got yourself to blame. I’ll have Naween stop by and explain it all to her.’
‘Are you out of your mind?’
Talen came in from Demos the next day, and he rode into the courtyard with Sir Berit. Sparhawk and Khalad met them at the stable door. The prince consort was making some effort to be inconspicuous until such time as the queen’s curiosity about Naween diminished. Talen’s nose was red, and his eyes looked puffy. ‘I thought you were going to stay at the farm until you got over that cold,’ Sparhawk said to him.
‘I couldn’t stand all that mothering,’ Talen said, slipping down from his saddle. ‘One mother is bad enough, but my brothers and I have two now. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look another bowl of chicken soup in the face again. Hello, Khalad.’
‘Talen,’ Sparhawk’s burly young squire grunted. He looked critically at his half-brother. ‘Your eyes look terrible.’
‘You ought to see them from in here.’ Talen was about fifteen now, and he was going through one of those ‘stages’. Sparhawk was fairly certain that the young thief had grown three inches in the past month and a half. A goodly amount of forearm and wrist stuck out of the sleeves of his doublet. ‘Do you think the cooks might have something to eat?’ the boy asked. As a result of his rapid growth, Talen ate almost constantly now.
‘I’ve got some papers for you to sign, Sparhawk,’ Berit said. ‘It’s nothing very urgent, but I thought I’d ride in with Talen.’ Berit wore a mail shirt, and he had a broadsword belted at his waist. His weapon of choice, however, was still the heavy war-axe slung to his saddle.
‘Are you going back to the chapterhouse?’ Khalad asked him.
‘Unless Sparhawk has something he wants me for here.’
‘I’ll ride along with you then. Sir Olart wants to give us more instruction with the lance this afternoon.’
‘Why don’t you just unhorse him a few times?’ Berit suggested. ‘Then he’ll leave you alone. You could do it, you know. You’re already better than he is.’
Khalad shrugged. ‘It’d hurt his feelings.’
‘Not to mention his ribs, shoulders and back,’ Berit laughed.
‘It’s a bit ostentatious to outperform your instructors,’ Khalad said. ‘The other novices are already a little sulky about the way my brothers and I have outstripped them. We’ve tried to explain, but they’re sensitive about the fact that we’re peasants. You know how that goes.’ He looked inquiringly at Sparhawk. ‘Are you going to need me for anything this afternoon, my Lord?’
‘No. Go ahead on out and dent Sir Olart’s armour a bit. He’s got an exaggerated notion of his own skill. Give him some instruction in the virtue of humility.’
‘I’m really hungry, Sparhawk,’ Talen complained.
‘All right. Let’s go to the kitchen.’ Sparhawk looked critically at his young friend. ‘Then I guess we’ll have to send for the tailor again,’ he added. ‘You’re growing like a weed.’
‘It’s not my idea.’
Khalad started to saddle his horse, and Sparhawk and Talen went into the palace in search of food. It was about an hour later when the two of them entered the royal apartment to find Ehlana, Mirtai and Danae sitting by the fire. Ehlana was leafing through some documents. Danae was playing with Rollo, and Mirtai was sharpening one of her daggers.
‘Well,’ Ehlana said, looking up from the documents, ‘if it isn’t my noble prince consort and my wandering page.’
Talen bowed. Then he sniffed loudly.
‘Use your handkerchief,’ Mirtai told him.
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘How are your mothers?’ Ehlana asked the young man. Everyone, perhaps unconsciously, used that phrasing when speaking to Talen and his half-brothers. In a very real sense, though, the usage reflected reality. Aslade and Elys mothered Kurik’s five sons excessively and impartially.
‘Meddlesome, my Queen,’ Talen replied. ‘It’s not really a good idea to get sick in that house. In the last week I think I’ve been dosed with every cold remedy known to man.’ A peculiar, squeaky noise came from somewhere in the general vicinity of the young man’s midsection.
‘Is that your stomach?’ Mirtai asked him. ‘Are you hungry again?’
‘No. I just ate. I probably won’t get hungry again for at least fifteen minutes.’ Talen put one hand to the front of his doublet. ‘The little beast was being so quiet I almost forgot it was there.’ He went over to Danae, who was tying the strings of a little bonnet under the chin of her stuffed toy. ‘I’ve brought a present for you, Princess,’ he said.
Her eyes brightened. She set Rollo aside and sat waiting expectantly.
‘But no kissing,’ he added. ‘Just a “thank you” will do. I’ve got a cold, and you don’t want to catch it.’
‘What did you bring me?’ she asked eagerly.
‘Oh, just a little something I found under a bush out on the road. It’s a little wet and muddy, but you can dry it out and brush it off, I suppose. It’s not much, but I thought you might like it – just a little.’ Talen was underplaying it for all he was worth.
‘Could I see it, please?’ she begged.
‘Oh, I suppose so.’ He reached inside his doublet, took out a rather bedraggled grey kitten and sat it on the floor in front of her. The kitten had mackerel stripes, a spiky tail, large ears and an intently curious look in its blue eyes. It took a tentative step toward its new mistress.
Danae squealed with delight, picked up the kitten and hugged it to her cheek. ‘I love it!!’ she exclaimed.
‘There go the draperies,’ Mirtai said with resignation. ‘Kittens always want to climb the drapes.’
Talen skilfully fended off Sparhawk’s exuberant little daughter. ‘The cold, Danae,’ the boy warned. ‘I’ve got a cold, remember?’ Sparhawk was certain that his daughter would grow more skilled with the passage of time and that it wouldn’t be very long until Talen would no longer be able to evade her affection. The kitten had been no more than a gesture, Sparhawk was certain – some spur-of-the-moment impulse to which Talen had given no thought whatsoever. It rather effectively sealed the young man’s fate, however. A few days before, Sparhawk had idly wondered where he had made the mistake that had permanently attached his wife’s affection to him. He realised that this scruffy-looking kitten was Talen’s mistake – or at least one of them. Sparhawk mentally shrugged. Talen would make an adequate son-in-law – once Danae had trained him.
‘Is it all right, your Majesty?’ Talen was asking the queen. ‘For her to have the kitten, I mean?’
‘Isn’t it just a little late to be asking that question, Talen?’ Ehlana replied.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ he said impudently. ‘I thought I’d timed it just about right.’
Ehlana looked at her daughter, who was snuggling the kitten against her face. All cats are born opportunists. The kitten patted the little girl’s cheek with one soft paw and then nuzzled. Kittens are expert nuzzlers.
‘How can I say no after you’ve already given it to her, Talen?’
‘It would be a little difficult, wouldn’t it, your Majesty?’ The boy sniffed loudly.
Mirtai rose to her feet, put her dagger away and crossed the room to Talen. She reached out her hand, and he flinched away.
‘Oh, stop that,’ she told him. She laid her hand on his forehead. ‘You’ve got a fever.’
‘I didn’t get it on purpose.’
‘We’d