Actions in The Bastard Prince
Having lived as a puppet king for six years, Rhys Michael finally gets a chance to assert his independence in June 928. Prince Miklós von Furstán of Torenth seizes the town of Culliecairn and slays the Earl of Eastmarch, actions that the Torenthi prince takes on behalf of his brother-in-law, the Festillic Pretender Prince Marek I Furstán-Festil. When news of the attack reaches Rhemuth, Rhys Michael convinces the lords of state to allow him to face the Torenthi challenge personally. That night, a secret group of Deryni allies infiltrates the castle to activate the king's full Haldane potential, convinced that he will need his arcane powers to defeat the two Deryni invaders. The Deryni powers of Queen Michaela and her brother, Sir Cathan Drummond, are unblocked, allowing both of them to finally remember their own Deryni heritage. Michaela then assists Father Joram MacRorie, Rhysel Thuryn, and Tieg Thuryn in activating Rhys Michael's powers.
Rhys Michael, Cathan, and several of the great lords depart Rhemuth on June 15, but their journey to Culliecairn is plagued by a series of strange and deadly incidents. Rhys Michael knows that the incidents are being caused by Master Dimitri, a Torenthi double agent who has been forced by Joram to protect the king. Dimitri manages to kill both Lord Udaut and Lord Albertus before he is apprehended by the other great lords, and he even succeeds in destroying Father Paulin's mind before becoming overwhelmed. Rhys Michael can do nothing as the Deryni is interrogated and tortured, but Dimitri dies without revealing the truth of the king's powers.
When the royal expedition eventually reaches Eastmarch, Rhys Michael agrees to meet personally with Prince Miklós, accompanied only by Lady Sudrey, a distant relative of Miklós' who married the former Earl of Eastmarch. However, Miklós quickly attacks Sudrey, claiming she is a traitor to Torenth. Rhys Michael uses his arcane powers to kill Miklós, but Sudrey is fatally wounded by Prince Marek and Rhys Michael's hand is crushed by a horse's hoof. Sudrey soon dies from her wounds, and the king convinces his nobles that it was Sudrey's magic that killed Miklós.
Although Marek withdraws the Torenthi forces from Cullicairn, the royal expedition remains in Eastmarch for several days. Despite his injury, Rhys Michael begins efforts to undermine the power of the great lords. He convinces Duke Graham I MacEwan of Claibourne and Earl Sighere of Marley to accept appointment as regents for his underage son, Prince Owain, hoping that their inclusion will encourage the great lords to keep the king alive. Rhys Michael secretly orders Cathan to draw up the codicil to his will, and all the parties involved manage to sign the document without alerting the great lords. The expedition begins the return trip to Rhemuth the following day, but the king's injury continues to worsen. When he becomes too weak and feverish to travel, his physicians insist on bleeding him several times, despite his vehement objections. Eventually, the combination of his injury and poor medical treatment claims the king's life, weakening him so much that even Dom Queron Kinevan is unable to save him. King Rhys Michael Haldane dies at Saint Ostrythe's Convent on June 28, 928, at the age of twenty-one. He is succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Prince Owain Haldane.
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Famous quotes containing the words actions in and/or actions:
“In history an additional result is commonly produced by human actions beyond that which they aim at and obtain—that which they immediately recognize and desire. They gratify their own interest; but something further is thereby accomplished, latent in the actions in question, though not present to their consciousness, and not included in their design.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“The higher the state of civilization, the more completely do the actions of one member of the social body influence all the rest, and the less possible is it for any one man to do a wrong thing without interfering, more or less, with the freedom of all his fellow-citizens.”
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