As Sir Martin is walking down to practice in the training yard, two serving girls pass him. He hears Cecily’s name from their conversation. He stops and turns around. He follows behind them to see if he can hear what they are talking about. They seem to be talking about a scandal and are appropriately shocked. Sir Martin stops them.
Sir Martin: “You two.”
Serving Girl: “Yes? ... Sir?”
Sir Martin: “What were you just speaking of?”
Serving Girl: “Oh, ah, ... nothing of consequence ... I’m sorry.”
Sir Martin: “I’m afraid it is now. What were you speaking of?”
Serving Girl: “Merely the rumors of the castle, Sir.”
Sir Martin: “I’d be interested to hear such rumors.”
Serving Girl: “They’re stories about your sister, Sir.”
Sir Martin: “What stories?”
Serving Girl: “Ah ... It’s not proper for us to repeat them, Sir.”
Sir Martin: “Well, you seem to have been doing a good job with yourselves.”
Serving Girl: “Ah, I’m sure they’re nothing. Merely tales of her and the Duke.”
Sir Martin: “Are you going to come out with it or must I have words with the Chamberlain?”
Serving Girl: “I’m sorry, Sir. ... These aren’t ... these are tales ... we heard of improprieties ... between your sister and the Duke.”
Sir Martin: “Such as?”
Serving Girl: “She ... she was ... seen leaving his bed chambers, Milord.”
Sir Martin: “When?”
Serving Girl: “Last night.”
Sir Martin: “You will repeat this to no one.”
* Dan: “Where is he? Where is he? Let me come up to him. Please!” *
Sir Martin turns and heads to his quarters. He passes Laurens in the hall.
Laurens: “Sir Martin, have you heard the rumors?”
Sir Martin: “If you’d like to keep that little gold cross ... in a good location ... you will not talk to me.”
Sir Martin continues on to Cecily’s chambers. He pounds on her door when he arrives. Her hand maiden, Claretta, answers.
Claretta: “Sir Martin, tis early. It’s not even six bells.”
Sir Martin: “Where is she?”
Claretta: “Sleeping.”
Sir Martin: “Wake her.”
Claretta: “Very well.”
Sir Martin is admitted into the waiting room. Claretta goes to help Cecily dress. Cecily comes out.
Cecily: “Martin? What is it? What brings you so early?”
Sir Martin: “Were you meeting with the Duke last night?”
Cecily: “What? I told you I’ll have nothing else to do with that man.”
Sir Martin: “Well, someone is spreading rumors around the castle that you were seen coming out of his bedroom last night.”
Cecily: “Who said this? It is not true.”
Sir Martin: “Two chambermaids.”
Cecily: “I do not want to know how you find yourself speaking with chambermaids in the middle of the night, but ...”
Sir Martin: “The middle of the night? I was walking to court practice, and I overheard them as they walked by. You can’t leave anywhere without Claretta.”
Cecily: “I haven’t gone anywhere, Martin.”
Sir Martin: “You did meet with him without Claretta.”
Cecily: “Of course. So who is spreading the rumors?”
Sir Martin: “I have no idea.”
Cecily: “You dealt with the Chamberlain?”
Sir Martin: “I just overheard them. They won’t be repeating it.”
Cecily: “All right. I’ll see you at Mass.”
Sir Martin: “See if Claretta can find out something from among the servants.”
Cecily: “Very well.”
Laurens goes to investigate the rumors he’s heard of Cecily. Sir Martin sends a message to Gabriel reminding him of their planned ride. Then, Laurens and Sir Martin go down to the practice yard. They meet another young knight on the field. Sir Martin recognizes him as John de Mowbray, his nephew whom Sir Martin hasn’t seen since John de Mowbray was 8. He is the son of the Duke of Norfolk. Sir Martin stops his sparring with Laurens and turns his back. He turns to say something, but is hit convincingly by Laurens.
* Brad: “What’s that seventh bell I heard?” *
Laurens: “Turn your back? What have I been teaching you? Have you learned nothing?”
Sir Martin pauses. “John?”
John: “Dearest uncle. I had heard you and your ... lovely sister were here.”
