How was Kevin's death connected to the Deryni issue?

[Liesel]

In Deryni checkmate, shortly after Alaric Morgan learns of the deaths of Kevin and Bronwyn, Alaric says:

And Kevin -- he wasn't even Deryni, yet he died too. All because of this senseless hatred, this differentness.

Kevin died because Rimmel was infatuated with Bronwyn and got Bethane the shepherdess to make some kind of magic charm for him, which backfired and killed Kevin and Bronwyn.

What did this have to do with hatred/persecution of Deryni?

[DoctorM]

Hmmm... I'd say that because so much of Deryni-ness was driven into the shadows and mythologized, Rimmel believed that magic was the solution to his problem. He believed that and was willing to pin his hopes on some dangerous kind of charm that neither he nor Bethane understood.

[ReikiDeryni]

I think it had more to do with the blind sorrow filled vengeance of Kevin's father, than anything else. Also, am I the only one who believe that Bethane was a descendent of one of the blocked Deryni. I've believed that since reading The Heirs of Saint Camber trilogy.

[Kareina]

Also, am I the only one who believe that Bethane was a descendent of one of the blocked Deryni. I've believed that since reading The Heirs of Saint Camber trilogy.

I remember reading a short story about how Barrett was blinded to save some Deryni children, and, if I remember correctly, a young Bethan and her husband (who certainly knew he was Deryni) appeared in that. I have vauge memories of the incident triggering a miscarriage, which might have contributed to her apparent madness by the time we meet her setting Alaric's arm.

Does anyone remember  any details from this story? What was it called, who wrote it, which issue of Deryni Archives it was published in?  How accurate is my memory of it?

[DesertRose]

The story is called "Bethane," and it's in the Deryni Archives book that is all KK-penned stories.  Bethane remembers that time in flashback; the main part of the story takes place when Alaric breaks his arm falling from a tree, and Bronwyn runs for help, having already shared her lunch with Bethane.

[Liesel]

I remember reading a short story about how Barrett was blinded to save some Deryni children, and, if I remember correctly, a young Bethan and her husband (who certainly knew he was Deryni) appeared in that. I have vauge memories of the incident triggering a miscarriage, which might have contributed to her apparent madness by the time we meet her setting Alaric's arm.

Does anyone remember  any details from this story? What was it called, who wrote it, which issue of Deryni Archives it was published in?  How accurate is my memory of it?

Your memory is pretty accurate.  The story is in the anthology "The Deryni Archives".  It tells the story of when Alaric fell out of a tree and broke his arm, and Bethane set it (later, this was described from a different point of view, in "The King's Deryni").  It is told from Bethane's point of view, an a good portion of the story is a flashback; she is remembering the incident you describe. 

She was seventeen and expecting her first.  Her husband (Darrell) was Deryni.  Deryni had been teaching Deryni children secretly, but were betrayed.  The children were to be burned.  Lord Barrett De Laney exposed himself as Deryni and offered himself in exchange for the children.  His offer was accepted.  He was blinded with a hot poker.  Then Bethane's husband rescued him, but was himself killed (shot with arrows).  The child was stillborn.  The aftermath, described a bit later in the story:

And their own child, stillborn in the awful after-anguish following Darrell's death; and then, a long, long time that she lay sick and despondent at Saint Luke's, not caring if she lived or died, and something had snapped inside, never to be mended...

So....I think we can say more than, "which might have contributed to her apparent madness"; it seems to be clearly indicated in the text of the story, that it did indeed cause it or at least contribute to it.

[ReikiDeryni]

Spot on DesertRose, that is the short story I was referencing. It also explains why Alaric, well acts like Alaric.

[Kareina]

The story is called "Bethane," and it's in the Deryni Archives book that is all KK-penned stories.  Bethane remembers that time in flashback; the main part of the story takes place when Alaric breaks his arm falling from a tree, and Bronwyn runs for help, having already shared her lunch with Bethane.

That would explain my confusion the other day. I remembered the story, grabbed my copy of Deryni archives, turned to the story called Bethane, saw that it was set in the time Alaric was a child, and assumed that there were two different stories I was remembering, and set it aside and finished typing.  Flashback within the story makes more sense than two different stories.

[DerynifanK]

One sad thought I had on reading this story some years ago. If Alyce had not put in her will a clause forbidding Bronwyn to marry until she was 25, she might have married Kevin earlier and this whole Rimmel episode would never have happened with its awful consequences. I'm sure her intention was to protect her daughter but it shows that trying to control the actions of others from beyond the grave can have really bad unintended consequences.

[Laurna]

DFK, I agree with you. In medieval times, refusing to let a girl marry until she is 18 maybe 20 should be considered protection enough from high up nobles using her marriage as political. At 25, short of living in a convent, I am amazed she and Kevin had not already enjoyed each other's company in a more private way. Kevin didn't really need her dowry, he could  have just wed her sooner. And Alaric should have let it happen.

[Shiral]

I've never really understood why Alyce would stipulate anything about Bronwyn's future marriage in her will, especially when Bronwyn was just a newborn infant when she died. I think the Alyce's will plot-line has  a lot to do with KK not having her whole universe figured out while writing the second novel of her very first trilogy. I do agree that Kevin should have shrugged and married Bronwyn anyway at an earlier, more convenient time. Given his love for them both, I believe Alaric would have said the Ducal equivalent of  "fine with me" and let the marriage proceed.
Melissa

[Liesel]

I've been thinking a lot about the question I asked above.  I'm thinking now that the answer may lie in Bethane's past.

As I quoted above, in the story, Bethane, when her husband was killed "something snapped inside, never to be mended". 

Her husband's death, and thus her partial madness, was definitely due to the Deryni persecutions.  If Darrell had lived, and she had remained sane, there would have been no "holy shepherdess" for Rimmell to turn to.

On the other hand, Alaric did not know this whole backstory.  He did know, however, that Darrell, her love, had been Deryni and died trying to save someone else Deryni, in the short exchange between the child Alaric and Bethane.

[ReikiDeryni]

Well, considering all magick in the Deryniverse is somehow connected to Deryniness, Bethane would have to be Deryni or a descendant of one of the blocked ones. This very possibility was discussed multiple times throughout the Heirs of Saint Camber trilogy.