Chapter 9: Spying

The days settled into a routine for Jubilee. She woke up at dawn, then had a half hour to get her bed made neatly and have the Squiremaster inspect it all to make sure it was neat (she had a distinct advantage here; being accustomed to cleaning up after herself and her parents, and with a woman's innate sense of neatness, she passed inspection more often than not.) She cleaned her teeth, washed her face, then ran off to the dining hall for breakfast with the other boys. After breakfast she had her History class, then weaponry and equitation classes, and then a free hour before the noon meal was served. In the afternoon she had reading/writing/ figuring classes, which she considered a waste of time since she already knew how to do it all, but that was what was on her schedule, and all the boys, regardless of competency levels, were required to take the class. Afterwards, they were free for an hour, and then supper in the great hall. Then they were free to do what they wished for an hour before reporting back to the trainees' barracks for the night.

She usually spent the first free hour, the morning hour, working on her sword skills; the second hour, in the afternoon, she spent practicing her acrobatics. She had a sizable audience now; word had gotten around after that first day, and she now had the attention of the stable lads and any of the Palace staff who might happen to be passing by. Even some nobles had heard of it, and came to watch. The evening hour would be different; usually she spent it in the Palace library, devouring the stories in the illuminated manuscripts, and once a week she went up to the Queen's rooms. She didn't hear a lot of talk around her, so she and the Queen would chat about little things; palace gossip, servants' and nobles' squabbles, and Jubilee would amuse the Queen with stories of things that happened when she was traveling in the caravan with her parents. Jubilee slowly came to realize why the Queen had spies; partly because of the situation in court, and partly because the Queen was so shuttered and sheltered that any news of the doings beyond her bower was welcome. There were things that she would not be told because they weren't 'seemly' for a Queen to hear; but Jubilee discovered that the Queen had sharp wit and a lively sense of humour, and neither could be exercised while she was kept under wraps by the King and her maids.

The only stumbling block to her happiness with her current life was her continuing need for secrecy with her training mates and the constant teasing she received, the constant harassment by the noble's sons, and her effort to gather information useful to the Queen.

"Hey!" The banging on the door of the privy got more insistent. "Lee, come on, we're all boys, it's not going to kill you if we see you without a shirt on once in a while!"

Oh, yes, it will, Jubilee thought as she scrambled into her uniform. If you only knew! She yanked her tunic over her head, reminding herself to ask Francis for another tunic; this one was getting frayed at the edges. "I'll be out in a minute!" she hollered back at Robin, who was pounding on the door. As soon as she stepped out, her nightclothes in her hand, Robin vanished inside the privy. He didn't even bother to close the door, much to the delight of two of the kitchen maids, who were standing by the well with cloths for the boys to dry their faces with after they washed up. One, a silly blonde with big blue eyes and long blond braids, batted her eyelashes at Jubilee as she came up to the well and splashed her face. Jubilee carefully avoided looking at her, as the girl's adoring look made her distinctly uncomfortable; splashed water on her face, dried quickly, and hurried off to the dining hall.

She was in the hallway outside the door, standing in the middle of the crowd of people waiting to enter, when a foot connected with her shin so hard she gasped and fell forward. Her hands, wildly pinwheeling to keep her balance, grabbed hold of something to keep her upright, and as luck would have it, she grabbed onto the gorgeous purple velvet cloak of the nobleman in front of her. The man turned irritably. "Watch where you're going, you clumsy little boy!" the man snapped before he turned back around. Jubilee mumbled an apology, face flaming, as she stood on one leg and rubbed her bruised shin. Wondering what she had tripped over, she looked down. There was nothing there; but as she raised her eyes, she saw Nathan standing a little over on her left, and her face flushed.

Nathan had been ejected from their weaponry class by the Weaponsmaster, but after a week, he had returned, and his father had been in tow. The weaponsmaster had spent a great deal of time talking to Nathan's father, the Earl of Middlesex, in low but heated tones; but the result was still the same. The Weaponsmaster had been told to take the boy back in his class, but to keep Nathan from associating with the 'commoners'; and he had looked at Jubilee as he said it. Jubilee had to pretend she was concentrating on the sword drills very hard indeed; it took all her self-control not to go over there and tell the nobleman what Nathan had truly been like. After that, Nathan and the other nobly-born boys in the class had practiced with each other, and the pages and trainees practiced among themselves.

The Earl should have told his son not to mingle with the commoners, Jubilee thought with a grimace as the knot of people in front of the hall doors started to file into the hall. As if we would 'mingle' with him voluntarily! Nathan was no particular favorite with the other trainees, the pages, or the instructors. And Jubilee hated him with a passion. He did everything he could to make her life miserable; for some reason, he'd focused on her as the object of his hatred. She could feel his eyes boring into her back as she took her usual seat as close to the knights' table as possible, being careful not to tangle her chair with the chairs of the two men in King's Knight uniforms, and grabbed a plate. She dug her fork in and was about to eat when her ears suddenly picked up a snippet of conversation. A man, wearing a cloak of superb, expensive black velvet bordered with gold trim, stopped and spoke to the man directly behind Jubilee, but their voices were so low she could barely hear what they were saying.

