The courtyard behind the Chapel of the Rising Sun was small, no larger than a modest garden, enclosed on three sides by the stone walls of the temple complex and open on the fourth to the sky. The flagstones were damp with frost that was only now beginning to melt in the weak morning light, and the air carried the sharp, cold bite of a winter day that had no intention of warming.
In the spring and summer months, the courtyard would play host to weddings among the common people of Lothian March, mostly serving those who were too poor to request the services of the chapel. For less than a silver penny, a bride and groom could meet with an acolyte of the temple in order to exchange their vows with their close family members as witnesses.
