Word Usage Key is at the end. The brackets after a character eg CLAIRE (4nc) indicates Claire is a character who is 4 years old and a character not encountered before. Ages of incomers are in Earth years at this point and of Folk in Castle years. (4 Folk yrs ≈ 5 Earth yrs. l is lunes, t is tenners.)

30th of Towin Day 3

Erin and Nightjar met as agreed in the Greathall before the dinner. She had managed to acquire a pair of shoes to dance in, and Nightjar’s reactions to her adjusted lacing, which had created an attractive, and she hoped inviting, décolleté garment, and the borrowed shawl were all she had hoped for. They discovered they both had a liking for very rare red meat, and they enjoyed their blue aurochs steaks with the pungent pink sauce,(1) sour gourd(2) and waterweed.(3) They spake of craft affairs throughout the meal.

When the tables were being rearranged for the dancing to begin, and the musicians were tuning up, Erin noticed Xera and waved. Xera came over to them, and smiled at them both. She asked no questions, but just remarked, “I’m going for a glass of wine whilst they set up. You wish one?” They went with her, and all had a glass of the strong, full bodied, perse(4) coloured wine.

Nightjar asked, “You singing, Xera?”

“Yes, but later, after the first set of dances. My sorrow, but I have to go. I’m with my family, and their father needs me to keep the little ones under control here.” They all laught, and Xera left. Erin and Nightjar found a table to drink their wine at. They danced, and then they moved to another table, so Erin could better hear Xera sing. She was good with a glorious soaring coloratura soprano voice, and the Folk joined in as she sang a number of her own songs, most of which were pointedly satirical, and other than one of Will, Erin wished she knew of whom Xera was singing. Her last song was tragic and was of famine and desperation. It ended singing of the deadth(5) of many, but the survival of most after feasting on Jadda.

“I didn’t understand that. What is Jadda, Nightjar?” Erin asked.

Nightjar paused for thought before replying. “There is an old tale that tells of a long over famine when Folk were reducet(6) to eating items of leather clothing and what plant material they could find. Things of that nature that one would not normally consider food are Jadda. If eating it keeps you alive and it doesn’t kill you it is Jadda. The song that Xera sang is one of hers but it is baest(7) on the tale. The mention of boots, belts, grass, bark, moss and the like are mostly refert(8) to in the tale but not entirely. If you don’t know what she was singing of I’m not surpriest(9) you didn’t understand the song. Xera craftet the song years over when her children were young for them to more easily learn the tale. Many of her songs were craftet(10) for that purpose, and are widely uest(11) thus by others, for the young have to learn of our past that they may one day manage our present and guide their young to our future.

“The Jadda song is one of the survival songs traditionally sung at fourth Quarterday after dinner. Most of the songs are ancient, but Xera’s Jadda song is regarded as a modern classic of equal merit with the others. Whilst a perfectly acceptable word Jadda is also uest as a curse, not oft for it is regardet(12) as obscene to mock the trials of a starving and dying Folk. It is only uest thus when the person using it is in a similar plight and facing deadth, for then they are entitled to use it so. The word itself is not regardet as obscene you understand, but the mockery is. Would you like to dance?” They drank a little more wine, and though they spent most of the eve dancing, and spaeking(13) of craft matters they reached an undiscussed agreement. They had both found out as much of each other as they felt they needed to know in the afternoon. When they decided to leave Nightjar held his hand out to her, and without discussing it they went back to his chambers.

Making love with Nightjar was a sublime experience for Erin. She felt treasured in the way she had always believed women were only cared for by men in færie tales, and it was wonderful. Nightjar had undresst(14) her with much care and many kisses, and carried her to bed. He was a hugely powerful man, and he carried her effortlessly. By the time they maekt(15) love she was so aroused as to be almost delirious with desire. His loving was tender, fulfilling, and maekt her feel more womanly than she had ever believed it was possible to feel. Her wedding night was a night she knew she would never forget.

