Chapter 6

"I'm afraid Jorgarn was tight lipped about what he discussed with the Princess," Torbert told the King only a short time later. "He did say that she did not offer him the post nor did she hint he was being considered."

The King sat heavily.

"Which means she is considering him rather carefully," he said. "Well, even after a short time with him, she could do worse."

"She would be hard-pressed to do better, if you ask me," Torbert said. "Honestly, I liked him before I even met him. You know I always had a soft spot for Eslada. She reminds me so much of her mother. It is a shame no one in Emertland would take the task of trying to tame her. Can you imagine how lively the Court would be with her there?"

Torbert smiled broadly.

"It sounds as though she has grown in the past years," the King offered. "I think she took young Jorgarn on as a project and it has helped not only him but her as well."

"Still, I wouldn't want to be on her bad side, especially if Jorgarn stands with her," Torbert said. "You really should take a few minutes to watch him soon."

"I trust your opinion of his skills," the King replied. "You say he is good, then he is good."

"He is the best," Torbert said with emphasis.

"The best?" the King asked as he sat forward. "Better than you even?"

"He is perhaps less skilled with a blade than I am," Torbert admitted. "But it wouldn't matter. He is too quick for me to get near and too strong for me to wear down. I would tire first and he would have me. I am not 15 any longer, Landor. But it is more than his skill you should see. Watch how he talks with the commoners. You should see how friendly he is to everyone. Well, everyone except those who anger him. Those he is not friendly to. In fact, I doubt he would piss on Symington if the boy were afire. We need to watch Symington."

The King nodded. The Queen bore close scrutiny too.

"His father has never been an ally," the King said. "It is rumored that he was poised to wed Lorida before I asked for her hand."

Torbert grinned.

"Perhaps he would take her now," he said as he patted his brother on the shoulder to show he was mostly jesting.

The King smiled ruefully but nodded slightly.

"Who would have thought that quiet little mouse would create so much havoc for me?" he wondered aloud. "I swear, Lorida was scared of her shadow when we met. Now six years later she roars like a lioness. I thought I was going to have to gag her at dinner."

"I thought Jorgarn was going to strangle her when she called him an exile and refuse," Torbert said. "I would probably have killed her guard just to give him the chance. But he regained his temper quickly."

The King smirked.

"You are losing your touch, brother," Landor said. "Denae touched his arm and looked at him to let him know he should calm down. That was all it took."

Torbert lowered his head. He had missed that small portion of byplay.

"I noticed she patted his hand afterward to let him know he had done well," he said. "So, how are we going to handle this? There are numerous ways around it, if you want."

The King shook his head.

"It is Denae's decision," he said. "There is no doubt that Jorgarn is better suited than anyone else down there. I can compel her to delay the decision until she turns 15. After that, there is nothing I can do and I'm not sure I would want to."

"He was offered the deed to Wesring," Torbert told him. "Commerly went over there last year and watched him train. I have no doubt he was impressed by what he saw."

The King's face hardened.

"I will give him land myself before I force him to own Wesring," the King said. "In fact, I will have you ship him back to Longview before I force him to own that. If I could, I would dissolve that region completely."

"You can," Torbert said. "You should. Change the name and allow Symington or Fieth to annex it. Parcel it into thirds and give it to all the surrounding estates. You've eliminated the lordship. It's just land now. Commerly would be well to be rid of it. Eslada said he likely would give it to Jorgarn without consideration just to have someone else hold it. Truly, I believe she thinks so highly of Jorgarn that she is convinced his skills will reform the entire area and it no longer will be looked upon as a land of treason."

The King's tight brow eased.

"I believe I will discuss its dissolution with Commerly when next he arrives," the King said. "I believe that Jorgarn will have enough on his plate without a reclamation project on the land of our dearly departed sister. Remind me, will you?"

Torbert nodded his agreement.

"Now, what do we do about Denae?" the King wondered aloud.

The Princess was in her sitting room with her attendant, Rayna.

"So, what did Pernice say?" Denae asked. Rayna's sole mission was to glean information about the newcomer to the trainee ranks.

Rayna looked at her friend.

"He really didn't have much to say," she admitted. "He said Jorgarn, that's his name by the way, Jorgarn is the best fighter he's ever seen. But he didn't rub it in. The couple of times that someone scored against him, he didn't pout or yell. He simply asked them to show him how it was done. In return, Pernice said Jorgarn would show others how he had scored against them."

"So he makes no distinction between nobles and commoners," Denae said as if she was checking off a mental list.

"Not in the least," Rayna replied. "Pernice said you would never have known which group he belonged to."

She paused before her next statement.

"He said it is usually obvious," she added. "Some nobles refuse to train with the others. Some of them expect the commoners to simply lie down for them. Some hand-pick those they will train with. If the other fighter is too good, he is never chosen. Pernice said it is only the second time he has had a chance to spar with a noble. He dispatched the first one easily and no one would test him again. He said..."

