Author's note: Massive apologies for the long update. Everything was against me over the past few months, from moving house to laptop malfunctions, and now I'm back at uni so updates are likely to remain a little sparodic from now on I'm afraid. However, I do intend to keep going with this story and I'm very grateful to anyone who's willing to keep reading despite my long absences. I'll do my best to keep updates as frequent as I'm able to.
As for this chapter, it was a tricky one, and in an attempt to get it to you a little quicker, I've proof read it one time less than usual. I therefore apologise for any typos or mistakes you might find.
Thanks again for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 4
'Stop fidgeting.'
Ragnelle's horse snorted at her and shook his mane, before shying his head out of her arms and bending down to snatch up another mouthful of hay. Ragnelle sighed.
'Want a hand?'
She turned and found Merlin watching her, with his own fully-tacked horse in hand. In the courtyard behind him were a row of horses all ready and waiting for their riders. Ragnelle should have known better than to interfere, but she'd been ready an hour before anyone else and sitting around waiting for the rest of the party had been driving her half mad.
'Yes, please.' She handed the bridle over to Merlin and within minutes her horse was tacked up and ready to go.
Merlin patted the gelding's neck a few times. 'What's his name?'
Ragnelle smiled and took the reins Merlin offered her. 'I didn't think it would be smiled upon to name your horse in Camelot.'
'He has to have a name! Otherwise what are you going to call him? Horse?'
'Has Arthur's horse got a name?'
Merlin pulled a face. 'I call him Arthur Two.'
Ragnelle raised an eyebrow. 'Why would you want to do that to the poor creature?'
Merlin shrugged and picked up the reins of his own horse again. 'Because he's greedy and grumpy and self-satisfied.'
'The King or the horse?'
Merlin answered with a smirk and led the way outside.
'Tristan,' Ragnelle said as she walked.
'What about him?' Merlin asked over his shoulder.
'My horse is called Tristan,' she clarified. Merlin turned to look at her with an odd expression. She smiled again, 'After my uncle, not Arthur's resident smuggler.'
'Oh, right, the Black Knight.'
Ragnelle sighed when she heard the tone in his voice. 'I know, it isn't very appropriate. I went through a romantic faze a few years ago.'
'Your uncle wasn't very romantic when I met him.'
Ragnelle frowned, confused.
Merlin looked surprised. 'You know, when he came back from the dead to exact revenge upon Uther.'
'Oh, that actually happened?' Her father had told her that it was all a load of nonsense. In the north news came late and by a dozen tongues, so sometimes things were said that didn't make sense.
'Yeah.' Merlin looked as though he was a long way away for a moment, then he shook his head and offered her an unconvincing smile. 'I'd forgotten he was your uncle.'
Ragnelle got the feeling that that was something she shouldn't have reminded him of. 'Yeah, I guess you'd say I come from bad breeding stock.'
'No more so than Arthur.'
'Exactly,' she said, and then wished she hadn't. Merlin had enough good grace to ignore her, but she wondered if she'd gone too far. Merlin had been good to her since she'd come here, but she still doubted him sometimes.
As they led the horses out into the courtyard, the royal party was coming down the steps: Arthur and Guinevere, with Galahad trailing after them, and Tristan and Gwaine bringing up the rear.
'Hurray up, Merlin, we haven't got all day.' Arthur swung himself up into his saddle and gave Merlin an impatient look that suggested he thought his horse had tacked itself up. Merlin rolled his eyes and said nothing. He left his own horse unattended for a moment to help Ragnelle mount.
'Thank you,' she said, pulling herself gracelessly up into the saddle. Merlin tightened her horse's girth for her before mounting his own mare.
Tristan rode up beside her as they waited for the others to ready themselves. 'Are you a keen hunter, my Lady?' he asked.
Ragnelle glanced over at him. She wasn't sure what to make of Arthur's resident smuggler. She'd seen little of him so far; he seemed to spend most of his time alone in the forest or lingering, unchallenged but uninvited, in Arthur's council chambers. Merlin had told her a little about him: how he'd smuggled for years, and saved Camelot, and lost his lover in the fight.
She shook her head, 'I've not much taste for killing things.' In truth, the thought of the coming hunt turned her stomach. She'd had no taste for death or dead things since the day her mother had died.