Nightjar, whilst by no means an inexperienced man, had only ever slept with four women, and Erin was the most responsive woman he had ever heard of, and she taekt(16) him to highths(17) of manhood he wasn’t aware existed. He didn’t realise Erin had put the horrors of her past firmly in her past, and in her attempt to create a new life, and a new Erin, she was giving him everything she had to give. Had he but known it, she was giving herself in return for that hug he had given her when she had needed it so much. By the time they slept it was almost five. When she awoke she kissed Nightjar, and they maekt love again. Nightjar telt(18) her, “We need a bigger suite of chambers for the two of us don’t we? When we arise we’ll go to the Master at arms and organise it.” Then he tickled her just enough to give her only one possible response, and she loved it.

30th of Towin Day 3

Josephine was a fifty-seven year old mathematics teacher. She had another three years to go before she could retire, and it couldn’t happen fast enough for her. In her opinion it had been over twenty years since she had taught anything worthwhile, and she regarded herself as a highly paid child minder. The worst youngsters were, to use a phrase coined by a colleague of hers, socially deranged, and the best youngsters she taught expected everything to be easy. If they didn’t achieve the results they felt they had a right to expect they blamed their teachers. They certainly didn’t believe they should have to put in any effort for the results they wanted. The materials they had to learn had been steadily becoming easier for decades, and still most couldn’t learn the required subject matter. They left school with a sheaf of certificates which meant nothing. Even the best of them were illiterate, innumerate and knew essentially nothing of anything. In her view they just weren’t educated.

Worse still, from her point of view, they were no different from the younger teaching staff. In her opinion, senior management in all the schools she had taught at were, in her own words, “Politicly correct arse lickers, at best apologists for the pupils and at worst cynical career chasers, usually both.” Despite what they regularly said, she contended none of them had any concern for the welfare of their staff, whom they were prepared to sacrifice on the slightest of grounds, often simply because they didn’t like them, or they were inconveniently honest. A committed educator, she had thought deeply about why and how education had come to such a poor pass. The usual explanation, what goes on in schools is merely a reflection of what happens in the outside world, she accepted as true, but it was glib and explained nothing in any depth.

She had struggled to come to terms with any explanation, and then she’d heard a radio program concerning language in the car on the way home from work. The two persons who were being interviewed were highly respected academics, one a French psychologist and the other a Californian linguistics analyst. The particular issue they were trying to explain was why native speakers of Chinese languages, amongst others, had trouble with the pronunciation of the letters l and r. Their contention was simple, since neither sound was present in many Chinese languages the brains of those who spake such languages did not recognise the sounds because they were unable to hear them. The brain had to be trained to hear sounds. Since they did not hear them, they did not master the sounds in their speech in any language. With a lot of practice such a person could learn to hear the sounds and hence pronounce them appropriately, but that usually only occurred in bilingual, second generation immigrants. The program was a revelation to Josephine’s understanding of the matter and explained away a number of loose ends in the issues she had grappled with.

She had taught a low achieving class a number of years before with two girls in it, Lynsey and Lindsay who when she had asked one a question had both said, “Which one of us, Miss?” When she had repeated the girl’s name it was clear to her they did not hear the difference in the pronunciation, and she had just assumed it to be typical behaviour of not over bright members of the underclass who experience had taught her could not be bothered to listen to what any other than their own kind said because they expected to not understand, and thus only heard what they wanted to. Another incident with a different girl in a similar class she was team teaching with a colleague gave her reason to say, “Bekki, those who insist on aping the behaviour of a slut must not be surprised when the world treats them as one.” The child had insisted she had called her a slut and her mother had complained. Her colleague’s witness statement had been the end of the matter, but she had realised Bekki had only heard two words out of her entire remark, her own name and slut and had put the rest together out of thin air.

That children, and adults too, of the underclass did not listen to, and thus hear, what the educated said explained a lot to her, and she remembered the remarks of a long retired colleague, a Highland Scot. “The English have sloppy speech. When an ill-educated Scot speaks you can hear the h when it follows a w. You can hear the differences amongst where, wear, ware and were and amongst weather, whether and wether. When even a highly educated Sassenach(19) speaks they all sound the same.” She had finally put a picture together which told her those who can not hear invariably do not learn as much as those who can, irrespective of their intelligence.

