless it was someone from his past who couldn’t forgive him?”
