The Grey Knights Arrest Tiuri and Take His Ring at Castle Mistrinaut

The Grey Knights’ arrest of Tiuri at Mistrinaut Castle turns a search for a ring into a wrongful imprisonment. Tiuri is traveling under a borrowed identity, trying to keep Edwinem’s letter safe; when the Grey Knights recognize the clues that point to him, he must choose between exposing the letter to a search and revealing the ring they seek. His capture shows how precarious his mission is: the disguise that might conceal him cannot withstand close scrutiny, and the castle’s hospitality offers no protection once its lord yields to the armed visitors.

The Search at Mistrinaut Castle

The castle’s lord begins by asking whether Tiuri has encountered a young traveler of about sixteen, with dark hair and gray-blue eyes. The description is unmistakably close to Tiuri himself, and he feels alarmed, but denies remembering such a person. The lord adds a more distinctive clue: the fugitive wears torn, disheveled clothes that may once have been white, and a costly ring with a bright white stone. Tiuri again says that he has not seen him. The detail makes the search more than a general inquiry; it identifies the ring as the object by which the Grey Knights intend to confirm their suspicion.

The lord then tests Tiuri’s borrowed identity as Brother Tarmin. His voice sounds young, he is asked whether he is sixteen or seventeen, and the lord asks if he has taken his vows. Before Tiuri can answer or stop him, the lord pulls back his hood. Dark hair and gray-blue eyes fit the description, as does his age. Tiuri responds with feigned surprise, asking whether the lord truly thinks he is the person being sought. The lord acknowledges that many people could match the description, but says Tiuri is the only one among his guests who does. He asks him to come along to meet visitors who arrived during the night, assuring him that nothing will happen if he is not the person they want.

Recognition and Seizure of the Ring

The lord presents Tiuri to the Grey Knights without first telling him who they are or what they want. Their first uncertainty turns on whether Tiuri has the ring. Tiuri keeps his composure and asks what they want from him, pretending not to know them. When they order the attendants to search his clothes, however, he realizes that a physical search may reveal the letter concealed against his chest. Protecting the message now takes priority over maintaining the denial: he raises his hand, pulls the cord from around his neck, and admits that he has a ring.

The Grey Knights recognize it. One exclaims over the ring; another says that Tiuri is the person they have been seeking. A third takes it from his palm so roughly that the cord breaks. Tiuri protests that the ring is his and asks for it back, but the Grey Knights treat the claim with contempt, rebuking him for appearing before them in such clothing. Their certainty rests on the object and the matching description, not on any account Tiuri has given them. By surrendering the ring before they can search him, he prevents the immediate discovery of Edwinem’s letter, but loses the object that might have helped establish his identity or claim to it.

A Guest Denied Protection

Once they have the ring, the Grey Knights declare Tiuri their prisoner and say they will treat him as he deserves. Tiuri appeals to the castle’s lord: he is a guest, has done nothing to warrant arrest, and has not even been told the knights’ names. Their refusal to raise their visors compounds the uncertainty. Tiuri invokes the sacred law of hospitality and demands both the return of his ring and his release.

The lord examines him but does not answer. His silence becomes decisive: rather than uphold Tiuri’s standing as a guest, he turns away and leaves the Grey Knights to act. One orders the others to seize Tiuri. As several hands take hold of him, Tiuri demands to know why he is being arrested; the knights still give no explanation. The lord moves aside and opens the door, allowing them to carry Tiuri away with two attendants. The arrest is therefore marked not only by the knights’ force, but by the failure of the person responsible for his welcome to defend him.

Imprisonment and Significance

The Grey Knights take Tiuri along a passage and up a high staircase, then push him into a small room and shut the door. He is imprisoned in Mistrinaut Castle. The room is octagonal and occupies a tower; its open window looks down onto an empty courtyard far below, with another tower and a blank wall opposite. Tiuri concludes that escape is impossible. Its furnishings—heavy tables, chairs, rugs, wall hangings, and a finely worked copper lamp—make it comfortable in appearance, but do not soften the fact of confinement.

The episode reverses the expected promise of sanctuary and hospitality. Tiuri’s appeal to the rules of guesthood fails, while the Grey Knights keep their identities concealed and offer no justification for their seizure of him. It also makes the ring’s double importance concrete: the Grey Knights use it to identify their quarry, while Tiuri’s decision to reveal it protects the more urgent secret of the letter. In a larger sense, the arrest belongs to the ordeal that follows Tiuri’s departure from the vigil required of a prospective knight. Later, King Dagonaut explains that answering a request for help and fulfilling his promise to Edwinem have already shown Tiuri to be a knight in conduct, even before the formal ceremony. The contrast is telling: at Mistrinaut, Tiuri is treated as a captive without an explanation or a hearing; his eventual knighthood will rest on the choices he makes under pressure, rather than on the appearance of his clothes or the possession of a ring.