Chapter 8: Dishonour
Logan gave the boy a narrow-eyed look as he entered the dining hall for breakfast the next morning. There wasn't anything different about the boy; still the same hair, same face, same smile. Nothing was different. He gave the boy his usual wink and nod when the kid sat down, and then took his own seat at the knights' table.
Julian came in and sat down beside him. "So, Logan, are you going to be reassigning your squire?"
Logan shook his head, the Queen's warning still fresh in his mind. "Naw. Figured I'll keep him for a while longer."
'The Queen told you to keep him?" Julian guessed from the look on Logan's face. "Now why on earth…unless she likes the boy, and she knows you don't, so she figures she'll have the boy all to herself…" Julian nodded. "I bet that's it. Well, looks like our lovely little Queen Renee has a hidden side, doesn't she?" He grinned, and it wasn't pleasant. Logan wanted to smash his fist into the other knight's face; no knight had the right to speak of the Queen that way. But Julian got up from the table at just that moment to speak to a noble passing the table to go to the nobles' tables up by the King's seat, and Logan missed his chance.
When the squires started rising from the table Logan rose too, and caught Lee outside the hall. "I can't talk now, Logan, I have to get to history class," the boy said.
Logan sighed. "Ya got any free time today?"
Lee nodded. "Yes. After the weaponry and equitation classes."
"I'll see ya then."
Jubilee was barely listening to the knight teaching the History class. All she could think about was what Logan had wanted to speak to her about, and whether he had found out, as the Queen had, that she was a girl.
She hurried off to the weaponry classes after that, and Jubilee had to pull her attention to what she was doing. This class, unlike the other classes which came so easily to her, was a struggle to get through. She tried to hold her sword the way Nathan was telling her to, but it didn't feel natural to her, and she was awkward and clumsy. She swung at him, finally, in the practice bouts, and missed him completely. Instead, the heavy wooden practice sword swung in a broad arc and struck the boy next to her, Martin. Martin yelled in surprise and pain, and all activity in the field stopped as the weaponsmaster came striding up. He slapped the flat of his wooden sword against Jubilee's buttocks, hard enough to make her yelp with the pain and blink away tears.
"Being so clumsy with the sword is not a good thing!" the Weaponsmaster roared in anger. "If that were a real sword in your hand just now, you could have cut Martin's head off. Are you that stupid, lad?"
Jubilee saw Nathan's triumphant smirk, and gritted her teeth. "I am sorry, Weaponsmaster. But I cannot hold the sword the way you want us to hold it, my hands do not cover the hilt adequately."
"Show me." Jubilee raised the heavy sword, putting her hands on the grip in the way Nathan had showed her, and the weaponsmaster narrowed his eyes. "I never indicated that this was the way in which a sword should be held, boy!" he roared at her suddenly. "Where did you get such a notion?" Her eyes flicked past the weaponsmaster to Nathan, and the man turned to see who she was looking at. Nathan looked distinctly uncomfortable.
The weaponsmaster took the uncomfortable look for guilt, which it rightly was, and spun, laying the flat of his wooden practice blade against the other boy's rump. This time it was Nathan who yelped. "Boy," the weaponsmaster bellowed. "Are you daft? Just because your father's a nobleman does not give you the right to play around with those of lower rank! Your father will hear of this, I promise you! I will assign another partner to Lee; you will practice by yourself with the practice pell until I can see you are behaving yourself!" He turned to Jubilee. "Come now, lad. Hold the sword in a way that feels most comfortable for you." Jubilee readjusted her grip, and after that, though her arms were still weak, she had better control over the sword, and her movements were less jerky. "Robin!" the Weaponsmaster said finally. "Practice with Lee here." Robin moved over to practice trading blows with Jubilee, and the weaponsmaster stalked over to the corner of the field. The students, though outwardly busy practicing, had their ears strained to hear every angry word that came from his lips.
"Irresponsible! When you are told to assist a new student, it does not mean that you can teach the student the wrong way to handle a sword so that you can appear better! This is not a rigged practice like your tutors provide, where you sample other swordsmen and pick the ones who are worse than you so that you may feel superior! This practice field is for those who must make their living with the sword, not for those who think it idle sport! Put your sword down. I will not teach a spoiled boy who thinks it fun to mislead another for his own amusement." The weaponsmaster yanked the sword from Nathan's hand, used the flat to deliver another blow to the boy's rump, and watched as Nathan scurried ignominiously off back to the trainees' barracks. The other students hurriedly resumed their practice, not wanting to make it seem like they were eavesdropping.
He called a halt to the practice soon afterward, and had the students sit on the ground. "What you saw today was not honourable," he said to them. "That boy is a noble's son. He may never need to pick up a sword in defense of his king and country, but such is not the same for most of you," he said, eyeing the trainees. "You will have to earn your living by your sword. It is not an idle game for you; it is a way of life. But along with the sword comes responsibility. Being a squire, and eventually a knight, means you must always act with honour, dignity, and chivalry. Your job is to champion the weak, the helpless, the abused; to protect the honour of a lady, to preserve the lives of children, women, and the elderly, the crippled, and the sick. Those who need help, you must succor; your code of conduct must be, above all else, honour. Do you all understand that?"
