VIII
Ad Indagatio
‘For a Quest’
The Metelli and their friends arrived back at the hillfort late the night before. Leaving Ynis Wytrin had not been as easy as arriving, for even Briana and Einion could not fully fathom the hidden ways through the misty marshes.
In leaving the Isle, the party also experienced the sad descent of their mood, and it affected all of them, including the children who went through bouts of plaintiveness, or yielded to sullen silence. However, a part of them yearned to return home, to see their friends there.
As they rode, Lucius went over in his mind the letters he needed to write, to his mother, and his brother Caecilius, his sister Clarinda. For years they had been distant, virtual strangers, though they were blood. For some reason, the urge to write them wa
