[Mekatra]

Joane ran a hand through her hair to smooth it down and cool her frustrated nerves. "At the end of the day we are all the king's dogs, only here to do his bidding... but, you'll notice that those of us that are good at it, we are treated very well. Yes, you'll be at his beck and call, but since your job is secret, something you need to work on keeping..." She narrowed her eyes at him. "He'll have to explain your presence in another way. The assigned story, as you heard and immediately refuted, is that you are the bastard son of the Queen's cousin. The cousin she chose is deceased. You have a living half-brother, but he's away at the moment. He'll probably hate you when he arrives. Don't worry, he's not in her majesty's favor anyway. He's a letch and a fool." She clucked her tongue and leaned against the wall. "Have you finished eating? We have a lot to do? Anyway, you're to be trained up to be presented at court by me, because my story is not so dissimilar, though mine is a true one."

The knight stretched and pulled up one of the floorboards to pull out a few sheathed daggers and other strange tools that were most certainly not used by chivalrous knights. "It is my job to make you fit in a court, but also to teach your the tricks of your trade."