Stay

[Ginrai]

Ginrai sighs.  "I take it you haven't heard anything from her since?  Who was the other person in line to succeed ahead of you and will either arrive here later on?"

[Brian]

"Of course not.  There are no messengers between the Keep and Winterhaven.  At least, not on any form of regular basis, anyway.  Once we left, we heard nothing.

"There was no one ahead of us ... the first in line was Megan, and she died.  Grizelda was second, and elected to have me go before her.  The only others were Branwel and Oliva, but they were judged too young to be ready for this.

"All of them are still in Winterhaven, awaiting the arrival of Gatemaster Eske.  When he arrives, they will then be taken through his doorway to the great temple of Hamar in Loren.  That's a month's journey away from here, south and east."

[Ginrai]

"Ah.  During the days before Megan died, was anyone there acting strangely?"

[Brian]

"...yourself, I would suppose," she says slowly.  "You had come months too early to meet Eske.  And you, as well," she adds, turning to look at Paul.   "Winterhaven is so remote as to have no one at all visit for years on end."

[Ginrai]

"Wait... we were *there* during that time?!  Hmm...  Were we usually seen around either Megan or Grizelda?"

[Brian]

"Not usually, no," Mirallia says.  "You were far more interested in Gatemaster Eske, and barely left your chambers.  Master Durant hardly ever set foot outside of the main hall, discussing old stories and battles with the vassals."

[Ginrai]

Ginrai frowns.  "I'm guessing that's why you were wary of me and Paul during our journey."

[Brian]

She says nothing, merely rolling her eyes by way of reply.

[Ginrai]

"Ah, well... seeing how this has turned out, I might as well ask this question.  Very early on I made a comment about a ring to which you responded rather strangely.  Is there any reason to that?"

[Brian]

"There is a reason for everything," she says coldly.  "But that is none of your business."  With that, she stands up and stalks off into her own room.

[Bjorn]

"Wonderful tact," Bjorn says, dryly.  "Perhaps you should have let the Great Statesman do the talking?"    He shakes his head.  "There are other things we have to worry about.  For example, the fact that an Archonae is supposed to be coming here, with some artifact that is a symbol of victory, or something."  Grimacing, he continues, "From what it sounds like, if that gets interfered with, then things will go badly.  And given our luck, it's likely that things will go badly.  Why don't you two check that out, and maybe see if you hear any other rumours of sudden, unfortunate coincidences?"

[Ginrai]

"Well, that didn't actually turn out the way I thought it would.  I was expecting her to have slapped me before leaving."

Hearing Bjorn's comments, Ginrai replies, "Who, other than presumably Lord Kevin, would be meeting with the Archonae?"

[Bjorn]

"It's a big ceremony, apparently, so a lot of people.  But I don't know enough about Archonae to know if they can be ambushed -- or enough about the ceremony to guess what can go wrong."

Bjorn shrugs.  "I've got concerns about the military preparations, so I'm going to try and work that side of things.  Now, unless there's something else?"

[Ginrai]

"One more thing.  What is your current impression of Radagast?  When me and Paul were talking with him he mentioned that it was possible that someone else's other-self was responsible for the death of the Priestess.  Though now, after hearing what Mirallia said, it seems more likely that either Paul or I was responsible."

[Bjorn]

"I don't know what A has to do with B," Bjorn says, "but Radagast..." He grimaces.  "Radagast is very convenient.  There's been a lot of convenient things happening, and most of them have been for the other side.  I can't see any reason to trust him -- but then, no reason to distrust him, either."  He looks Parthipan dead in the eyes, and then shoots Paul the same warning glance.  "I wouldn't get too wrapped up in what Radagast says.  First and foremost, remember what the Oracle and Ezmereth said."