As they reached the entrance to the yard, they paused on the verge of the doorway, feeling the occasional raindrop blown in by the freshening wind. Jim motioned for the Warlock to continue and they left the relative warmth of the keep entrance for the soggy ground of the ancient marshaling yard. As Amirantha had judged, the rain had fallen off to almost nothing and the wind was freshening a little; it already felt drier.

“So, you were about to say?”

Jim appeared annoyed. “I can never tell who knows what around here.”

Amirantha laughed. “I can tell you this much, my friend: no one left here is without some power and ability, despite appearances to the contrary. Pug ensured all the students were safely away within a day of…”

“The attack,” finished Jim.

“I was going to say the death of his wife and son.” Amirantha sighed. “Never having children, I can only imagine a bit of what he’s going through. I certainly had nothing to fairly compare what he was like before that, scant hours really, but…” He shrugged.

“There’s been a change,” said Jim. He looked to the west where somewhere behind the clouds the sun was lowering toward the horizon. “He knew I was about some business of consequence, yet there’s apparently no means for contact; that is unlike him. It’s as if he’s…” Jim shrugged.

“Distracted?” offered Amirantha.

“More,” said Jim. “Distant in a way that troubles me.”

“I don’t understand.”

Jim smiled slightly. “I don’t expect you to. I hardly know the man well, despite our somewhat tenuous kinship.”

“Kinship?”

Jim said, “My great-grandmother was his foster daughter.”

Amirantha’s eyebrows went up slightly as his expression indicated surprise. “Tenuous by blood, yes, but otherwise?”

“We are not close. It is a long story, a family matter, and really not pertinent to the discussion at hand.”

Amirantha shrugged, to convey that if Jim didn’t think it important enough to speak of, that was enough. “Perhaps, but apparently we have ample time. Enlighten me.”

Jim stared off into the darkening afternoon gloom and said, “While Pug and I may not be close, I do know a great deal about him, for his role in Kingdom politics has been significant, since long before I was born.”

“Obviously,” agreed Amirantha. “Given the rank and status of those who have been to visit since I was first made aware of the Conclave’s existence.”

“So in my…other duties, to the Crown, I’ve been required to read a great deal of history, much of it penned by my own forebears.

“Pug is, if anything, a man of strong convictions and he pays attention to details. He is not the sort to let important things slip by. Yet lately…” Jim took a deep breath. “…this is unlike him.”

“By this, I expect you mean this,” Amirantha said, indicating the cold, nearly empty castle with a wave of his hand.