Ossinett

The walls of Aureswind seemed to sneak through the trees as Bill and Georgina rode forward, appearing through the limbs of green and brown like a stone sunrise. The dark walls were tall and ancient, speckled with ivy, arrowslits and the fluttering banners of orange and brown. As the pair rode their horses up towards the main gatehouse, the forest floor gave way to cobblestone and the sound of the hooves beneath them alerted the birds and bannermen to their arrival. Aureswind

"So often it is the sins of the father than wreck the life of the child", Lord Whitecliff spoke coldly: "See here with our dear Queen, surrounded by a den of wolves all but created by her father's hand." Jorren watched the ageing lord closely as he picked at a loose thread in the sleeve of his black and silver houppelande. In the cold winter air, the words bit his ears harder than any freezing wind - what did the Lord want, and why did it feel like he was being tested? King G