Roald smiled at Gwen as she went through the basic drills in unarmed combat with Faleron. Roald had feared that Faleron would be too easy on Gwen due to his protectiveness of her and their relationship, but instead it seemed that Faleron was just as committed to getting her back on track as he was to protecting her. Whenever she missed a step or was too weak with a punch or a kick, he'd make her do it again. And true to her nature, Gwen pushed through the barriers that were thought to be her limit. They practiced at the same time the pages did in the morning in the indoor practice courts. Though Roald was fairly certain Gwen and Faleron didn't hear the comments the pages whispered about her, he heard them clearly from his vantage point.

"I heard she took three arrows for His Majesty just so she could become his squire."

"I heard she escaped a dungeon in Tusaine with nothing but a hair pin."

"You're both nuts. She was in the right place at the right time and did her duty for His Majesty. And she didn't escape the dungeon. Someone came and let her out. But she did withstand lots of torture and keep silent." Roald turned to look at the speaker and found a girl who looked to be about thirteen standing between two ten year old pages. All three wore practice clothes. "My papa said she was starved and not given room to move so all of her muscle went away. That's why she has to train again."

"Did she have to start over her squire years?" One of the ten year olds asked.

"No, silly. She just has to work really hard to get her muscle back so she can take her Ordeal. Papa said the King told her she didn't have to, that he'd give her a spot on his council if she decided it would be too hard. But she said she wanted to be a knight."

"She's a hero."

"Maybe not a hero, but she's my role model. I want to be as strong as she is!" The thirteen year old turned back towards the training master. When Roald looked up at Padraig he noticed the family resemblance. Looking back at Gwen he could see she wasn't paying him any mind so he went over.

"Your daughter?" Roald nodded to the thirteen year old.

"Is it that obvious?" Padraig chuckled.

"Is she a first year?" Roald noticed she didn't seem to go with the older children.

"She just decided the Convent wasn't for her this last year and asked to be a page. She really believes Gwen is the best example of what a noble woman should be: Beautiful, Strong, and Deadly with a weapon." Padraig sighed. "I wanted to make sure she'd hold up alright so I ran her through drills all summer and she still wanted to come."

"She seems to know a lot about Gwen's 'accomplishments' as my squire," he raised an eyebrow at the training master.

"No use in letting her worship someone with false information. I'm afraid I only made her more in awe of Gwen but it couldn't be helped." Padraig turned to look over at Gwen and Faleron working through drills. "How is she doing?"

"Since we were cleared in January to start, she's been doing increasingly better each day. Duke Baird said her body remembers what it was like and is trying to get back there, so she doesn't have to work quite as long for the same results. But I suspect she works alone in her rooms most nights to push a little more, and I swear I saw a weighted harness in her study the other day."

"That would be a smart way to build muscle while she isn't exercising. It's never required of squires but we still require it of our second, third, and fourth year pages. It was a good practice that Cavall started. How's her archery?"

"Steadily improving. She got a new crossbow from her family for Midwinter so she's trying to get her body and aim up to trying it out." Roald saw Gwen stop in her practice and turn around to look for him.

"She looks vastly better than she did two months ago at that meeting," Padraig commented. And he was right. Gwen's face had filled out a little more and was now more rounded and less angular. Her body, while still terribly thin, no longer resembled a walking skeleton. Her skin had gained color. Her hands were becoming as limber and as quick as they used to be.

"Every day she looks better and better. I'm certain there will be a day in the near future where I look back at her and forget the toll those months took on her." Roald admitted.

"I doubt she'll forget. Or her lover there. It looks like they are waiting for you." Padraig gave Roald a nudge back towards Gwen and Faleron. All of court knew that Gwen and Faleron were courting and whether it was because they were so open about their courtship or because of how pitiful Gwen had looked upon return to the palace, the gossips about her being whored out to Roald's friends had been hushed early on. Now the gossip about them was about when they would get betrothed. Roald heard running bets about dates, times, before the Ordeal, after the Ordeal, how the betrothal would happen. He, himself, had put in a bet for the moment she stepped out of the chamber in a spontaneous utterance.

There were also bets on why she had been taken to Tusaine. He had heard a number of theories whispered in the halls and reported by his friends in passing. The most inaccurate he had heard was that Gwen had faked the whole thing to give information to Tusaine about the Tortallan Crown. There were holes in that theory such as the damage Gwen had taken. Those theorists put up that she had done it to herself in order to make her lie more believable. Other theories included Gwen's fief being indebted to Tusaine due to the large number of fixes and changes that had happened at Merrywood within the last two years and Gwen had been taken to get them to pay up. Roald knew that one was a lie due to the fact it was Gwen's money that had made those changes and that her captors had asked about him and never for a ransom. Another theory floating around was far more accurate to what Gwen had described: a fief in Tortall was plotting against the Crown and had used Tusaine's rebellion as a cover in case they failed.

