“Laddie, laddie, what have we done to you?” he whispered softly, crouching down beside the bed. For he was coming to realize that the recent attempt on the king’s life was likely to deepen the danger facing his son in the years ahead: a son who now had no Deryni mother to protect him. When word got out that the king’s would-be assassin had been Deryni, public outrage would only reinforce the already widespread belief that Deryni were dangerous, their very existence a threat to Gwynedd’s crown and to all honest folk. And if the Zachris Pomeroy affair were not enough, one had but to recall the incident at Hallowdale and too many others like it, which were becoming all too frequent—and not even Donal Haldane had felt competent to address that growing threat.
Would Brion Haldane be able to do any better? A new king only just of age, and without the maturity or experience of his late father?
And Alaric was a decade younger than the king, his Deryni heritage widely known—and already entrenched in the royal household and in the new king’s affections. As he grew into maturity, there would always be those who feared him, who mistrusted him, who would have no compunctions about trying to take his life, even as they had taken the life of young Krispin MacAthan.
It was a dangerous time to be Deryni—or to be the father of a Deryni. Without doubt, the next few years would present many challenges, as Kenneth strove to protect his son and still serve the king to whom both of them had pledged their ongoing loyalty only hours before.
Fortunately, it appeared that unexpected and powerful allies did exist, as both Jamyl and Sé had proven at Valoret, to protect not only the king but also those who served him; for Kenneth himself might have perished at Valoret, had it not been for the pair. (He did not know whether the two had worked in tandem, or whether the intervention of both at once had been a coincidence; that bore further reflection, and careful observation.) Might there be others as well, looking out for the king, for Kenneth—and for Kenneth’s son?
Briefly closing his eyes, Kenneth Morgan made a prayer in his heart, that God and all His angels might keep the boy safe in their care. He imagined, too, that his dear Alyce might now be numbered among those who watched over the innocent, given angel wings by the farewell of a small boy who had tucked feathers into his mother’s coffin to speed her on her way. A tear runneled down his cheek, but he knuckled it away before bending to press a gentle kiss to his son’s brow.
“You shall serve a great king, my son,” he whispered, as he got quietly to his feet. “Not right away—but one day. And there will be men to help you, as you grow into your manhood and your destiny.”
Turning away, he moved quietly to the window and drew back the edge of the curtain to glance into the courtyard below, where moonlight gilded the cobblestones and little moved.
“But for now,” he murmured under his breath, “I pray that you may be given the time simply to be a boy.”
Off to the east, silver limned the horizon with the promise of dawn. It would be Brion Haldane’s first full day as the now-crowned King of Gwynedd.
APPENDIX I
Index of Characters
*AHERN JERNIAN DE CORWYN, LORD—deceased Earl of Lendour and Heir of Corwyn, Deryni; brother of Alyce de Corwyn and briefly the husband of Zoë Morgan.
AIRLEAS—magical name given by King Donal to the boy Alaric Morgan.
ALARIC ANTHONY MORGAN, MASTER—three-year-old son of Alyce de Corwyn Morgan and Sir Kenneth Kai Morgan; half Deryni.
ALAZAIS MORGAN—youngest daughter of Sir Kenneth Morgan.
*ALICIA MCLAIN, LADY—stillborn daughter of Jared and Vera McLain.
ALUN MELANDRY, SIR—a new-made Mearan knight, son of the murdered former royal governor of Ratharkin.
ALYCE JAVANA DE CORWYN MORGAN, LADY—Heiress of Corwyn and Lendour, Deryni wife of Sir Kenneth Morgan and mother of Alaric and Bronwyn.
ANDREW MCLAIN, DUKE—Duke of Cassan, father of Jared.
ANSELM, FATHER—a chaplain at Rhemuth Castle.
ARRAN MACEWAN, SIR—a new-made knight of Claibourne.
ARTHEN TALBOT, SIR—newly knighted youngest son of Sir Lucien Talbot, royal governor of Ratharkin.
AURIEL, ARCHANGEL—Torenthi name for Uriel.
BAIRBRE—maid to Vera Countess of Kierney, who also looks after Duncan and Kevin McLain.
