Book 1, Chapter 10 Summary

The party returns home. The sky is gray, cold and leaden and so is the atmosphere at the palace. Camlach, his grandfather and the nobles huddle together in conversation, sometimes with raised voices. He passes his mother kneeling in prayers. She seems to be crying. The mood at the keep is as cold and brittle as the weather.

The falcon stays with Merlin, and he feeds him. One cold February day, Merlin goes up to see Galapas. He takes the falcon with him. Galapas compliments Merlin on setting the falcon's wing. The bird is placed on a ledge outside the cave.

Galapas feeds Merlin some stew and then listens to him talk about what is going on at his grandfather's house. Merlin tells him that the cave he and Cerdic found after following the ringdove and falcon was the same that...