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times and advanced several paces.
    “She shall resist at first.” Allen’s heart beat wildly now. Over the rush of battle, or the thought of Lady Merry, he could not say. “But she’ll come around eventually.” Merry might be tough on the outside, but she was not unreasonable, and she had another side as well.
    He snuck a quick glance to where she nuzzled Wren. Indeed, she had a soft side Allen’s errant heart wished to explore. He quelled the thought before it could fully form. Despite the fact that their world had been turned topside-turvy, that he had learned to read and fight, and that he had taken on the role of priest for their band, a certain God-ordained order to the world must be maintained.
    Merry was nobility. He was not. Such matters should be simple.
    Allen returned his focus to Red, battle, and the war that raged to the north. He and Red were the best fighters of the bunch, and if he proved to be like his older brother—Allen blinked away the pain that crashed through him at the memory of his family—he would yet grow another few inches. Truth be told, he longed to be a hero as much as any young man, but in the end, he would make the decision that was best for the group. He always did.
    Eyes trained on Red, he finally spotted his moment.

Chapter 4
    The battle fever in Allen’s blood pitched to a new level. Using one of the tumbling maneuvers he had practiced again and again, he dove forward, rolled on the ground, and knocked Red off his feet. Red’s weapon flew from his hand. With a bound, Allen was standing again, practice sword denting into the flesh at Red’s throat.
    “Ho!” shouted James.
    “Good show!” Cedric ran over to thump Allen on the back.
    “I guess we know at least one warrior who shall be heading north.” James grinned.
    Allen let up the pressure on Red’s neck, and Red stood and brushed himself off. “Do not discount me so soon. I shall best him the next time.”
    “’Tis what you said the last time.” Cedric guffawed.
    “Yes, well, let’s see how you fare against me.” Red snatched up his sword and returned to battle stance.
    Cedric grabbed his own sword. “Is that a challenge?”
    “Of course it is.”
    Allen put a good-natured arm around James’s slender shoulder and drew him out of the way. James was only fifteen, but he had sharp natural instincts for battle, and he had proven to be a quick learner. Soon enough, he would be able to take on any of them. “You shall battle Cedric next. Now, in the spirit of knowing your opponent, what must you remember with Cedric?”
    “He always leads to the left, and he gives away when he is about to strike by scrunching his lips together.”
    Allen squeezed James’s shoulder, then let him go. “Exactly—like a girl searching for a kiss.”
    They shared a chuckle over the comic image of Cedric preparing to strike.
    “But keep in mind that with a true opponent you must think on your feet, James. Studying them, surveying them, even as you fight.”
    James offered a wry expression. “You’ve told me that nigh on a thousand times.”
    “And I shall tell you a thousand more.” Allen gave James a little shove. He wanted nothing more in the world than to keep these children safe. Having lost one family already, he would not lose another.
    He leaned against his sword and mopped sweat from his brow, enjoying a moment of respite while Red and Cedric clashed weapons. The two had become skilled warriors and did not require his attention. Thus, he allowed his focus to wander to Sadie, who flipped neatly back and forth upon the balancing board.
    Years ago, he had hidden behind the stables and watched a young Lady Merry perform just such tricks with the band of traveling tumblers—much as he had watched Lord Ellison’s soldiers train in the castle courtyard, and as he had watched Merry and her brother, Percivale, play in the forest. But he had always observed from a distance, respecting the separation between the classes.Those who