'I know what you mean.' Tristan was looking at her in a way that suggested he wasn't lying. Ragnelle thought that of all the people she'd met in Camelot, Tristan was one of the few she might actually be able to get along with.
'Shall we?' Arthur whirled his horse around to face the gates and glanced over his shoulders to see if the others were ready to follow him. When it was clear that they were all mounted, he dug his heels into his horse's sides and left the courtyard at a trot, with Guinevere at his side. Ragnelle kicked her own horse forward and joined the train, behind Galahad and in front of Merlin and Gwaine, with Tristan still by her side. He was quiet company, but company none the less, and for that Ragnelle was thankful.
XXX
It had been a bad hunt. Arthur pursed his lips at the head of the party and kicked his horse on into a trot. Leon rode on one side of him, and Galahad was keeping a fairly good pace on the other. But Gwen, Merlin and Gwaine were lagging behind and Ragnelle didn't even seem to be trying to keep up. Tristan was at the rear, but it seemed to be his prerogative to keep a distance from the rest of them. Arthur had been surprised that he had agreed to come along at all.
He looked over at Galahad. 'Your sister doesn't seem to be having much fun.'
Galahad glanced at him and already Arthur could tell he was on edge. It was irritating the way his cousins tried to dance away from him whenever he spoke to them. It made him suspicious.
'She doesn't like hunting,' was all Galahad gave by way of explanation.
Arthur pulled a face. 'Why? What's not to like?'
Galahad kept glancing around as though he was looking for an escape route. A small, irrational part of Arthur's brain wondered if they were about to be ambushed.
'She doesn't like killing things.'
Arthur laughed. He hadn't meant to, be it seemed ludicrous that Ragnelle should dislike killing things, considering who her father was.
'Where does she think her dinner comes from?'
Galahad shrugged. 'She doesn't eat meat.'
That was definitely weird. Who didn't eat meat? Arthur knew he was pulling that face again – the judgemental one that Gwen hated – but seriously...
'Why doesn't she eat meat?'Even Leon had glanced over curiously.
Galahad shrugged again. 'She says it makes her feel sick. She doesn't like dead things.'
Arthur smirked. It was just like Ragnelle to make life that little bit more difficult. 'She ate meat when I knew her.' At least, he assumed she had. He'd never noticed her not eating meat, but then, he'd never really noticed her at all.
'She stopped after Mother died.' Galahad was starting to sound defensive.
'So? My mother's dead and I still eat meat.' Arthur knew he was being rather callous, but he was irritated. He was always irritated when his cousins were around.
Galahad looked at him funny and Arthur hesitated. It was a expression caught somewhere between anger and shock.
'But she saw,' he said, as though that explained everything.
Arthur didn't understand. 'She saw what? He was starting to feel stupid. Beside him he could see Leon staring, which was unlike him. Clearly they were both missing something.
'She saw Mother fall.'
The bottom dropped out of Arthur's stomach. He hadn't known. He should have, but he hadn't.
'Oh,' he said.
'That's why she went funny then.'
Arthur and Galahad bother turned to look at Leon, who seemed to have spoken without meaning to.
'On top of the walls the other day, she had a funny turn. I thought it was the height.'
'It probably was. She hates heights too,' said Galahad.
Arthur didn't say anything. He shouldn't have spoken without knowing the facts. Gwen told him so all the time; Merlin had told him so before she ever had, but Arthur never listened to Merlin. He was beginning to wonder if he was stupid not to.
'Arthur!'
He turned to look at Gwen.
'We should stop and eat.'
He supposed she was right, although he wasn't that hungry after the conversation he'd just had. Right now all he really wanted to do was get back to the castle and fit in some sword practice whilst the sun was still up.
He pulled his horse to a halt. 'Of course. Merlin, I trust you brought the food?'
Merlin grinned, 'Roast chicken and cheese all round!'
It seemed Ragnelle would just be eating cheese then.
Arthur dismounted and went to help Gwen do the same. He noticed that Ragnelle didn't wait for help; she just swung herself gracelessly out of her saddle and landed with a muffled thump in the bracken. No one else took much notice of her: Gwaine was helping Merlin unloaded the packhorse, Leon was loosening his horse's girth, and Tristan had wandered off into the woods.
Gwen dismounted with all the grace Ragnelle had lacked. He kept his hands on her waist even after her feet had touched the floor.
'What is it?' She touched his cheek and he felt better instantly.
