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True to his word, Tru came to my bed every night. But he always left in the early hours of the morning, so that no one would suspect that we were lovers.

The first day of the new year, after all the celebrating was over and the cleanup was in progress, Haral came to visit us. He looked tired. I know that Haral was the kind of reponsible host, who wouldn't go to bed and leave the clean up for others to do. I am sure that He did every bit as much work as his subordinates. But it was so good to see him.

I brought him the traditional Grąža guest offering of a tankard of hot mulled wine, a slice of poppy-seed cake and anise-flavored wafers with the depiction of holly sprigs on them that had just come freshly from the wafering iron.

We chatted about the Temple party and how much my children loved it, while Haral snacked on cake and sipped the wine.

Haral's face looked blissful as he ate the cake. “This cake is so good! It reminds me so much of the Grąža cakes my mother used to make. Did you make them Patra?”

I laughed. “No. I cannot even boil water without burning it. Chef Ifon made these. It wouldn't surprise me if the recipe was your mother's recipe. Ifon told me that Tru had given him many recipes when Ifon started working here. I know that your nephews, grown men as they are have been constantly begging Ifon all day for more and more of the cakes. Both Brian and Eoin have asked Ifon to prepare a large batch for each of them, so they may have them for their trips back home tomorrow. Hilda has been begging Ifon for the recipe.”

“I may have to beg Ifon for the recipe also.”

Tru walked into the family room, where Haral and I were visiting. Tru was looking very happy and content. He also seemed to be walking with much more of a jauntiness to his steps.

Haral looked at his brother and got a funny look on his face. He then looked at me. He looked once more at his brother. “Tru, please tell me you didn't?”

“Didn't do what, brother?” Tru sat down next to us and began to munch on a wafer.

“Please don't tell me that you forced yourself on Patra? She is looking very pale and wan, without her usual spark, while you are looking happy and self-satisfied, not your usual reserved mien. After the conversation that we had months ago and knowing how deeply Patra loved Donal, I can only conclude that you have acted upon your lusts and forced her to have sex with you. How could you take advantage of a very vulnerable young girl? You disgust me! I thought that you were a better man that this.”

Tru looked at his brother in anger, he face red and thunderous. He was about to shout something back at this brother, when I touched him and said, “Tru don't...”

I then looked at Haral. “Haral. I know that you are trying to be kind and protective of me. I appreciate the gesture, but you are so, so wrong.

“Tru has never forced me to do anything that I didn't want to do. If anything, you should be angry with me, because I am the one who seduced him. We both still love our late spouses very much. Last night, we comforted each other. We willingly gave ourselves to each other. There was no forcing involved. And if Tru should wish to find solace again in my arms, I would be most happy to let him. Haral, we are both adults and both have adult needs. If this shocks you, then so be it. If Donal were still alive, this would never have happened. But Donal is gone. What Tru and I did last night may be immoral, however, there is no one alive to be hurt by our actions; no marriage vows were betrayed.”

Haral looked confused. “But ... but ...”

“But nothing, Haral,” I replied. “I suppose you are having a hard time accepting that I could love an old man? I don't see Tru as old. Mature, yes. But old, he will never be to me.

“As for my palor, put that down to having been ill recently because I overused my powers once again.

“Please, for my sake and for Tru's also, accept this and be happy for us.”

Tru looked at me in wonderment. Picked up my hand and kissed it. He then turned to his brother, looking serious, but much less angry. “And for Patra's sake, please do not spread this around. I don't want to ruin her reputation. Patra doesn't deserve that.”

Haral opened his mouth several times to say something and then kept changing his mind. In the end, he relied. “Of course not. I ask both of your for your pardon. I am sorry that I jumped to such an awful conclusion. Forgive me?”

“Of course!” both Tru and I said in unison.

A few minutes later, Captain Quinton came into the family room, looking for Haral. He walked over to him and knelt before him. “Your Eminence. A messenger from the Temple has sent you this note.” Quinton offered the note to Haral.

Haral took it and frowned as he read it.

“Brother! What is the matter?” Tru asked.

“It seems that four young girls have been reported missing. There is a lot of unrest in the city. Many are making accusations that Count Torfen has been involved. But his Majesty is in denial and refuses to listen to anyone concerning his son.”

“The girls are nowhere to be found?” I asked.

“Yes. Their parents and families have been searching high and low for them.”

