King's Ride

[Laurna]

Per the Codex, Fianna is an independant sovereignty after breaking away from Bremagni 300+ years before. It is independent of Gwynedd, Bremagni and the Forcinne Buffer states.  So  younger sons might often be running round the eleven kingdoms lookng for favors.
If you review the codex under Colin Arnaud.  We learn that Colin was only 18 years old at the time. He was the younger son of the Sovereign Count of Finna, so not the heir. I find the wording "He contrived with Charissa"pg67 and "Colin...conspired with Charissa"pg 98 to be far more condemning of Colin's duplicity in Brion's death, than is suggested in the novel. Whether Colin was aware of Charissa's drugged wine, or whether he was a dupe in the matter, he might have also been aware or a dupe in trying to keep Morgan from returning to Rhemuth. Maybe he subtly made certain that Morgan's returning party was in the location of the ambush at the right time.  Colin being wounded in that ambush could have been to cover loose ends. 

I don't like thinking of Colin as being that deep in the plot, but I also can not imagine him being nave enough to take wine from a strange woman and then let the king drink it. Just not very likely from a son of Fianna whose entire economy is based on the high quality patronage of their own country's wine.  He would never have a chance giving bad wine to one of his father's wealthiest/highest ranking clients.

[Nezz]

I don't like thinking of Colin as being that deep in the plot, but I also can not imagine him being nave enough to take wine from a strange woman and then let the king drink it. Just not very likely from a son of Fianna whose entire economy is based on the high quality patronage of their own country's wine.  He would never have a chance giving bad wine to one of his father's wealthiest/highest ranking clients.

I'm far more inclined to think that RR took advantage of the Unreliable Narrator (Brother Theo) plot device to say that "historical evidence suggests that Colin conspired with Charissa" just to make the Codex story a little more interesting/controversial. I'd always inferred Colin's innocence while reading Deryni Rising.

As for the wine itself, Colin had already sampled it by the time he'd offered some to Brion, and as a wine expert, he'd judged it as acceptable for a king's palate before he gave over to the king. I mean, if he'd been a part of the plot, I doubt he'd have admitted that he'd gotten it from someone else.

[Laurna]

I don't like thinking of Colin as being that deep in the plot, but I also can not imagine him being nave enough to take wine from a strange woman and then let the king drink it. Just not very likely from a son of Fianna whose entire economy is based on the high quality patronage of their own country's wine.  He would never have a chance giving bad wine to one of his father's wealthiest/highest ranking clients.

I'm far more inclined to think that RR took advantage of the Unreliable Narrator (Brother Theo) plot device to say that "historical evidence suggests that Colin conspired with Charissa" just to make the Codex story a little more interesting/controversial. I'd always inferred Colin's innocence while reading Deryni Rising.

As for the wine itself, Colin had already sampled it by the time he'd offered some to Brion, and as a wine expert, he'd judged it as acceptable for a king's palate before he gave over to the king. I mean, if he'd been a part of the plot, I doubt he'd have admitted that he'd gotten it from someone else.

I can agree with your assement.

[tmcd]

I assumed that Charissa tampered with Colin of Fianna's mind to induce him to go along.

In The Quest for Saint Camber, ch. 2, Denis Arilan mentioned getting the flask of merasha'd wine from Colin, and fuzzed his mind, and apparently also got from him that a "mysterious lady" had given it to him. I hope that, because Arilan is such a schemer, and he knew that the wine had been instrumental in killing Brion, that he also asked Colin whether he was guilty.

[Nezz]

It also occurred to me that Ian assumed that Colin was an innocent, and I would think that, for a successful mission, Charissa would want her assets working together rather than trying to manipulate one another. So that also tells me that Colin is likely innocent.