Sir Martin: “We are. I haven’t seen you since you were ... 8?
John: “It has been sometime.”
Sir Martin: “How have you been?”
John: “Good. Here on my father’s business. We’ve been here a few days actually.”
Sir Martin: “Really. How is your father?”
John: “Good.”
Sir Martin: “Family? Everything is normal?”
John: “Good. My sister is here as well.”
Sir Martin: “Really. How old is she now?”
John: “She is fully into womanhood, now.”
(John, 16, and Katherine, 19, are the children of the elder John de Mowbray and Katherine. They are the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk.)
Sir Martin: “And Katherine is here? Wonderful. She should have tea with Cecily.”
John: “Well, I’m sure she’ll arrange something.”
Sir Martin: “Wonderful. So you’re here for practice?”
John: “I thought as long as I’m here ... I heard such amazing things of Laurens ... I was hoping I might have a moment or two during my time here. I’m sure there are a lot of things I could learn.”
Sir Martin: “Oh, please, don’t let me stop you. Laurens, let me introduce to you my nephew. Please don’t let me keep you.”
John: “No, I didn’t want to interrupt the two of you. It was art.”
Sir Martin: “Okay. An art of swords. So, I was going to go and get a drink of water. Feel free. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Laurens: “Draw your weapon.”
Laurens starts off with simple stuff to test him. Laurens finds he is a young man of a lot of training with need for experience. He has a lot to learn. Laurens works him hard without abusing him.
SIr Martin walks off a few paces and turns around and watches while he is backing up. Sir Martin returns when they take a break. He finishes the training. He then walks back to his quarters for some quick clean up and heads to the chapel to meet up with Cecily to chaperone her. They get a few sideways glances from the common folk.
Gabriel practices in his room until later in the morning. Then, he checks in with Roger Carter, the Chancellor.
* Alan: “||, ||||| Patrick, ||| ||| || ||| ||| ||| |||| ||. |||| ||||| ||||||.” *
* Hank: “Leave that out of the notes.” *
Afterward he wanders the grounds of the castle. He finds Garret the Oliter.
Gabriel: “Good day, old man.”
Garret: “Good day, young man.”
Gabriel: “Anything of interest today.”
Garret: “I heard a story about you.”
Gabriel: “About me? I love to hear stories about myself. What did you hear?”
Garret: “I heard that you are having problems. It made me concerned.”
Gabriel: “Problems?”
Garret: “That you’re, uh, doubting Tariq’s teachings. I’m disappointed.”
* Patrick: “Wow! That one caught me from left field.” *
Gabriel: “In the past 6 weeks I have learned some stuff that has made me wonder.”
Garret: “I understand you are worried about your ability to be invisible.”
Gabriel: “Yeah. I have been obvious of late because of what needed to be done. Our enemies will be able to see me, now. At least as I am now.”
Garret: “Then you already failed his teachings.”
Gabriel: “That’s probably true.”
Garret: “There was no other way to accomplish these things? Or, you didn’t give it the thought it needed.”
Gabriel: “Um.” Long pause. “No other way to be sure they would be accomplished. Plenty of other things to try.”
Garret: “Pick some tools. Help me garden for a while.”
Gabriel: “Okay.”
Garret: “Let’s see you spend the morning being invisible.”
Gabriel: “Okay.”
Gabriel takes off his tunic, roughs up his shirt, rubs dirt on his face and scuffs up his boots. People walk by and don’t notice the two of them gardening.
The rest of the day passes uneventfully. Katherine contacts Cecily to have tea with her tomorrow. Sir Martin is unable to find Gabriel. He goes off riding by himself. Thomas sequesters himself to work on his latest idea. Later in the day, Sir Martin spends sometime with Quillius continuing his training.
Sir Martin sees Katherine. She is quite fetching. He spends sometime exchanging pleasantries and news of the family.
Katherine: “Things were terribly dull. I’m very happy to be up here in Richard’s court. I hear there is so much more entertainment to be had here.”