"…urge the King to be more forthcoming with his plans for the coming battle in the meeting tonight," the man in black said to the knight in red. "Especially with information given to the nobles. He tells you where to go…we nobles don't know where he will…next…and King Gallas is becoming impatient…wants information…" The man in black dropped his voice below the level of Jubilee's ability to hear, and Jubilee forced herself to eat unconcernedly, as if she had not just heard them talking. Inside, her brain was whirling frantically. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Queen Renee sitting in her throne on the dais, sipping from her goblet and laughing at something the King was saying. She had to get word to her, and soon. Definitely before this meeting tonight between the King, the nobles, and the knights. If the King let slip any of his plans, King Gallas might learn of them through this man in the black cloak and the red-uniformed informer. She turned her head just the barest bit, trying to see the faces of the two men talking, but they were too far behind her, and she didn't dare risk being caught eavesdropping. What might these two men do to her if they knew she'd heard them?

She got up as soon as she was released from the table, and found a bit of dusty drapery to hide in as she waited for the knights, particularly Logan, to rise from the table. She was going to be late for History, but she didn't care; she had to tell Logan, and Logan would find a way to get word to the Queen, or maybe even the King directly.

Finally she spotted him, leaving the dining hall by the far door, and she sprinted down to where he was. He frowned hard at her as she caught his arm. "Class started a while ago," he scolded her. "Yer gonna get in trouble."

"I know. I don't care, this is more important. Listen. The King's going to have a meeting with all the knights and nobles and everybody tonight, right?"

Logan nodded warily, staring at her, "How'd ya…"

She almost danced with impatience. "I overheard two people, a knight and a noble with a black cloak, talking while I was eating. The man in black is spying for Gallas; he told the knight to tell the king to tell everybody his plans, so he could tell Gallas. Can you tell the Queen to tell His Majesty that he shouldn't say anything about his plans?"

Logan stared at Lee's face, and decided the kid was in earnest. "Yeah, I'll tell her. Now go, 'fore ya get in even more trouble'n ya already are in!" The boy turned and ran off down the hall, and Logan looked after him ruefully. The kid might be young, but he did have his priorities straight.

Logan tapped on the door to Their Majesties' receiving room, and opened the door when a quiet voice bade him enter. There were two knights conversing with the king; Julian, and another knight Logan knew only vaguely, and not by name. He eyed the two men in red uniforms suspiciously; had one of them been the one Lee overheard plotting against the king? He searched his memory, trying to remember which of the two men had been sitting closest to the trainees' table, but he couldn't remember. Frowning, he approached the Queen, went to one knee, and kissed her extended hand. "May I have a word with ya, Yer Majesty?" he said.

Renee studied him. "Is it important, Sir Logan?" she asked. Meaning, 'is it something that can't be said in front of other ears?'

Logan nodded. "Yes, Yer Majesty."

She was about to rise from her chair and lead him into an antechamber when the King called, "Stay, my Lady. Sir Logan, whatever you wish to say can be said in front of Us. There are no secrets among all here." Logan paused. He started to tell the King everything Lee had said, when he saw the other knight's eyes. They were fixed on him in a coldly speculative look. Logan's instincts rose screaming to the surface.

"I believe this is best left ta as few ears as possible, Your Majesty." He bowed low, cursing to himself as he did. He had tried to be respectful, but there was always a chance that Julian or the strange knight might take it as insult. Julian wouldn't make an issue of it, but the other man…

The king studied Logan carefully, and for so long that Logan started to sweat a little. Finally, the King's eyes flicked to the two knights and said, "You may leave." Julian and the strange knight left, closing the door behind them.

"Now," King Richard said, "Say what you have come to say, Sir Logan, and it had better be as important as you have implied." His voice was hard. Logan gritted his teeth. If he received a flogging because of Lee's information, he'd take it out on the boy's hide himself… "The meetin' this evenin', between Yer Majesties an' the nobility," he began abruptly. "Yer Majesty must not go inta much detail. There is a spy in the castle."

The King raised an eyebrow, and his voice got colder. "Everyone in my castle has sworn fealty to me, Sir Logan. They would not dishonour themselves so." The displeasure was palpable in his voice. "You dishounour yourself by intimating that someone does not take their vows seriously. Have you proof to back up your implications?"

Logan gritted his teeth. When he got hold of Lee…the boy was the Queen's spy, not the King's, and he had no right to drag Logan into this…! "No, Yer Majesty. I heard a snippet o' conversation only, between two men whose faces I couldn't see."

The King's face darkened, but Renee laid a hand on his arm. "Peace, my husband. Sir Logan, heard you this conversation with your own two ears? Truth."

Slowly, Logan shook his head. The King's face darkened further, but Renee's hand on his arm kept him quiet. "It was a much younger pair of ears, was it not? A pair of ears belonging to a body who could not escape duty to bring me this news himself." Logan nodded. The Queen sat back, and turned to the King. "My Lord, I have long suspected that Gallas has a spy in the court. He seemed to know in advance where our knights would be sent, and this has cost us many good men last spring. In an effort to ferret out the traitor, I have encouraged the boys and women of the palace to use their ears in my service. Logan's squire is one such spy. The boy cannot escape his responsibility, but he has informed his knight and asked Sir Logan to bring this news to us."

