To their sorrow, it was discovered in Evaine’s early infancy that she was nearly deaf. Her parents both worked to help her overcome that missing sense with her Deryni abilities. Mind-Speech with other Deryni came as naturally as verbal words did to other children, but communication with humans proved difficult, for it was only possible for her to hear through others’ ears. By borrowing the hearing of those who loved her, she learned through years of practice to speak as clearly as anyone else and move through human circles. Perhaps that early devotion to hard work is what led her to become one of Gwynedd’s best scholars, and a favorite teacher at the Schola Deryniana her parents founded at Rhemuth with the Princess Rothana’s help. It was Evaine who found and deciphered the secret message in an otherwise unremarkable Camber history that said to look for more information on the saint in the life of a bishop named Alister Cullen. Years of scholarship revealed it to be an alias for Camber MacRorie, assumed in troubling times so he could continue God’s work after his presumed death. The quest for St. Camber began by her father continued.

Even though she was a king’s daughter, her marriage prospects were not good due to her deafness. Any human husband was out of the question, and the sensitivity required to live with and understand her handicap meant that Kelson would not give her away to a man he didn’t know intimately. To the royal circle’s delight and surprise, Kelric Morgan found himself increasingly lost in the emerald-green eyes she inherited from her mother. Their courtship, beginning high in the branches of an apple tree in the royal gardens, was a story sung by bards for several generations.

Prince Camber was his father’s son in every way, and dear to all his siblings. He was the one they turned to in trouble, for his advice was as sound as his compassion was sincere. Even though he was the only child who did not inherit Deryni powers, he had an innate understanding of men’s hearts.

He watched and listened as his siblings were trained in esoteric subjects at the Schola so he would have the necessary background when he was crowned king and his Haldane powers were awakened. No one feared Gwynedd’s fate when that happened, for he promised to be as great a king as his father. Therefore, everyone who knew him mourned with his family when he was killed in a riding accident at the age of nineteen.

Maire, named after her mother and grandmother, started as an imp of a child who grew into a confident, self-possessed woman. It was she who carried her mother’s stamp the strongest, with curly blond hair, fair skin, green eyes flecked with gray, and a determination to let nothing stand in the way of her will. She became the wife of Liam of Torenth’s son and heir Torval in what, to all outward appearances, was a state marriage. Her mother suspected that they had somehow contrived to meet through the use of transfer portals in Rhemuth and Beldour after the betrothal, for when the marriage was made it was a joining of two intimates, not a meeting of casual acquaintances.

Kendrick was the son who inherited his father’s crown. While he did not have all Camber’s social talents or charisma and was a reluctant heir on his brother’s death, he ruled wisely and justly. He was able to keep the human-Deryni conflict at rest with the help of his valued advisors: Kelric Morgan, Donal MacArdry McLain, and his brother Brion. His elder sister’s joining to Torval King of Torenth ensured peace along those borders. The history of Prince Kendrick, King of Gwynedd, can be found in the annals at Rhemuth.

Brion was a generous, good-natured boy with a studious bent. He knew from an early age that God was calling him to the religious life, and so resigned his secular titles and inheritance to enter the priesthood. His diplomacy, devotion to God, and concern for his flock carried him to the Primacy of Gwynedd, succeeding Howard Duncan McLain, who had followed Thomas Cardiel in that position. As Archbishop of Rhemuth, Brion served God and brother with loyalty. He was the second Deryni to lead Gwynedd’s Church since Camber’s time.