"I finally understand, little brother," Bastian said with a chuckle that contained a great deal of self loathing and the faintest hint of madness as well. "It wasn't until I heard him just now that I knew, but seeing our cousin up there on the throne, I should have known a long time ago that there was more to it than just his bitterness over mother going back to Carew March to live with her parents."
Bastian's words set off a ripple of murmurs in the crowd as dozens of tongues recalled the rumors that had spread years ago when Baroness Thadela returned to her home in Berenger Barony to the north, ostensibly to care for her ailing mother. Years had passed since then, however, and there had never been any word of her returning home.
