Rowan mumbled something but his mouth was now full of egg and it was unintelligible.
“You’ve the manner of a street rat,” Colin said disgustedly, reaching to hand Rowan a napkin. “There’s egg all over your face.”
“Why do we need to attend a council?” groaned Will, dropping his forehead to the table. He was exhausted, his head was throbbing, and all he wanted to do at that moment was sneak away to the barn and curl up to sleep in the corner of Visra’s stall.
“Probably because of the little thing of being attacked by prats yesterday,” Rowan commented, swallowing his mouthful. “And I’m not a street rat. I’m a well-bred rodent of the finest lineage, as I’d have you know.”
“Oh, because that makes it better,” Colin grumbled, pushing himself to his feet and slapping Will on the shoulder. “Come on, it can’t be that bad. Anyway, I haven’t been to a council. Seems like it could be interesting.”
“You haven’t gone to one?” Will asked, straightening and looking up at Colin in surprise.
“Naw, we don’t all get to be fancy like you.” Rowan stood, shaking Will’s chair side to side. “Now get up, let’s go!”
Will rolled his eyes. He had attended the council. Only once, it was true, but it didn’t mean it had been any more enjoyable. On that occasion, Ross had bellowed at the Ranger and Laster to control their tempers and he had ended up being asked to speak on behalf of all the squires. It had been intimidating.
Nevertheless, he rose with the others and crossed the dinner hall toward the door leading back to the squire chambers. Ross reached it a moment before them and held it open, gesturing them through.
“I take it you didn’t go to sleep,” Ross growled, taking in Will’s appearance.
Will grimaced. “I tried, but there was a lot to think about.”
The knight gave a gruff laugh, striding through the door after them and falling into step behind the three squires. “That gets worse as you get older.”
Will didn’t answer, instead fixing his eyes on the door at the far end of the squire chamber. Sir Rockwood was stepping through ahead of them, leaving it wide for the three squires and Ross to follow. Not for the first time, it struck Will as strange that the council chamber was tucked at the far end of the squire wing.
He nodded thanks to Rockwood who was holding the door and entered the unusually shaped chamber. This chamber was set at the bottom of a tower but, instead of having walls that curved all the way around, it had two straight edges. One of the edges held the door through which they had entered and the other held a large hearth. The high windows around the room filtered morning light over the chairs lining the walls and the two tables that had been pushed upright and out of the way beside the hearth.
Only two knights were already settling into seats. Haru and Robin, a young thin faced knight with brown hair swept back who sat on his right side. Haru was leaning over, muttering something to the other knight. The knight was nodding in agreement to whatever Haru was saying as he straightened and spotted the three squires entering the room, Rockwood and Ross behind them. He grinned and jerked his head to gesture to the chairs on Haru’s other side.
“You three better take a seat, I don’t imagine it’ll be long until the others are in here.”
“Thanks, Robin,” said Will, dropping into the seat to Haru’s left. “What’s the point of us being here if we told you, Ross, and Rockwood last night.”
“The King thinks it important to hear from the source,” Haru answered, shrugging.
“It avoids details being lost,” Robin explained, leaning forward to address Will across Haru. “We want to make sure we all get the story firsthand, from you three. And, you never know, we might hear something that Ross, Rockwood, or Haru here didn’t catch.”
Will nodded. A nervousness was stealing over him and he couldn’t help himself from wringing his hands in his lap. There were details that knights hadn’t been given but not because they weren’t significant. He thought again of what The Cutthroat Prince had said about Marl and wondered if he was making a mistake listening to the Ranger’s orders. He could tell Haru here and now. The only people in the room, apart from Haru, were those who already knew.
“And it’s also procedure,” Rockwood said, flopping into the chair across the room from the three of them. “Can’t go having attacks that aren’t heard and recognized by all the knights or you risk having one person who has no idea what happened and could get into trouble without realizing it.”
“All the knights should be more observant than to fall into anything like that,” Ross growled, lowering himself stiffly into a seat near the hearth.
