The journey of destiny

Chapter 8

If the boys were expecting to take a tour of the castle, they were to be disappointed. Owen asked Gavin to lead them to the royal training square, somewhere in a courtyard. For some reason, sir Steven and Owen found the question very amusing, as they both sniggered. Will just raised an eyebrow. Gavin stayed completely professional and took them to the said training square without asking questions.
“I thought we weren’t here for the training,” Noah pointed out to Owen. The tutor smirked.
“We are not here for your training in particular,” he said. “But we’re not going to waste our time here.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” Leon remarked sadly. He was ignored by the adults.
            Two large doors opened up into an armoury. Several men – knights, Will realized – looked up as they entered.
“Owen?” one of them exclaimed, hastily getting to his feet. “Is that you?” Owen smiled.
“The one and only,” he confirmed. Within seconds, the knights were all swarming around him, patting him on the back, welcoming him and asking where he’d been. Bryan and Will exchanged a glance. Had their tutor been here before? Owen didn’t spend time catching up, but called for his trainees to enter the square itself. It was accessible by two doors, one on the left, one on the right. The square covered an enormous amount of ground and Will figured it was built either for large groups or for cavalry practices. The castle surrounded the vast lap of ground, making Will wonder just how huge it was.
            The training started off where they’d stopped two days before. The only difference was the official appearance their surroundings made. Will felt extra clumsy, just because actual knights also used this training square. This time, they had the whole space for themselves, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if others came out to train as well. He could feel the glances of the knights burn in his back as they regarded the small group during their exercises from the armoury. Owen did not hold back on them and mercilessly made them practise every single move over and over again until they could do it with their eyes closed. The boys felt exhausted when their tutor called in for a lunch break, several hours later. It wasn’t until they had settled down on the ground with food being brought out by some servants that Will realized his father was nowhere to be seen. Apparently Nathan noticed as well.
“Where’d sir Steven go?” he asked casually.
“He’s got his own matters to attend to, of course,” was all Owen said.
            The training lasted the entire day. They didn’t stop until the sun had disappeared behind the high palace walls.
“Alright, everyone,” Owen said. “Good work. Now, you’ve got an hour to go clean up before you have to be ready for dinner. Make sure you’re not late; it is the king and queen we’re accompanying.” After that little speech, Gavin appeared on the training ground and offered to show them to their rooms. On the way there, sir Steven rejoined them and he and Owen continued their odd behaviour. Once again they were grinning like little children and looking around mysteriously. Will couldn’t help but feel they were regarding him every time he looked away. He was glad when they reached the guest rooms and he had some time alone.
            Closing the door behind him, Will realized he had longed for some time alone for quite a while. He liked spending time with his friends, of course, but the social interaction had exhausted him mentally just as much as the training had physically. One glance at the room was enough to make his mouth fall open; just like the room in which he’d met the king earlier that day, this room was amazing. It was just like he’d expect a guest room in a royal palace: large, clean, light and overall comfortable. He had his own small fireplace with two seats facing it on the right side of the room. A bed was shielded from being seen by curtains on the left side. At the far end of the room, high windows let in as much light as possible at this moment of the day. Will walked over to the corner in which a tub filled with fresh water was set behind a screen. He splashed some of the liquid in his face, feeling better immediately. He didn’t take much time washing up. He figured there were better ways to spend his time. Considering the state his clothes were in, he decided he would have to find a fresh set.
            It didn’t turn out all that hard to get clean clothes: a cupboard next to the bed was filled with all kinds of clothes.
“Perfect,” Will mumbled happily. After all, he was going to dine with the king and queen.