When the knight master found out about Darren’s antics with the tutors, he was in trouble. The master had him sit out of drills as Eve practiced by herself. Meanwhile, the knight spent all five hours lecturing him on the importance of his Crown lessons.
“What they have to show you is important,” the man declared. “Numbers and maps will tell you how to plan your soldiers’ battles. Crown policy will dictate how you honor your brother’s rule. Knowing your noble families will tell you which are most likely to stray from the Crown. Those studies of science are what the healers and apothecaries use to treat your men’s injuries. If you find yourself bleeding and alone, you will need to know what plant can save your life.”
“But why do I need to learn about the past?” the boy complained. “What good is it to learn about old battles and people who are dead?”
Sir Audric gave him a lofty look. He’d been doing that more and more often, in addition to addressing the prince by his name instead of his title as the rest of the palace court did. The boy liked that. “History repeats itself all the time, Darren. Your enemies know this, and if you do not, they will be able to anticipate your next move. As a commander, your mistakes will have more impact than the others, you need to make sure the ones you make are not ones that could have been prevented.”
“You are lucky,” the girl told him later, following him into the dining hall. It was a grand thing, swirling marble and giant tapestries with several long tables and lots of color. Darren hated it. The others always stared at him while they ate. “My father says you have the best tutors in the land. That it’s just you and your brother.”
“So?” Darren sat down at the far end of the Crown’s personal table. It was smaller than the rest. His father had a different room for private affairs and dinner, but the king preferred they take most meals with the rest of his court. Many of the highborn families had apartments inside the palace, after all, and a wise king kept his best men close, even if it meant putting his sons on display for the rest of the world.
Eve dropped down into the seat beside him. Darren watched her in amusement. In the last three years, the girl had grown comfortable with his stony silences and biting remarks. He supposed somewhere along the line they had become friends. What surprised him was he didn’t mind.
“So I have to take lessons with the rest of them.” She raised her hand and made a sweeping motion around the room. “Not everyone is serious like us,” she added. “Half just want to be mages.”
“Mages.” The boy scoffed. “Won’t they be in for a surprise when their magic never shows.”
“I know.” She made a face. “They should be training to be soldiers or knights like us.”
“Who would ever want to be a soldier?” His tone was dry.
She just gave him a long look. “Darren.” She’d grown more comfortable with his humor, too.
The prince rolled his eyes. “If they are highborn, they have no excuse. Lowborns, well, they aren’t really that keen, are they? I doubt they’d know a staff from a stick.” He had conveniently forgotten he once hadn’t either.
“My father is lowborn.”
Darren’s confidence faltered. “But Sir Audric is a knight…”
“Yes.” She stood abruptly, her food untouched. Her lips were pursed. “Perhaps you should think about Sir Audric the next time you make fun of those less fortunate than you. No one likes a braggart, especially one that isn’t really that clever.”
Darren stared at the girl as she got up and exited the hall, a fist curling into his side. How dare she! Who did she think she was? His whole face burned in indignation. He had come to think of her as a… friend.
What a fool was he.
For a moment, he was tempted to seek out his father. The price... It would serve her right for insulting him—a prince. She should know she couldn’t talk to someone like him in such a condescending manner.
But…
Darren hesitated.
But that would make him lose the only confidant he had, and then she would keep the words inside and pretend to smile like the rest of his father’s court. At least when she spoke now, he knew the words were honest.
Nice? No. But honest.
Did he want another parrot? Another smiling, meaningless lie?
The truth was better.
Honesty, even if he didn’t like it, was better than the false platitudes of the others. She was the only one he could trust.
The most dangerous ones, the boy decided, are the ones that tell me what I want to hear. At least Eve was honest.
Darren found Eve later that night practicing her drills in front of the palace barracks. A small flare of anger rose up as he remembered her earlier words.
But he shook his head in resignation. He didn’t want to lose the only friend he had. So he pulled out his blade instead.
The girl watched him start up his drills out of the corner of her eyes. They narrowed after a couple moments of silence. “Did you tattle?”
“I have better things to do than run to my father."
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Her lip tugged up. “Because I don’t like being friends with a coward.”
“We aren’t friends.” His pride was too hurt to let her know he believed otherwise.
“We are. You just prefer to sulk.” Eve drew her own weapon in return. “If we weren’t, you would have gotten me in trouble.”
“I told you, I didn’t have time.”
“Humph.”
She didn’t bring it up again. They spent the rest of the evening practicing until dusk. But when he finally left that night, it was with the barest hint of a smile.
She’d let him win for the first time. He knew Eve had cheated, but he didn’t call her out. It was her apology, just as his apology was keeping her earlier words to himself.
Yes, he decided, a stubborn girl was twice the worth of a simpering lie. Maybe more.