BARRETT DE LANEY—blind member of the Camberian Council; brother of Dominy de Laney.
*BEARAND HALDANE, KING SAINT—pre-Interregnum Haldane king who pushed back the Moorish sea lords and consolidated Gwynedd.
*BLAINE EMANUEL RICHARD CINHIL HALDANE, PRINCE—second son of Donal King of Gwynedd, 1083–1092.
BRION DONAL CINHIL URIEN HALDANE, PRINCE—firstborn son and heir of King Donal; later, King of Gwynedd.
*BRIONA, PRINCESS—only child of the last Prince of Mooryn, wife of Prince Festil Augustus.
*BRONWYN MORGAN—a sister of Charlan Kai Morgan, who died in the service of King Javan Haldane.
BRONWYN RHETICE MORGAN, LADY—infant daughter of Alyce and Kenneth Morgan, younger sister of Alaric.
CAMILLE FURSTÁNA, PRINCESS—daughter of Prince Zimri Furstán and Chriselle, a Festillic heiress; aunt of Prince Hogan Furstán; now known as Mother Serafina, a nun at Saint-Sasile, an all-Deryni monastic establishment at Furstánan, in Torenth.
CASPAR TALBOT, SIR—third son of Sir Lucien Talbot, brother of Sir Arthen Talbot.
*CHARLAN MORGAN, SIR—distant cousin of Sir Kenneth Morgan, loyal knight in the service of King Javan Haldane, with whom he died in battle.
CILLIAN, MASTER—a royal physician at Rhemuth Castle.
CLAARA MORGAN WINSLOW, LADY—widowed younger sister of Sir Kenneth Morgan.
CLARICE—a granddaughter of Claara, and grand-niece of Sir Kenneth Morgan.
*CLUIM HALDANE, KING—great-grandfather of King Donal.
COCKLEBURR—a retired warhorse selected by Sir Llion as a first training mount for Alaric Morgan.
COSMO MURRAY, BISHOP—Bishop of Nyford; dies during the synod convened to elect a successor to Archbishop William MacCartney in 1096.
CRESCENCE DE NAVERIE, SIR—special counsel to the Regents of Corwyn.
DEINOL HARTMANN, SIR—seneschal at Castle Cynfyn.
DELPHINE MORGAN—unmarried older sister of Sir Kenneth Morgan, chatelaine of Morganhall in his absence; an accomplished poet.
DESMOND MACCARTNEY, ARCHBISHOP—Archbishop of Rhemuth, brother of Archbishop William.
*DOMINIC DU JOUX, SIEUR—son of Richard du Joux, a follower of Prince Festil of Torenth, and Princess Tayce Furstána, a first cousin of the new Festillic king; first Duke of Corwyn.
DOMINY DE LANEY—sister of Barrett, member of the Camberian Council.
DONAL BLAINE AIDAN CINHIL HALDANE, KING—King of Gwynedd, Prince of Meara, and Lord of the Purple March.
*DUCHAD MOR—Torenthi Deryni general who unsuccessfully attempted to invade Gwynedd in 985 on behalf of the Festillic Pretender of the day.
*DULCHESSE, QUEEN—childless first queen of Donal Haldane.
DUNCAN HOWARD MCLAIN, MASTER—son of Jared Earl of Kierney and Vera, Alyce’s twin sister; cousin of Alaric.
*ELAINE MACINNIS, LADY—first wife of Jared Earl of Kierney, and mother of Kevin McLain; died in childbirth.
ESMÉ HARRIS, BISHOP—Bishop of Coroth, and member of Corwyn’s council of regents.
ESTÈPHE DE COURCY, SIR—a young cousin of Michon de Courcy.
EWAN DE TRAHERNE, SIR—Earl of Rhendall, a new-made knight.
EWAN MACEWAN, DUKE—Duke of Claibourne.
FAXON HOWARD, BISHOP—an itinerant bishop, kin to Vera Howard McLain.
*FESTIL, KING—first of the Interregnum kings of Gwynedd, a younger son of the King of Torenth.
*FESTIL AUGUSTUS, PRINCE—son of Festil, later Festil II.
