This was the only thing about returning home that held no disillusionment or aggravation. When he had come to the manor that he had called home as a boy, it had felt very different from what he remembered. The hall he had thought so enormous in his youth was, in reality, smaller than Lancaster’s stables. His mother’s solar was as dark and cramped as the hut in Wragby that he had thought so poor.

But the hills, the sharp peaks and the glimmer of mountain lakes, the river winding along the valley floor, the hawks wheeling against the sky – that was even bigger than he had remembered, and he took any excuse to come up here and look at it spread out before him.

When he saw the party making their slow way through the valley, he understood why they were more than a week later than anticipated. It was an absurd amount of baggage for one lady and her few attendants. In the end, he had not met her at court because she had spent the week in prayer at some shrine or another. They had yet to agree on a date to be wed, but now she was come to see this place that would be her home, and be married here.

“On my honor, Gryff, I would have warned you had I known.”

It was the first thing Will said to him, under his breath, after they had greeted one another in the forecourt. He did not look weary as so many travelers did after the arduous journey through the hills, but his face betrayed an exasperation that Gryff had never seen before, so practiced was Will at hiding anything as petty as annoyance.

The cause of his irritation was Gryff’s intended, Lady Margaret, who seemed so devoted to prayer that she had little thought for any earthly concerns. This included the inconvenience she caused by insisting on traveling with so much baggage, and stopping several times every day for rest and prayer. Even in her greeting to Gryff, her first question was to ask where the chapel was so that she might give thanks for their safe journey.

He was happy to point her to it, and ignored her obvious disapproval that he did not join her. Instead he had some beer brought for Will and showed him the gyrfalcons, and the progress on the castle.

The servants were a mix of Welsh and English, and all were eager to see to the comfort of the guests. The feast was impressive and the entertainment in the hall was even better, to Gryff’s mind, than what a Norman keep could offer. Hospitality and poetry were both held sacred here, and sincerely shared with every visitor. He had almost forgotten that.