The trainees nodded soberly, although a few of the other nobles' boys looked disgusted. "And even you nobles' sons," the weaponsmaster turned to them. "You should live by honour as well; never allow your own selfish ambitions cause another harm; never allow your desires to come before your King and your country. Your duty, your care, should be for your king and kingdom first, then your lands and your household, your Lady; then, and only then, should you think of yourself." He sighed as he saw one of the boys roll his eyes, but said nothing further. He left, and shortly thereafter the Horsemaster came into the field and told them to retrieve their horses.
They were given shields and practice swords today, and took turns whacking at each other while on horseback. Jubilee found herself facing one of the nobles' boys, Roger. He attacked her with a flurry of blows, smacking her wooden practice shield and buffeting her mercilessly with his sword. She gave as good as she got; and after one clash of blows, when they pulled their horses apart, she saw the malicious look in his eye. It was all the warning she got before the boy shoved his wooden shield under her horse's belly and rammed it into the back of the horse's knee. The animal screamed in pain, and the next moment Jubilee saw the sky and earth tumbling over and over, until she hit the ground, and everything went black.
Logan was approaching the field when he heard the horse scream, and saw the small figure slide off the animal's back and hit the ground. He ran for the fence, slipped under it, and hurried to the fallen boy. The Horsemaster was at the other end of the field, helping two boys turn their mounts and swing, and hadn't seen what happened.
"Lee!" Logan called urgently, patting the boy's cheek. "Lee, wake up! Come on, boy, you didn't hit the ground that hard!" He slapped the pale cheek again. "Come on, boy, wake up!" He turned to the boy Lee had been sparring with, and asked furiously, "What happened?"
"I don't know, the horse just reared," the boy said, plastering a look of wide-eyed innocence on his face as the Horsemaster reined up his mount and knelt beside the fallen boy. Logan looked at the other boy for a long minute, not quite trusting the innocent face, but as Lee groaned and opened his eyes, Logan switched his attention to the kid. "Hey," he said. "Hey, ya okay?"
Jubilee groaned as consciousness returned. Her head throbbed and pounded mercilessly, and she could taste blood in her mouth from biting her tongue on the way down. She turned her head and spat the blood onto the grass beside her head, then carefully levered herself to a sitting position. It was difficult; the field kept whirling in unexpected ways. "I think so," she said finally, blinking. "What happened?"
"I wanted to ask you that," the Horsemaster said. "The horse you have been assigned is usually gentle; he has never thrown anyone. Something must have spooked him this time."
"I…I don't know," Jubilee put a hand to her aching forehead. "I can't remember."
"It is often the case with falls resulting in bumps to the head," the Horsemaster said. "I think it would be best for you to go and lie down for the rest of the afternoon. Robin, please go and fetch the castle healer; he may wish to take a look at the boy's head. Lee, can you make it into the barracks?"
Jubilee tried to stand. The ground kept receding from under her feet, then coming up at her so fast she was afraid she was going to get hit with it; and when she tried to take a step she did indeed hit the ground face first.
Strong arms swept her up and started walking, and Jubilee was about to protest when she realized it was Logan carrying her. She closed her eyes; the whirling ground was making her nauseous, and leaned her head against Logan's shoulder. She felt so safe, so comfortable and protected, in his arms; she wished she could stay there forever. It was a silly wish; she was a squire, she shouldn't feel this way…
She roused a little as Logan put her down on what she felt was her bed. There was a confused babble of voices just past his shoulder, but she closed her eyes to all of that, and kept them closed. She just wanted a little rest, some peace and quiet…
"Wake up," came a firm voice. "Trainee, you must wake up." She moaned, but at the urging of that voice, she opened her eyes. "Better. You must not sleep, after a head wound."
She groaned, but levered herself up to a sitting position as the healer handed her a cup of some foul-smelling brew to drink. She made a face, but drank it down anyway.
It might have tasted vile, but it did help. Her head cleared a little, and the room stopped spinning. "What happened?"
"Ya got thrown from yer horse," Logan told her. "Hit the ground pretty hard. I was on my way ta talk ta ya, an' I saw ya fall."
"Oh." She digested that in silence, then swallowed down the rest of the medicine with a grimace. The healer took the cup from her, looked at her face for a moment, felt the swelling at the back of her head for a moment, then nodded. "Rest would be the best thing for him at this moment," he said dryly. "Sir Logan, if you wish to speak to the boy, you may; but everyone else should leave.He needs quiet now." The healer herded the other trainees and the Horsemaster out of the barracks, then closed the door behind him.
Logan sat watching Lee for a moment. "So ya got the Queen's protection, do ya?" he said quietly.
Jubilee gasped, a hand coming up involuntarily to touch the queen's ring, which hung on a leather thong around her neck. Logan smiled at her. "Don't bother hidin' it, I seen it when I picked ya up. Don't worry, I don't think anyone's gonna know what it is at a casual glance. It's small and plain enough to pass as some love token from some young thing ya might have stringin' along behind ya." Logan sighed. "I haveta make a confession. I was thinkin' maybe ya aren't the right boy fer me, an' I was thinkin' bout tradin' ya off ta one of the other knights."