FISKEN CROMARTY, BISHOP—itinerant bishop elected Bishop of Marbury in 1096, in succession to Paul Tollendal.
GABRIEL, ARCHANGEL—guardian of the element of water.
GEILL MORGAN, LADY—middle daughter
of Sir Kenneth Morgan, married to Sir Walter, a young knight of Kierney.
GEOFFREY DE MAIN, SIR—a new-made knight, non-identical twin to Thomas.
GRAHAM MACEWAN, LORD—six-year-old heir of Ewan Duke of Claibourne.
HAMILTON, LORD—seneschal of Coroth Castle.
HARKNESS, LORD—visiting lord put to sleep by Jamyl Arilan.
HOGAN FURSTÁN, PRINCE—Festillic Pretender to the throne of Gwynedd, posthumous son of Prince Marcus, nephew of Princess Camille/Sister Serafina, and Jonelle Heiress of Gwernach, by which right he was sometimes known in later life as Hogan Gwernach.
HORT OF ORSAL—ruler of the Principality of Tralia, premier of the Forcinn Buffer States.
ILLANN, KING—King of Howicce and, after the death of his mother, Queen Gwenaël, King of Llannedd; brother of Queen Richeldis and uncle of Brion and Nigel.
*IMRE FURSTÁN OF FESTIL—last Interregnum King of Gwynedd.
IRIS CERYS, SISTER—a professed nun at Arc-en-Ciel, formerly Cerys Devane, former roommate to Alyce de Corwyn.
IRIS JESSILDE, SISTER—second daughter of Jessamy MacAthan, a professed nun at Arc-en-Ciel.
IRIS JUDIANA, MOTHER—Superior at Arc-en-Ciel; daughter of a Bremagni duke, educated at Rhanamé.
IRIS ROSE, SISTER—a professed nun at Arc-en-Ciel.
ISAIYA, MASTER—a Master of the Deryni Inner Order at the University of Rhanamé.
JAMES OF TENDAL, SIR—hereditary Chancellor of Corwyn.
JAMYL ARILAN, MASTER—nephew of Sir Seisyll Arilan, Deryni; a squire to King Donal and Prince Brion.
JÁNOS SOKRAT, COUNT—a Torenthi courtier.
JARED MCLAIN, EARL OF KIERNEY—only son and heir of Andrew Duke of Cassan; husband of Vera, father of Kevin and Duncan.
*JASHER HALDANE, KING—younger brother of King Nygel and elder of King Cluim, who helped repel the armored infantry of Duchad Mor in 985.
JASKA COLLINS, SIR—a new-made knight of Gwynedd, known for his horsemanship.
JATHAN, PRINCE—youngest son of King Donal and Queen Richeldis.
*JERNIAN, DUKE—fifth Duke of Corwyn, a comrade of Kings Nygel, Jasher, and Cluim; father of Stíofan Anthony.
*JESSAMY FERCH LEWYS MACATHAN, LADY—deceased daughter of Lewys ap Norfal and wife of Sir Sief MacAthan, all of them Deryni; mother of the murdered Krispin MacAthan by Donal Haldane.
JIRI REDFEARN, SIR—an aide to King Donal.
JORIS TALBOT, SIR—eldest son of Sir Lucien Talbot, royal governor of Meara at Ratharkin.
JOVETT CHANDOS, SIR—childhood friend of Alyce de Corwyn, secretly Deryni; close friend of Sir Sé Trelawney; marries Lady Zoë Morgan.
JUDIANA, MOTHER—see Iris Judiana, Mother.
JULIAN TALBOT, SIR—second son of Sir Lucien Talbot, royal governor of Meara at Ratharkin.
KAILAN PETER CHANDOS, MASTER—infant son of Zoë Morgan and Sir Jovett Chandos.
KÁROLY FURSTÁN, PRINCE—third son of King Nimur of Torenth; later, Crown Prince.
KENNETH KAI MORGAN, SIR—an aide to King Donal; husband of Lady Alyce de Corwyn, father of Alaric and Bronwyn, plus Zoë and two more daughters by a first marriage; created Earl of Lendour for life, in right of his wife.