The problem with senior management was easy to understand. They could be relied upon to always act in their own perceived best interests and would sacrifice any one who got in their way. They were just nasty persons who in order to reach their positions had had to trample a lot of others underfoot, and it had become their modus operandi. In the brutal and coarse words of another colleague, “They are just natural cunts. They have to be to get there, and there’s no cure. We, the rank and file, do our damnedest to give our own children stability of education. They on the other hand drag theirs all over the country in their pursuit of promotion. We can afford integrity and scruples, they can’t.”

She had divorced nearly twenty years ago, and had had the intention of never marrying again. Her four children had all left school within a few years of her divorce, and all had gone their own way. She’d had a few short term relationships since, but none had lasted, and she hadn’t been bothered. The world she lived in, as she saw it, was in such a poor state she wasn’t bothered about much.

Then she arrived on Castle. To her it was a breath of fresh air. A clean, decent world, with clean, decent people who stood no nonsense from any one. No parasites, if you didn’t work you dien.(20) Incomers had to live by the codes of the residents, if they didn’t they dien. Which in her book was exactly as it should be. At her interview lastday,(21) she had telt the Master at arms staff she was interested in learning to use a wood lathe. She’d no experience, but she’d seen a demonstration a year or so before and hadn’t been able to put it out of her mind. Weir had been sent for, and he had accepted Josephine as a lærer.(22)

By the time of her interview she’d understood in outline how Castle worked, and she accepted she needed to have family of some sort. She preferred to marry rather than be adopted as a grandmother, though she accepted any one she married would probably have grandchildren. She had met Wels, a sixty year old dyer, at the dance lasteve.(23) He was a widower of several years standing and had thirteen grandchildren. He had been seeking a wife for some time, but he had admitted, “I wasn’t looking very hard. Then the incursion happent,(24) and I had no excuse not to be a little more positive looking.”

They had liekt(25) each other on sight and had agreed they would consider the situation for a day and go to the dance nexteve(26) too, and see where their thoughts had led them. They met at the Greathall and had a drink before dinner. They dined at a table for two, and over dinner reached agreement. They danced till gone ten when both admitted to being a little tired and decided to return to Wels’ chambers. On the way there Wels said with a wry laugh, “I’m long out of practice, my dear. I was trying to remember how long it has been, and my sorrow but I can’t.”

“I appreciate it’s easier for a woman,” Josephine said, “but it must be some time for me too. Never mind, we can help each other, and at the very least that will be enjoyable.”

They both laught, and indeed it turned out to be more than just enjoyable. Josephine had to explain to Wels what she meant and what a bicycle was when she had said to him, “It must be like riding a bicycle.”(27)

30th of Towin Day 3

Michelle was forty-six and had been a happily married woman. She had never had any children, but neither she nor Rodney had been over bothered. They thought they had always been far too involved with each other to have made good parents. Rodney had been a high earning executive who had never been able to understand her passion for baking and preserving the fruits and vegetables she grew in their large garden when they could afford to buy bread, cakes and jam and the dozens of other things she made without her having to work so hard, though he had always admitted her produce was tastier than shop bought.

Rodney had liked to play golf, but he also enjoyed relaxing and entertaining in their immaculately kept garden where he had the very latest, and most expensive, in barbecue equipment and a portable bar. Their large summerhouse and two storey conservatory enabled alfresco entertaining in all weathers. He not only loved his wife he was proud of her. The envy of their friends, whose gardens could not compete with theirs even with the services of paid gardeners, made him prouder still of Michelle. Rodney had died two years ago. She had been shattered by his early death, and it had been her hobby that provided her with a lifeline to reality.

When the reality of Castle had sunk in, she realised she had an opportunity to try making cheese, which was something she had always wished to do. She had maekt yoghurt, but never cheese. Castle also forced her to see she was not happy on her own, and it was time to marry again. She appreciated the necessity for it, but that was not her major reason. She simply wished someone to share her life with. At her interview earlier in the day she had been accepted as a lærer dairy crafter by Orchid Mistress cheese maker, and she’d gratefully accepted the offer of introductions to men seeking a wife at the dinner dance that eve. After three introductions, to men she had telt she was not interested in for marriage, she had been introduced to Musk, a fifty year old cereal grower. He was a big, powerfully built man, with a deep voice and a completely bald head, and unlike the other three she sensed he was truly interested in her. He asked if she would dine with him, and she was happy to accepted his invitation.

