Cast of Characters
Helena: daughter of Cardel, forced to marry Alaric
Alaric, Baron Merclif
Lady Margaret: Alaric’s mother
Earl Cardel: lord of Cardel Castle and Carleigh
Gerald: oldest son of Cardel
Percy: youngest son of Cardel
Robert, Lord Wyham: King Henry’s trusted advisor
Sir Hugh Belwick: Merclif’s castellan, military administrator of Merclif
Lady Elizabeth Belwick: Hugh’s wife and Margaret’s best friend
Damien Langston: Cardel’s steward and Helena’s friend
Antony Renwold: Merclif’s bailiff/steward
Lady Clare: married to Sir Bernard, mother of Nicholas
Sir Bernard: husband to Lady Clare, most senior knight at Merclif, second in command to Belwick
Denners: Merclif’s falconer
Lady Dorothea, Bamchester: Helena’s foster mother
Maximilian: wandering jongleur
Rupert, Lord Bamchester: Dorothea’s son
Father Michael: the chaplain at Cardel
Father Thomas: the chaplain at Merclif
Sir William: King Henry’s knight
Sir Edgar: Cardel’s seneschal
Sir Roger: experienced Merclif knight
Sir Gordon: experienced Merclif knight
Geoffrey: Merclif soldier
Matthew: Merclif soldier
Ralph: Merclif soldier
Laurence: Merclif’s chief cook
Sadie: villein child, four years old
Betsy: Sadie’s mother, works in the dairy
Ogden: Sadie’s father, villein
Place Names
Merclif: Alaric’s castle, built around 1100, now 50 years old
Mersted: name of river and valley
Mersthorpe: name of village
Cardel Castle: built around 1145, now 10 years old
Narhex: Cardel’s estate in the north
Carleigh: village near Cardel Castle
Animals
Gaenor: Alaric’s prized peregrine falcon
Geneir: Alaric’s horse
Guaire: Alaric’s horse
Gwylan: gyrfalcon Alaric trains