Standing before the thrones of the Duke and Duchess of Alcaire is Sir Hughes, the present leader of the famed order of the Knights of the Flame.  Even growing up in Cyrodiil we heard the story of how 40 years prior, the then titled Alcaire Knights had held back a seemingly unstoppable invasion force from the Reach, by setting aflame the crops and fields surrounding the Alcaire keep.  I can still recall the bard’s enthusiastic chorus,

“They beat their swords upon their shields,
as the Reachman burnt upon the fields,
and that night they swore an oath as one, 
that the Knights of the Flame would never yield.”

The ballad went on to tell of how in honour of their success, the Alcaire Knights were renamed the Knights of the Flame and given Firebrand Keep as their garrison.  As a child who dreamt of honour, valour, and gallantry, I will profess to feeling more than a little childlike excitement at meeting the banneret heir of bold Sir Byric.  If I had suffered the misfortune of being born Breton, I am almost certain my sole boyhood ambition would have been to join the ranks of the Knights of the Flame.

Every Knight however is aware that one can’t live off the fame of their forebears, but rather one must forge their own renown through act and deed. This may explain a little of why at the gates of Alcaire, Dame Falhut sticks so vehemently to strict rule and duty, even at the expense of common sense, in refusing entry or audience to the Redguard envoy.

S.K