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.