At the dinner dance they sat at one of the larger tables with five other couples. They both had the clear pheasant and sorrel soup which Michelle found to be much more intensely flavoured than she had expected. Musk was fascinated by her analysis of how much reduction the stock must have undergone to produce so intense a flavour, and to his delight realised she was very knowledgeable concerning food. “Do you like sea food, Michelle?” he asked.

“Yes, why?”

“I have been telt a shipment of graill(28) arrivt(29) this forenoon and they are being servt(30) thiseve.”(31) Musk sounded as though he expected her to understand the implications of this.

“I don’t understand. What’s graill?”

Musk smiled and replied, “They are large crustaceans I believe. Any hap they live in the sea, but come ashore a few nights a year. Like lobster they are red when cookt,(32) and they taste similar, but they have a much more intense and complex flavour. However, even I can’t eat a whole one, and usually four or more diners share one depending on how big they are. They are absolutely delicious if you like seafood, but are not oft available. I should warn you they are steamt(33) and servt in the shell on a huge ashet(34) which you need to put the bits of shell on as you braek(35) them out of it, and it can become a little messy. Don’t you have them whence you came?”

“I’ve never heard of them, or anything remotely like what you described, but I am willing to try it if you like. What are they served with?”

“Usually, a spicet(36) butter sauce and vegetables, but I don’t know which ones are on the menu thiseve. Do you know, Swansdown?”

Musk’s question was directed to the young woman dining opposite him. “No. But you haven’t explaint(37) how we eat graill, Musk.” Swansdown had a look on her face that Michelle couldn’t interpret.

Musk grinned and indicated Swansdown was to continue. “If you consider shelling them is messy wait till you eat them. Graill is traditionally eaten with your fingers. Children are telt the tradition goes back to days of famine, at a time when not all Folk were considert(38) of equal worth. Sharing the little food available was necessary because, such is the nature of Castle, for any to survive as many as possible have to survive. It became as important to share the experience of dining as equals as to equally share food, for all were equally able to find some food. When graill were available they were available in quantity and all had enough to eat for a change. Fedd(39) to the point of surfeit, in times of hardship, the story tells of happy Folk feeding each other in joy with their fingers from their own plate. Somehow all became equal with sticky fingers and a sticky face.

“That is one of the few tales left from before the Fell Year, and though none is sure how much truth there is in it, certainly all Folk are now considert to be of equal worth. The tale is presentet(40) as a song which is one of those always sung at fourth Quarterday after dinner. We still retain the tradition of each diner finger feeding her dinner partner from her plate as a celebration of our survival, and though we only do it once now, more oft is considert unseemly, it is considert important that we do. Because of the mess, the kitcheners(41) will provide larger than usual napkins and finger bowls.”

A kitchener arrived to take their orders and Musk asked her, “What is being servt with the graill, Herleva?”

“The cooks suggest thumb siezt(42) mixt(43) roots and seagreen(44) with a reedroot(45) and tansy spicet butter sauce, but there are other choices too, and salad maekt up any way you like from fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds.”

Musk looked questioningly at Michelle and she smiled and nodded saying, “We should like the graill please.”

Musk added, “The cook’s recommendations sound excellent. I’ll have those. Michelle?”

“I’m happy to have what ever you suggest, Musk.”

Herleva maekt a note of their requirements and moved on to the other diners on the table. The folkbirtht(46) having heard graill were available were all explaining to their partners and after a minute Herleva smiled at them all and said, “Excellent! Graill for twelve on this table. I like it when none on one of my tables has to move. I’ll just clear some of the cutlery and tableware and tell the cooks, before I bring your cutlery and remove the rest.” She was back in a minute or so with three colleagues and what looked to Michelle more like three trays of workshop tools than cutlery, finger bowls that looked like small wash basins and napkins the size of bath towels.

Michelle noticed that some diners were moving from one table to another. “It’s so all those eating graill are servt at the same tables. The plates and cutlery requiert(47) need the space,” Musk explained.