* Alan: “In this day and age, it doesn’t matter that she’s your cousin.” *
* Patrick: “And I thought the corset was bad.” *
There is a knock at Thomas’ door in the evening. It is a polite knock. It is Gabriel. The two have a conversation. Gabriel leaves. A few minutes later there is a more firm knock.
Thomas answers: “Yes?”
There is a castle guard at the door. “Excuse me. There’s been a problem. We need you to come to the gates.”
Thomas: “Okay ...”
He walks down to the gates with the guard. He sees a group of people at the gate including a couple of the court chirurgeons. He sees that his assistant is being treated on the ground. The guard tells Thomas as they approach that he arrived at the gates this way and looks like he has been beaten.
Thomas: “Has anyone called the chirurgeon ...”
He sees that his assistant is badly hurt. They work on him for a while then take him to the hospital. Thomas asks that a message be sent to him when his assistant wakes.
Gwynedd spends a nice evening in castle Raby.
4:30 am Thursday morning.
Vivienne awakes to see Quillius sitting and watching her.
Vivienne: “Good morning”
Quillius: “Good morning. Ready to rise?”
Vivienne: “Yes.”
Quillius: “I have a task for you.”
Vivienne: “Very well.”
Quillius: “Something came to me on the wind this morning. Something is happening in Leeds to the west of here. I’d like to send you and Laurens to investigate.”
Vivienne: “What sort of something?”
Quillius: “Someone is playing with magicks there.”
Vivienne: “Powerful? Or just causing some ripples?”
Quillius: “Not yet. Powerful enough to carry this far. I’m surprised you didn’t sense it.”
Vivienne prepares and then heads to find Laurens. She knocks at his door. Laurens answers his door.
Laurens: “Yes?”
Vivienne: “Quillius came to me this morning with an assignment for us. Apparently, someone has been playing with magick in Leeds, and he desires us to go investigate.”
Laurens: “And?”
Vivienne: “And that’s all I know.”
Laurens: “He didn’t give us any orders what to do when we found the magick?”
Vivienne: “No.”
Laurens: “So we find the magick and turn around and come back?”
Vivienne: “We could ask him, or we could use our own judgement once we find out what’s happening.”
Laurens: “Go ask him.”
Vivienne: “Okay.”
Vivienne walks back to talk to Quillius. Laurens gets his stuff ready and goes down to the stable to ready their horses.
Gwynedd wakes up bright and early and starts her walk back to Mount Grace. She breaks into song and the animals follow along.
Gabriel goes out early to see Sir Martin on the practice field in the morning. Sir Martin and Gabriel both see Laurens in the stables readying his and another horse. Sir Martin walks over to him.
Sir Martin: “So, not this morning?”
Laurens: “No.”
Sir Martin: “Will you be back tomorrow.”
Laurens: “Don’t know. Vivienne’s finding out the details now.”
Sir Martin: “Oh. Okay. Where are you headed?”
Laurens: “Out.”
Sir Martin: “Duke?”
Laurens: “We don’t always serve the Duke.”
Sir Martin: “Quillius?”
Laurens: “We always serve the Duke indirectly.”
Sir Martin: “Godspeed.”
Vivienne finds Quillius sitting and reading.
Vivienne: “Pardon me.”
Quillius looks up. “You’re still here?”
Vivienne: “Laurens was wondering what we should do once we find out what was happening there.”
Quillius: “How should I know. I don’t know what’s happening there. That’s why I’m sending you. Are you saying you can’t be trusted to use your own discretion in this?”
Vivienne: “Well, I said we could ask or use our own discretion and he said we should ask you.”
Quillius: “And you listened to the Butcher’s advice why?”
Vivienne: “He has experience. I do not. I do not see anything wrong with playing it safe.”
Quillius: “All right. Find out what this thing is and if it needs destroying, destroy it.”
Vivienne: “I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear that. Thank you. I’ll see you when we get back.”
Quillius: “All right.”
Vivienne heads down to Laurens’ room and finds him not there. Then she heads down to the stables.
While Gabriel and Sir Martin are talking, John de Mowbray shows up.
Sir Martin: “Yesterday, you were busy?”
Gabriel: “Duke’s business.”
