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Page 136
that Rhiannon had not noticed. The last thing he needed was to have Madog telling Rhiannon that he was pursuing Mallt.
To Simon's intense relief, Madog approached Mallt and asked her why she had run away. She smiled up at him provocatively and replied, "I had to gather seaweed this morning. And I knew a man as strong and clever as you are would have no trouble dealing with the witch."
Dealing with the witch? What witch, Simon wondered? A wave of uneasiness passed through him. He had not intended to listen, since he did not care what Mallt did or to whom she attached herself, but he strained his ears as Madog hushed her sharply and looked over his shoulder to see whether anyone had heard her remarks. That gesture worried Simon deeply because it implied that "the witch" was known and recognized in Llewelyn's household. Yet there was no such person.
At that moment Math came out of the women's hall and hissed at Madog. Instantly, the man launched a terrific kick at the animal. Simon was so amazed that he neither spoke nor moved. Math, no matter how annoying, was a privileged creature because he was Rhiannon's. Although Math avoided the kick with contemptuous ease, ran in and clawed Madog so that he howled with pain, and was away again before Madog could strike, kick, or grasp him, Simon was puzzled. The attack on Math seemed in some way connected with "dealing with the witch"but if that was so, the witch must be Rhiannon.
Ridiculous, Simon told himself. No one would dare. It must be some old crone in the fishing village or among the farming folk in the vicinity. The kick at Math could not mean anything more than that an unpleasant person had tried to hurt the cat while his mistress was absent and could not protect him. But Simon did not believe his own reasoning because

 
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