'Nothing.' He kissed her quickly on the lips and then let her go.
Something cracked above them.
'Watch out!'
Arthur turned at Gwaine's shout in time to see the knight grab Ragnelle by the waist. She yelped as she was yanked backwards, but Gwaine had only just acted quickly enough to stop her from being hit by the falling branch. It landed with a crash and her horse reared, screaming.
'Tristan!' Ragnelle shouted.
Tristan came running through the brush, sword unsheathed. 'What?'
Ragnelle wrenched herself from Gwaine's arms and lunged for her horse, somehow succeeding in seizing the reins despite the clumsiness of the action.
'I think she means the horse,' said Merlin.
Arthur frowned. 'What?'
Merlin pointed at Ragnelle's panicking horse with a block of hard cheese. 'The horse is called Tristan.'
The human Tristan sheathed his sword and approached Ragnelle's mount from the other side. Together they managed to calm the shying creature.
Arthur frowned. 'Why is your horse called Tristan?'
Ragnelle had managed to ignore the conversation so far, but now she glanced at Arthur and her eyes were full of doubt.
'No reason,' she said, but Arthur didn't believe her.
'I assume he's not named for this Tristan?'
Human Tristan eyed Arthur like he'd gone mad. Ragnelle diverted her gaze to her horse's muzzle. 'Of course not.'
'So who's he named for?'
'No one.' Ragnelle was a poor liar compared to her father.
Arthur bristled. 'Nothing to do with your insane uncle, then?'
Ragnelle glared. It was the most fight he'd seen in her since she'd arrived, and he didn't like it.
'He was your uncle too.' Her words were meant to cut and Arthur felt the sting. But in truth, Tristan de Bois had been a stranger to him; a shadow that had come to haunt him for a moment, and then had vanished beneath the weight of his father's sword.
'I didn't name my horse after him.'
Ragnelle's eyes were shaded with darkness, and Arthur decided that it was the colour of deceit. In truth, she looked more afraid than anything else, but Arthur disliked the thought, so he ignored it.
XXX
Lunch had been a tense affair. Ragnelle seemed to have elected to stay silent after her and Arthur's altercation, and despite Guinevere and Merlin's attempts to lighten the atmosphere, the presence of the King's cousins was a heavy one. Gwaine was glad when they started moving again, and with his belly full and his temper frayed, Arthur seemed determined to find himself a hapless animal to take his anger out on.
Gwaine soon noticed that Ragnelle was trailing behind. Even Tristan had opted to overtake her when they finally picked up the trail of a lone deer, and Ragnelle hung back until she was barely in sight of the hunting party. Gwaine would have preferred to be riding up ahead, where the action was, but he supposed it was his duty to protect the King's family, even if the King himself didn't seem that bothered about them. He pulled his horse to a halt and waited for her to catch up, before falling in step beside her.
'You seem unenthusiastic about our hunt,' he commented, as a way of breaking the ice.
'I don't like to kill things.'
'I see.' Gwaine had overheard the conversation between Arthur and Galahad earlier and decided he didn't want to delve any deeper into that side of Ragnelle, so he changed the subject. 'Do you miss your home?'
'Yes,' she said at once, 'The weather's colder up North, but the people are a little more...' she trailed off, unable to find the right word.
'Forgiving?' Gwaine offered. Ragnelle glanced at him uncertainly, but didn't disagree.
They heard a shout up ahead and Arthur kicked his horse into a canter. The rest of the party was quick to pick up the pace, but Gwaine and Ragnelle were a long way behind and it was a struggle not to lose them. The path they were following was not a particularly well kept one. Tree roots grew across the way and bracken had crept up around it. Their horses kicked up clouds of soft earth as they ran.
Gwaine's mare reared when she heard Ragnelle's horse scream. He managed to keep his seat, but as he tried to calm his own mount he saw Ragnelle hadn't managed to do the same. Her horse was on the ground, his breath heaving and his eyes rolling. Ragnelle had landed on the path and she wasn't moving.
'Ragnelle!' He didn't think to use her title. He dismounted, leaving his horse still dancing with fear and running to her side. For a short moment he thought she was unconscious, and for an even shorter moment he thought she might be dead, but when he got to her she was awake and breathing.
She struggled to get up, but Gwaine put a hand on her waist. 'Slowly.'
