Yes, King Owain and Ranulf, the Earl of Chester, were on good terms—or as good terms as a Welsh King and a Norman baron could be when each guarded their territory carefully—but Gareth would be pursuing a fugitive from Wales into England. Most rulers didn’t like that. In fact, English villains could find freedom in Wales, and often did, since the Norman writ stopped at the border. It would be hard to find a Welshman who was above harboring an English criminal if it meant he could thumb his nose at Norman law. In turn, King Owain’s writ stopped at the border of Gwynedd. Still, from the looks of things, if Pedr had told Prior Rhys the truth, it was to Chester that Gareth had to go. He left the monastery before first light, passed the Dyke by mid-morning, and shortly after noon, approached the gates of the city. Chester was the most substantial settlement in this part of England. Once, it had been the home of the twentieth Roman legion, whose job it was to control Wales. The Saxons, and Normans after them, had fortified it for the same purpose.