The smell of the graill when they arrived on the three foot long oval ashets was intoxicating. Kitcheners placed the ashets in front of the diners, and others soon had the vegetables and the jugs of piping hot sauce on the table. Michelle noted the graill appeared to be a heavily armoured creature, a foot and a half long and a span both high and wide, and they were sharing it with the couple sitting opposite them.

Swansdown said, “You’re the expert, Musk, I’ll leave it to you to shell it.” She said to Michelle and her partner, Tenor, “It doesn’t require that much strongth,(48) but it is an acquiert(49) skill, and I’d rather not risk embarrassing myself.”

Watching Musk, Michelle said, “Even so, I’m not sure I’m strong enough to tackle it, even if I knew how.”

Musk maekt short work of the graill with the implements provided and soon had it out of its shell. “They are essentially one large block of meat,” he explained. “Unlike lobster there is no meat in the legs, which are all very small, and they have no claws. It’s just the shell is very tough. The inedible parts remain in the shell if they are shellt(50) by someone who knows what he is doing,” he smiled and confessed, “and I’m an expert. Like prawn, the intestine is down the back.” He removed the intestine as he spake and then featly(51) divided the graill in half vertically from front to back and then into quarters putting a quarter on each of their plates.

They helped themselfs(52) to vegetables and the sauce. Musk tucked his napkin below his chin to protect his clothes, and Michelle noted the other folkbirtht diners did the same, like the other newfolk she followed suit. Musk said with a smile, “Inelegant, my dear, but I do assure you necessary.” Michelle maekt sure her clothes were protected and watching Swansdown, braekt(53) a piece of grail off a corner, dipped it in the sauce and taekt her first mouthful.

“This is absolutely delicious, it’s far tastier than any lobster I have ever eaten and the sauce is superb,” she telt Musk.

“Not bad is it?” he grinned at her before waving a kitchener over. “Two glasses of ice calt(54) spirits, please.” He looked berount(55) to see the other folkbirtht on the table nodding and suggested, “You’d better bring twelve glasses, please.” The man nodded. They continued with their dinner, and the kitchener returned shortly with a tray of tiny glasses filled to the brim with clear liquid which he provided each of the diners with. “Try it, Michelle,” Musk suggested, “but sips only. It’s powerful, eighty hundredths alcohol. It’s easy to overdo it because it’s so calt, but I do assure you it is the only thing to drink with graill.” The other diners must have agreed because they were all sipping from the tiny glasses too.

Michelle sipped her drink with her dinner, and it was a very good combination. She watched Swansdown take a piece of graill dip it in sauce and offer it to Tenor, as he opened his mouth she moved it away a little making him move towards her. After teasing him for a few seconds, when she fed him she put her fingertips in his mouth for him to suck the sauce off. Michelle thought it to be rather erotic, and when Swansdown winked at her she blushed. Tenor in his turn fed Swansdown the same way. She noted the other folkbirtht feeding their partners in the same way and winking too. It was a very public display of eroticism. Like the other newfolk, when it was her turn she knew how to play the game and was amazed at her sexual arousal. She didn’t blush when Musk winked at her when she had his fingertips in her mouth, and she too winked as she fed him.

Michelle now understood why feeding your partner more than once was considered unseemly, it was far too close to making love in public. She doubted that the tale as telt to children would include the eroticism of it all, but then she thought with the Folk anything was possible. By the time she had eaten three-quarters of her quarter graill, she had finished her drink and vegetables, most of which though delicious she couldn’t identify. She looked at her fingers and napkin and realised why the napkin was the size it was and was grateful for the finger bowl which a kitchener had half filled with warm water from a large jug. “Musk, that was absolutely the best meal I can remember eating, and I love the Folk tradition, but that’s all I can eat. It seems criminal to waste this. Can you finish it? May I have a glass of something less powerful?”

Musk beckoned a kitchener over and asked, “May we have a glass of the rosé please and another of this?” holding his spirits glass up.

“Certainly, Musk. The graill live up to expectation?”

