Departure for the Front

With a pivotal clash of the Hundred-Year War at hand, Griffith prepares to leave Wyndham and is met by Minister Foss, who raises the deaths of Julius and Adonis and calls them a demon's work. Griffith counters that a man was behind them. Foss floats a fresh rumor that the hunting-day arrow had targeted Griffith rather than Charlotte, and that the assassin may have served someone inside the court instead of Tudor. Griffith feigns astonishment and dismisses the idea as audacious.

Once Griffith departs, Foss reveals his aim: to bait Griffith into betraying his hand in the two killings, a gambit that failed. He resolves instead to turn Griffith's many enemies against him, then glimpses Griffith watching him from the shadows before both move on. In the main hall, Casca spots Griffith descending the stairs but is beaten to him by Charlotte, who presents a lodestone carved as a knight while keeping its matching noblewoman piece; the magnetized pair, she says, will draw him safely home. She asks Casca to keep him safe.

After the two leave, the Queen intercepts Charlotte and scolds her for lavishing gifts on a commoner like Griffith, and the princess retreats deeper into the castle, dejected. As Griffith orders the Band of the Falcon to mobilize, Guts broods on Griffith's definition of a true friend, then lowers his visor for battle, ready but downhearted.

Foss tries and fails to trap Griffith into admitting he arranged the deaths of Julius and Adonis. Foss decides to rally Griffith's many enemies against him. Charlotte gives Griffith a lodestone knight and asks Casca to protect him. The Queen rebukes Charlotte for favoring a commoner. Guts rides to the front still dwelling on Griffith's words about friendship.

This Golden Age Arc chapter ran in Young Animal issue 09 in 1993. The paired lodestones exchanged here return much later as a symbol of the bond between Charlotte and Griffith, and Foss' failed gambit marks the opening of court intrigue against the rising Band of the Falcon.