That is a Very Bad Sentence. Bernsek jumps up. “Bactia, Caswellon, on Irenis’s door now.”

Bactia and Caswellon sprint off, Bactia actually using magic to go faster.

“Jacryn, sit down before you fall over and explain what the hell is going on.”

Jacryn sits down before he falls over. “I’ve known for a very long time that Gurstel is not the kind of man I’d like a hypothetical daughter to marry. He’s crude and cruel and casually sexist. But I’ve not drunk with him until this trip. There was, shockingly, better company.”

Bernsek snorts.

“The night before we set off, they all got very drunk. Gurstel started making his inappropriate comments about Irenis. She is twelve and he’s thirty-two, and he was criticizing her lack of breasts and the shape of her bottom.”

One of the knights, Paswynn by the sounds of it, makes a horrified retching noise.

“Yes! Exactly!” Jacryn scrubs his face. “And his lackeys—I hesitate to call them his friends—didn’t stop him. Not even Asnathe, she thinks that strength is found in masculinity. It’s why she and Meitha clash. So she won’t stop Gurstel from trying to force women because they’re weak or slutty or both. And Lowegan is a dovesak’s bastard son, but Irenis has no protections. Even a dovesak would attempt to eat her. And none of the other knights want to test Gurstel because his swordsmanship is sloppy, but his aura control is first-rate.

“So I’ve been standing guard outside her tent or room all journey and catching up on sleep when I can. On horseback or when I’m certain that he’s asleep. I’ve been awake near-constantly for two months. I’m seeing things that aren’t there. I need to rest and I can’t do that while Gurstel is awake and capable of hurting her.”

“Hurting who?” hisses Bealuen from the doorway.

Everyone jumps and Bernsek hears at least one spear clatter to the ground. Jacryn actually falls off the couch.

Bealuen stalks in, deadly and ferocious despite only wearing a strawberry-patterned shift. “What is going on? Bactia woke me up and neither she nor her companion slowed down to explain why.”

Eesh. The one trivial matter that rouses Bealuen’s temper is being woken prematurely.

Jacryn proves himself to be either brave or foolhardy by standing up and looking her in the eye. “I have reason to believe that Sir Gurstel—is that a real bug? No, never mind—that Sir Gurstel is…” he snaps his fingers. “Is the kind of drunk who should not be allowed near a grown dame knight, let alone a vulnerable child. And I can’t stay up any longer. So I asked Captain Bernsek to supply a guard so I can sleep. The blame lies with me alone.”

Bealuen’s hackles lower throughout the little speech. She shoves him lightly on the shoulder to make him sit down. “I see. Bernsek, take a team and keep Gurstel and his group from leaving the drinking parlor. Eyolyn, talk to the rest of the Casmenoc knights, see if they spotted the same red flags as Jacryn here did. Memara, get rid of any contraband, I don’t want to deal with it when there are bigger fish to fry.”

Jacryn starts laughing at that, but Bernsek would put a golden tacl on it being more hysteria and sleep deprivation than amusement. It wasn’t that funny.

And right on time, Caswellon bursts back through the door. “You were right! Gurstel popped up drunk and tried to force his way into the guest suite! Bactia knocked him out and is sitting on him.”

“Good job. I’m coming.” Bernsek sprints off to carry out his orders.

—

Bealuen sits down across from Jacryn, whose bout of giggles is trailing off to leave him drooping. “All right, I just have a few more questions and then you can go to bed.”

Jacryn gives her a thumbs-up.

“When did you start distrusting Gurstel?”

Jacryn chews on his words for a moment. “We grew up in adjacent villages. He the baron’s spoiled son, I the daughter of farmers.”

“Daughter?”

Jacryn freezes up. “Uh—”

Bealuen thinks she knows what’s going on here. “Are you a woman hiding as a man for your own safety?” That was too natural to be a lie.

“Yes.” Jacryn relaxes immediately. “It was safer to let him think I was a man with long hair. It meant he didn’t try to rape me.”

Depressingly sensible. Bealuen sits back and lets Jacryn ramble.

