“There are even more,” Trynne said. “Those who have completed two months’ training are sent back to their homes with the skills they have honed and the weapons they have trained with, but some have stayed on to help train more. Each of these girls has been trained to battle Gahalatine’s knights. That girl, the one with the dark hair, is the daughter of King Sunilik of the desert. She trained among her own people and has been a friend to me.” She turned to him and added, “There are nearly a thousand Oath Maidens throughout the realm as we speak.”

“A thousand,” Drew gasped in wonder, shaking his head. He pressed his hands against the edge of the battlement wall. “I’d never imagined there would be so many. Who is that overseeing the training? I think I recognize him. He was one of your father’s captains?”

“Captain Staeli,” Trynne said.

“Yes, Staeli. He was there at Guilme. When I was a lad, he became your father’s captain after the Battle of Dundrennan.” Clenching his fist, he tapped it on the stone of the battlement. “I should like to meet them, Trynne. But not looking and smelling like this. Can I borrow some clothes from the Lady of Averanche? I should be very proud to wear your badge.”

It was daybreak when Trynne and Drew returned to the training yard. The king was outfitted as one of the guardsmen of Averanche, wearing the badge of the Tower Moon. A suitable scabbard and belt had been furnished for the blade Firebos, and the weapon of kings was strapped around Drew’s waist. Beneath the tunic, he wore a chain hauberk. The hood was down around his shoulders. Trynne had also provided a leather satchel for him to keep the hollow crown on his person at all times.

Trynne also wore the garb of a warrior, and her two blades were strapped behind her. She had sturdy boots and pants, both of which were well worn and had served her well in her own training as a knight. When the king saw her, he startled a bit.

“I suppose it hadn’t dawned on me fully that you also made the time to train with Captain Staeli,” he said with a sheepish grin.

Trynne hooked her thumbs in the broad leather belt. For an instant, she thought he had figured out her secret, that he’d recognized her as the Painted Knight. But in most of her appearances as the knight, she’d used her magic ring to alter her looks. “I was the first to train with him, my lord. And I have for several years.” She had the urge to tell him about Myrddin and the oaths she had taken, but just as she was about to speak, she felt the power of the Fountain stiffen her tongue. It was still not time to reveal it to him.