Moving quietly, so as not to wake either one of them, Kenneth slipped his sword from its hangers and laid it on his own bed, then eased closer to Alaric’s bedside to gaze down at his sleeping son, the future hope of the Haldanes, and perhaps of the Deryni race.
«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.
*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.