She trailed off until prompted to continue.

"He said Jorgarn even brought him some water later," Rayna continued with a touch of embarrassment. "He told me that Jorgarn sat down right there with him and talked to him. Can you imagine Master Symington doing that?"

"No," Denae said stiffly. "But I can't see many of them doing it and I can't see Pernice enjoying the conversation if they did."

"That's the thing," Rayna said. "Pernice would hate that. He doesn't like any of the nobles except for maybe you. Honestly, I'm not sure about even that. But he likes Jorgarn. He smiled the whole time he was telling me about the new attack moves he was shown."

Rayna bit her lip and wondered if she should continue. It would put her in an awkward spot if Denae chose Symington as her protector. In fact, it would spell the end of their friendship if anyone knew where the information came from. Finally, the Princess' prodding drew her from her thoughts.

"He beat the tar out of Symington yesterday," Rayna said softly.

"I heard that but I haven't heard why," Denae confessed. "Cruit said it was a misunderstanding but I got the impression from Jorgarn this evening that there was more to it."

"You met with him?" Rayna asked. "Why did I have to waste my evening with Pernice talking about someone you were already talking to?"

Denae smiled and patted her friend's hand.

"Because I have to be somewhat circumspect and you don't," Denae replied. "At least not with Pernice. You could grill him about Jorgarn all evening but I couldn't just come out and ask him why he felt the need to thump someone he just met. So why did he?"

"Symington was a jackass to him," Rayna said. "At least that's the rumor. He started acting like he owned the place where Jorgarn is housed. I guess Symington was to be housed there, too. Well, from what Pernice heard, Jorgarn didn't take kindly to it. He heard Jorgarn lifted Symington completely off the floor by his throat!"

"I saw the bruises," Denae said. "I suspect that rumor is true. Anything else?"

"Symington didn't get the message even after Sir Torbert arrived so Jorgarn hit him between his legs," Rayna continued.

"He what?" Denae exclaimed.

"Pernice said Symington tried to block Jorgarn's way,? the attendant told her. "Jorgarn brought his knee up and smashed Symington's fruit. Then Symington attacked him with a sword. I don't really believe that. I mean, none of the trainees are permitted weapons inside. But Pernice swears it's true."

"It is true," Denae responded. "My uncle confirmed it. That's why Symington was whipped this morning."

"Oh, I wish I could have seen that," Rayna said bitterly. "He pinched my melon Saturday and left a huge mark. I hope they beat him bloody."

Denae's mouth dropped.

"He touched you and you said nothing to me?" she asked.

Rayna shrugged.

"I am a common girl," she replied. "What difference would it have made if I told you? A lot of them grab and grope us. They see us in the courtyard or even inside the walls of the castle and they paw at us. Symington is among the worst but he is far from the only one. I'm not the only one it happens to, either. Just about any of us who are attached to one of the Emertland trainees is subject to it."

"What does Pernice say about this ridiculous habit of theirs?" Denae asked harshly.

Rayna looked at her friend with sympathy. For all of her good qualities, Denae had led a sheltered, privileged life. She had no real concept of how the world turned.

"I cannot say anything to Pernice about this," Rayna said. "Nor should you. It would be a matter of honor for him. It would not turn out well."

"Pernice would flay the hide off any of them!" Denae declared defiantly.

"And then be executed by your father for doing it," Rayna pointed out. "No magistrate is going to allow someone who does that to a noble to go free. It would create chaos for a peasant to have the right to defend himself when aggrieved by nobility."

The sarcasm in Rayna's voice was not lost on Denae.

"Then no magistrate shall hear of it," she said. "I will speak to my uncle and tell him if I hear of it again, noble or commoner, I will make sure the man's arm ends at his elbow. If it happens twice, he will be left to wield a sword with just a stump. The Noble Guard is above this!"

"Perhaps it used to be," Rayna said. "I've heard stories about how daring and brave the Guardsmen were. But they are not anymore. They are spoiled, coddled simpletons whose fathers or mothers will buy them out of any problem. Did you know that only one in five of those in training will take the oath? The rest of them will graduate and use their parents? money to buy them a nice cushy spot on some foreign noble's army. Or they will convince some foreigner that a second son and with military training would make a fine match for their homely spinster daughter who just happens to inherit a great deal of land. Or worse, they will be like Tranim and simply go home, kill their brother and assume the lordship themselves. Believe me when I tell you, the majority of the Noble Guard trainees are far from noble."

Denae sat shocked at her friend?' impression of the aristocracy.

"Is that how you think of me?" Denae asked hesitantly.

"Before I got to know you, yes I did," Rayna answered. The initial anger she felt about Symington's forwardness returned in full force. "It took you a full week to even acknowledge I existed. It was hard for me not to view you as some distant icon who thought she was too important to speak to a mere servant's daughter."

"But I didn't think that!" Denae said quickly. There were tears in her eyes. She had tried so hard to view others and be viewed by them as just another person.