When Master Tyvian and Cadfael arrived in Highgarden they were greeted by Ser Gyles Cressage, second-in-command of the Highgarden garrison and temporary Castallan in Ser Ardon's absence.  They were given good guest quarters near the main gate out of the Highgarden keep and the kitchens.  A couple of days later Master Gwint and Maarz with the new Kinnemorne soldiers and Septa Tanya Stone arrived.  The soldiers were quartered in the Highgarden barracks and Master Gwint and Maarz joined Master Tyvian and Cadfael.  The following day Lord Rocsly arrived with companions including Septon Garrick, accompanied by Ser Ardon and a large number of the Highgarden soldiers.  Just after dusk Lord Leo Tyrell and his entourage arrived.  Less than an hour later they could hear raised voices between Lord Rocsly and Lord Tyrell, though they could not make out what was being said.  A short time after than they were summoned by a Highgarden page to meet Lord Tyrell in a private audience chamber.

Lord Tyrell greeted Master Tyvian and his companions warmly and talked with Master Tyvian on numerous recent matters of court, policy and events but sadly Master Tyvian showed himself to be out of touch and rustic.  Master Gwint noticed that in addition to discussing current events and discerning how up to date Master Tyvian was with goings on at court, Lord Leo was also subtly testing how strongly Master Tyvian agreed with the King's and Court's decisions.  Master Tyvian tried to turn the conversation to local matters but was politely but firmly rebuffed.  Lord Tyrell explained that he would not be talking about any local matters that night as he had still to speak with his cousin but that he would be taking evidence the following day before dispensing the King's Justice if required.  He would also not be entertaining either Rocsly or Kinnemorne men in the Great Hall that night, though he would ensure that the Kinnemornes were fed with food from the high table when the feast was held later that evening.

After the food arrived Maarz decided to try and gain entry to the Great Hall.  Passing himself off as the servant to a Maester did not work so he decided to pass himself off as servant at the kitchens, which was much more successful.  He was given several jugs full of small beer and told to get back to serving the tables.  He did not approach the high table but he did get close enough to hear the sergeant of the troop of cavalry that went to Rocksport regaling the people sat next to him about the trip.  The sergeant recounted how, when he got to Castle Lance a full frontal assault on the keep was in progress, including straw bales on fire to smoke the defenders out and small battering rams.  The entrance hall to the Keep had been already taken and high casualties had occurred on either side.  The cavalry troop had to charge the Rocsly men using the flat of their swords to break up the attack and fight their way to get between them and the Kinnemeve defenders. He surmised that, if they had been even a couple of hours later the castle would have fallen.  Upon hearing this news Maarz finished serving the drinks he had and then slunk off away from the great hall to report back to Master Tyvian.

Master Tyvian and Cadfael had in the meantime gone into the town of Highgarden to see if they could gather any information from the gossip amongst the town.  However Master Tyvian was still a little overwhelmed from his first meeting with a member of the King's Small Council to be engaging company and Cadfael overheard that the shameful fight between the Rocslys and Kinnemeves was a main topic of conversation with the Kinnemorne family's involvement in the fight starting much up for debate.  Master Gwint went to the stables to try and pick up gossip from the stable-hands but spent most of the time talking to the horses.

The following morning everyone was summoned to Lord Leo Tyrell's formal audience chamber.  It had once been the throne room of the Gardeners, Kings of the Reach before the Tarygen invasion ended their kingship and their line on the Field of Fire.  It still had a regal feel to it and a strong nature theme from the Gardener architecture and carvings though the emblems and colours were all Tyrell.  Lord Tyrell was sitting on an almost throne on a dais with a bench covered in black cloth in front of him, a Maester his neck heavy with chains at one side and knights and advisors to the other, secure in his lordly power as Lord Paramount of the Reach.  There were benches on either side of the room with a clear space in the middle; Master Tyvian was gestured to one side, sitting directly opposite Lord Hal Rocsly.  Lord Rocsly glared at everyone intently whilst Master Tyvian waved and smiled back, a gesture that infuriated him further.

Lord Tyrell announced that he had received his reports from Ser Ardon the previous evening and would be interviewing witnesses before speaking to both Lord Rocsly and Master Tyvian.  The first witness he called was the former Septa of Castle Lance, Tanya Stone.  She was asked to give an account of recent events in Castle Lance, which she did passionately, especially when describing the brutality as she saw it of Lord Rocsly during the attack and with great affection for the Kinnemeve family.  Under questioning however she does have to confess that there had been bad blood between the Kinnemeve and Rocsly families for years and that it had got worse since Lord Gostt's final injury despite the best efforts of Lady Idris to calm things down.

The second witness was Ser Robert Shekyl who gave a very detailed soldier's account of the Rocsly attack on Castle Lance and the besieging of the keep, ending with an all-out assault with little regard for those inside it.  His air of aggrieved innocence as the attacked party was marred by his triumphalism in holding the Rocsly forces off until the Tyrell troops arrived and by the sense that he was obviously itching for a fight.  Under questioning Ser Robert admitted that he had refused several requests from Lord Rocsly to become the ward of the Kinnemeve children in the strongest possible terms, even with an armed force at the gates.  He also admitted that he had not reported the escalation in bad blood between the Rocsly's and Kinnemeve's as he felt that the Kinnemeve's could repel any attack and that Lord Leo Tyrell would then have to intervene, and on the Kinnemeve's behalf.

