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“Boring! How could being on the frontlines of a battlefield ever be boring?”
He shrugged awkwardly. “After months, it does become so. And I wasn’t allowed to fight or to do much. I was just... kept there.” He met my eyes. “So, Arthur has married.”
“Yes.” I kept my voice light. “Queen Belisent.”
“She’s with child, I’ve heard.”
I sighed. “She is. However—”
There was a clattering noise in the hall. Kaye and I both turned towards the door to see a unit of soldiers marching past.
I ran to the doorway and peered out. A skittish-looking maidservant stood in the hall, pressed up against a wall, evidently so as not to be flattened by the soldiers when they stormed past.
“What’s happening?” I asked her.
The woman’s eyes widened as she recognized me, then widened still more as she caught sight of Kaye standing behind me.
“Queen Belisent,” she said, a little breathlessly. “She’s vanished. The king’s guards are searching for her.”
“I see. Thank you.” I stepped back into the room and pushed the door shut behind me.
Kaye’s eyes were wide. “Vanished? That’s rather odd.”
“Not as odd as you may think,” I said grimly. “Nor as surprising.”
Quickly, I gave him the bare details of Arthur’s new fear—the unborn child and the prophecy.
“Sounds ridiculous to me,” Kaye said with a frown when I had finished.
I opened and closed my mouth. I still had so much to tell him. Most of it would probably sound equally ridiculous at first.
“Well,” I said lamely, “I’m sure Arthur has everything well in hand.” A thought occurred to me. “Has our brother welcomed you?”
Kaye shook his head. “I haven’t seen him since I returned a few hours ago. I understand there was a tournament.”
Arthur had been attacked by rebels and lost his queen in one day. It was, apparently, a very bad day to be king.
“Well,” I said, feeling distinctly cheerful, “there’s nothing we can do for now.” Tyre was taking my message to Guinevere. Lancelet was safe. Hopefully all of the rebels were, too. Soon Kaye and I would leave the Rose Court. As soon as Draven arrived. We would reunite with the rebels, find a safe place for Kaye, and then finish what had begun today.
And as for tonight...
“Sleep in my room tonight,” I suggested to Kaye. “We’ll have food brought up to us there. We can talk and read...” I wasn’t sure if the same things that had once appealed to my younger brother would still hold true. But I needn’t have feared.
“And snack?” Kaye finished with a grin. “Sounds perfect.”
“Before we go upstairs,” I said, “there is something I want to show you.”
The outer bailey wasvery quiet as we passed through it and walked towards the stables. All of Arthur's soldiers must have been searching for Orcades or out dealing with the rebels. I had no doubt my sister knew what she was doing and would not resurface again until she was good and ready.
As for Guinevere and Galahad—I told myself they were well-organized, even better than I had hoped, and would have had a plan to swiftly go underground again as quickly as they had arisen.
I also knew that once Kaye was asleep that night, I would be able to go and seek out my uncle and ask for news. Clearly he had gotten word to Guinevere and the rebels so that they knew to be at the tournament. But what baffled me was why he seemed to have left Tyre out of his confidence.
I forced myself to walk calmly at Kaye's side and simply enjoy his company.
We had been apart for so long. Didn't we deserve a few hours of happiness? Of time to ourselves before Arthur remembered Kaye's existence and the wheels of rebellion and revolt turned once more?
Stepping inside the stable, we were met with the earthy scent of hay and the soothing whinnies and snorts of its equine inhabitants.
