The other boys were saddling their horses. Down the field, two Royal Guardsmen, dismounted, were taking the saddle and bridle off Aris’s horse.

The instructor came back. “The other horses appear safe to me. This attack was aimed at you, Camwyn, and at Aris—and your families, of course.” He cleared his throat. “It would be best if you continued with practice; you are of an age where learning to continue in your duty past any difficulty is important.”

“You can’t just—with the dead horses lying there?” Camwyn bit his tongue and apologized.

“On a battlefield someday, you may face worse than this,” the instructor said. “So may your mounts. We all hope war stays far away, but I would be remiss in my duties as your instructor if I let you all trail back to the palace like a litter of whipped puppies. Gird has given you a challenge: will you meet it?”

“Yes, sir,” Aris said, before Camwyn could say anything. Camwyn nodded.

“Then we are but one horse short. Camwyn, you take mine. Beclan, Aris will ride your horse for a few minutes. You come with me to the center of the field. Ride two by two, that way, at a walk. Do not let your horses put a hoof in the blood or foam from the two poisoned ones.”

The instructor’s mount, a faded roan smaller than his own charger, moved off in a walk with complete equanimity. Camwyn concentrated on his posture, on giving precise signals, and was almost unseated at the first turn when the horse spun in a quarter circle.

“Lightly, lightly,” the instructor called. “You’re yelling at him; try a whisper.”

As the lesson went on, with students changing horses every circuit of the field, until finally pairs were changing horses while trotting together, Camwyn felt better. When he was on the ground, following the instructor, hearing every comment, he began to see things he’d never noticed before. Riding the different horses, having to adjust his seat and his aids to them, he tried to apply those things in a way he hadn’t before.

Finally it was over; once more they stood in a line, and this time the horses were quiet. The instructor looked them over. “Well done,” he said. “You young men—” It was the first time he’d ever called them men. “—are worthy of your fathers. You learned a hard lesson today, one I would not have chosen for you. But I warn you—what happened today may happen again. You, as lords’ sons, are all in danger. From now on, you must go early to the stables, as a group, and as a group inspect every mount, and all the tack, before mounted drill. Of course all the grooms are being questioned, but you’re old enough to take some responsibility yourselves. I have sent to the stables for two horses, for Camwyn and Aris; when they come, we will go back, in proper order, as if nothing had happened. I will report to the prince and Council.”