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Page 342
devotions at Bromholm. Rhiannon offered to travel with the court and soothe Henry with her singing, which he admired almost to excess. If Henry accepted her, it would be another stitch in the patch over the tear in the fabric of Henry's relationship with his barons, since she was Llewelyn's daughter.
At this point Walter raised the problem of Knight's Tower. Geoffrey and Ian agreed at once that Walter's need to take hold of his property was immediate. There was no necessity for him to stay with the court.
"I have just the man for you," Geoffrey said when Walter asked about a suitable castellan. "Sir John is a man of middle years with a most capable wife. Moreover, he has a son who can take over the management of the keep he now governs. This will give young John experience, and it will be only a temporary arrangement. When Knight's Tower is ready you can choose a man of your own, and Sir John can return to Odiham. I am almost certain I will have a place for his son by then, so we will all benefit."
"Yes," Ian said, "and the need to install the castellan will be reason enough for you and Sybelle to make only a brief stay with the court. But you must also write at once to Barbury, Thornbury, and Foy for the castellans to come and do you homage. God forbid that this should be only a lull before the renewal of the conflict, but if so, your lands should be firmly in your hands before any new trouble starts."
"Good," Geoffrey approved. "Sir John can meet us at Oxford. I will send a messenger out today. Odiham is no great distance."
"If you are going west," Alinor put in, "do not forget to stop at Clyro and have Sir Roland do homage to you, Sybelle."
"Surely there is no need for haste in that," Sybelle said. "Sir Roland already knows that Clyro is part of my dowry, and he is loyal."
"Certainly, but it never hurts to renew oaths of fealty," Gilliane suggested.
"That is true, Gilliane," Alinor agreed, smiling fondly at this daughter-by-marriage, who had once been a brutalized pawn and was now fit to rule a kingdom, should one fall into her hands. "However, that was not my main purpose. If I remember the country in the west aright, Knight's Tower is the northernmost of all Walter's keeps and Goldcliff the most westerly. Clyro will be at least a day's travel closer than

 
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