Jubilee gasped in shock and horror. Trade her off! And maybe the next knight would expect her to perform personal tasks for him, and she would be caught and killed! "No," She whispered, anguished. "No, please don't…"
Logan looked at her oddly. "I suggested as much to the Queen. I figured I'd better ask her, seein' as you was the one she asked ta come up ta her room. Y'know what she said? She ordered me not ta reassign ya to nobody else, an' told me if I do she's gonna have me flogged." He crossed his arms at Lee's shocked gasp. "Now, Her Majesty's never ordered a floggin' fer nobody under her fer as long's I've been here, so ya can appreciate how I felt after hearin' that. She's got plans fer ya, plans she don't want nobody ta interfere with, an' I'm guessin' that's why she give ya her personal ring. I'm also guessin' it don't got nothin' ta do with warmin' her bed. Renee ain't like that. She says yer not who I think ya are. Can ya explain that?"
Jubilee trembled like a leaf in a high wind. "No," she said softly. "Please, Logan. If…if you order me to, I'll tell you…I have to…but it will ruin me completely, and will get me killed. And I have things I have to do before I go to the executioner's."
"Does it have something to do with that revenge?" Jubilee nodded mutely.
Logan took a long, slow look at her, measuring his desire to know against the boy's certainty that if he told Logan what the secret was, he would be executed. Finally he nodded. "Keep yer secrets. But, Lee…if that secret's gonna get us both killed, I expect ya ta tell me before we die, just so I can haunt ya fer eternity." He softened the words with a smile.
Jubilee sat back with a sigh of relief. She'd been so worried that he would order her to tell him, and she knew he was going to be shocked, startled…maybe enough to have her killed then and there. "I promise I'll tell you if it comes to that," she said firmly. And she reached out and grasped Logan's right arm in the forearm clasp of the knights, sealing the bargain.
There was a small alcove in the outer wall of the castle, where a large oak tree stood with its branches shading the interior. Not that there was much space to hide there; the wall had been built around the tree, since the tree couldn't be removed. Under the spreading branches, a figure in a heavy dark cloak waited, and watched the road.
It was almost sunset when there came the sound of footsteps and another figure approached. The black-cloaked figure stepped out into the middle of the road hastily, seized the arm of the man on foot, and wrenched him into the narrow space between the tree and the stone wall. "You fool," came a sibilant hiss from the man in the black cloak. "Walking down the road in the uniform of the King's knights! You stick out like a sore thumb."
"There is nobody about!" came the exasperated whisper form the other man in scarlet and gold clothing. "Everyone else is at dinner. No one will hear us."
"Get on with it," said the man in black. 'What news have you for me?"
"The Queen saw one of the new squires performing acrobatics yesterday, and invited the boy to her bower," the King's Knight said. "She was alone with the boy for nearly a half-hour."
"So? What of it? If the Queen chooses to dally with a petty peasant, what importance is that to me?"
"The squire belongs to Sir Logan," The King's Knight said. "Last night he asked me if I wanted to take the boy. Then this morning, after having spoken to the Queen, he rescinded the offer."
"Would the Queen stoop to using an ignorant squire to do her snooping for her?" The cloaked man asked.
"I doubt it," said the man in red. "I believe that Sir Logan is spying for the Queen, and the squire is the medium by which they communicate."
The cloaked man swore feverishly. "So that must be why the King stopped giving out information over the war table to us nobles. Sir Logan suspects someone of complicity with Gallas and told the Queen, who told the King to keep to his own counsel. Chances are, though, is that Sir Logan knows what the King is planning to do. Damn the man. We'll have to kidnap him, then, and put him to the question."
"Yes," said the man in red. "And I have the perfect way to do it. Logan and I are in the same company of knights. Yesterday our commander told us that we would be heading out to the battlefield when spring begins. Logan thinks of me as a friend; it will be easy to slip up behind him and knock him out with a well-placed blow. After that, it will be easy to bring him to your citadel."
"You shall be paid well for this information, King's Knight," said the man in black.
The King's Knight shook his head. "I want no payment for this. In exchange for delivering Sir Logan to you, I want his squire. The boy is comely."
The man in black laughed. "You have a deal, my friend. After all, what care I for an insignificant squire?"
"Thank you, Duke G—"
The man in black clamped a hand over the King's Knight's mouth. "Hush, you fool! I have told you, do not speak my name!"
The man in red bowed. "My regrets, my lord. With your leave, I shall go now, since my message is delivered and I shall be missed if I am away too long. As will you."
"I shall be all right. Go!" The man in red disappeared, and the cloaked man rubbed his hands in delight. King Gallas might grant him even larger, more extensive lands once he was king of the two lands.
A squire and a King's knight would be a small price to pay for more land, more wealth, and the conqueror's favor. As for this fool…let him dally with the squire. Soon enough he would learn the price of dishonouring his Knight's Vows for his foolish ambitions.