Once away from the Church’s grounds, I felt centered upon my
horse. It was a Liath Mactha, a grey of battle, and power flowed
up through its beating hooves to me from the earth. I felt well
again, and I rode to the castle of the Templars where I was first
assigned, there being no immediate fighting. I arrived just
after dinner to much cheering and fanfare, received a repast, and
joyously took another heated bath. My last conscious thought, as
I luxuriated in the huge bed and clean sheets that were now my
right, was a delirious joy at the quality of the plumbing system
of the castle.

He was right, the commercial establishment in this state really
wanted that trade agreement and what the establishment in this
state wants, it gets. The reporters were quashed and their
stories killed. Oh, I know that the powers that be have a liber-
al image in Minnesota but there is an iron hand beneath those
velvet gloves.

With the impending successful conclusion of the negotiations and
Kontar’s departure, the moment that both of us had avoided talk-
ing about was fast approaching. Kontar was the first to bring it
up, about a week before his departure, one night when he was at
my house.