About this story
His service keeps him beside Murray while this strong castle leaves me safe and alone. You step into this one-chapter preview with Roland Graeme at the center, where choices turn on the people, promises, and pressure already in the room. Roland slept while two absences, his grandmother's and Sir Halbert's, governed his new home. The chapter closes on a continuation question rather than resolving the novel's larger arc.
How it opens
Nearly ten childless years had passed since the Lady of Avenel married Sir Halbert Glendinning.
Lady of AvenelHis service keeps him beside Murray while this strong castle leaves me safe and alone.
Lady of AvenelThe day I expected Halbert has passed without letter, messenger, or riders on the causeway.
At sunset his wife walked the battlements above the lake and heard village children playing on the shore.
Watch their little handmade ship cross the water instead of returning to the empty hall.
Lady of AvenelThose parents struggle to feed so many, while I possess care and abundance with no child to receive them.