“Superb as always, Polecat. Grangon is truly a Master.” Musk taekt Michelle’s plate and served himself the remaining vegetables and sauce saying, “I’m known to be very fond of graill, my mum sayt(56) I was a glutton for them, but since they are only available in quantity once a year, and a dozen or so come ashore once, or twice or very occasionally thrice at other times, I don’t worry of it over much. However, I have friends in the kitchens like Polecat, who is the Manager in charge of the kitcheners, and Grangon, who has charge of the fish cooks, who always make sure I am informt(57) when they are available.” The drinks arrived, and Musk finished his meal and ordered a glass of rosé too. “May I make a suggestion for your dessert, Michelle?”

“I can’t eat another mouthful, Musk, honestly.”

“I was going to suggest a ceël.(58) It’s a fruit I know Earth doesn’t have, delicious and the size of a small pear.”

“I’ll try one, but I may not finish it.”

“That’s all right. I’ll finish it for you with my cheese if you can’t, but there is always a ten minute space between courses. It enables the kitcheners to catch up with themselfs and the diners to allow the previous course to settle at bit.”

Now the main course was over and the kitcheners were clearing the tables, conversation became their priority with a view to seeing if they could reach agreement. Musk, as she had already suspected, turned out to be an amusing man with an ability to see the funny side of human frailty including his own. He telt her he had seven grown up children and twenty-two grandchildren, and he’d lost his wife Woodlark, three years over, to an unknown complaint which had wasted her to naught, and led to her deadth within three lunes. He had taken a long time to come to terms with losing her, and he was being pressed by his grandchildren to provide them with a granny.

In turn Michelle telt of the loss of Rodney and them never having had children. Musk’s grandchildren were she explained of great interest to her if they managed to reach agreement. They both wished to share their life with someone because it was the kind of person they were. It was no surprise to her when Musk admitted to being somewhat of an epicure, but it was a surprise to him to learn of her passion for cooking and preserving, despite her knowledge of food. He had been right, she required no help to finish her ceël, but she swapped a bit for some of his cheese, which he informed her was an aegt(59) cheese maekt from ewe’s milk with the addition of ransoms. They discussed cheese for a while, and he eventually said with a laugh, “I may be able to inform you of Castle cheese now, but I do hope you will be able to inform me in years to come, especially concerning the availability of high quality matuert(60) cheese.”

Michelle laught and said, “And I hope so too.” By the time the dancing started she was dancing with her husband.

Sex with Musk was good, as good as it had been with Rodney twenty years ago. Musk was a vigorous and creative lover. In the afterglow, Michelle put his fingertips in her mouth and admitted after she had sucked the imaginary graill sauce off them, “That was one of the most arousing things I have ever done. I couldn’t believe I was doing it in public.”

Musk laught and said, “That is the main reason I suspect the old tale to be true. Can you imagine how a group of starving people would have behavt(61) after a feast of plenty. In midsummer when graill come ashore they do so in large numbers, and there would have been more to eat than the Folk could possibly have eaten. The joy of the feast I suspect would have spread to other joys.”

Musk put his hand to her, and assuming he would like to make love again, which she wished to do too, but was surprised he was able to so soon, she put her hand to him to discover he was definitely able. They maekt love four times before they slept. When they awoke Michelle was a little tender, but not enough so to prevent her making love before braekfast.(62) She’d had more sex in the last twelve hours than in the last three years, and she’d loved it. She was surprised to find she was bleeding, she’d thought her menopause was over, but wondered if it were the sex that had somehow initiated her period. She explained to Musk, “My lunetimes have been becoming less frequent for four years, and I have not had one for half a year. I suppose I could still become pregnant.” Michelle was worried Musk would react badly to fatherhood at fifty. “What are my options on Castle?”

Musk not realising Michelle was obliquely spaeking of terminations, smiled and replied, “You can still craft till too heavily pregnant, and we have lots of kin who would look after a babe with their own, if you wisht(63) that of course. In return we should have to look after theirs from time to time, but I do that any hap. How do you feel having your first at your age? The healers and midwifes(64) would wish to look after you carefully because it’s not the same as having your tenth at your age.”

Michelle realised Musk was happy if she was happy and maekt no references to terminations, which it was clear he had not even considered she had been referring to. “I would like a baby. I was never bothered before, but it’s different here. As long as you are happy being a father at fifty.”

Musk laught, “Any who enjoys the process has no right not to enjoy the produce.”

