Wild Reverence

Vincent hears Matilda shouting and watches from the tower as Warin pulls her into the river. He berates the gatekeeper for refusing to let Matilda in, especially as Matilda only asked for the portcullis to be raised, not the entire gate. The gatekeeper maintains he followed Vincent’s orders to keep the gate down.

Vincent goes to the Claw, a rock formation in the river whose currents he’s familiar with. He ties himself into a harness and straps the rope to a metal ring Grimald installed on the rocks when he forced Vincent and his brothers to swim. He chases Matilda through the river, but he can’t quite catch her, though he does find her cloak.

Warin drags Matilda down to the riverbed, saying he just wants to talk, but her instincts say that he’s dangerous. He asks her why she married a frail mortal and what she’s hiding. He assumes that she wants power over the river and the bridge, but she doesn’t. Warin recently became god of rivers, and he wants to exact a toll, which he finally tells Matilda about. He wants one third of either people’s produce/harvests/wine, their money, or their third-born child. Warin thinks it’s reasonable, while Matilda says it’s not.