'I'm okay,' she said, but her breathing was as heavy as her horse's and her face was twisted with pain. Gwaine helped her to sit up.
'What hurts?' he asked.
'My arm.' As soon as she was upright Gwaine could tell that her left shoulder was dislocated. 'Tristan,' she said, and he wondered why she'd asked for the smuggler before realising she meant her horse.
By now, the others had noticed the accident and had turned themselves around; the human Tristan had dismounted and paused a moment by Ragnelle's side. 'Are you alright?' he asked.
She nodded, and the ex-smuggler went instead to the fallen horse's aid.
'Merlin, see if she's okay.' Even Gwaine noticed Arthur's hard tone, but one glance in the King's direction told him that Arthur cared more than he was letting on. He dismounted, but kept his distance.
Merlin did as was asked. As he knelt down beside Ragnelle, Gwaine simply said 'Her shoulder,' and Merlin understood.
'Did you hurt yourself anywhere else?' he asked Ragnelle. She shook her head. Merlin glanced at Gwaine, and then looked back at Ragnelle. 'I have to push your shoulder back. It'll hurt.'
Ragnelle swallowed and nodded, but Gwaine felt her grip tighten around his hand. Until now he hadn't noticed she'd been holding it.
Merlin readjusted his grip on her arm. 'One,' he said.
Ragnelle's grip was vice-like. Gwaine squeezed her hand reassuringly.
'Two,' Merlin twisted Ragnelle's arm without warning and her should clunked back into place. She gasped, but made no other discernible sound. She was stronger than she looked; or else more used to pain than Gwaine had thought.
Merlin looked sheepish. 'Sorry.' He turned to look at Arthur. 'She needs to go back to the castle.'
Gwaine suddenly became very aware that he was still holding Ragnelle's hand. He let go and stood up, because he felt rather silly kneeling beside her. 'I'll take her,' he offered.
Arthur nodded, 'Very well. Merlin, will she be okay until Gwaine gets her to Gaius.'
Merlin nodded.
'Good, then you can stay with us.' Arthur turned to look at Tristan. 'What about the horse?'
The smuggler was smoothing his hand down the poor creature's neck, trying to calm it. 'His leg's broken.'
Arthur looked grim. 'Will you deal with it?'
Tristan nodded without looking up.
'Don't kill my horse.' There was a surprising power behind Ragnelle's words. She grabbed Gwaine's hand and tried to pull herself up, but her legs were still shaking and Gwaine had to grab her by the waist and heft her to her feet to stop her falling back down. He didn't let go, just in case.
'I'm sorry, Ragnelle, there's no other choice,' Arthur told her, not without sympathy. Gwaine felt Ragnelle sag against his side, as though the fight had gone right out of her. When she drew breath it shook with pain, although whether it was physical or emotional Gwaine couldn't tell.
He realised he was staring at her and looked away, towards the royal party. Guinevere was pale, and Galahad was hanging back, uncertain. That annoyed him. 'Are you coming?' he asked pointedly.
Galahad hesitated, 'Err, yeah.' He took a step forward, but then Arthur put a hand out to stop him.
'We don't want to swamp her. Gwaine, you take Ragnelle back to the castle, we'll follow on after.'
Gwaine couldn't tell if Arthur was being cruel or kind, but he knew there was no point in arguing. Galahad swallowed, but made no further attempt to get to his sister's side. Gwaine felt his anger flare, but held his tongue.
'Fine,' was all he said, and then to Ragnelle: 'Come on.' He tried to steer her towards his horse, but her hand squeezed tight around his shoulder to stop him. She didn't look him in the eye, and she didn't say a word, but Gwaine thought he understood. He threw Merlin an appealing look, and the other man seemed to get the hint.
'We should keep going,' he said to Arthur, 'That stag's getting away.'
Arthur nodded, as though he'd barely heard, and then looked at Merlin, frowning. 'What?' It dawned on him. 'Oh, I mean, yes, you're right. Let's go.' He turned towards his horse, before hesitating and half turning back to look at Ragnelle. For a moment he looked as though he might say something to her, but then he closed his mouth and mounted his horse without a word.
Galahad also elected to stay mostly silent. He too hesitated before mounting, and then glanced at Ragnelle a few times before eventually saying 'See you back at the castle.' Ragnelle offered him a shaking smile in return.
When the hunting party had gone, Gwaine helped Ragnelle over to where her horse was lying and she knelt down next to the dying grey's head.