“In that case we should make love as often as possible to maximise my chances.”

Musk caressed her breasts and asked, “Now?”

“Yes. Now.”

Word Usage Key

1 Pink sauce, maekt from white hotroot, blötroot and sourt cream, horseradish, beetroot and soured cream.
2 Sour gourd, a cucurbit containing quinine.
3 Waterweed, a ubiquitous spicy leafy vegetable which grows in fresh water and is unique to Castle. The leaves have the texture of Cavolo nero, black leaf kail, and the taste is reminiscent of rocket or watercress.
4 Perse, purple.
5 Deadth, death.
6 Reducet, reduced.
7 Baest, based.
8 Refert, referred.
9 Supriest, surprised.
10 Craftet, crafted.
11 Uest, used.
12 Regardet, regarded.
13 Spaeking, speaking.
14 Undresst, undressed.
15 Maekt, made.
16 Taekt, took.
17 Highths, heights.
18 Telt, told.
19 Sassenach, to a Highland Scot literally a Saxon, now an English person or a Lowland Scot. In this context an English person.
20 Dien, died.
21 Lastday, yesterday.
22 Lærer, adult apprentice, trainee.
23 Lasteve, yesterday evening.
24 Happent, happened.
25 Liekt, liked.
26 Nexteve, tomorrow evening.
27 It must be like riding a bicycle is an old expression that is rarely quoted in full because it is widely implicitly known. The rest of it says something along the lines of, once you have mastered the skill no matter how long it is since you last rode a bicycle the skill is still there to draw on.
28 Graill, a giant isopod that lives in the sea and uses the tideline possibly to breed between two and four nights a year. They can reach three feet long and forty weights. The plural of graill is graill.
29 Arrivt, arrived.
30 Servt, served.
31 Thiseve, this evening.
32 Cookt, cooked.
33 Steamt, steamed.
34 Ashet, a large oval serving dish or plate.
35 Braek, break.
36 Spicet, spiced.
37 Explaint, explained.
38 Considert, considered.
39 Fedd, fed, past tense.
40 Presentet, presented.
41 Kitchener, though part of the kitchen staff the kitcheners are a distinct craft comprising kitchen supervisors and their staff of servers, waiters, dish washers and storekeepers.
42 Siezt, sized.
43 Mixt, mixed.
44 Seagreen, generic term for edible sea weed.
45 Reedroot, tastes similar to ginger/galanga, bright yellow unique to Castle.
46 Folkbirtht, Folk born.
47 Requiert, required.
48 Strongth, strength.
49 Acquiert, acquired.
50 Shellt, shelled.
51 Featly, with skill.
52 Themselfs, themselves.
53 Braekt, broke.
54 Calt, cold an adjective.
55 Berount, around.
56 Sayt, said.
57 Informt, informed.
58 Ceël, pronounced sea + ell, (si:ɛl), a small sweet pear-like fruit unique to Castle, often dried and powdered unripe as a vanilla like flavouring.
59 Aegt, aged.
60 Matuert, matured.
61 Behavt, behaved.
62 Braekfast, breakfast.
63 Wisht, wished or wanted.
64 Midwifes, midwives.