They had looked into the fiefs that had green and blue as their colors. They were all under investigation and being monitored by spies to make sure that they were not involved. Of the five fiefs that held those particular colors, three looked unlikely and two appeared to be less than loyal. The smallest of the fiefs, Deerwood, Merrywood's neighbor, was top of the list for suspicion. Accounts had been uncovered with money going out of the fief with no reasons noted. The dates on those transactions were close to the dates of the assassination attempts and one large transaction of nearly two thousand gold crowns was a week after Midsummer. When asked about Deerwood, Gwen spoke fondly of the people. Her focus, it seemed, was on the woodsmen and men-at-arms she had come across when she went out on patrols with her men-at-arms. Of the Lord and his two sons, she had little to add. She didn't know them personally and she hadn't asked about them when she had been young and patrolling the woods.

Tusaine was little help in this part of the questions. When Roald had asked if any of Tortall's fiefs had been listed in account books or if they could track payments of such sizes, Edric had shaken his head. They had looked at a lot of those same things with the hopes of helping Tortall, but so far no account books had been uncovered. The Lord that Gwen had called Slight had disappeared before Tusaine's army had surrounded the fief. They suspected another fief of hiding him but were unable to prove it as of yet. Nobles in Tusaine had much the same rights as those in Tortall. They were untouchable on their fiefs and fiefs could not be searched without absolute proof something was going on. The guess was that Slight, or rather Lord Bariden, had taken whatever account books with him or that he had destroyed them before he had left. The lack of account books proved he had likely known they were coming and had fled, rather than it just having been luck he was away from his fief. Additional evidence such as Lord Bariden so very rarely left his fief that it was unlikely he had left for any reason except to spare himself. The guard Gwen had described had been identified by Sir Aloys and had refused to speak other than to admit he had 'loved hearing the little chit cry when he had been on her'. Edric had let it slip that Nik and Aloys had both gotten in a few good punches before anyone had pulled them off. Edric had also informed him that when they did get more information, Roald would be first to find out.

"Can't practice without me looking on?" Roald teased when he neared Gwen and Faleron.

"We saw you chatting with Padraig. Any advice he had?" Faleron asked.

"Not about Gwen's training. He's impressed with how far she's come, but I was talking to him more about his daughter. The older girl in with the first years," he nodded towards where the first years were running drills. "He was telling me how she decided against the Convent and worships my darling squire." He saw Gwen wrinkle her nose at his endearment.

"So your sister was right. You are inspiring women away from the Convent," Faleron wrapped his arms around Gwen and kissed her temple. "So, staff drills then." He stepped away from Gwen and went to retrieve their staves.

"Perhaps when you are Countess of King's Reach you'll turn the school in a more practical direction. Work with Shinko on creating those who are best suited to belong in the Queen's Ladies," Roald teased.

"Aurelia would have my head, I think. The Convent would send assassins after me. Perhaps it's the Convent out to get me, and some of the attempts are unrelated to you." She laughed.

"I'll add them to my list of people to watch," Roald told her mock-earnestly. He didn't believe the Convent would send assassins. More likely they would create gossip to discredit her, attack her femininity, create stories to destroy her reputation. They preferred to shame someone out of sight than to actually kill them. "Now, back to training," he turned her to face Faleron.

Unarmed combat, followed by staves, and then archery was the main part of their morning. When Gwen was doing better with those drills, they would reintroduce her sword and try out her crossbow. Mentally she was as sharp as ever. She was studying fairly advanced laws with Faleron and she was quick the equations he set her to. He didn't always tell her that he wasn't creating these equations as examples, he was simply using her abilities to eliminate some of the work that was building up. He assumed that if she knew he was using her to help with his work load, she'd stop concentrating on her physical health and apply herself fully to the work he needed done.

When Gwen was done with her work for the night, Roald always dismissed her and Faleron would stay behind so the two of them could discuss any changes to her routine. Most of the time the discussion was how much they should extend her exercises or what could be added. It was in these talks that Roald had discovered how Gwen had come by a weighted harness. She had simply asked Faleron for one for the times she was in her suite reading or relaxing so that she was still building up strength. He had given in and helped her work out how much weight she should use to start. The additional weight disks were hidden and locked away in Faleron's rooms and he would determine when Gwen was ready for another set of disks.

"You know there are bets about you and Gwen getting betrothed right? And earlier today I joked with Gwen about her being Countess to King's Reach… she didn't try to deny that it would happen." Roald asked when he and Faleron were nearing the end of their work.