'It'll be quick,' said Tristan.
Ragnelle nodded, but she hardly seemed to be listening. She was rubbing behind her horse's ears with her good hand. 'I'm sorry,' she kept saying, over and over, as though she was responsible for the rabbit hole that had broken his leg.
When Gwaine decided he couldn't stand it any longer, he bent down and put his hands on Ragnelle's waist. 'Come on, we should go.'
Ragnelle nodded. Her horse's eyes were half closed; soothed and ready for sleep. She let Gwaine lift her back to her feet and walked over to his horse without too much help. Beneath his hands, he could feel her trembling, but he didn't say anything. He got her up onto his mare and then mounted behind her.
'Will you join the hunting party once it's done?' he asked Tristan.
The smuggler shook his head.
Gwaine nodded. 'See you back at the castle then.' He kicked his horse into an easy trot; one hand holding the reins, the other around Ragnelle's waist. She didn't need it there to keep her steady – now that the moment had past she was able to keep her seat well enough – but some unconscious part of Gwaine's head thought his touch might comfort her; the same way her touch had soothed the horse. Eventually, her trembling stopped and her breathing calmed, so it seemed to be working.
XXX
When the hunting party finally got back to the castle the sky was darkening and they were all but spent. The stag had gotten away; after Ragnelle's accident no one had had much of a stomach to keep chasing it. Galahad hoped the news would cheer his sister up. He should have gone with her back to the castle, he knew that now, but in the moment he hadn't had the fight in him. He'd seen the distain in Gwaine's eyes when he hadn't argued against Arthur's command for him to stay, and now he felt the same distain for himself. Ragnelle wouldn't have left his side had their places been reversed.
He wondered if Gaheris would be disappointed.
The horses clattered into the courtyard and stable hands rushed out to meet them. Galahad loosed his feet from his stirrups and sat for a moment, stretching his legs and dreading the dismount. They'd been riding so long that his thighs had gone numb and his back had cramped. A boy came to take the reins of his horse and he swung his leg over the back of his saddle. When he hit the ground his legs betrayed him and he staggered backwards, only just managing to stay on his feet. Arthur glanced his way scathingly and Galahad felt heat prickling behind his eyes.
'You can tell your sister that when she's well enough she can have her pick of the stables. Any horse without a rider is hers if she wants it,' said Arthur graciously.
Galahad nodded, and then realised it would seem discourteous not to answer. 'Thank you, my Lor... Your Majesty.' He should have said more, but he knew he'd just mess it up if he did. He had never been much good with words.
His horse was led away and he began to make his way towards the palace steps, before hesitating, thinking he should wait for the King to take the lead. When he turned to look, however, Arthur was already striding off in the direction of the practice yard. Galahad caught Guinevere's eye, and she smiled.
He liked Guinevere. He didn't feel under as much pressure when he was in her presence. Ragnelle didn't seem to like her much, but he thought that was just jealousy: Guinevere had come to be loved more in a year than Ragnelle had in a lifetime.
The Queen made her way towards him. 'You must be worried about your sister. We can go and visit her together if you like.'
If truth be told, Galahad didn't really want to go and visit Ragnelle. He felt bad for it, and of course he was worried, but Ragnelle had always been the one who'd looked after him. When he fell of his horse she'd clean the dirt out of his cuts and make him get back on. The thought of doing it the other way around was awkward.
None-the-less, he nodded. 'Yes, Your Majesty.'
She looked embarrassed as she led the way up the steps. 'You don't have to call me that.'
Yes, I do, he thought, but he didn't say anything.
'I'm sorry Arthur didn't let you come back to the castle with her. He meant well.' Guinevere didn't sound entirely certain of herself as she excused her husband's actions, but Galahad nodded and smiled as best he could.
'She wouldn't have wanted me anyway.'
Guinevere frowned. 'Why do you say that?' she asked.
Galahad shrugged. 'I just guess she would have wanted Gaheris, not me.'
'Are they close?' Guinevere was trying to be polite by asking after his siblings, but the topic grated on Galahad. He knew his jealousy was unfounded, but that didn't make it go away.
He shrugged again, 'Twins always are, aren't they?'
Guinevere looked surprised. 'I didn't realise they were twins.'
Galahad started to shrug for a third time and then stopped himself. He'd look simple if he kept doing it.
