"I know you're right," Mairwen said, pulling back from the embrace. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears, and her body trembled with the force of the emotions warring within her heart. She understood people very well, and there was a reason she'd never once advised Liam to befriend Owain Lothian.
She knew a predator when she saw one, just like she knew how to recognise men who could share in glory and help her son to rise up. Owain was not the sort of man who could tolerate the presence of people who were more capable than he was, and while he was a gifted swordsman, that was the only place where Mairwen judged him superior to Liam.
But when it came to matters like this, she was afraid that Owain would prove to be superior to Liam in another way… that he would be far more cruel to people who slighted him than not only Liam, but anyone she'd ever met.
"I know you're right," Mairwen repeated. "I understand Lord Owain, and I know how risky it is to defy him, but Loghlan…"
