Mara, shaky and nauseous but alive, disappears to her chambers to contact her master Harald Khorien through their enchanted amulet. She informs Khorien of the attempt on the lives of House Fulcairn and asks for help and guidance. Cathal consults with the healer and is relieved to learn Reynhild is likely to survive, then leaves to check on Mara, only to hear her conversing with Khorien's ghostly voice from the hallway. He bursts in and demands to know who she was speaking to. A clash of magical power ensues, as Cathal's divine birthright compells Mara to answer, but he is denied as her spectacular wizard's power turns it aside. They face off tensely, Mara insisting she was summoning help and that the less he knows of some of her arcane doings, the safer the House is, Cathal unconvinced but left with few options. Finally, they reach an uneasy truce and grudgingly agree they have no choice but to trust each other.
Cathal allows the funeral guests to return home, asks Merrec to arrange funeral rites for Cullan, and has Dolan secure the shards of the poisoned wine jug.
The following morning, physically and mentally exhausted and reeling from the deaths of his father and brother, Cathal breaks down in the solitude of his chamber, but steels himself and prepares for the day. First, he and Mara check on Reynhild, who has regained consciousness. Barely able to speak, she has her hound sniff the wine jug fragments and sends him after the scent. She gravely apologizes to Mara and vows vengeance on any who would assault a guest under Fulcairn protection.
 |
| Callum, Reynhild's Cairnhound. |
Cathal summons the gathered household staff and men-at-arms in the great hall, and Reynhild, still barely able to stand, vows that all loyal to Fulcairn would be rewarded, and all disloyal would pay the most terrible of costs. Reynhild and Dolan urge Cathal to extreme measures of interrogation, but he refuses to torture any member of the House. The questioning of the staff proves fruitless, though Cathal's divine powers reveal a strong sense that the culprit is yet among them.
The healer assigned to investigate the poison discovers it is black briar flower, a highly expensive and exotic preparation prepared by expert alchemists.
After the staff is dismissed, Reynhild summon Cathal and Mara for a private discussion. She suggests they try and determine who the target of the assassination attempt was. Reynhild considers herself unlikely; Mara points out that she is also unlikely, as the poison would have taken time to prepare and the assassin would have had to begin before anyone, including herself, knew she was headed to Fulcairn.
Cathal leaves to dine with the newly-arrived priests of Haelyn and discusses the construction of a shrine to Haelyn in Wilder's Gorge, and Reynhild leaves to aimlessly stalk the halls of the keep, futilely seeking more clues.
That night, Mara is plagued by a strange dream-- great tendrils of magical golden energy, unlike anything she has experienced before, are emanating from the catacombs beneath the keep. A door barring her path begins illuminating with mysterious letters, but the power begins to kill her, sending blood streaming from her nose and eyes the longer she tries to stay and decipher them. She awakes to find someone-- herself?--has scratched indistinguishable letters into the headboard of her bed. Khorien contacts her via the amulet and tells her that there is a mighty power beneath the keep of Fulcairn and that it is vital to the survival of all that the Fulcairns remain in control of the land. Mara discloses her dream; Khorien responds with an odd edge of urgency and perhaps even hostility in his voice, though she can reveal nothing further.
The following day, Merrec discusses with Cathal the day-to-day matters of running the Barony, including the windmills in disrepair, and the abandoned fort and copper mine. Cathal broaches the topic of the elven ruins in the woods and the rumoured Imperial summer home in the mountains, but
Merrec cautions him away from them. Cathal orders the windmills refurbished and begins to plan for a tour of the barony as befits its new ruler.
Cathal holds a council meeting with the closest of the household staff. They discuss their plans going forward for the House. All present urge Cathal to marry, though he seems reluctant, and Reynhild, despite being the first to suggest it, seems oddly conflicted. Cathal informs the priests of Haelyn they will be staying for the night until the Keep is officially reopened.
Mara goes to inspect the catacombs by daylight, but finds nothing.
Lord Cullan's funeral is a brief and somber affair, with only the family, close household members, and Mara in attendance, as all are worn by the shock of recent events and still grieving Corrac.
The following morning, the locked-down Keep is officially opened, though as per their discussion while attempting to uncover the assassin, only one gate is opened. Cathal tells the priests of Haelyn that in exchange for a donation to the house, they will plan for a temple of Haelyn to be constructed in Wilder's Gorge. He then bids them farewell.
Reynhild, who has been closely watching the opened gate with arrow on string, suddenly realizes that two acolytes of Haelyn arrived, and three are leaving. She rushes them, screaming for the guardsmen to stop the priests. The third acolyte-- who is in fact one of the servants-- flees back into the Keep, Reynhild and her hound Callum in pursuit but unable to get a clear shot with her bow. She chases him into an upper hallway of the keep, but he is armed and clearly martially trained. He warns her to back off, as he doesn't want to harm her and she has always treated him well. She replies that she will make him beg her for death days before she grants it to him, and attacks with her shortsword and hound. He gravely wounds Callum and tries to flee again. They spar; he lands a blow on her, but she wounds him seriously. He makes one last desperate attempt to flee toward a window. Cathal arrives with the guards, and between the two of them, they finally subdue the assassin.
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