Guinevere seemed to sense his discomfort and neatly changed the subject. 'I'm sorry about Ragnelle's horse. Was she very fond of him?'
Galahad thought about Ragnelle's grey gelding lying in the dirt with his eyes rolling in pain. He'd seen his sister shaking, and for a moment he'd known exactly what he needed to do. Only he hadn't done it.
He felt the heat behind his eyes again. 'Yeah, Dad got him for her.' After a moment, he realised what he'd said and glanced sidelong at Guinevere, suddenly afraid. She may be kind and gracious, but she was still Arthur's wife. Gaheris had told him, above all things, not to mention their father; especially not around people close to Arthur.
Guinevere looked sad rather than angry though. 'I doubt any horse Arthur can give her will replace him, but I hope the offer will comfort her a little.'
Once, a few years ago, he and Ragnelle had seen the cook ring the neck of a chicken they were going to eat for dinner. Ragnelle had turned bone white and almost fainted, and she'd been unwell for days after it had happened. Since then she hadn't eaten a bite of meat. She couldn't stomach the sight of death; she could barely stomach the thought of it, so no matter how many gracious offers or acts of kindness the King and Queen offered her, she'd still be sick with grief for days. Whether it was for the horse or their long-dead mother, Galahad couldn't say. To him Ragnelle's turns made little sense, but he hadn't been there when their mother had hurled herself from Camelot's walls. He couldn't even remember their mother's face.
They had come to a part of the castle Galahad hadn't been to before, and they stopped outside a door which was ajar. Guinevere knocked a few times and then pushed the door open. As Queen, she had no need to knock, but Galahad could tell that she'd been a servant too long to do away with her manners entirely.
Behind the door was a light room, filled with strange instruments and the smell of herbs. The old man was there as well – the one who was always present at Arthur's council meetings. Galahad plucked his name from somewhere in his memory: Gaius. He'd heard his father mention him half a hundred times. He had been Uther's physician, and the closest thing the old King had had to a friend. Agravaine had always spoken about the old man with contempt, but Galahad supposed that after everything that had happened, he probably shouldn't trust his father's judgement. Ragnelle had also mentioned the physician a few times. As far as Galahad could tell, Gaius had been one of the few people who had seen any worth in Ragnelle at all; it was one more person than had ever seen any worth in Galahad.
Gaius smiled at Guinevere, 'Your majesty.'
Guinevere smiled back, 'You don't have to call me that, Gaius.'
'You'll need to get used to it soon enough, Gwen. You can't be a serving girl as well as a Queen.' It seemed Gaius had the guts to say what Galahad did not.
'We came to see Ragnelle. Is she okay? Galahad was worried.'
Galahad thought Guinevere was gracious to bring him into the conversation. He was more used to standing on the sidelines and being ignored. Gaius glanced at him with an expression Galahad couldn't read and then turned away, busying himself with herbs and spices.
'She's asleep in her chambers. Apart from her arm she wasn't badly hurt, just shocked. I gave her an infusion of arnica to help with that, and to keep the bruising down.'
Guinevere looked at Galahad uncertainly. 'Perhaps we should let her rest. She's had a hard day.'
Galahad was shamefully relieved and nodded. 'Yes, you're right,' and then he hesitated and glanced at Gaius. 'She'll be alright though?'
The physician tilted his head curiously, before giving a curt nod. 'I see no reason why not.'
Galahad swallowed and got the feeling that Gaius was as disdainful of him as Gwaine had been. He tried to shake the feeling off by nodding and taking a step back towards the door. 'Good,' and then, as an afterthought, 'Thank you.' He took another step backwards and offered Guinevere a stiff bow. 'Your majesty, I'll leave you now. I should go and...practice. For the tournament.' It had been a good enough excuse for Arthur, but after saying it Galahad realised that it made him sound even more callous, considering his sister's injuries.
Guinevere gave no hint that she thought the same, but Galahad thought she must. She smiled kindly and inclined her head. 'Of course.'
He ducked out of the surgery and walked away from it as fast as he could. He couldn't remember how they'd got there, but he figured if he wandered the halls for long enough he'd find a way out. He'd have to go and practice for the tournament now, whether he wanted to or not, because he couldn't let anyone think that he was a liar. He was not his father's son. He was not. He was not.
That, in itself, was the greatest lie of all.