Index of significant characters so far listed by Chapter

1 Introduction
2 Jacques de Saint d’Espéranche
3 The Folk and the Keep
4 Hwijje, Travisher, Will
5 Yew, Allan, Rowan,Siskin, Will, Thomas, Merle, Molly, Aaron, Gareth, Oak, Abigail, Milligan, Basil, Vinnek, Iris, Margæt, Gilla, Alsike, Alfalfa, Gibb, Happith, Kroïn, Mako, Pilot, Briar, Gosellyn, Gren, Hazel
6 Chaunter, Waxwing, Flame, João, Clansaver, Irune, Ceël, Barroo, Campion, Limpet, Vlæna, Xera, Rook, Falcon, Cwm, Sanderling, Aldeia, Catarina, Coast, Elixabete,
7Mercedes, Spoonbill
8 Lyllabette, Yoomarrianna
9 Helen, Duncan, Gosellyn, Eudes, Abigail
10 George/Gage, Iris, Waverley, Belinda
11 Marc/Marcy, Pol
12 George/Gage, Marcy, Freddy/Bittern, Weyland, Iris, Bling
13 Thomas, Will, Mercedes, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna
14 Kyle, Thomas, Will, Angélique
15 Mercedes, Morgelle, Gorse, Thrift, George/Gage, Chris, Iris, Thrift, Campion
16 Bling
17 Waverley, Mr. E
18 George/Gage, Larch, Mari, Ford, Gorse, Morgelle, Luke, Erin
19 Will, Pilot, Yew, Geoge/Gage, Mari, Ford, Gosellyn, Cwm, Cerise, Filbert, Gareth, Duncan, Helen, Thomas, Iris, Plume, Campion, Pim, Rook, Falcon, João, Hare
20 Yew, Rowan, Will, Thomas, Siskin, Weir, Grayling, Willow
21 Brook, Harrier, Cherry, Abby, Selena, Borage, Sætwæn, Fiona, Fergal
22 Yew, Thomas, Hazel, Rowan, Gosellyn, Siskin, Will, Lianna, Duncan
23 Tench, Knawel, Claire, Oliver, Loosestrife, Bramling, George, Lyre, Janice, Kæn, Joan, Eric
24 Luke, Sanderling, Ursula, Gervaise, Mike, Spruce, Moss
25 Janet, Vincent, Douglas, Alec, Alice
26 Pearl, Merlin, Willow, Ella, Suki, Tull, Irena
27 Gina, Hardy, Lilac, Jessica, Teal, Anna
28 Bryony, Judith, Bronwen, Farsight
29 Muriel, Raquel, Grace
30 Catherine, Crane, Snipe, Winifred, Dominique, Ferdinand
31 Alma, Allan, Morris, Miranda
32 Dabchick, Nigel
33 Raquel, Thistle, Agrimony, Benjamin, Ian, Phœbe
34 Eleanor, Woad, Catherine, Crane
35 Muriel, Hail, Joan, Breve, Eric, Nell, Mayblossom, Judith, Storm
36 Selena,Sætwæn, Borage, Grace, Gatekeeper, Raquel, Thistle
37 Siân, Mackerel, Winifred, Obsidian
38 Carla, Petrel, Alkanet, Ferdinand
39 Dominique, Oxlip, Alma, Allan, Tress, Bryony
40 Agrimony, Benjamin, Ian, Ella, Kestrel, Judith, Storm
41 Ella, Kestrel, Tress, Bryony, Tunn, Whin, Plane
42 Weights & Measures and Sunrise & Sunset Times included in Ch 41
43 Ella, Kestrel, Serenity, Smile, Gwendoline, Rook, Tress, Bryony, Tunn, Whin, Plane, Sapphire, Mere
44 Pearl, Merlin, Rainbow, Perch, Joan, Breve, Truth, Rachael, Hedger, Ruby, Deepwater
45 Janet, Blackdyke, Janice, Kæn, Ursula, Oyster
46 Janet, Gina, Alastaire, Joan, Breve, Truth, Bræth, Mayblossom, Judith, Storm
47 The Squad, Mercedes, Fen, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew
48 Bronwen, Forest, Opal, Spice, Vincent, Kathleen, Niall, Bluebell, Sophie
49 Janice, Kæn, Ursula, Oyster, Imogen, Wryneck, Phœbe, Knapps
50 Erin, Nightjar, Eleanor, Woad
51 Gina, Jonas, Janet, Gerald, Patrick, Tansy, Craig, Barret, Ryan
52 Constance, Rye, Bling, Bullace, Berry, Jimmy, Leveret, Rory, Shelagh, Silas
53 Rachael, Hedger, Eve, Gilla, Mallard, Fiona, Fergal, Tinder, Nightingale, Fran, Dyker
54 Pamela, Mullein, Patricia, Chestnut, Lavinia, Ophæn, Catherine, Crane
55 Susan, Kingfisher, Janet, Gina, Jonas, Ruth, Kilroy, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew
56 Gina, Jonas, Patricia, Chestnut, The Squad, Hazel, Janet, Blackdyke, Swift, Clover, Vetch, Mangel, Clary, Brendan