Will Hawkins

Boarding schools are the destruction of many parent–child relationships, I know because I was placed in one, not because of anything I did, but because my parents wanted me to have a more or less permanent locus as my father was in the army and was being moved from station to station quite frequently. I hated it at first, but elected to go back for the second year to prove I could swing it. By the third year I elected to return because I was doing so well and enjoying my mates so much. It was good for me too, as I graduated at the end of year four as valedictorian of my class with a grade point average of 3.98. MisterWill

It looks like there is a very gteat period of learning on the part of both father and son starting up. Hopefully it will all come out in the wash eventually, and as far as Damien is concerned, the sooner the better. MisterWill

My comments about reading this story could be an exact quote of Lorenzo's. I, too am pleased to read a continuing story about Rothenia. MisterWill

Monagemous is possibly a word that does not exist in the Rothenian vocabulary!

The prefix 'Fitz' before a man's name frequently is used to imply a relationship of his parents 'on the wrong side of the blanket', though it does not carry any negativity to the bearer, it does imply that he cannot inherit a title unless his parentage is acknowledged by his father.

I can believe that both Elijah and Enoch are angels because this is a tale about Rothenia, a country where miracles are know ro occur.

If Dressner is dead he will float to the surface of the well in about 3 days as the gasses of decomposition collect. Bodies thrown into the sea sink only because of weights bound to them, and the marine animals that eat the meat of a corpse do not live in fresh water. A human corpse is a very difficult thing to dispose of totally.

During the Second World War the Nazis hid millions of dollars worth of the art they had stolen from Jewish families in abandoned salt mines. An excellent idea really as the salty surroundings kept the air dry and prevented any mold from forming on the paintings. Of course the allies, at least the Americans and the British attempted to locate the original owners and return the art to them, but many, many had died in the gas chambers and so the Allies were unable to find them or all the heirs. A significant percentage of these stolen works ended up in museums in the US and Britain. This is not meant to say that the caves our heroes are going to explore will contain a treasure of stolen art, but is merely information for the reader about caves and salt mines in occupied Europe.

In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus: Eins, zwei, g'suffa Da läuft so manches Fäßchen aus: Eins, zwei, g'suffa Da hat so manche braver Mann: Eins, zwei, g'suffa Gezeigt was er so vertragen kann Schon früh am Morgen fing er an Und spät am Abend kam er heraus So schön ist's im Hofbräuhaus.

I wonder if the restaurant mentioned in this chapter is any relation to the Hofbrau House of song (in Munich)? For your European readers the Buffalo meat mentioned in the information about the Hofbrau is not the same breed as may be found roaming the plains of North America. The NA bison, which was hunted nearly to extinction by 1800 has a large hump and wide horns and the European buffalo is found mainly in Africa, though the American bison is returning slowly toward the numbers of antiquity there is now a significant percentage of domestic bovid interbreeding haven taken place. The American Bison is now a protected animal with the designation of 'the American Buffalo' and is now the national animal of the USA.

Tip = garbage dump, frequently a hill of excavated earth from a surface coal mine. MisterWill

I am disappointed with this contemporary view of the capitol city. It has been infected with all the ills of modern urban life, tough kids, drugs, etc. It was a pleasant antique city in previous chapters. It hs managed to absorb all the ills of modern life and lose the charm.

pronounced klōs, as in near by.

Out of curiosity I opened up a bit of a Bruckner Concert just a few moments ago, I was interested in hearing what our characters were going to go through at the concert. I see now why I am not familiar with Bruckner's work — need I say more — I could only listen to 10-15 minutes of it. I think I will leave Bruckner to the two in this story. MisterWill.

The act of being a first-time bottom is sometimes overplayed in gay stories --- if the top knows what he is doing, it need not be painful and sexually it is the most rewarding position --- manipulation of the prostate can be the ultimate in sexual satisfaction. On the other hand, if the top is uncaring or ignorant about the beaking-in period, it can be, as depicted here, most painful. Pleasure for the top may be assumed, but he should take care of the bottom also. MisterWill

In the comments, reference is made to Rothenia and the characters from that series. Whoa, the story I have read about Rothenia was set in Medieval times. Did I miss about 1,500 years of Rothenian history in my reading?

I have just finished reading the Golden Portifa, as was mentioned in one of the comments above, it is necessary to make frequent reference to an Encyclopedia of Antiquities of some sort to understand all of your wrting, Mike, your knowledge of the Middle Ages is encyclopedic. But in reading about Rothenia, it was worth the effort – it certainly gives a different view of Europe in that era. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge of contemprary England in this series as well. MisterWill

God! I know a lot about oestrua in horses – just ask me about breech births and emergency midwifery in equines, and I will really show off!

I have a suspicion that Prince Staszek is not too eager to enter into a marriage with any princess, or am I just being super sensative because this story is published on GA?

A naked child with dark hair and small blue horns, wow! Now, what sort of a creature is that? And what does it being in an ancient castle mean? We have created a pattern of mysteries that will be fun to work out!

So Karl was persuaded to return to service by a ghost boy. Is is possible that the ghost is not a true spectre, but a manifestation of Karl's subconcious desire to serve the family and to express his love for Brunhild? At any rate, an interesting relationship. A horse greeting someone it recognizes as a friend will make small nickering noises, rub its cheek against the person and take small nibbles with its soft lips of the friend's arm or shoulder. It is really a pleasant thing to see and expresses the love of the animal perfectly. Once, when I was a lad of about 8 or so, my father and I visited a friend of his that owned a large pasture next door to his home where he kept two horses and I was sent out to bring in the horses with the instruction to 'just walk in a circle around them and they will follow you back to the barn'. I am sure you can imagine the series of emotions passing through my skinny little frame as I walked out to the horses, scared to death, walked around them as instructed, then with great pride, lead them back to the pasture gate. The event created an affection in me for horses that has lasted for the suceeding 80 years. Mister Will

I believe I get more enjoyment about reading these storys the second time. I, too have a tendency to speedread. It is a bad habit, picked up from my years as a teacher, not reading for pleasure, but reading student's essays and refeence material for lectures. I fend, however, that in speedreading for pleasure, I miss many of the subtile inuendos and hints that the author has worked so hard at inserting into the chapters. It is only by reading a second time that I am able to pick up many of them. I also have some trouble reading a story by a British author, most of the British words I am familiar with, but every once in a while a different meaning sneaks into the word usage and I have an unfortunate tendency just to skip my eye over the offending word, so I miss much of the 'under current' expressed in the chapters, but by re-reading I can slow down enough to take the time to look up the offending word in a British\American dictionary and thereby enjoy the author's intent more. "Two lands divided by a common language." Was that George Bernard Shaw?

stand of corn Corn in this sense is the British use of the word and refers to wheat, not the American sense, as a synonym for maize.

Chasen has regained his true form and with it his horn, and perhaps his magic.

one of the edge -- one of the edges