Page 48 of On Silver Winds
No sign of either of them.
At a loss, she spent a few minutes stretching her tight, shivering muscles until they were loose and warm. By the time she had worked up a light sweat practicing her footwork, it became clear that neither Mareda nor Master Ellis would be joining her.
“Might have let me know,” Adeline grumbled to herself, thinking longingly of her bed back in the city.
She set about locking up the weapons again, and was just about to put out the fire when the door swung open.
“Good morning, darling!”
Adeline turned at once, her knees dipping into a curtsey before she even registered that the Queen had entered the room. Lifetime habits were hard to break.
“Morning, mother,” she said. She straightened up to see a tall figure ducking through the door behind the Queen. “And King Cumhaill. Good morning.”
“Good morning, Princess.”
He met her eyes only briefly, and then seemed to become preoccupied with the weapons wall, striding away to examine the brackets so that Adeline and her mother were left alone.
“I take it you don’t know why we’ve joined you,” said the Queen.
“I don’t. Though if you’re here to partake in our combat training, you’ll be sorely disappointed.” Adeline folded her arms. “Apparently Marry and Master Ellis have seen fit to cancel this morning’s session.”
“Yes, well I did tell them that the weapons hall is yours for the morning.”
“Mine?”
“Yours, every morning. Your sister and Master Ellis will take an afternoon session from now on.”
The Queen’s lip twisted at Adeline’s blank expression. “If you hadn’t hurried off yesterday, this wouldn’t come as such a surprise.”
Adeline shook her head; she wasn’t surprised, just confused. “I’m to train by myself?”
“You’re to train alongside King Cumhaill.”
“What?”
The Queen shushed her, sparing a glance at the young King, who stood only a few steps away but seemed curiously unmoved by Adeline’s outburst, as though he hadn’t heard her at all. He was apparently absorbed in inspecting the blade of a large axe hanging on the wall. Adeline forced her hanging jaw closed, but she couldn’t quite organise the stream of protests that bubbled to her lips.
“Mother – why would – I need a tutor and – I wouldn’t even know how to –Besides, shouldn’t he train with the Gard, if he’s to join their ranks?”
“He is aKing,Adeline,” her mother tutted. “He’ll join the Gard as a Commander. I won’t ask him to drag a practice blade into the training yard.”
“Why not?Youdid.”
“BecauseIam the Queen they have sworn to protect,” she said. She pitched her voice low as a hiss, stepping closer to keep the words between them. “And I have never been manhandled by the Eisalaan Gard. Or don’t you recall our guest’s violent greeting at the palace gates?”
Adeline cast her eyes down, shame flooding her cheeks. Of course she remembered. At her silence, Selma took her hand and spoke softly.
“Master Ellis assures me that you are more than ready to graduate from his training. He’s quite confident in your abilities.”
“But even for the King, surely Master Ellis is the highest calibre partner –”
Selma’s patience snapped, and her pale eyes flashed.
“Adeline,I will argue with you no further.”
From the corner of her eye, she could see that King Cumhaill had turned away, the broad line of his shoulders tensed.
Adeline shut her mouth.
