His sister, Maeg, reached him first, before he even stepped inside. He couldn’t believe how tall she was or the violence of her affection as she leaped at him, weeping and smiling and hugging him tightly. The last time they’d met, he’d been a stranger, or near enough. But no doubt news had reached them about his life since he’d been away. Lady Sibyl, his mother, emerged from the lit interior of the castle then, looking older and more careworn than he remembered. She embraced him as well, and his heart was fit to burst when he felt her tears on his neck. “You’re home,” sighed Maeg, hugging him
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