Twenty-Four
Return to Wincaster
Autumn 957 MC
She returned to Wincaster with no fanfare, not even an acknowledgement of her situation. She was assigned a billet and given the captain’s quarters again for privacy, but the other knights shunned her. The days passed slowly, and she found it easier to endure them by adopting a routine. She would go out riding early each morning, then practise with weapons until lunch. The afternoons were usually busy doing paperwork, for she was still one of the few knights who could understand the accounts. She had already found numerous cases of corruption, it appeared every supplier of equipment overcharged, and it hadn’t taken long to find out why; the suppliers were all associates of Marshal-General Valmar or the king. It looked as if the king’s favour
