Morgan sighed. “Before we came here, I left Kelson asleep under ward protection so I could go down to Brion’s library to look through his books and papers. I thought I might find some clue to help us unravel the ritual verse—perhaps even some of the notes he used in preparing it.

“Well, for a long while, I didn’t find anything, so I used the Thuryn technique, hoping I might be able to pick up enough residual energy to give me an idea where to look next. I was using my gryphon seal as a point of focus.”

He held up his left hand, let it fall to his side again as he searched for the right words. “I remember that I had my eyes closed, and suddenly I seemed to see the face of a tall, cowled man, surrounded by darkness. At the same time, there was a distinct impression of reassurance—and urgency. I opened my eyes, but the instant of vision was past. There was no one else in the room.”

“Anything else?” Duncan asked, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

Morgan glanced at the floor. “I decided to riffle through the books once more, just on the chance that I’d overlooked something important. The first volume I picked up was Talbot’s Lives of the Saints, an old copy, and it fell open in my hands to—oh, my God! I’d forgotten all about it!”

Duncan watched mystified as Morgan began searching furiously through all of his pockets.

“There was a piece of parchment marking the place in the book,” Morgan continued excitedly. “I was so surprised at what was in the book, I didn’t even get to read it—just stuffed it in my—here it is!”

He found the parchment in an inner pocket of his tunic and pulled it out triumphantly. In his eagerness to unfold it, his fingers trembled. More calmly, Duncan reached across and took the piece of parchment, moved closer to the candle.

“What was in the book that was more important than this, Alaric?” the priest asked, smoothing the creased parchment and holding it up to the light.

“It was a picture of the man I saw in the vision,” Morgan answered absently, peering over Duncan’s shoulder and trying to see. “And what was most startling was that the section was about Saint Camber.”

“Saint Camber?” Duncan questioned, looking up startledly. “You think you saw Saint Camber?”

Morgan nodded and gestured impatiently toward the parchment. “Yes, yes. What does it say?”

Duncan returned his attention to the scrap of parchment as Morgan crowded closer to see. On one side, in Brion’s hand, he could make out Brion’s full name, inked in the familiar, rounded uncials of Brion’s script. As Morgan peered over his shoulder, he turned the parchment over. His hand began to tremble as he read the other side.