And Father Duncan—he would not be afraid, either. For besides being Deryni, he was also a man of the cloth, a priest of God. With the power of the Deryni and the might of the Lord behind him, what evil would dare to rear its head in his presence? Indeed, under the protection of two such men, how could Kelson possibly come to harm? Only if he allowed his fear to overpower him . . .

He lowered his head to rest his chin on his folded hands and study the Lion brooch more closely. There was nothing so very difficult about what he had to do, really. He reached out and flipped the brooch over on its back so that he could see the clasp, then rested his chin on his hands again.

No, what he had to do would not really be so painful, either. He had had training injuries, hunting accidents much more painful than the wound of a hand’s width of slender gold was likely to be.

Of course, he wasn’t sure just what to expect once he’d accomplished the deed. What would happen when he took on the power of his royal birthright? But if his father had devised the ritual, had wanted him to have the powers, certainly he could come to no harm. Brion had cared about him—no, had loved him—there was no doubt in his mind about that.

He was mentally congratulating himself for having reached so reasoned a conclusion when the study door softly opened and Duncan and Morgan re-entered. Both men wore confident expressions—for his benefit, he was sure—but he could detect the tension beneath their calm exteriors even as they sought to reassure him. They knew he’d been nervous.

He straightened up and smiled slightly to show them he wasn’t really afraid—or at least that his fear was under control.

Smiling back, Duncan took the candlestick from the table and brushed Kelson’s shoulder reassuringly as he continued across the room.

Morgan watched as Duncan knelt at the prie-dieu, then picked up the Lion brooch and the vial of pale green liquid as he looked down at Kelson.

“Duncan is preparing a place, my prince,” he said quietly. “Are you ready?”

Kelson nodded and got calmly to his feet. “I’m ready.”

At the prie-dieu, Duncan reached carefully under the armrest and pressed a series of hidden indentations. As he did so, a portion of wall behind the adjacent tapestry suddenly withdrew, sucking the tapestry briefly against the opening. Then the pressure released, and the hanging hung still once more. Duncan rose and pulled it aside, motioning Kelson and Morgan to enter.