Sir Martin: “Are you free today?”
Gabriel: “I am at this moment. It was ... sudden yesterday. It could happen again today. It is the nature of what I do.”
Sir Martin: “I find, ah, comfort in my regimen. If you would care to spar ...”
Gabriel: “Certainly, Sir Martin. I didn’t come armed and in armor, though.”
Sir Martin: “No you’re not prepared. That’s fine. There was something I wanted to ask you if you could do it discreetly. There seems to be a rumor among the servants regarding my sister.”
Gabriel: “What’s the rumor ... or I can probably find out. I’ll see what I can find out.”
Sir Martin: “I would appreciate it. John! I seem to be without my partner today.”
John: “Yes, Martin?” He gives a discreet look.
Sir Martin: “No, just sending a message. Would you be interested in a little ...”
John: “Of course.”
Sir Martin: “Excellent.”
Gabriel starts backing away and walks away. John and Sir Martin start practicing.
John: “Merely a messenger?”
Sir Martin: “Yes. Why?”
John: “You seemed closer than that. Far be it for me to question you in that. The way you hang your sword is your own affair.”
Sir Martin: “What a queer choice of words.”
John: “Merely the messenger was a handsome man, and you seemed close. That’s all.”
Sir Martin: “Well, he was representative of the Duke on a trip we had taken. I have spent time with him, but he is the Duke’s messenger.”
John: “Oh, I don’t mean to presume. I just heard tales.”
Sir Martin: “Tales? What tales?”
John: “Don’t think to much of it. People love to make up tales. The curse of being noble.”
Sir Martin: “That’s interesting. There are so many rumors that seem to go around that should not be paid attention to. But, nevertheless, you have piqued my curiosity. What tales have you heard? Of Gabriel?”
John: “More of you of course. Gabriel ... the servant ... his name?”
Sir Martin: “His name is Gabriel, yes.”
John: “All right. More that you have refused the advances of the chambermaids in your time here.”
Sir Martin: “That’s interesting. I hadn’t known there was any interest among the chambermaids.”
John: “You’re 18 and noble.”
Sir Martin: “I shall have to double my efforts.”
John: “I had just heard you spend a good deal of time ... with ... ah ... some particular messenger ... I mean I assume it is this Gabriel. And of course that fuels the stories.”
Sir Martin: “Oh, of course. Not the time that we spend with women in the group on the trip north.”
John: “I don’t know anything about your trip north. I’m sorry.”
Sir Martin: “Interesting.”
John: “I’d be happy to hear about it. Tell me tales.”
Sir Martin regales him the official story. “... And we killed the demon.”
John is especially interested in how Sir Martin and Cecily ended up in York.
Sir Martin: “I am our official representative, the Neville family, for York. It’s an interesting place.”
John: “I have seen that in my brief time here.”
Sir Martin: “Who else have you encountered? Anyone else of note?”
John: “Just trying to get the lay of the land as it were.”
Sir Martin: “You’ve met with Richard.”
John: “Of course. When we arrived.”
Sir Martin: “Oh, I’m sure, Richard, will want to have sometime just to get to know family.”
So they finish sparring. John thanks Sir Martin. John seems to be learning a lot.
Sir Martin does his morning ablutions. He then picks up Cecily and heads for Mass. On the way, Cecily says that Katherine contacted her about having breakfast this morning after Mass to catch up on old times.
Sir Martin: “Oh. Absolutely. Enjoy.”
Cecily: “Absolutely.”
Sir Martin: “We haven’t seen them in a long time. It will be interesting to hear what stories they have.”
Cecily: “Yeah, I ... I ... received word from her ... I was surprised. I thought they would be maybe down in London.”
Sir Martin: “Surprised me too. They arrived apparently two days ago. I wonder what is happening to the southeast.”
Cecily: “I’ll find out.”
Sir Martin: “Since we’re are away from Raby, talk is not as easy to come by.”
Thomas’ assistant still hasn’t awakened. Gwynedd is on the road back to Mount Grace. Gabriel begins his work for the day chatting up the servants of the castle, trying to pin down where the rumor started. Gabriel includes the guards in his chats.