The King's face assumed a thoughtful expression. "I had wondered about the heavy casualties myself," he said. "Perhaps you are right, my dear. This boy you speak of, Sir Logan's squire; how reliable is he?"

Renee smiled. "I know the squire's secret, My Lord. He would not betray us while I have the means to destroy him."

"He has a secret?" The King's face clouded.

Renee smiled at him. "It is of no great importance to any but himself," she said to the King. "But it means a great deal to the boy."

The King turned to Logan. "Your squire. What secret does he hold?"

"I do not know, Your Majesty," Logan said respectfully. "But the boy assures me that it has nothin' ta do with the current state o' affairs between the two lands, an' I believe him. He's all o' thirteen, at the most, Your Majesty; an' a kid that young isn't capable o' causin' any real political trouble."

The King nodded. "Very well, then. My counsel shall remain my own. Thank you for bringing me this information; I hope to meet this squire after the present unrest is concluded. The conversation will be…interesting."

Jubilee arrived at her History class out of breath and panting. Sir Handel was not happy with her lateness, and as punishment she was told to spend her free hours that day cleaning and polishing every bit of tack in the trainees' stables. Ignoring Nathan's snicker, Jubilee set herself to work, although her mind was still focused on what she had heard, and not on the lesson. She had to pay slightly more attention in weaponry and equitation; they had begun archery in weaponry, and she had to pay attention. And controlling her horse in front of the Horsemaster was sufficiently challenging to draw her mind away from its current train of thought.

However, when she sat down with cleaning rags and leather soap during her free hour, her worries increased. Her hands rubbed mechanically at the leather while her mind fretted about the conversation. Suppose Logan forgot? What if Her Majesty didn't believe him? What if he went to the King instead, and the King didn't believe him? Would Logan get a flogging for spreading rumours? The King did such things infrequently, but in the month since Jubilee had been at the castle, she had seen two servants flogged in the courtyard; the household steward, for 'misplacing' some money in the household accounts (Jubilee knew where that money had gone; the man's own debts were many, and his salary was inadequate to cover his excesses; she didn't feel sorry for him at all) and one of the housemaids, who had been accused of stealing a piece of the Queen's jewelry (Jubilee knew the woman had stolen more than that one piece; she had no pity for the woman at all, although the flogging had been extremely difficult to watch, and hear. She had found the place where the woman had hidden the two gold rings and returned them to Queen Renee privately, later.)

The door to the stable opened, and she looked around, then dropped the tack and the cleaning cloth. "Logan!" She raced down the rows of empty stalls to him, and skidded to a stop bare inches from him. "Did the Queen get the message? Did she believe you?"

Logan pushed Jubilee onto a nearby bench. "Yes, I got the message ta Their Majesties. Yes, the King believed me…after Renee revealed that ya were one o' her spies. The King said he's gonna have a talk with ya when the current political unrest is concluded."

Jubilee went pale. "The talk should be…interesting," she said, struggling to find a polite way to describe the upcoming talk.

Logan grinned. "His Majesty said much the same thing," he said, sitting on the bench beside Jubilee and hefting the saddle and bridle he was carrying into his lap. He tweaked her nose. "An' you and I are gonna have a talk right now. Ya put me in a rather awkward position. The Queen asked ya ta be her spy, not me! Why'd ya haveta drag me inta it?"

Jubilee bit her lip, and laced her fingers together, absently rubbing the callus she'd been developing on the inside of her thumb from handling the swords. "They told us in History class how many knights were lost this spring," she said, her throat tight. "I don't want that to happen to anyone else. If Gallas doesn't know where we'll be in the spring, there's more chance that we'll survive the front line battles this spring."

"'We' meanin' you an' me?"

Jubilee nodded mutely.

"Do ya really care about me that much?" Logan asked curiously. "'Cause look, kid, I ain't the kind of man Julian is, the kind who likes boys around. I can't feel like that fer ya…"

"No!" Jubilee was torn between embarrassment and horror that that was the way he'd interpreted her concern. "No, I…you saved my life, is all. I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't picked me up that night at Mistress Leeds's inn." She turned pink. "I'm not like Phillip, I don't like…"

Logan grinned, wondering if it was possible for the boy's skin to get any redder. "'S'okay," he said to the kid. "I understand. But," he said, "that don't excuse ya f'r getting' me in hot water. I want ya ta take my tack," and he heaved his horse's saddle and bridle into her lap, "And clean it. Want ya ta bring it up ta my room this evenin' when yer done. Let's see how well ya learned how ta care fer this stuff."

Jubilee smiled as she looked at the saddle. She couldn't tell him she already knew how to take care of tack; she'd had to take care of the harnesses her parents used in their trick riding, so none of this was a surprise to her. So instead she nodded and dropped her eyes to the saddle, continuing with her cleaning as Logan left.