*KERYELL OF LENDOUR, EARL—Deryni Earl of Lendour and husband of Stevana de Corwyn, Heiress of Corwyn; father of Alyce and Vera.
KEVIN DOUGLAS MCLAIN, MASTER—son of Jared Earl of Kierney by his first wife, Elaine MacInnis; Master of Kierney.
KHOREN VASTOUNI, PRINCE—brother of the Prince of Andelon, member of the Camberian Council.
*KITRON—an ancient Deryni mage-scholar.
*KRISPIN SIEF MACATHAN—murdered son of Jessamy MacAthan by King Donal, secretly sired to be a Deryni protector for the royal princes.
LAURENZ UDAUT, SIR—father of Sir Trevor and special counsel to the Duchy of Corwyn.
LEONARD—a guard in the service of King Donal, who accompanied him to Morganhall.
LEOPOLD, MASTER—steward of Morganhall.
*LEWYS AP NORFAL—infamous Deryni who died in a forbidden magical experiment; father of Jessamy and Morian.
LLION FARQUAHAR, SIR—a young knight of Corwyn, selected to be Alaric’s governor and companion.
LUCIEN TALBOT, BARON—a baron of the Purple March, permanent royal governor of Meara at Ratharkin replacing the murdered Iolo Melandry.
*MARCUS FURSTÁN, PRINCE—father of Prince Hogan and brother to Camille.
*MARIE STEPHANIA DE CORWYN—younger daughter of Keryell Earl of Lendour and Stevana de Corwyn; murdered younger sister of Alyce and twin to Ahern de Corwyn.
MELISSA—a maid to Alyce.
MICHAEL, ARCHANGEL—guardian of the element of fire.
MICHAEL O’FLYNN, EARL OF DERRY—special counsel to the Duchy of Corwyn; father of Sir Seamus O’Flynn.
MICHON DE COURCY, LORD—member of the Camberian Council.
MIKHAIL VASTOUNI, PRINCE—sovereign Prince of Andelon, father of Sofiana, brother of Khoren; Deryni.
MILES CHOPARD, SIR—secretary to Corwyn’s council of regents.
MILO GUTHRIE—Haldane lancer killed in Valoret.
MORAG FURSTÁNA, PRINCESS—daughter of the King of Torenth, sister of Princes Károly, Wencit, Festil, and Torval.
MORIAN DU JOUX (AP LEWYS), SIR—son of Lewys ap Norfal and brother of Jessamy, and Deryni.
NESTA MCLAIN, LADY—sister of Sir Kenneth Morgan’s first wife, and aunt to his three daughters.
NIGEL CLUIM GWYDION RHYS HALDANE, PRINCE—younger son of King Donal and Queen Richeldis; later, heir presumptive to King Brion.
NIMUR FURSTÁN, CROWN PRINCE—eldest son of Nimur King of Torenth.
NIMUR (NIMOUROS HO PHOURSTANOS PADISHAH)—King of Torenth.
O’BEIRNE, BISHOP (NEIL)—Bishop of Dhassa.
OISÍN ADAIR—a horse breeder, member of the Camberian Council.
OLIVER DE NORE, BISHOP—itinerant bishop in Carthane, elder brother of the late Father Septimus; later, Bishop of Nyford.
ORBAN HOWARD, SIR—“father” of Vera (de Corwyn) Howard.
PASCHAL DIDIER, FATHER—R’Kassan-trained former chaplain to Keryell Earl of Lendour and tutor to his children; Deryni.
PATRICK CORRIGAN, BISHOP—auxiliary bishop in Rhemuth.
PAUL TOLLENDAL, BISHOP—Bishop of Marbury, elected Archbishop of Valoret in succession to William MacCartney.
PEDUR CHANDOS, SIR—a Lendouri knight, father of Sir Jovett.
*PHARAÏLDE NÍ PADRAMOS—author of a treatise on Deryni magic.
PHARES DONOVAN, SIR—a new-made knight from Marley, former squire to Prince Brion, a keen archer.
PHELIM—magical name given to Duncan McLain by his mother.
RAPHAEL, ARCHANGEL—guardian of the element of air.
RATHER DE CORBIE, LORD—an emissary of the Hort of Orsal.
