[Gwathagor]

Crabannan had followed Eodwine and Degas to the smithy, and now watched this exchange with a mixture of fascination, surprise, and distaste as their drama unfolded and Saeryn berated her brother. Family quarrels were always the worst, as he knew all too well, but it seemed to him, as the tone of the meeting began to escalate, that Degas was getting the worst of things.

And then, suddenly and unexpectedly, Saeryn slapped him. She slapped him with a sheer fury that nearly made Crabannan's jaw drop open. He knew at once he had overstayed his welcome but he found himself smiling nonetheless and in spite of the gravity of the situation. My kind of gal, he thought, almost subconsciously - and only half-serious.

There was a stunned silence which quickly began to verge on the awkward. Even Saeryn seemed a little shocked at what she had just done, and Harreld - poor Harreld looked as if he wished the earth would swallow him alive.

"Harreld," he said abruptly, "Would you care to break the fast with me? I was just on my way."