A Questionable Quest

Chapter 4... in which I learn the truth and do some eavesdropping

My eyes adjusted slowly, and I stood against the door for a long while, blinking. That was when I heard the voices.

They were coming from inside the room. There were already people in here.

I swore in ogre-brogue (under my breath, of course) and briefly contemplated slipping back out. But you're curious, my brain guessed, you're always curious.

I sighed. I was curious. Stupid bleeding curiosity.

I moved further into the room. First I heard clash of metal against metal. Then came the voices. I tiptoed further, hiding behind something tall-

A straw dummy. This must be the training room, I realised with delight. Back in Harvenmor, the training room had been one of my favourite places to waste time (and to hide from annoying tutors). By the time I'd turned fifteen, I could beat most of the trainees in a knife fight. I'd never been as good with a sword, but I could hold my own there as well.

Of course, this wasn't the Harvenmor training room. And I couldn't order Portsburring knights to fight with me. In fact, some of my delight dimmed, I probably shouldn't be caught in here at all...

"-arrived today."

The voice that spoke belonged to a young man -- I didn't know how I knew, but I did.

"The ones with the daughter who's-" the older man's gruff voice broke off with a grunt. One sword screeched against another.

"Who's marrying my brother?" The first voice spoke, slightly breathlessly. "Yeah."

There was a clash, and then a brief silence before the gruff one spoke again.

"Is she-"

"She's a year younger than me."

Clank. Panting. "Oh." Another clank.

Then, as another series of rapid clashes and clanks and screeches ensued, something clicked in my fuzzy brain. They were talking about me.

And if they were talking about me (SCREEEEEEEECH, I winced)... that meant "my brother..."

There was a final clash, and one of the knights fell to the floor. Then, "a brave match, Prince Donovan."

Crown Prince Donovan. The older prince. The handsome one, my brain whispered. I shrugged it off.

Why was I so surprised that he trained as a knight? He'd certainly looked the part -- all well-combed hair, and stoic expression, hands held behind his back. And it made sense, considering most Princes needed to know how to fight.

One hand on the straw dummy's shoulder, I peered around to look at the scene. Prince Donovan faced away from me, and he was removing his heavy metal armour. His companion, a dark-skinned, gray-bearded knight, was retrieving his own sword from several feet away.

Unlike earlier, Prince Donovan's formerly well-combed hair fell in sweaty curls over his brow. He was built like a knight, the objective side of my brain commented. The other side swooned ever-so-slightly.

I ignored it.

"-ready for tomorrow." the older knight was saying, as he passed a towel to the prince. "You've trained enough."

Prince Donovan frowned. "Weren't you the one," he passed a sword sheath to the other man, "who told me 'no amount of training can prepare you for it'?" He stuffed his own sword into its sheath, and moved closer to me.

I ducked behind the dummy, holding my breath, still listening.

"It's impossible to know what might happen on your Knight's Quest." Knight's quest? I frowned. In Harvenmor, Knight's Quests were solely for knights. Did Portsburring send their princes as well?

Weren't Knight's Quests deadly?

I held my breath harder (if that were possible) as Prince Donovan and the older knight passed my hiding spot. Neither of them paused.

I'd always wanted to go on a Knight's Quest. And this meant Prince Donovan wouldn't be here for my proposed engagement to his younger brother. Not that I cared.

Then again. I grinned...

"Did you leave the door open?"

...then froze. Bleeding blargsar. The bloody door.

"No."

Please don't look back, please don't look back. I was now hiding in plain sight. My breath came in shallow puffs. Please don't look back.

Some sort of benevolent force must have been watching over me, because neither man looked back. Instead, they left the room and pulled the door closed behind them.

I breathed out.

Then grinned. The beginnings of a plan formed in my mind. But first, I needed supplies.