The Priory of the Orange Tree

Now in the second half of her pregnancy, Sabran announces the news to the overjoyed people of Ascalon. However, Sabran continues to be withdrawn and physically sick. In court, Igrain Crest, the Duchess of Justice and Roslain’s grandmother, suggests that Sabran remarry to forge an alliance against the growing threat from Yscalin. Sabran refuses Igrain’s suggestion, much to Igrain’s surprise, and when Igrain suggests they talk privately, Sabran declines and leaves. She tells Ead that she is beginning to see how Igrain “pushes too hard” (358). Nevertheless, Sabran orders the burning of the Yscalin fleet that has gathered at the coast of Inys and tells her ladies that she may need to marry to meet the threat from Yscalin. When Sabran wants to pick an unconventional name for her daughter, her companions say she is bound by tradition to choose from the names of other queens. Sabran decides to name her daughter Glorian, after an ancestor. Privately, Ead feels Sabran is trapped by tradition and responsibilities.

Ead revisits Truyde in her tower prison to learn the identity of the “Cupbearer,” but Truyde tells her she has no idea. Truyde tells Ead that she read the Tablet of Rumelabar in the library of Niclays, her grandfather’s friend.