“Should be, but people slip up,” Rockwood shrugged.
Their conversation ended as the door was pushed open again and a group of knights filed into the room led by the sandy haired and bearded Don, who beamed at the squires before taking his seat. Behind him entered the rest of the knights; Sir Bane – black-hair and beard, white-ringed wild eyes; Sir Richard – his face lined with age, his brown hair streaked with grey, his eyes crinkled with years of smiling; Sir Henry – upright and rigid, his black hair swept back, peppered with white; Miller – curly black hair, round faced, grinning at the squires and coming to sit next to Robin; Sir Laster – amber eyes narrowed, brown hair falling over his handsome face. Catching sight of Will, Rowan, and Colin, Will noticed his lip twitch into the shadow of its accustomed sneer.
Last to enter was King Revlan himself. Will rose with the knights around the chamber. He couldn’t help but feel nervous as the King paused, raising a hand to signal all should be seated again. Will felt sure that even a blind man would sense the King’s presence. Power emanated from him and his dark eyes flitted around the room, taking in each face. He gave Will a faint smile, inclining his head a fraction, then crossed the room to sink into the seat next to Ross.
“I take it that you know why you’re here,” the King said, turning to the squires.
Will felt some of the nervousness leach from him under the calm dark gaze. “Yes, King. The attack that happened yesterday.”
All the eyes in the room shifted to Will and he swallowed hard, trying not to notice them. Instead, he watched the King, waiting for him to speak.
“Would you mind recounting what happened for the council?”
Will could tell that this question was more of a command than a request and inhaled deeply before starting. “We–me, Rowan, and Colin–rode out yesterday after training to get our horses some exercise. We’ve been focused on combat training for a few days now and needed to make sure they were worked.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Will noticed Laster roll his eyes but pressed on, determinedly.
“We rode west, since the Eastern Forest is off limits still for any of the younger squires. Rowan and Colin decided to show me the river and, when we got there, we dismounted and went to tie our horses. That’s when Visra, my horse, started acting up. I thought he was scared of the forest or something and didn’t think anything of it. Once I’d stepped away from him though, a stranger appeared. He was wearing a grey hood, so I couldn’t get a good look at his face, but I don’t think he was very old, maybe a few years older than me.”
“And how did you deduce that if you couldn’t see him?” Laster asked, smirking.
“His height, voice, and mannerisms,” Colin answered for Will, meeting Laster’s arrogant glower with a defiant expression of his own. “I’d say he was around sixteen, like Will said, not much older than us.”
“And what happened then?” the King pressed, shooting Laster a warning look. The knight crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair with a huff.
“He said he was from Thornten, or loyal to there,” Will continued. He felt Rowan glance toward him but didn’t turn to meet his friend’s gaze. “Then he got annoyed that we didn’t take him real seriously. He sort of signaled and three more hooded people showed up on horses. He said that they were his Cutthroats and that he was The Cutthroat Prince. They se
emed to think it’d be funny I guess to catch one of us, so I bargained, told them to let Rowan and Colin go and I’d go with them. But Colin grabbed Visra instead of his horse and Vis attacked one of them which gave Rowan and Colin time to get on their horses and attack back.”
“This is the horse the healer was treating last night?” the King asked sharply.
Will nodded, chest tightening. “Yes, King.”
Understanding flickered in the dark eyes and the King shook his head with a faint smile. “You’re lucky to have a horse like that, William. From what the healer told me; it sounds like he should heal.”
“Yes, it does seem that way.”
“Which brings us to the larger concern,” Ross growled, glancing toward the squires then back to the King. “The blade used on the horse was coated in Inanimus.”
A few of the knights stiffened. Will noticed Bane’s brow furrow and Henry frowned. Laster snorted, lip curling again. “That’s convenient timing.”
“Laster,” Rockwood said in a warning voice.
“I’m only stating what others are already thinking, Rockwood,” Laster leaned forward. “We don’t have a reason to trust her.”
