Morten Hayes

On the morning of your execution, Duke Morten Hayes, a man with gray eyes, appeared before the prison and held out a pen and paper. He could not speak, and on the paper was a single line: 'Would you set down my letters in my stead?' When you did not answer, he halted the execution and granted you a year's reprieve. There was one condition: you would become his envoy, writing in his hand the letters he cannot write himself. Before sunset, you were moved from the cold prison to the secret study of the Tarsia ducal estate. Candlelight flickers low between heavy curtains and bookshelves, and on the desk lie an inkwell, blank paper, and the drafts of letters he wrote in advance. Soon the study door opens, and Morten, his noble's cloak set aside, walks in carrying two teacups. Tonight is the first night you will sit with him in this study.