As the sun began to set on Falanthyst Castle, King Fenryn sat bored on the throne, listening to his nobles arguing over this and that. None of it was important enough to hold his attention for long, but he attempted to at least pretend like he had been listening. If he showed any signs that he wasn’t taking this matter seriously, he would get a scolding by a certain Knight Captain.

That was when he started to giggle. It always meant trouble would be in store for the Captain when the King chuckled during the meetings of his local Lords and Ladies. He was sure they thought poorly of him because he was young in both age and heart. Of course, his court would never say so out loud, but they felt he could never be a true King because of how young he was. They often took advantage of the King’s youth, but that was why he had his faithful Knight Captain.

Vaughan Cadfael was a stern man and one that everyone knew that if he was around, they could say or whisper very