“We do,” Bane spoke in his gravelly voice, shooting Laster a withering glower. “I’ve known Serena for years. This isn’t anything to do with her. Anyhow, Inanimus is a banned toxin, even in Kelkor, and the plants used to create it aren’t found anywhere near Kelvane.”
“And she’s a knight of Queen Paranella,” Ross growled. “This isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with this in Alamore, in case you’ve forgotten, Laster.”
“I haven’t,” Laster snarled, eyes flashing.
“The part that concerns me is how easily they found you,” Robin said, and the attention shifted to the young knight. “I’m in agreement with Ross. Inanimus isn’t common in Thornten but people carry it. There was a roaring trade for weapons that had been treated with it for a while, because you didn’t have to be a brilliant swordsman to win a fight. So long as you were able to get one cut into your opponent, it was your fight. But I am worried about how easy it was for them to find three squires.” Robin leaned forward and turned his appraising gaze to Will. “Did they say anything else? Such as why they were here or what they were doing?”
Will heard the unasked question. Robin knew the truth. Robin had been the one to tell him. He’d been Tollien’s squire until changing sides. Immediately, he noticed the attention of several other knights. Rockwood stopped bouncing his leg, Miller straightened, Ross’s face grew stonier, and Laster’s eyes narrowed. The knights who knew the truth also understood what Robin was asking.
Will forced himself to meet Robin’s eyes with his best attempt at innocent ignorance. “No, not really.” Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the other knights relax. Only Miller still watched him, a faint frown between his brows.
“Squires have been riding to that river in good weather since I was a squire myself,” Richard rasped, half laughing. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew that and have been looking through these parts for a while and waiting for a chance to catch someone unawares. It sounds to me like some of the Thornten squires are getting a bit bold and labeling themselves with names to try to cause a stir and scare people.”
“It could be bad luck on our part,” Colin agreed, shrugging.
“Luck doesn’t exist,” Ross growled, crossing his arms over his chest. “What I worry about is how well they got into Alamore lands. It speaks of spies inside the walls.”
It took all of Will’s strength not to react to the words with more than wide-eyed puzzlement. At his side he could feel Rowan and Colin stiffen. “Spies?” Will asked, forcing his voice to stay even. “But you just said that Serena-”
“Not her,” Ross growled. “It’s possible for other people–those you’d never notice or expect–to turn against the castle.”
“Which is a concern that’s been growing,” the King said, running a hand over his jaw. “The Ranger’s reports have indicated that there’s at least one person no longer loyal to Alamore in this castle.”
“Like Vonnic and Danvac?” Rowan asked. “But how would we find them?”
Grimacing, Rockwood shook his head. “If they’re any good, I’m afraid we wouldn’t find them until they did what Vonnic and Danvac did and royally mess up. Perhaps the spy will try to pick a fight with you three again, eh?” He winked at the squires, his grimace changing to a grin.
“Don’t give them ideas, Rockwood,” Ross growled warningly.
“But spies who are tracking Alamore squires?” Henry asked, chuckling. “Ross, that seems a bit out of Tollien’s usual scope of interest. Why not fight knights? Send someone to kill one of us or capture one of us? That would be the way to strike a chord in this country.”
“I don’t know,” Rockwood countered, leaning his chair back on two legs, “What better way can you think of to dishearten and cripple a kingdom than taking their training squires? Without them, we’d all become old codgers working to keep the castle safe; no hope of retirement or rest. Plus, we’ve sworn to train and protect them as their knights, whereas all of us swore to protect the country or die trying.”
“Some of us are already old codgers,” Richard chuckled.
A few of the other knights laughed but it was Laster who turned to Ross, leaning forward to address him past Don and Rockwood. “It would be interesting if they have spies to select these three squires…wasn’t it?”
Will stiffened. For one horrible moment, he wondered if Laster was about to tell his secret to the room at large. But the knight didn’t say anything further, only raising his brows, lip curling into a smirk as he waited for Ross to answer.
