Free Secrets at the Keep (Kingdom of Denall Book 2) by Eric Buffington

being by her side every minute. He would rather go with anyone else; he would rather stay and train while she was gone. He turned to hurry back to his room, but his heart sank when she entered the target range and called out to him before he reached the door, “Not so fast, little mouse.”
    Mylot clenched his jaw and inhaled slowly to dissipate his anger. He placed the buckets on the ground and turned around. “Tell me he wasn’t talking about me.”
    She smiled, “Sorry to disappoint. Believe me, I wish he wasn’t talking about you either. Let’s go.” She led Mylot through the training facility. The first three rooms they passed through were training rings that had weapon racks on the walls. He looked longingly at the swords he was not allowed to touch. The next was a long, narrow room with targets set up at varying distances. On the walls and in barrels near the entrance of the room were throwing knives, axes, bows, crossbows, and a variety of arrows and bolts. They continued through a second target range and Mylot looked at the stone walls and wondered how much time it had taken to tunnel out this vast underground barracks, and when he would get to use these lower parts of the training facility instead of being the servant to the other members of the King’s Guard. Captain Conrad stopped in front of a large, oak doorway.
    “This is the secret knock.” She rapped her knuckles on the door in a rapid succession of slow and fast knocks, while smiling smugly at Mylot. “Please repeat it.”
    Mylot, sick of being the target of ridicule, and nearly certain that she was giving him a hard time, brushed past her, opened the door, and walked in. “Hello, I’m glad that you’re here.” Sir Theodore was standing behind a large table. A map was rolled out and held down on four corners by polished stones. “What was all that knocking about?” he asked when Captain Conrad joined Mylot in the room.
    She answered sheepishly. “It was nothing sir.”
    “Good, then don’t do it again,” Sir Theodore barked, clearly not in a joking mood.
    “Yes sir.”
    “We just received a pigeon message from Peyton.” Sir Theodore pointed at an unmarked place on the map Northwest of Norwell Lake near the borders of Omer’s realm.
    “What has he seen?” Captain Conrad cut in.
    “He didn’t say.” He pulled a small scroll from his belt and read it aloud. “Urgent! Come now. Mordyar.” He set the message on the table. “Peyton has been a reliable source of information for years, but he has become somewhat eccentric lately. I don’t know what this message means, but we will need to investigate.”
    Exhaling loudly, the captain leaned against the wall. “How many men should I take?”
    Theodore looked at her then to Mylot. “I think the two of you will be sufficient.”
    “Can I speak with you for a moment?” she asked, stepping in close to Sir Theodore and motioning that they should step aside.
    “Certainly.” Sir Theodore stood still, ignoring her gestures.
    “If I could speak with you in private…” she asked, nodding her head in Mylot’s direction.
    “Is it about this mission?” he asked, again ignoring her insistent body language and the pleading look in her eyes.
    “Yes,” she replied slowly.
    “Then speak, as everyone in this room is equally involved in this mission.” Sir Theodore leaned back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest with interest.
    Captain Conrad nodded. “Yes sir. I don’t feel that Mylot is ready for this. He has failed in every exercise, shown that he cannot obey orders, and this may prove dangerous.” She did not make eye contact with Mylot, or she would have noticed him glaring at her back.
    “It may also prove to be a hoax,” Theodore interrupted. “I am shorthanded. The seekers we captured at the tournaments have been losing their minds, and we have no solid leads as to why they were here. I have a dozen men working to interrogate them. The recruiting has not gone