Gabriel hears all kinds of rumors during his work including a rumor about himself and Sir Martin.
Laurens and Vivienne start for Leeds.
Laurens: “Did you find out what we are supposed to do at least?”
Vivienne: “Use our discretion. If he needs to be destroyed, destroy him.”
Laurens: “I asked you to find out alternatives and ....”
Vivienne: “I’m merely repeating what he said.”
Leeds is a town of 800. It is controlled by a Lord. There is a fort in town.
After Mass, Sir Martin goes falcon hunting. John de Mowbray joins him.
Gwynedd is walking through the woods singing. A girl comes stumbling out of the forest in front of her. She seems injured. Gwynedd goes to find out if she is okay.
Gwynedd: “Anything wrong?”
Girl: “Oh, ah ... yes ma’am. There were ... were men back there. They wanted ill things.”
Gwynedd: “Do you live near here?”
Girl: “Yes, ma’am. Down in the valley there.”
Gwynedd sees that her path takes her through more woods before she gets to the valley.
Girl: “Can you help me get home, ma’am?”
Gwynedd: “Certainly.”
Gwynedd doesn’t feel anything wrong in the area nearby. She decides to pay more attention for anything causing a disturbance in the area as she walks the girl home. They pass through the woods and head down the hill. Then she begins to feel the presence of more people around.
Gwynedd: “So do you live with your family? Is there a town or just yourself?”
Girl: “My father’s a woodsman. And my mother tends the home of course. It’s only a little ways ahead.”
The girl is about eight. Gwynedd gets down on her knee and looks the girl in the eye.
Gwynedd: “You’re a very good girl, and it would be very nice if you told me what is happened today.”
Girl: “It would be good to just do what they say, ma’am.”
Gwynedd hears people approach from behind. She sees about a dozen or so armed people of various ages and genders form a loose circle around her. Gwynedd gives a nudge to the girl in the direction of her home.
Gwynedd: “It’s probably best if you head on home.”
The girl takes a few steps and presents a knife toward Gwynedd. She then joins the circle.
Gwynedd: “It is a beautiful day, my fine folk. What may bring you out here and into the woods and to greet me with such glad tidings?”
Leader “We have fallen on some hard times, milady.”
Gwynedd: “That’s always sad to hear. I myself have known some difficult times wandering through the world as a traveling bard. It’s sometimes difficult not knowing where your next meal will be. I know there were a few times that I have barely eked out a living based on a long days hard work and the charity of others. I certainly can sympathize.”
Leader: “We’re very glad to hear that. But today we only see a lone traveller whose clothes are clean and whose stature is strong, who can hopefully spare a bit of her good fortune.”
Gwynedd gets the impression that they are greedy and a little bit on hard times. She thinks they are poor brigands.
Gwynedd: “Do you perchance live nearby?”
Leader: “This is our home.”
Gwynedd: “You have no better shelters than to stay out under the leaves.”
Leader: “We find the need to travel a lot.”
Gwynedd: “Well, that could perhaps make finding steady meals difficult.”
Leader: “We get by as best we can.”
Gwynedd: “Have you had perchance been able to find any animals in these woods that you’ve been able to hunt?”
Leader: “Not that we’d own up to.”
Gwynedd: “I guess I suppose it is the Englishman’s land, and they are particular about who goes hunting.”
Gwynedd looks around for a deer in the woods.
* Alan “It’s prancing in the woods behind you behind you like all of the other animals you summoned.” *
Gwynedd: “Have you perchance ever heard of the tales of the wandering old lady or poor person who stops at a house and begs for food and the person is either rude to them and meets with some misfortune or is generous and shares some bread and is in some way rewarded?”
Leader: “I’m sure we’ve heard tales like that.”
Gwynedd starts that as a lead into the story. She tells both branches of the story.
Gwynedd: “I’ve always found that tale so instructive.”
While she is telling the story, she takes out her bow and starts stringing it. The group is so caught up in the story that they take no action concerning the bow. Gwynedd continues the story while sighting the deer with the bow. When she releases the arrow, the group jumps from surprise.