“We didn’t formally meet until I joined the Casmenoc knightage, and, well… it was an environment that let his brand of awfulness thrive. Much to my dismay. I became a knight to uphold honor and chivalry, but that house was not a place of honor. The sons were left to run amok, the daughters were stifled into perfect housewives no matter their inclinations, and the maids lived in fear of being forced. I wasn’t around at the time—I’m only eight years older than Irenis—but I’ve heard rumors. And I’ve heard the knights disparage her. Even some who seem decent at first glance denigrate her for the circumstances of her birth.

“As you may have gathered, Irenis was born out of wedlock to a maid and a Casmenoc. Not the heir, the youngest son, but still.”

“He’s married, right?”

Jacryn sighs heavily and flops back onto the couch. “Yes. I do not understand. It’s so easy not to cheat or rape, you see a beautiful person and then you look away!”

“One would think it was impossible to screw up.”

“And yet!” Jacryn huffs, his—her? Bangs flying up. “And Irenis’s mother is dead, and her father didn’t want to take responsibility for her—everyone knew he’d cheated, there was no point in denying it—and that left her vulnerable to the darker impulses of the family.

“She was beaten, forced to live in a closet, treated worse than the meanest scullion, and left to the mercy of everyone who needed to vent stress. Her cousins picked on her with impunity and no one stopped them because they would get fired if they tried. The only person who was willing and able to stand up for her was the battlemaster, and he couldn’t get them to treat her kindly! He could only treat her kindly himself! And now it’s fallen to me to be the only decent adult in this Syfh-damned troop!”

Bealuen loosens her jaw. She’s been grinding her teeth. “Did you feel like you had to step up because women must be mothers?”

That’s very funny for some reason. Jacryn actually tears up before the giggles fade. “No, it’s because I have honor. It’s not because I’m a woman.” She sighs happily. “It’s so nice to say that out loud again.”

Bealuen sits back. “After we send Gurstel away, would you like to stop disguising yourself as a man? It would be safe for you to do so.”

Jacryn sits up from where she’s listing to the side. “Really? I was just planning on claiming there was a paperwork error, I’m Dame Jacryn, when I got to… wherever you’re assigning me.”

She’s listing very badly. Bealuen stands up and rests a hand on her shoulder. “Go ahead and go to sleep. We’ll deal with Gurstel and his ilk. They’ll be gone by morning.”

Jacryn slumps over and falls asleep right on the couch. Bealuen flags down a maid outside the door. “Make sure that…” She’ll err on the side of caution right now. “That Sir Jacryn makes it to his guest quarters before dawn.”

“Yes, my lady.” The maid bows and scurries in.

Bealuen sprints back to her bedroom, excavates her trousers from beneath her log of a sleeping husband, and once she has pants on runs down to the guest suites.

Gurstel’s hangers-on and most of the Casmenoc knights are already there, looking sleep-rumpled and/or drunk. The laughing one, Lowegan, is more shrill and annoying than ever.

Bernsek salutes to Bealuen. “Ma’am, perpetrator has been detained in the dungeons until further notice.”

“Good. Headcount?”

“Almost everyone’s here—”

One of the Casmenoc knights, the very girly one, raises her hand. “Did someone steal something?”

Bealuen is out of patience. She snarls, “Arguably, Gurstel tried to steal Irenis’s virginity through rape. Be silent unless you have any word in your defense.”

Most of the knights look horrified. They also all shuffle away from those who don’t.

Bernsek reclaims her attention. “We have everyone here except for Dame Tamnet, Sir Jacryn, and Irenis.”

“I know where Jacryn is. Does anyone know where Tamnet and Irenis are?” Dread clots in Bealuen’s stomach. If they missed a subtler threat just because Gurstel was louder and stupider about being such—

A maid raises her hand. “Dame Tamnet came rushing back here and asked me for directions to the doctor’s hall. She’s taken Miss Irenis for her inoculations. I led them all the way there and never left them alone.”

Good. Meria is trustworthy despite her youth. That means Irenis is safe.