To His Royal Highness, Prince Fergus Kilgour:

Hail and well met, Your Highness. I remember that I made a promise, though it might not have seemed as such at the time, to give you a book that might draw your interest. It is not a dry book as your tutors might have given you, but instead a great novella of sorts. It is one I keep with me always and can only hope that you find joy within its pages as I did.

Enclosed is my copy of "The Night the Stars Turned Black."

Take care not to rip the pages or mark upon them, even though I have done enough of that to be sure so, honestly, I would be hard pressed to see and be able to tell if you had done as such. I hope you enjoy it.

I also went to the book shoppes that you told me about. At first, the owner of the shoppe told me that they could not give me what I wanted, since I was a woman. They couldn't see why a woman, uneducated, would want to a book of any sort when she couldn't read it in the first place. They assumed after I told them that I was there for a few things that I was there for my father's library, rather than for my own pleasure. As they found out soon afterwards, they assumed incorrectly.

Needless to say, I astonished them when I took down a book from the shelves, read the first paragraph aloud and then looked at them over the binding of the book. Their faces were so astonished, it was rather humorous. You might have liked the sight of it, if you still have that mischievious side that you had when you poured the ink out into the flowers long ago. In anycase, after that, they realized it was useless to persuade me to go home, rest my legs, do embroidery and be a good woman to both father and husband. I paid for four books and left slowly enough to show that I wasn't ashamed to be a learned woman. I have my pride, as you know.

Should you like the one I sent you, I shall send you another later.

Pray, how is the border? I'm sure the food is terrible as my father has told me horror stories (when he decides that he can tolerate my presence) of army food when he was a knight instead of a merchant. I have confidence in the abilities of yourself and King Aedan's abilities to keep us at the Keep safe within its walls. I pray that God keeps you both safe each night and that his angels will shield you from harm.

May God grant you victory,
Lady Niamh McNamara