When the bells chimed for Vespers, the students were released from their studies for the rest of the afternoon. As always, Hakon darted through the gates into the street like someone who had just been freed from captivity. As always, Louis pursued him. And as they did every day, he and Louis headed for the oak tree that stood just outside the gate to the king"s training grounds. They scrambled up the tree and perched on the branch that provided them with a view of the grounds and all those training within.
To Hakon"s intense disappointment, the grounds stood empty. “Where are they? Why don"t they practice?”
Louis shrugged his thin shoulders. “Maybe they are holding witan after the king"s return.” Despite being raised almost entirely in Engla-lond, he still had not shaken the Frankish int
