Queen Ygraine has agreed to the marriage of her youngest daughter, Morgan. She seeks some reliable guards to escort her and Morgan north.
They join a sufficiently large and very competent force from Gorre. The party travels on the main roads.
Along the roads of Lambor, they meet an army of knights from Bedegraine County and Lambor, marching to raid Cameliard; they are fighting over border disputes.
At Catterick, King Uriens meets them in person. The escort is large enough to be safe even in dangerous Rheged, and the wedding party reaches Gaiholm without incident.
Gaiholm is a castle with a triple-sized motte, a bailey large enough to graze cattle inside, and tall timber walls atop a double-wide ditch and mound. Despite the size of the castle, the residents themselves are not gigantic.
Everyone from the northlands is here for the celebration. Margawse and Elaine, Morgan’s two elder sisters, are present with their children, so it is a great family reunion for the queen. Also present are the daughters’ husbands, King Lot of Lothian and King Nentres of Garloth. Many tribesmen loyal to Gorre also come in from the mountains all around for the festivities; these are all rough northern men with old-fashioned clothes and thick accents. Pagan rites are used exclusively.
The feast is lavish. Afterward, the queen tells the knights that she is going to remain in the north with her daughters for a while, and that they should ride home without her. She gives them gifts (worth about £1 each) for their help, sees to provisions for the journey, and arranges for a guide to get them to the road and to the borders.