Whatever change had befallen Skymount, it had seemed to affect the king the most, who had grown despondent. She had overheard him one night confiding in his chaplain, the High Feather, that he had no idea what was going on or what had become of his court or why his own vassals and friends seemed afraid to come near him, or how recalcitrant they became when he left Skymount on business to their own domains. If even the king himself did not know the cause of what was happening right before his eyes, then something has really gone afoul. Even his sons had grown distant from one another. It was as if some dark pall had fallen over the entire castle.