“I put up with it by reminding myself constantly that it’s better to be thought a clown and be dismissed as harmless than to be a target for the Emperor’s suspicions. The more of a fool he thinks I am, the less likely he is to think of me at all.” He shrugged. “Anything you need to tell me about the pages, the squires, or the state of the Duchy?” All the servants ultimately reported to Hakkon, and were given their orders by him. The various lords of the other fourteen Valdemar manors also reported directly to him. He was in charge of the Exchequer, who managed the Treasury, the Housekeeper and Head Cook, and of course the pages and squires.

“Squire Brianta. I want her placed with a knight. She’s more than ready for the position, but you don’t have any lady-knights here,” Hakkon told him. “What do you want to do?”

That was a good question. Who am I certain enough of to trust a female squire to? Wait . . .

“You don’t have a squire at present,” he pointed out.

“I . . . don’t,” Hakkon admitted, after hesitating a moment. “That’s not a bad thought.”

“Is she smart enough to consider training for a Seneschal position?” he persisted. “Two birds, one stone, as it were.”

“We’ll see. I like where this is going, though,” Hakkon replied, and speared an apple with his knife. “Brianta is too good a squire to waste on a dolt, or worse, someone who would try to take advantage of the situation. And I do need a squire.”

“Then assign her to yourself. If her parents object, send them to me.”

Hakkon grinned. “They won’t. They prefer to think about Brianta as little as possible. Oh, they’ll be happy enough when she’s knighted, I am sure, since she’ll have a proper position in the world, but right now, she’s just the odd girl that isn’t much of a marriage prospect. Awkward for everyone. So am I correct in thinking you want Restil as Isla’s personal page?”

“Yes, sir, you are correct!” Kordas laughed, getting Isla’s side-glance. “It’s about time she had her own page.”

“It’s about time she had more than that, but your lady wife is the most difficult person I have ever met to get her to sit back and let other people do things for her,” Hakkon grumbled. “She’d be out there in the kitchen garden troweling herbs if I let her.”

The twinkle in Isla’s eyes told Kordas that she’d heard every word of that and was greatly amused by it, but she chose to turn back to her sister rather than address it.