Alaric's loyalty

[Shiral]

But Alaric leaves the court after Conall is (at least effectively) King because neither he nor Duncan believe that Kelson and Dhugal are dead (because in canon, they aren't); if Kelson and Dhugal had in fact been killed, I think Alaric's and Duncan's reactions would have been different.  Given that all four of them are Deryni and they're all emotionally close to each other, I think that, while Alaric and Duncan would obviously both be grieving hard, they would know that Kelson and Dhugal were gone from mortal life.

Enh....Not so sure. It is emphasized both Morgan and Duncan are both unsure that they will find anything when they leave Rhemuth. "The King went over a waterfall" is pretty likely to be a fatal accident. They both suspect it is more unresolved grief than real hope, but they both have to KNOW. Given the long association between Alaric and Kelson, he's not about to give up until he's absolutely certain there is no hope. And to truly confirm that, they needed to get closer to the site of the accident. Magic hath limits. And they need to grieve, for a while. As we know, things turn out rather better than that in the canon.


I DID forget that Prince Albin would have a regency council if Conall died, though. And probably Rory would be one of his adult regents, rather than King himself unless Albin died of a childhood illness.

[DesertRose]

But Alaric leaves the court after Conall is (at least effectively) King because neither he nor Duncan believe that Kelson and Dhugal are dead (because in canon, they aren't); if Kelson and Dhugal had in fact been killed, I think Alaric's and Duncan's reactions would have been different.  Given that all four of them are Deryni and they're all emotionally close to each other, I think that, while Alaric and Duncan would obviously both be grieving hard, they would know that Kelson and Dhugal were gone from mortal life.

Enh....Not so sure. It is emphasized both Morgan and Duncan are both unsure that they will find anything when they leave Rhemuth. "The King went over a waterfall" is pretty likely to be a fatal accident. They both suspect it is more unresolved grief than real hope, but they both have to KNOW. Given the long association between Alaric and Kelson, he's not about to give up until he's absolutely certain there is no hope. And to truly confirm that, they needed to get closer to the site of the accident. Magic hath limits. And they need to grieve, for a while. As we know, things turn out rather better than that in the canon.

I'd have to go back and look in Quest to reread Alaric's and Duncan's conversation, but I seem to recall that, while the evidence that Kelson and Dhugal were dead was pretty freaking compelling, neither Morgan nor Duncan could quite bring themselves to believe that the two had in fact died.  While it's not explicitly stated as far as I remember, I think that at least part of their suspicion was that all four are Deryni and emotionally close to each other.

In Camber the Heretic, Evaine knows when Rhys dies; she gets the details later from Camber-Alister and Joram, but she senses his death.  Even though the type of relationship is wildly different, I don't believe that the depth of connection is much less.  Dhugal is Duncan's son, after all; Kelson's and Alaric's relationship is harder to describe, but it's definitely (at least nearly) as intimately familial.

Thus, in your AU-Quest wherein Kelson and Dhugal are actually dead, even though Alaric and Duncan are (through no fault of their own) not nearly as well-trained in the use of Deryni powers as Evaine was, I think they would have been better able to accept the deaths; I think at some level, their Deryni senses would tell them that the younger men were no longer living, and I think that in the canon version, at least part of why they went looking was that they still felt the connection.

[Drianax]

This is sort of slightly off-topic, but, will we ever be getting a book on the events that occurred in 948?  It seems to be a pretty big year, concerning the number of deaths.

[Nezz]

That is the next book that KK wants to write. The Road to Killingford.

[DesertRose]

This is sort of slightly off-topic, but, will we ever be getting a book on the events that occurred in 948?  It seems to be a pretty big year, concerning the number of deaths.

Not sure.  KK's next planned project is tentatively called The Road to Killingford, which covers the events of 1025.

But I am also very curious as to what happened in 948. 

[Nezz]

Not sure.  KK's next planned project is tentatively called The Road to Killingford, which covers the events of 1025.

But I am also very curious as to what happened in 948. 

Oh, right, got my dates mixed up.

Yeah, I've wondered about 948 as well (probably why I got them confused)

[Shiral]

Shiral, if anyone can write such a scene it would be you. I would love to read it.

Well, you got me going, Laurna. Checkout the Fanfic pages.... 

[Laurna]

I just did!  YAY! Very Cool!  Thank you.