“As Richard said, it sounds like this was convenience rather than a targeted strike for these three,” Ross growled, glowering at Laster. Laster’s eyes darkened and Ross continued, turning to the three squires with a nod. “And if it was targeted, they couldn’t target much better than they did. Colin is the last heir from the Greyhead line, Rowan’s father is the Lord of Lonric. Both of them would be high priced bounties for their return.”
“Most of the squires come from noble lines and, yes, be it gold or loyalty that Tollien wants, we know he would use squires for it,” the King said, cutting across Laster as he opened his mouth to retort. He turned to Robin. “Can you tell us of any plans Tollien may have mentioned in the past?”
Robin shook his head. “He often would discuss speaking with younger heirs in Alamore land–offering them their family holdings in exchange for loyalty–but I never knew who he was after with those plans. Rowan and Colin both come from prestigious families and…” Robin hesitated, eyes flitting to Will before continuing. “I know that they don’t have younger siblings who are in line for their family seats. Perhaps this is a new way to gain their loyalties? Lonnac, Lonric, Finnwick–none have a long line of heirs left and all have a strong holding in Alamore. Rowan and Colin would be the end of the line in terms of obvious heirs. It’d be logical for him to go after them, and he can obviously get squires through our defenses easier than he could get knights into Alamore. So why not use squires to catch squires–better than getting his squires massacred trying to kill Ross or something.”
“Very true, give the boy a biscuit,” Rockwood said, clapping his hands.
Robin grinned, rolling his eyes.
“The Ranger has been hunting information down about this. He’s told me that spies are a concern and how Tollien’s reaching them, communicating. But, with the arrival of Serena, the changes to the south…” the King muttered, more to himself than the rest of the room. His voice faded to silence and he shook his head, sighing. “We can only wait for his return, however… and cannot rely on it for answers this time.”
Cold tension seized the room. Every face had become serious, even Rockwood and Haru’s usual grins were gone. Rockwood tilted his chair forward onto all four legs again. Will glanced at Rowan and Colin next to him and Colin gave the slightest shake o
f his head. They, like him, didn’t understand. Whatever Serena had come to say, whatever the news from Kelkor was, it wasn’t good. It seemed, too, to be the reason that the Ranger had left again.
“I want patrols out today without the squires,” ordered the King, snapping out of his thoughts and straightening. “Check the forests, see to it that we are certain there aren’t any of these Cutthroats, squires, whatever they are, out and about. Notify the soldiers–I want them riding out as well. Squires will be trained inside the wall until we are confident that this issue is resolved. I can’t have heirs vanishing.” He stood, clapping his hands together, and Will understood. They were dismissed.
Chairs scraped across the floor and the knights began to file through the door, some in silence, others exchanging quick and quiet conversation. A few threw the squires searching looks, including Laster, who paused before stepping out of the room after the King.
“You three going to sit there to try to get out of training or what?”
Will started. He hadn’t noticed that Haru was standing, waiting for them with a tired smile.
“Right!” Will scrambled up, Rowan and Colin doing the same.
“Come on, Haru,” Robin called, waiting by the door. “They’re not going to run off and hide.”
Haru gave a dark laugh. “Oh, just wait till you have a squire, Robin.”
“Hey, I don’t hide from training,” Will protested indignantly.
Rowan held up a hand. “I do, I do that sometimes. Doesn’t work, but I try.”
“So I’ve heard,” Haru growled but the threatening tone he’d been attempting was lessened by the smile he still wore. “Don’t get any ideas, Will. Twenty minutes and you better be outside and ready for archery.”
“I will be,” Will promised.
Haru nodded and hurried to catch up with Robin, the last two knights to leave the room.
“Anyone else get a funny feeling that a couple knights didn’t buy what Will was selling?” asked Rowan once the knights were out of sight.
“Laster,” Will and Colin said together.
The Cutthroat Prince (William of Alamore Series Book 2) Page 9