Part III Moors & Marshes
Would that I could be free of him; then I may love, my soul untainted.
Yet, he haunts me, and I forsake him not.
Quote from Lias, heroine of the novel, Drakeblud Manor
It was suggested that Rouland Blount I was the most egregiously cunning man.
The early records remark on his charm and handsome countenance, while the latter accounts reveal his more diabolical nature.
Though he was granted a duchy by King Thourton and given a place on the royal council, it was not enough for the then-duke.
Many said Blount wormed his way into Thourton’s good graces, seeking to take the place of the king’s childless state.
Many letters and documents note the relationship between the king and duke, showing their growing friendliness and regard for one another.
There is, in fact, an existing will that notes a change in Thourton’s lineage, marking Blount as his heir should he never have a son.
Many suspected Blount’s intentions, but they were all written off by the king, some even flogged or imprisoned for their sentiments.
However, Thourton’s affinity for the duke was, as we now know, faulty.
Thourton’s late marriage to the youthful Carin Doyle produced a child.
A month after the announcement, Blount enacted his coup, murdering the king, his wife, and unborn child, and instituting the fifty-seven-year reign of King Rouland Blount I.
Excerpt from A Complete History of West Auld, written by Lord Edmaund Fishere, Earl of Mouroc, published posthumously in 1575