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congratulate the lady on the keenness of this observation. So sharp is her sight, that she ferreted out the existence of a passionate affair without recourse to witness, or writing … indeed without reference to any communication of any kind between the principals that could be recalled by any other person. I am astounded!” Sir Kai laid his hand over his heart. “However, I must say, it speaks well of Lady Laurel herself. That she struggled so long and so silently against such a passion as Sir Agravain is known to arouse in all tender hearts surely speaks of a strength of character seldom known in woman or man! Ah, well. The waters are cold in the Dumonii lands. Perhaps that accounts for it.”
    More laughter rippled through the court, a little darker than it had been, and touched by the slightest edge of malice. Lady Aylwen’s mouth pursed so tightly her lips turned quite white.
    Sir Kai paused only a heartbeat to take in this seemingly satisfactory sight. “But even more surprising were the deep observations of Lord Derryth.” The seneschal waved his cup towards a brown-bearded man in linens of fawn and ochre. “Whom I confess that I had underestimated. So rare, and so sagacious a counsellor is he that he was able to accurately calculate the whole of the price the lady had paid to be married to the high king’s nephew, and to whom she had paid it, without having been privy to any one of the negotiations. I am sorry to report, too, that Lord Derryth finds her a very poor bargainer as she could obtain no better set of goods for her outpouring of wealth than Sir Agravain. Indeed, he most generously offered himself as better suited to the exquisite tastes of so rare a bride.”
    Fresh mirth erupted around the hall. Lord Derryth was elbowed in the ribs as he laughed, but it was plain from his thunderous expression that the laughter was forced. The king was looking on him with a mild and interested expression. Derryth did not miss this, and instantly hid his face by downing a large quantity of wine.
    â€œNot to be outdone in these counsels — for you know, such counsellors must ever vie with each other like knights on a festival day — Lady Moire has added her considerable wisdom to the debate.” Sir Kai gestured broadly to a bony woman with a long, needle-thin nose who sat at a table below the dais, and who had gone as white as the linen of her embroidered veil. “It is well known that when any find themselves considering matters for which no fact can be perceived by other, dimmer eyes, Lady Moire is the first who should be consulted. Where others see only air, this grave lady sees the whole of the tale pure and perfect laid out before her.
    â€œLady Moire tells us with absolute certainty that the bride is possessed of the power of witchcraft, and it is this that made the match, rather than the wisdom of their majesties. Witchcraft!” Kai spread his arms wide in astonishment. “The signs and symbols of that science being known so intimately to Lady Moire that she can discern them across the length of our island. Such heights of wisdom are beyond the scope of my feeble imaginations, and I am left truly humbled in her wake.” Sir Kai set his cup down and laid his hand on his breast, bowing so deeply to Lady Moire that his hair brushed the tablecloth. By the time he straightened, Moire had gone from white to red. Indeed, thought Laurel, the lady looked in danger of succumbing to apoplexy.
    â€œThink on it, as Lady Moire did, while the rest of us sat dumb and blind. Let us now think on this same Lady Laurel, who waits so patiently here. Lady Laurel, so obviously impoverished, and so enfeebled in her temporal powers by the great peace she and her sister wrought against the king’s enemies. So crabbed and unlovely is she, with such squintings and pockmarks, that she must hunch over a bowl of herbs and mumble spells in order to captivate a man so rare, so