RATHOLD, LORD—counsel to the Duchy of Corwyn.
REYHAN OF JÁCA—future consort of Princess Sofiana of Andelon.
*RHETICE—wife to Corwyn’s second duke.
RHYDON SASILLION, SIR—junior member of the Camberian Council.
RICHARD BEARAND RHUPERT CINHIL HALDANE, PRINCE—unmarried half-brother of King Donal, Duke of Carthmoor and Earl of Culdi.
*RICHARD DU JOUX, LORD—father of Dominic, died fighting at the side of Prince Festil of Torenth in the conquest of Gwynedd; husband of Princess Tayce Furstána, a cousin of the new King of Gwynedd.
RICHELDIS, QUEEN—second wife of King Donal and mother of his children, a princess of Howicce and Llannedd.
ROBERT OF TENDAL, SIR—son of Sir James, the hereditary chancellor of Corwyn, whom he serves as an aide.
RODDER GILLESPIE, FATHER—a priest of the Diocese of Nyford, and secretary to Bishop Oliver de Nore.
RORIK HOWELL, LORD—Earl of Eastmarch.
*ROSMERTA—third wife of Keryell of Lendour, and stepmother to Alyce, Marie, and Ahern, returned to her own family after Keryell’s death.
Seamus O’FLYNN, SIR—son of Michael O’Flynn Earl of Derry.
SEISYL
L ARILAN, LORD—member of King Donal’s council of state and also the Camberian Council; uncle of Jamyl and Denis Arilan.
*SEPTIMUS (SEPP) DE NORE, FATHER—late brother of Bishop Oliver de Nore, executed for his part in the murder of Krispin MacAthan.
SERAFINA, SISTER/MOTHER—see Camille, Princess.
SÉ TRELAWNEY, SIR—childhood friend of Alyce, secretly Deryni; formerly in the service of Lendour, but now a fully vowed Knight of the Anvil, Incus Domini, the Anvil of the Lord.
SEVALLA—the bloodred R’Kassan mare acquired for Prince Brion for his coming of age by Master Oisín Adair.
*SIEF MACATHAN—deceased husband of Jessamy; a former member of King Donal’s council of state and also the Camberian Council.
SILKE HALDANE, PRINCESS—second daughter of Donal King of Gwynedd and Queen Richeldis.
SÍODA KUSHANNAN, LORD—Earl of Airnis, who served Duke Stíofan, Alyce’s grandfather; a Grecotha scholar, and special counsel to the Duchy of Corwyn.
SOBBON, PRINCE—sovereign Prince of Tralia, also known as the Hort of Orsal.
*SOFFRID—an ancient Deryni sage.
SOFIANA VASTOUNI, PRINCESS—elder daughter of Prince Mikhail of Andelon and Princess Ysabeau; niece of Prince Khoren.
*STEVANA DE CORWYN, LADY—deceased heiress of Corwyn, granddaughter of Stíofan Duke of Corwyn; second wife of Keryell Earl of Lendour, mother of Alyce, Vera, Ahern, and Marie.
*STÍOFAN ANTHONY, DUKE—Duke of Corwyn, and Alyce’s grandfather.
SWITHUN, FATHER—chaplain at Morganhall.
SYLVAN—a squire at Castle Coroth.
*TAYCE FURSTÁNA, LADY—first cousin of Festil I King of Gwynedd, wife of Lord Richard du Joux; their son was Dominic du Joux, first Duke of Corwyn.
THOMAS, SIR—a senior Kierney knight, captain of the guard escort that accompanied Countess Vera McLain to Zoë Morgan’s wedding in Cynfyn.
THOMAS DE MAIN, SIR—a new-made knight, non-identical twin to Geoffrey, noted for his swordsmanship.
TIARNÁN MACRAE, SIR—a senior aide to King Donal.
TIVADAN, FATHER—Chancellor of the Exchequer of Corwyn.
TORVAL, PRINCE—second son of the King of Torenth.
TREVOR UDAUT, SIR—a young knight of Corwyn, son of Sir Laurenz Udaut; assigned to Sir Kenneth Morgan’s service.
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