Gwynedd: “Oh look! A stray arrow has killed that deer.”
She points to the deer back along her path over 100 yards away. She unstrings the bow and puts it away.
Gwynedd: “It’s amazing what lovely companions one can find along the road. It has been such a delight meeting you. Have a good day.”
Gwynedd continues on through the circle unmolested.
Gabriel discovers a number of stories about Cecily lacking virtue. Around mid morning, he sees Cecily out in the garden with Claretta. He sees that she is crying. He decides to do some gardening for now to keep an eye on Cecily to see if there are any leads he gets from the people who come by her.
Gabriel sees her decide something. She heads down to the stables. She has a heated discussion with Sir Andrew, the Master of the Horse. Gabriel listens in discreetly. Cecily demands to have her horse saddled so that she can leave. Sir Andrew refuses. She asks about Sir Martin. Sir Andrew says that he went falconing with John de Mowbray. That seems to upset her even more. She heads back to her room.
Gabriel continues looking around for the source of the stories. Soon, he sees Katherine walking around having a wonderful day. Gabriel follows her. She walks in the garden and then heads down into town to go shopping. She eventually comes back to the castle in the mid afternoon.
Gabriel has gotten the indication that the bulk of the rumors started days ago. John de Mowbray and Katherine arrived two days ago. He confirms that at least a couple of the rumors came directly from Katherine’s hand maiden.
At one point during the afternoon, Gabriel swings by his room. He sees a note on his door. Gabriel takes it off and reads it. It says: “Holy Trinity. 8 bells. TL” Gabriel realizes that TL is a confidante who occasionally carries information his way, a traveling merchant. Thomas of Lancaster. He doesn’t usually place a note on the door. Gabriel pockets the note.
Vivienne and Laurens have a nice pleasant ride to Leeds. Vivienne senses magick from the town when they are still a mile away.
Laurens: “Excellent. Lead on. Let’s go use our discretion.”
Vivienne leads them in the direction of the magick. Laurens starts to get a headache. His headache worsens as he approaches town. He tells Vivienne to see if she can alleviate it.
Laurens: “Stay out of my head.”
Vivienne says it has something to do with the magickal energy. As they enter the town, they see people walking around going about their business. Then, they see a whole group of people dancing. Vivienne sees immediately that they are under some sort of influence.
Vivienne: “I think it’s pretty obvious.”
Laurens: “Yeah, I gathered. I don’t remember Leeds being such a happy place.”
Vivienne continues to lead the way into town.
Vivienne: “Did you want to stop and actually talk to these people, or did you want to go right to the source?”
Laurens: “Since they’re under a compulsion, can you break the compulsion.”
Vivienne is certain that she can, but she is certain it will reassert itself.
Laurens: “Break the compulsion, to see if we can interrogate someone.”
They see that everyone seems to be affected by the compulsion.
A baker passes by. Vivienne gets off her horse and walks over to him. She reaches out and touches him and begins shielding him from the effects of the area.
Baker: “Yeeeaaahhhhh.” He’s surprised and scared.
Vivienne: “Pardon me. What seems to be going on here? Why is everybody celebrating?”
Baker: “It’s the demon ...”
Vivienne: “The demon?”
Baker: “... that’s doing this to us.”
Vivienne: “When did this demon come here?”
Baker: “It has been among us for its whole life.”
Vivienne: “Can you describe this demon?”
Baker: “It’s a monster ... in the body of an angel.”
Vivienne: “Laurens, do you have any questions for this man?”
Laurens: “Be more specific in your description.”
Baker: “It’s ... it’s the book seller’s boy.”
Laurens: “How old is the boy?”
Baker: “Five maybe six. He’s always been an odd one. And recently, he started telling people to do things and they would do it. And now he has ensorcelled the whole town. How is it you are unaffected by this?”
Vivienne: “Maybe because we are new.”
Baker: “We must put an end to this.”
Laurens: “Lead on.”
The baker gets about 20 feet before he starts falling under the thrall again.
Laurens: “Snap him out of it.”
Vivienne: “I think we can find this boy on our own. Do you really need the baker?”
