“He runs the School?”

“Yes,” Kieri said. “And he heads the order of Knights, as well. She would be among men and women of high rank—entry to Falk’s Hall is restricted. I will sponsor her there—pay for her training, even. She will learn superior skills and courtly manners—which you must admit she needs—and who knows what might come of it?”

Settik stroked his beard. “Well …”

“If I send her back, that could seem to be an insult, which I do not intend.”

“I do not think our king would approve,” Settik said.

“What if you presented it as something that happened before you knew about it?” Kieri asked. “She refused to return—I arranged this because I did not want to force her to return.”

“And is that not what you are doing?”

“In a way, but I am not doing it without getting your permission,” Kieri said. “From what she screamed at us all just now, she doesn’t want to go home, she doesn’t want to stay here, she wants to run free. We both know girls from palaces cannot run free, not really.”

“Mmmm …” Settik seemed to be thinking about it; he nodded slightly.

“But this is something that might satisfy her and yet do her no harm. Even help her.”

“It might work,” Settik said. He glanced at his wife. “It might indeed …”

“Suppose,” Kieri said, “you have a nice night’s sleep. Perhaps even oversleep in the morning.”

“You have good ale,” Settik said. He licked his lips. “It has been a hard day. Juncis?” His wife nodded. “We will leave the wildcat to herself tonight and enjoy ourselves.”

Kieri took that for acquiescence. His interview with Ganlin’s guardians went even more smoothly. Her aunt and uncle were tired of her whims, they said. If she was not to marry Kieri, then something must be done with her; she had no future in Kostandan, where she was considered both difficult and a cripple.

By dawn, the two princesses were out of the house and on their way to Falk’s Hall, escorted by King’s Squires and the Knight-Commander himself.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” the Knight-Commander said before he left.

“I also, but I could not think of anything else,” Kieri said.

The next day, the princesses’ escorts started for their respective homes, apparently satisfied and bearing with them parting gifts and letters to the princesses’ parents explaining why Kieri had chosen Falk’s Hall.

“And that,” Kieri said to the Squires who met him in the salle for practice the following morning, “is that. We all hope. At least it’s quieter and not so crowded. We will all take the day off and have a picnic lunch in the Royal Ride—I’m sure you’ve had as much of princesses and the palace as anyone could stand.”

Watching them, listening to them, he thought again how companionable they were. They handled their horses, their weapons, the setting up of even such a brief camp as a picnic, with such easy competence. He tried to imagine Elis or Ganlin doing so well, and could not, at least not until they’d become knights. He felt at home with them, as he had not felt with any other women but soldiers before. But nearly all were too young for him, and one of the two old enough—or almost old enough—was sisli. The other had shown no more interest in him than he felt for her.