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Kendrick sat in the Hall of Ar, wooden bench, seated beside dozens of his brothers in arms, members of The Silver He studied his sword as he sharpened it His spirits were broken His father&039;s passing had hurt hi as he had lived, the way that the word perceived his relationship with his father had troubled him MacGil was his true father He knew that, deep in his heart He treated him like a true father, and he knew that to MacGil he was a true son His true firstborn son Yet for the eyes of all the world, he was illegitimate Why? Only because his father chose another woman to be his queen

It was unfair He had accepted his role as bastard and had played the good son out of respect for his father He had dutifully repressed his feelings his entire life But now that his father was dead, and especially now that Gareth was naer accept the status quo So; it was just that he wanted the rest of the world to acknowledge that he was MacGil&039;s first born, that he was legitis

As MacGil sat there, sharpening his sith the stone, again and again, h the roos left unsaid to his father He wished he had rateful he was for raising him as one of his own To tell hiht, he was his true father, and he his true son To tell him the words he had never spoken: that he loved him

His father had been taken away fro

Kendrick sharpened the sword harder, digging the stone into it, as rage rose up within him He would find his father&039;s murderer And he would kill him himself He was determined Many suspects floated in his head, and hour to hour he pondered one after the next The one he pondered most of all, unfortunately, was the one he was er half-brother, Gareth

Deep down he could not help but wonder if Gareth was behind it so skipped over for Gwendolyn Raised with him, only a few years apart, he knew, too well, Gareth&039;s devious nature; as long as he had known hi firstborn He had viewed Kendrick as an obstacle He felt that Gareth would stop at nothing to have the kingship

Kendrick sharpened the sword as he pondered other suspects; there were many enemies his father had accumulated, enemies of the state, enemies he had conquered in battle; rival lords These hit less close to home and were easier to dwell on He hoped it was one of them And he would explore each one But no ain he found hi to his half-brother

Kendrick sat back and looked around at the other Silver, alltheir weapons on this dreary day The su and showers The day after the sue, was always considered a day of maintenance, in preparation for the new season It was also the day the Legion left for The Hundred Kendrick recalled his new squire, Thor, leaving, and he sreat things of him

As Kendrick studied the other members of the Silver,around the table, joking with each other, all with forrateful, as always, to be a member of their ranks They had accepted him as a true er, he had been greeted warily; many assu royalty, would look down on them But slowly, over tiht his way up, side by side with them at the hardest battles, and they had come to see he was like them Eventually, they had accepted hireat pride in that Whenever anyone had tried to show hi&039;s son, he had always insisted on being treated as one of the coenuine, and they had come to love him Over many years, Kendrick knew that he had become the most loved member of the royal family - even more so than his father He was the only one, in fact, that the Silver respected and treated as a true soldier, in his own right

Thathe had done in this world All he&039;d ever wanted was to be a true and respected warrior of the Silver Looking around, he saw the respect in his brothers in arms&039; eyes, and could tell thatto look to him as a leader Since the death of his father, more than one of them had come up to hi He could feel they wanted him as their leader But his father clearly had wanted Gwen to rule, and above all, Kendrick felt he must honor his father&039;s wishes That hat mattered most to hi the throne and worried for the future of the kingdoh to lead a revolt of the men If it came down to it, then he would rather rule over Gareth, only for the sake of the well-being of the Ring When Gas older and able, he would gladly hand power to her

"What did you think of the cere down his axe handle Atht-red hair and beard, froht with him in too many battles He was a close and trusted friend

"What do you think of your younger brother&039;s being king?" he added

Kendrick looked back at him, saw his earnest expression, and saw behind hi for his response He could see in their eyes how badly they all wanted hi - and how anxious they were for his brother&039;s rule No one trusted his brother That much was obvious

Kendrick debated how to respond, how much to say It was clear fro him on What he wanted to ansas: I think it is horribly unfair Gareth is unfit to rule It is a disaster He will bring our kingdo over in his grave, and so must be done

But he could not say this Not to these men Not now He would demoralize them, and possibly cause a revolt He had to think carefully of his next move, of how best to handle the situation In the meantime, he had to be careful with his words

"Tis," he answered, nonco to be satisfied But he knew that they were not