Laurens: “Sure.”
Vivienne frees the baker from his compulsion.
* Dan: “You know when you go into mines, and you take a small bird with you? Same thing.” *
They follow him to the boy. He is playing by a small fountain. The boy is obvious. He has pale skin and seems to have an air about him. As they approach, the boy looks up. The baker’s face is full of malice. He runs straight for the boy. When he gets about 10 feet away, he stops, says he is sorry and starts walking away.
Boy: “Hello.”
Vivienne and Laurens: “Hello.”
Boy: “You’re new.”
Vivienne: “Yes, we are.”
Boy: “Did you come to play?”
Vivienne: “Not exactly.”
Boy: “We’re all playing here today.”
Vivienne: “I can see that. I don’t know if everybody has time to play.”
Boy: “Of course. We all have time to play.”
Laurens: “How long have you been able to control people?”
The boy looks confused.
Vivienne: “I doubt he’s aware of what he’s doing.”
Laurens: “Take him. Render him unconscious.”
Vivienne: “If I do the townsfolk may ...”
Laurens: “I’ll take care of them.”
Vivienne: “You have been playing for a while, and I think it is time for a nap.”
Vivienne reaches out and touches him and wills him to sleep. She hears a voice inside of him say, “I don’t want to.”
Vivienne: “Well that didn’t work.”
Laurens: “Come on, woman, faster.”
Laurens walks over to Vivienne and pulls her away from the boy.
Laurens: “What’s going on.”
Vivienne: “There is another presence.”
Laurens: “Silence the presence.”
Vivienne: “I’m not sure I can.”
Laurens: “Did you try?”
Vivienne: “That was my whole intent the first time, and it resisted ...”
Laurens: “Did you talk to it?”
Vivienne: “All right.”
The boy gets up and is playing in the fountain. As Vivienne approaches, he splashes water on her and giggles. She picks him up out of the fountain and sets him down on the edge. She make contact with his mind again, with the other presence.
Vivienne: “Who are you?”
Other: “I’m Vincent. Who are you? And why are you interrupting my play time.”
Vivienne: “Your playtime is interrupting the lives and the business of these people.”
Vincent: “So?”
Vivienne: “You need to stop.”
Vincent: “Why?”
Vivienne: “Because, I’m telling you to.”
Vincent: “I don’t want to. You can’t make me.”
Vivienne: “I can, and I will.”
Laurens sees some people coming. They are carry things: brooms, rolling pins, frying pans, etc.
Vivienne thinks the other voice is another part of the child. She gathers her strength and focuses. She attempts to power through and render him unconscious. It doesn’t take long.
The villagers rush forward, stumble and collapse to the ground. Laurens headache becomes a lot worse. Then the boy goes unconscious.
Laurens: “We’ll take the boy with us.”
Vivienne starts riding back with the child. Laurens waits to see what happens with the townsfolk when they wake up. They seem ready to lash out at something for this. Laurens rides back up to them and asks for the father of the boy. They lead him to the book seller.
Laurens: “How long has your son been like that.”
Seller: “Only recently. I don’t know what happened. He was a normal boy.”
Laurens: “The baker said it was like that forever.”
Seller: “The baker exaggerates. My boy was always studious. He was always quiet and intelligent. But, never touched by God like this.”
Laurens: ” The boy was touched by something. What makes you believe it was God?”
Seller: “Because I’m his father.”
Laurens: “And what does your being his father have to do with it?”
Seller: “I refuse to accept another answer.”
Laurens basically finds out the rest of the town think the boy was strange because he looked at books all the time. Laurens eventually asks who the boy’s mother was. She was from Leeds as well. There was no odd family history as far as the father knows.
Laurens then goes and talks to the town kids to see if the know anything more about the boy. The kids point out that the boy spent most of his time with his father.
Laurens goes to the shop and peruses the books and maps in the shop. He finds he gets a weird vibe off of one book in particular. He takes the book off the shelf.
* Patrick: “Wow! Laurens vibed?” *
* Mike: “Witch!” *
Laurens flips through the pages. The content of the book seems normal. It talks about the south of France.
