A Mission

Roma Mater.

"'The Duke of the Britains...summoned [Gratillonius] by name.'" (I, 1, p. 16)

Should that not be "Britons"? According to the Notes, the Latin was:

"...Dux Britannarium..." (p. 444)

In any case, Gratillonius is thrilled:

"What could that mean? A mission? The blood thrilled in Gratillonius." (ibid.)

That reminds us of another fictional character who is thrilled by a summons that might mean a mission:

"...the signal that had fired him, like a loaded projectile, across the world towards some distant target of M.'s choosing."

-Ian Fleming, From Russia, With Love (London, 1964), p. 84.

However, Gratillonius' mission, unlike any other, will make him, for several years, the last King of Ys and the title character of this Tetralogy. A legendary adventure begins, retold in a twentieth century novel.