Chapter Twenty
Autumn 496
Chaos ruled Corbenic. With less than a month to prepare for the royal visit, plus all of the guests it would entail, every person was busy, all hands valuable. Elaine and Galen’s courtship was temporarily overshadowed as their attention was diverted to the tasks at hand. Lyonesse used Elaine as her right hand in overseeing preparations and training the additional servants that would be needed, while Galen assisted Pellinor in managing the lodging and security logistics that came with a royal visit. I had become a servant like Isolde, cleaning long-neglected guest rooms, scrubbing linens, baking countless loaves of bread, and doing whatever was asked of me.
The king, his lords, and other visiting nobles began arriving during the week prior to the tournament, so