Laurens: “Where did you get this book?”
Seller: “I have a regular merchant that I buy from. He finds books and brings them to me. Then I sell books to nobles throughout the area.”
Laurens: “Have you sold any books that came with this shipment from this dealer?”
Laurens tries to get a list and get the name of the dealer. The seller bought the book about a month ago. The boy changed a few days ago. Laurens confiscates the book and rides out of town.
Sir Martin returns from falconing. Gabriel excuses himself from the conversation he is having when he sees Sir Martin and heads to talk to him.
Gabriel: “I have a message for you whenever it is convenient for me to deliver it to you.”
Sir Martin: “Maybe in public, but not in public.”
Gabriel and Sir Martin walk down to a public foyer where no one is close enough to listen.
Gabriel: “It appears that at least 2 of the rumors started with the hand maiden of Katherine almost on the very evening they arrived. I haven’t tracked down all of the others, but I’m sure that’s ... I’m certain that more of them will come from that direction.”
Sir Martin: “I was wondering if that end of the family would make their move. Thank you.”
Gabriel: “You’re welcome. Good luck.”
Thomas sends a note to Gabriel to ask him to see if he can find out what happened to his assistant. Thomas says he believes it is connected to what happened in France.
Gabriel sneaks out of the castle that evening and arrives at the Holy Trinity church. He takes a good look around to see who is watching. Gabriel steals some peasant clothes. He heads into the church observing his surroundings and prays.
About 8 bells, Thomas of Lancaster comes into the church. He walks over and asks if it is okay if he kneels as well. Gabriel nods. Thomas of Lancaster starts to pray a loud. He prays for the health of the Duke. He hopes that the Lord will protect him from plots against him from Norfolk. He says there are rumors of assassins from Norfolk aiming for the Dukes heart. He prays that this will not come to pass. When he is done praying out loud, he bows his head for a moment, gets up and walks out.
Gabriel finishes his praying and leaves to follow Thomas of Lancaster back to his inn. He wants to make sure that Thomas is really Thomas and not someone pretending to be him.
* Brad: “For example, you never knew Laurens is a witch.” *
* Alan: “He meant bitch.” *
Gwynedd arrives in Mount Grace late in the day. She stops in at the village and prepares to stay the evening. Thomas waits for word about his assistant by preparing new projects.
Cecily doesn’t come to dinner with the Duke that evening. Katherine, John de Mowbray, and others are there as well as Sir Martin. Now that Sir Martin is looking for it, he sees interest in Katherine’s eyes for the Duke. Sir Martin starts fishing with them to see how connected they are to the rumors. He ends the meal feeling like they are active participants in the rumors.
Gabriel realizes that the note might have been a mechanism for getting him out of the castle, and he fell for it. He heads back to the castle as fast as he can.
Laurens and Vivienne return to York with the boy. They decide not to take him into the castle. While they are riding back Vivienne examines the book. She discovers that the book had some sort of containment spell.
Vivienne: “The book was holding something.”
Laurens: “Can you force the something back into the book?”
Vivienne: “Well, I don’t know. It depends on what the something is.”
She looks more closely at the spell. She sees that there is only residue. But, she can’t tell what was contained because the spell was blown apart when the thing contained freed itself. She can tell the thing freed was powerful.
Vivienne: “The thing that was being held was fairly powerful. I’m not sure without doing more study, if I can force it back.”
Laurens: “We’re not going to ask Quillius for help are we?”
Vivienne: “Not yet.”
Vivienne spends sometime exploring the mind of the boy to see how he is connected to the book. She finds that he has almost no memories. Almost everything is tied up in the presence. The presence jammed itself into the boy pushed everything in the way to the side. There is not much left of the original boy who was named Vincent. She believes it is some powerful spirit.
Vivienne: “As near as I can tell, the child freed some sort of spirit from the book. And it has possessed him, consumed him and hasn’t left much of the original child’s memories or personality. They have somehow merged.”
Laurens: “Can you separate the two?”
Vivienne: “It will take some time, I think.”
None. Makul was playing at Disneyland.