Discussion over Breakfast

Astra and Belinda could only nod their agreement, as they resumed walking to the Great Hall. "I wish when he referred to his part of the plan having hit a snag he had explained what he was doing, though," Astra added. "Judging by the spots of blood on his clothes, it looked as if he had just killed someone. But who and why? Until Belinda's wedding night, when she will hopefully be able to steal the Eye, it's hard to see why he should need to do anything other than wait. I don't like it that he wouldn't be frank with us. Perhaps he's afraid that we might accidentally let something slip in front of Reaibn."

"I suppose that persuading Reaibn to move the wedding forward as much as possible may distract him from checking on whether all the Allarian townsfolk have been returned by his deadline of dawn," Belinda said. "If we can keep him occupied with wedding arrangements till noon, say, I imagine that all of them will be back home." (Of course she had no way of knowing that four teenagers had gone missing.)

Astra, Belinda, and Fred found Reaibn in the Great Hall. "Ah, I'm glad to see that you are up for breakfast nice and early," Reaibn said. "Please join me, and we will eat together. I trust that you all slept well."

They all thought it wise to say yes. "We were discussing things on the way down to breakfast," Fred added, "and we wondered if the wedding could be moved forward? We are all eager to tie the knot."

"I'm glad that you feel that way," Reaibn said with a smile. "I too am keen for the joint ceremony to take place at the earliest possible moment, but there is much to arrange. In particular, I need to allow enough time to invite all the guests from Aqualaria and then for them to get here. I could transport them all magically from the Allarian border, which would reduce the travelling time, but I imagine that some of the guests - especially the more elderly - might find that a little alarming."

"We won't mind if there aren't any guests from Aqualaria," Belinda said.

1. Reaibn accepts this at face value.
2. Reaibn smells a rat. "Why are you in such a hurry to get married all of a sudden? Are you afraid that your relatives, and in particular the Queen, will think that Allarian husbands are unsuitable for the pair of you?"
3. Meanwhile, how are the Aqualarian soldiers getting on in their hunt for the missing teenagers?
4. Meanwhile, the hungover gravedigger Emry has had a night full of dreams of himself as king. What could it mean? He seeks out the local soothsayer.
5. Meanwhile, in North Umbria, a plot thickens...
6. Meanwhile, Ruag continues to make preparations for his part of the plan.

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