The third witness was Rocsly's Castellan Alma deVilliers who described slights and non-cooperation by the Kinnemeve's which had got worse in recent months, including non-payment of feudal dues and refusal to come to muster.  He also hinted that the Kinnemeve's had collaborated with the smugglers in Rocksport to undermine the Rocsly's in the eyes of Lord Leo Tyrell.  Under questioning Alma deVilliers could provide little evidence to back these up.  Gwint and Cadfael glanced across at Ser Robert when Alma deVilliers was giving evidence and saw that he barely reacted to the tales of slights and non-cooperation but bristled with indignation at claims that the Kinnemeve's had collaborated with smugglers.

After a break for lunch Lord Leo Tyrell interviewed Lord Hal Rocsly.  In a convincing statement he confirmed his castellan's description of Kinnemeve slights and non-cooperation and the allegation that they had collaborated with the smugglers in Rocksport against him.  He also said that he was concerned at the maladministration of the Kinnemeve lands in Lord Gostt's fading years compounded in the past month by the death of the Lord and Lady and the disappearance of their last Maester leaving the lands in the hands of those neither born to rule or trained to advise on ruling.  He therefore felt that he had no choice but to take on the wardship of his cousin's lands to protect both them and his own.  After several generous offers had been refused he admitted coming to the gates of Castle Lance in some strength.  However it was the warmongering of the 'noble' Ser Robert that made it necessary for him to attack.  Under questioning he could not find a convincing answer as to why he had to act against his own bannerman and a bannerman of Lord Leo Tyrell Lord Paramount of the Reach without gaining Lord Tyrell's permission to act or even informing him.

Lord Leo Tyrell then interviewed Master Tyvian Kinnemorne.  Master Tyvian convincingly reported that he and his companions had travelled to Rocsly lands to seek an explanation as to why Lord Urquart Kinnemorne and his kin were forbidden to pay their final respects to Lord Gostt or even enter the Kinnemeve lands.  They arrived to find that Lord Hal Rocsly was ill-disposed towards them but that he would allow them clandestine entry to Kinnemeve lands if they would root out the smuggling problem in Rocksport.  After a week they had investigated the smugglers and found no evidence of noble collaboration but plenty of evidence that the custom procedures set up by Lord Rocsly were, in the opinion of Josiah Truman a former watch sergeant of Kings Landing in Kinnemorne service, so lax as to be tantamount to permission for the smugglers to operate.  They had not finished their investigation when Lord Rocsly had acted against the Kinnemeve lands.  At that point they acted on their familial obligations and challenged Lord Rocsly to an honour duel over the right to petition the Lord Paramount of the Reach for wardship over the Kinnemeve lands through their own equally strong blood ties to that of Lord Rocsly.  They won the duel and, at the same time swore Kinnemeve soldiers captured by Lord Rocsly to their own service.  Under questioning he held hid ground against Lord Tyrell and repeated that he had found no evidence of direct noble involvement in the smuggling and that Lord Hal Rocsly had interrupted their investigation before it could be completed.

After receiving all the evidence Lord Tyrell announced that, given the lateness of the hour and the other petitions he had to receive that day, he would make his judgement on this matter the following morning, giving those involved one more night to consider their positions.  Whilst he said this Master Gwint noticed that he was looking at Lord Rocsly and the black cloth on the bench in front of him.  He also announced again that neither Rocsly nor Kinnemorne men would be dining in the Great Hall but would receive food from his own table.

Master Tyvian and his companions retired early that night but Maarz's sleep was disturbed in the small hours.  Looking out of the window of their quarters they saw Lord Rocsly carrying a large box and moving stealthily towards the gate out of the keep.  Waking Cadfael, they headed stealthily out of their quarters towards Lord Rocsly.  As Lord Rocsly struggled with the bar across the gate Maarz threw a knife in his back, Cadfael followed this up with a charge and punch.  Staggering, Lord Rocsly dropped the box upon his own foot to the sound of clinking coins, before he was grappled by Cadfael whilst Maarz called for the watch.

Twenty minutes later after Lord Rocsly had been seized by the guard and taken to the Maester for treatment, Master Tyvian and his companions were summoned to Lord Leo's candle-lit day chamber.  There Maarz and Cadfael gave a halting but truthful recounting of the events of the night.  Lord Leo thanked them and says that he had hoped Lord Rocsly would voluntarily take the black based on the evidence presented during the day but that he had now ordered Hal Rocsly to leave for Castle Black in the morning.  He also said that both the Kinnemeve and Rocsly lands would be coming under joint wardship of one of the Cranes of Red Lake and he then asked if the Cranes could retain the services of Josiah Truman for a period to deal with the evident smuggling problem in Rocksport.  When asked Lord Tyrell confirmed the Hal Rocsly had broken into the Highgarden treasury and had booked passage on a boat booked for Tyrosh (where Blackfyre's younger sons were residing) leaving first thing in the morning.