>>5237619You probably should have expected that. Letters are also drafted to Mother and your sisters, of course. For now the roads are relatively safe, so if you want any of your family at the ceremony you have your chance. Mother of course must sit the chair of the Hold in your absence, as ever, but you feel it might be beneficial for Eleyse to get some travel in, if only to assuage the poor girl's malaise. To Mother you send the good news and suggestions for who to send as Eleyse's guards for the journey. You surprise yourself by suggesting Elpest. You also request Father's ring. Moira has not worn it since he was killed, and it has always been handed down to the first born son so they can continue to hand it down to their children. Any way you look at it, it will be some more weeks before they can both receive the message and arrive at Barathon, so you return to your routine.
Four weeks pass before your usual trek to the infirmary after morning practice finds Alys' bed suddenly empty. You swallow your worry when you notice the note left on the bedstand table. It's brief, as seems common between her and her brother.
Will,
Feast Hall
Love, A
Other than your visits to the kitchen to fetch your betrothed's meals you have seen little of Barathon's Feast Hall so far. You take your breakfast and dinner wherever you are working at the time. It is far bigger than your current manpower needs, and often feels almost eerily empty. Situated in the western wing of the castle, it is closer to the staff and guest quarters than the work spaces of the east wing. Walking over there, you are pleased and surprised Alys is out of bed. The healers were insistent on another week before they would let her go. The hall is livelier than usual as you enter, a number of the Barathon garrison troops noisily playing cards at one of the tables. Alys' table, in the back, is the one with the high backed chair meant for the master of the castle. She is not entirely alone, Domlech is there doing unholy things to a turkey leg as Friedrich and the garrison captain, a man called Redran, look on in a mix of disdain, horror, and perhaps fascination.
