—PROVERBS 20:11 AS it happened, there was more than enough time for letter writing, for the start of Duke Andrew’s Requiem was somewhat delayed owing to the sheer number of local folk come to pay their respects to their late duke. Accordingly, it was mid-afternoon before Kenneth could lead his party out the gates of Culdi, riding hard along the route they had traveled only weeks before. As on the journey north, Alaric rode a small horse rather than a pony, but this time with no other child along to keep him company. Fortunately, he was accustomed to interacting with adults, and rode in turn with several of his father’s knights besides Llion. Other than boredom and the hardship of the road, then, their southward journey was uneventful. They reached the ancient Morgan seat nearly a week later, to find that Claara seemed to have survived her injury, but was unlikely ever to walk again. After spending a few minutes at her bedside, and greeting his daughter, Kenneth conferred briefly with Father Swithun and the household steward, Master Leopold, then asked Delphine to join him in his quarters.
