Accompanied by eight knights, Sir Wystan arrived at Ridgley Manor on a new destrier he purchased some months ago and was very eager to show it off.

The feast wasn't the ribald affair he expected. The wine was heavily watered and there was only one other guest, a lowly lord from a manor to the north whom Sir Wystan found obnoxious. The food, however, was another matter, and he and his men ate well in their sobriety.

Sir Hyde was jovial and gracious as always, and after ...