smell fresh. All they needed was a little sunshine and it would be perfect.
‘His Grace the Duke of Abervenn left for the chapel about ten minutes ago,’ Melyn said. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boy look more nervous.’
‘Boy, Melyn? He’s a grown man.’ Beulah shooed away the ladies-in-waiting. ‘Go now. I will speak with the inquisitor alone. You may wait for me downstairs.’
The ladies left the room, fussing that the queen was not yet ready, though Melyn could see nothing wrong with how she looked beyond the sheer ridiculousness of her costume itself. White and large was the best way he could describe it, with all manner of extraneous bits trailing off here and there. He understood the need for the symbolism, but he couldn’t help disliking the extravagance of a dress costing so much gold which would be worn just once, for less than half a day.
‘Has he asked about his father?’ Beulah took up the brush one of her ladies had placed carefully on the dressing table, and began pulling it through her hair. Melyn realized he was staring and looked away. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Beulah brush her hair before. It had always been too short to worry about, but now it was down to her shoulders
‘His father?’
‘Clun. Has he asked about his father? I assume you took care of that little problem.’
‘Clun hasn’t asked about his father, no,’ Melyn said.
‘Not that I’ve had that much time to talk to him. Or you for that matter. I should have delivered my report to you as soon as I arrived.’
‘As I recall, you were doing that when we were interrupted. Never mind, Melyn. Tell me now.’
‘But your wedding?’
‘Can wait a few minutes more. It never hurts to keep a man waiting. A lady, on the other hand …’
Melyn told her what they had found at Pwllpeiran and how they had tracked signs of a dragon travelling north into the great forest of the Ffrydd. ‘I don’t think it was the kitling, Benfro. I think this is another beast entirely, something completely wild. I’ve never heard of their kind eating people before. Killing us, yes, but not eating us.’
‘What about the boy Errol? Was there any sign of him?’
‘No,’ Melyn said. ‘I don’t even think he’d gone back to his home. We found only signs of the two adults living there, and their bones.’
‘And you’re sure it was them?’
‘As sure as I could be. They were picked clean, but it was definitely a man and a woman. You could say the beast did us a favour, but I’ll still track it down and kill it. I’ll break the bad news to Clun tomorrow. Let him enjoy his wedding day.’
‘No, I’ll tell him,’ Beulah said, standing and gathering her voluminous dress around her, taking Melyn’s proffered arm. ‘He’s going to be my husband, after all.’
Errol sat on a cliff, looking out over hauntingly familiar mountains. He hugged his knees to his chest, shivered at the cold and stared at the impossibly large building across
the narrow steep-sided ravine. He had seen Emmass Fawr, walked its endless corridors from the highest tower to the deepest dungeon. The castle he saw now made the monastery of the Order of the High Ffrydd look like a doll’s house.
It spread around the whole of a single mountain peak, encircling it with concentric rings of battlement-topped stone walls. Windows glinted in the sun like the myriad facets of some vast spider’s eye, and thin towers reached skyward from every corner. In the middle, atop the highest peak, a single fat circular tower rose five or six storeys higher still, capped with a conical roof of dark slate.
As he watched the huge castle, looking for signs of life and wondering how he had come to be in this place, Errol heard a screeching noise behind him at once alien and terribly familiar. He turned to see four great beasts beating their way through the sky. One, weighed down with something, flew lower than the others, and as they approached one of its companions dipped
‘His Grace the Duke of Abervenn left for the chapel about ten minutes ago,’ Melyn said. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boy look more nervous.’
‘Boy, Melyn? He’s a grown man.’ Beulah shooed away the ladies-in-waiting. ‘Go now. I will speak with the inquisitor alone. You may wait for me downstairs.’
The ladies left the room, fussing that the queen was not yet ready, though Melyn could see nothing wrong with how she looked beyond the sheer ridiculousness of her costume itself. White and large was the best way he could describe it, with all manner of extraneous bits trailing off here and there. He understood the need for the symbolism, but he couldn’t help disliking the extravagance of a dress costing so much gold which would be worn just once, for less than half a day.
‘Has he asked about his father?’ Beulah took up the brush one of her ladies had placed carefully on the dressing table, and began pulling it through her hair. Melyn realized he was staring and looked away. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Beulah brush her hair before. It had always been too short to worry about, but now it was down to her shoulders
‘His father?’
‘Clun. Has he asked about his father? I assume you took care of that little problem.’
‘Clun hasn’t asked about his father, no,’ Melyn said.
‘Not that I’ve had that much time to talk to him. Or you for that matter. I should have delivered my report to you as soon as I arrived.’
‘As I recall, you were doing that when we were interrupted. Never mind, Melyn. Tell me now.’
‘But your wedding?’
‘Can wait a few minutes more. It never hurts to keep a man waiting. A lady, on the other hand …’
Melyn told her what they had found at Pwllpeiran and how they had tracked signs of a dragon travelling north into the great forest of the Ffrydd. ‘I don’t think it was the kitling, Benfro. I think this is another beast entirely, something completely wild. I’ve never heard of their kind eating people before. Killing us, yes, but not eating us.’
‘What about the boy Errol? Was there any sign of him?’
‘No,’ Melyn said. ‘I don’t even think he’d gone back to his home. We found only signs of the two adults living there, and their bones.’
‘And you’re sure it was them?’
‘As sure as I could be. They were picked clean, but it was definitely a man and a woman. You could say the beast did us a favour, but I’ll still track it down and kill it. I’ll break the bad news to Clun tomorrow. Let him enjoy his wedding day.’
‘No, I’ll tell him,’ Beulah said, standing and gathering her voluminous dress around her, taking Melyn’s proffered arm. ‘He’s going to be my husband, after all.’
Errol sat on a cliff, looking out over hauntingly familiar mountains. He hugged his knees to his chest, shivered at the cold and stared at the impossibly large building across
the narrow steep-sided ravine. He had seen Emmass Fawr, walked its endless corridors from the highest tower to the deepest dungeon. The castle he saw now made the monastery of the Order of the High Ffrydd look like a doll’s house.
It spread around the whole of a single mountain peak, encircling it with concentric rings of battlement-topped stone walls. Windows glinted in the sun like the myriad facets of some vast spider’s eye, and thin towers reached skyward from every corner. In the middle, atop the highest peak, a single fat circular tower rose five or six storeys higher still, capped with a conical roof of dark slate.
As he watched the huge castle, looking for signs of life and wondering how he had come to be in this place, Errol heard a screeching noise behind him at once alien and terribly familiar. He turned to see four great beasts beating their way through the sky. One, weighed down with something, flew lower than the others, and as they approached one of its companions dipped
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