"I know about the bets. I know about your bet," Faleron rolled his eyes. "And Gwen knows she's my Countess should she survive her Ordeal."

"Well are you going to tell me my bet was misplaced? That there's a plan there and a time?" Roald quirked an eyebrow. "When are you planning on asking my dear squire to make it official?"

"I can't tell you when it will be official," Faleron shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Gwen has the betrothal ring. She's already agreed to a betrothal. But I told her until she's ready to deal with the added pressure of others knowing and asking a thousand questions it was unofficial and she could decide when she was comfortable enough to make it public."

"When was all of this?" Roald sat up straighter in his chair. How had he missed this?

"After everyone left the room the morning after Longnight. She said Aurelia had thought I had a ring in the box I had given her and I couldn't lie to her about what I wanted from her. I'm certain of her and she claims to be certain of me so I gave her the ring." He shrugged. "Only she will know when she wants to make it official."

"Huh," Roald sat back in his chair. "I'm surprised. With how public you two have made things, I thought the betrothal would be… more public."

"Officially we are not betrothed," Faleron pointed out. "If Gwen had it her way everything would be quiet and contained to our two sets of rooms."

"Why make it so public then?" Roald had wondered why Faleron was so very obvious about his relationship with Gwen. It was clearly Faleron doing most of the initiating of their public interactions.

"Well, beyond the fact I'm proud of her and proud to show her off," Faleron started and Roald rolled his eyes. "I thought if I showed all of Court how utterly in love I am, they wouldn't accuse her of being a whore or of believing she's a passing fling for me." He sighed. "She knows all of that too which is why she lets me do it."

"So Gwen has the ring and whenever she decides to wear it, it's official?" Roald tried to wrap his head around it.

"That would be it," Faleron settled his papers into a neat stack on his lap. "Did Gwen tell you about the letter Sir Nikolas sent her with his gift over Midwinter?" Roald shook his head. He had assumed Edric's letter was apologies, inquiries, and further academic debate. While he was aware Gwen had never received a letter from Nikolas before, he had thought it would be an inquiry into her health. "He asked her to forgive his lapse in judgment several years ago when he left her standing alone and then gave a list of reasons she should return to Tusaine and court him. One of those reasons was that Aloys would be her brother-in-law." Faleron rolled his eyes. "She showed me the letter to ask me what I thought he had been thinking."

"And?" Roald was curious to see Faleron's thoughts on it.

"Exactly what we discussed when I told you I sensed jealousy from him in Tusaine. He saw her in one of her vulnerable moments and he was the strong one again. By the point he had written the letter and sent it, Nikolas wouldn't have known Gwen had decided to remain a squire. It looked to all outsiders that Gwen wouldn't continue on in her studies." Faleron sighed. "Gwen has made her decision and she wrote him to tell him so."

"Has he written back?" Roald was genuinely curious.

"Aloys did. He said had he known Nik was making such a proposal he would have stolen the letter and burned it. He also said that Gwen's decision to remain a squire had been a surprise but a pleasant one to himself and to Edric." Faleron grinned. "No word on how Nik took that."

"So I suppose I had better come up with a betrothal gift for the two of you," Roald smiled up at his friend.

"Well, you have a while. I don't think it will be until closer to Midwinter if it is before her Ordeal." Faleron sighed. "You're not upset?"

"Just don't get her pregnant before her Ordeal and I won't be upset," Roald stood to gather his work together.

"Unlikely that will happen. We share a bed, but we don't have that sort of physical relationship." Roald looked up at Faleron a bit surprised. After walking in on some of their more passionate kisses he had been certain they were doing more than sleeping in the same bed. "Should it get there, though, Neal gave her a replacement for the pregnancy charm she lost."

"Does she still have nightmares?" Roald wondered if their lack of a sexual relationship was due to her nightmares about the rape.

"Sometimes, but usually I'm there and she doesn't have them," Faleron stood too. "Are you sending me out on patrol again this year after Midsummer?"

"I was thinking about it. You two will have to separate eventually. It will be a good time to see if her mind has healed enough for the Ordeal." Roald expected a backlash from Faleron but instead he saw Faleron nodding.

"I was thinking along the same lines," Faleron admitted. "I was also wondering if you'd approve a couple weeks of leave time for me to return to King's Reach."

"Of course. Perhaps you could go on patrol and then to King's Reach. However long you need." It was a surprise that Faleron was letting go of some of his overprotectiveness but then it was a testament to his faith that Gwen was improving. If continued on her current path, Roald had no doubt she'd be able to cope with Faleron being gone for a month or two by the time Midsummer came around.