An overwhelming feeling came over me. “I know that this will sound strange, but have the searchers look inside a dry well at a deserted old farm alongside the road that goes from Daihor to Rawn-Devu, just a few miles outside the city limits. They will find the girls there.”

“How do you know this? Are they alive or dead?”

“I don't know how I know this. I had this vision come to me while you were telling us of this. I saw the girls where they are. Unfortunately, they appear to be dead. More than that, I cannot say.”

Haral looked at me thoughtfully for a minute. He then got up, took his leave of us and went back to the Temple. The next morning, he sent word that the girls' bodies had been found where I had said that they were. They all had been raped, mutilated and murdered.

Reports came from various agents of Tru's, protests had started in front of the palace. The people, the protestors, were demanding justice for all murdered women, not just the recent four, but for every woman ever found murdered and suspected to be Torfen's victims. They demanded that the king hand over Torfen to them, or they would storm the palace and find him themselves.

According to Haral, King Torval instead holed himself up inside the palace and refused to speak to the people. Instead he called in the Alfarian Royal Army, ordering them to disperse the throngs and also to protect him by supplementing the Royal Guards. Unfortunately, this only exaserbated the already volitile situation. The commanding general of the army, unused to this sort of thing, made a bad command and within minutes, the peaceful, but noisy demonstration quickly changed into a riot. The mob soon found homemade weapons and broke into an armory, arming themselves and repeatedly clashed with the King's men. At the same time, opportunists started breaking into stores and homes, stealing and looting whatever they found. Chaos became the law that day.

Tru sent out guards to bring all of the relatives and employees who wished to find protection within the compound, since we were located well outside the outskirts of Daihor. Within hours, one hundred and fifty more people were sheltered within our walls. The only people who refused to come were Su Wei and her maids. Haral sent a note to us stating that he was going to remain with his people in the Temple. He too took in any who wished shelter from the every increasing threat of violence. He had sent word to his abbots and priests to also turn their temples into shelters for anyone who sought protection there.

By nightfall, things must have escallated badly, because we could see the glow of many buildings burning in the center of Daihor. By the next morning, smoke could be seen rising from the Royal Palace. According to reports the guards got from fleeing people, the rioters had managed to distract the soldiers and guards enough so that several men managed to sneak into the palace. According to Haral much later, the king and his family just barely managed to escape and sought sanctuary in the Temple. With the royal presence gone, the discipline of the royal guards crumbled. More rioters then managed to infiltrate the palace. They searched and ransacked it but found no indication that Torfen had ever been there. The rioters then burned the palace to the ground.

Not finding Torfen sent the rioters into further frenzy. They began searching every house and every building they could for him, whether or not the owners wanted them to.

For five days, the city was held in terror by these people. Ever increasing clashes with city constables, royal guards and the Alfarian army, finally dwindled the numbers of the rioters. By nightfall of the fifth day, the leaders of the original protest were either killed or taken into custody. Only the opportunists were left in the streets and their numbers shrank as more and more of them were caught or killed. When the sixth day dawned, the people of Daihor awoke to martial law and bands of constables and soldiers patrolling the city enforcing strict new laws. By the seventh day, people started leaving the shelters to see if they had homes and businesses to return to. Those who lost their homes were taken in by their neighbors and relatives and the community gradually worked to rebuild people's lives and livelihoods.

The family's businesses and holdings for the most part came through this unscathed. A few offices and warehouses had been broken in to and looted, but Tru took a philosophical attitude. He was grateful that none of the family or employees had been hurt or killed. The rest, he said, were things and were easily replaceable.

Much later, Haral told us that the death toll of protestors and soldiers reached over one thousand people killed and over twice that wounded.

King Torval chose to try those in custody himself, superseding the supreme court justices who would normally adjudicate these matters. The trial was very much a sham, when it became apparent that the king had already decided the guilt of the prisoners even before the trial started. His Majesty found every prisoner guilty and sentanced them all to death by hanging. Rather than allow the people to protest his decisions, he ordered that all the condemned be taken out to the gallows and immediately executed. His hope appeared to be that once the leaders were all dead, no further protest would occur. While his plan did curtail any chance of a protest against the injustice of his actions, the king created something even worse in the hearts of his people: rebellion. Even as the leaders met their deaths by the hangman's noose, more leaders took over for them and began plotting in secret.