At the age of five, some time after the untimely death of her father, Iseline's claim as heir apparent is challenged. A moot is called by the coastal lords and, while he would deny his involvement as she ages, her uncle is the architect of this challenge.
Should a child, let alone a daughter, be Master of a House that still has a male heir? This argument has no merit, as many coastal lordships are heralded by women, and have long been since the beginning of their histories. But the wiser elder coastal lords are few and their voices less heeded to by the power - hungry zealots allied with Iseline's uncle.
The argument is made that her uncle, being the only living, adult heir of the former Great Lord of House Havilǒun, should have the title passed to him and not his late brother's young child. Regency is another offered solution, where he would rule in her stead until she is old enough to take the mantle. That hardly satisfies her uncle and the buzzards he calls 'allies'.
Before a vote is called to maintain Iseline's claim, support her uncle's regency over her, or depose her entirely, Iseline alone, as custom demands, must stake her claim. Her mother does not join her at this moot; is forbidden, in actuality, because she no longer is the wife of a coastal lord but now belongs to another. She cannot stake claim for her sea-born child.
So there Iseline stands at rounded table, a wee girl of just five, speaking up for a concept her child's mind barely comprehends. It goes as well as one imagines. In the end, her uncle supplants her as heir to Great Lordship but kindly takes her in as his ward. This, too, being part of her uncle's plan, as her betrothal to the King's youngest would grant him access to more wealth and 'glory'.
Suffering still, in her silent grief, remarried, and, now, with child, Iseline's mother relents to her former brother - in - law's insistence, sending her daughter permanently from her care so that, maybe, she would live a better life than she.
