It was one of the hearts of Blackchurch.
“What is it now?” A tall blond knight with big muscles came out of the outbuilding, leaning against the doorjamb as he inspected a well-made sword he’d picked up inside. “Is St. James speculating about the meeting at Exford again?”
Bowen snorted. “You know he is,” he said. “Anteaus, you work with him more than any of us. How do you stand it?”
Anteaus de Bourne grinned, watching Rhodes and knowing the man was struggling not to clap back at them. He took a lot of jesting and taunts from the other assistant trainers, mostly because he thought he didn’t want to be one of them. He wanted to be a full-fledged trainer and thought he damn well deserved it.
He did, but no one was going to tell him that.
“He’s tolerable,” Anteaus said. “Unless he goes off on one of his tangents. If he does that, then I have to muzzle him.”
“You’ve never muzzled me in your life, de Bourne,” Rhodes said, unable to keep his mouth shut any longer. “You know I’m right about this. Yesterday, de Royans has two visitors, and then shortly thereafter, every Blackchurch trainer is in the keep with St. Denis and Sebo. One of the servants said they were there most of the night. And de Royans did not arrive to teach his class this morning. Anteaus had to do it.”
“I would not read too much into it,” Anteaus said. “De Royans has a pregnant wife. Mayhap she is ill and he does not want to leave her.”
He looked at Bowen, who would have known why Creston did not teach his class because he was the one who had to make sure there was a trainer to carry on in such an instance, but Bowen simply shrugged.
“I do not know,” he said. “When he did not come at sunrise and his recruits were standing around, I simply had Anteaus take over.”
“Did any other trainers fail to make their class this morning?” Anteaus asked.
Bowen shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “Although I did send Axton to assist Tay this morning. He has an unusually large class of dregs, including seven women. I do not think we’ve ever seen more than two or three at a time.”
Axton Summerlin was another assistant trainer who had been at Blackchurch for a few years, an extremely capable trainer, but more of a follower than a leader. He was a big, mean man and not even Rhodes would tangle with him, but that personality made him perfect to work with Tay, who was also a big, mean man.
They were a match made in heaven.
“If Tay does not run off the women, then Axton will,” Rhodes said, snorting with mirth. “If anyone survives those two as the very first trainers they meet at Blackchurch, then they deserve to be part of us. I’m not even sureIcould survive those two.”
“Bowen!”
A shout came from the south, and the men turned to see a pair of assistant trainers approaching, both of them carrying loads of clubs on their shoulders. Anteaus and Rhodes went to help them, and between the four of them, they managed to get the practice clubs back into the outbuilding for storage. Bowen stood in the doorway and watched them arrange the clubs by size.
“Is that from Payne’s class, Therron?” he asked one of the men who had brought the clubs.
Therron de Allington and his brother, Torr, were knights who had trained at Kenilworth, the ultimate training castle for the upper-class sons of noblemen. They’d made it through Blackchurch training and were offered positions because Tay, who had worked with them the most, liked the way they operated. They were hard workers, savvy and skilled, and they saw their work at Blackchurch as a stepping stone to a trainer position, like the others did. Originally, they had worked with Tay, but they’d gradually transitioned into assisting Fox, Sinclair, and Payne as well.
Today had been a hell of a class with Payne.
“Aye,” Therron said, wiping the sweat off his brow. “I am not entirely certain what had Payne in such a mood, but the man was swearing at the recruits in Gaelic and swinging his club like a madman. This was just supposed to be an exercise, but we ended up losing four men. Four good men.”
“See?” Rhodes said, looking at Bowen and Anteaus. “Did I not tell you that something is in the air? Something has The Tempest living up to his name.”
“He’s right,” Torr said. He was a year younger than his brother, but they looked so much alike that they could have been twins. “Tay seems tense also. As does Fox. They all seem to be… edgy.”
Bowen simply shook his head. “It does not matter if something is happening,” he said, looking to the group. “I will tell all of you that it is no concern of ours. We will do our duties, and do them well. If the trainers need help, we will help them. If they need for us to assume their classes, we will. That is our role here. But if something biggerisgoing on and they want us to know, they will tell us. Meanwhile… no speculation. You aretrainers, not fishwives. Gossip is unbecoming, so keep your lips shut. Do you understand me, Rhodes?”
Rhodes wasn’t very happy at being called out, so he just waved a hand at Bowen and walked away. Therron and Torr went back to their work, organizing clubs, leaving Bowen and Anteaus alone. The pair of them ended up outside of the outbuilding, watching Ming Tang in the distance lecturing a group of recruits that were sitting on the grass, listening intently.
“Do you think something is happening?” Bowen asked quietly. “Have you seen any indication?”
Anteaus shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “But Rhodes isn’t wrong. Somethingisin the air, Bowen. As you said, they’ll tell us if they want us to know.”
Bowen grunted. “It makes me nervous,” he said. “When something goes on around here, it is never a small matter. It’s usually a life-or-death situation. Remember when Payne’s mother came to visit? Remember that entire debacle?”
Anteaus snorted. “A hundred pirates and a big battle,” he said. “Mayhap we have more pirates coming to visit and no one is happy about it.”
“Mayhap,” Bowen agreed. “But something tells me that we need to be ready.”
