Gribb Thornwhisker swung a sharpened stick at a tree and told himself it was a sword. He was a knee-high elvin dwarf with blue skin and yellow teeth, and he wanted, more than anything, to wear the king's colors. The knights tested newcomers in three days. Gribb had never touched a real blade in his life. He practiced behind his cottage, where tangled vines climbed the walls and moss dripped from the roof. His wooden pike had a taped grip and a whittled point. He stabbed a knot in the bark. The stick bounced back and cracked him on the nose. He sat down hard in the wet grass. "That," said a voice, "is how you lose a hand." A man leaned against the porch rail. He had blond hair and a smile that seemed to enjoy Gribb's misery. Steel covered one shoulder. A red cape hung from the other. Gribb had seen that armor style on the king's men. He scrambled up and pointed his stick. "Who are you?" "Aldric Fairwind. I used to serve the crown." He pushed off the rail. "Then I stopped. Long story." His eyes moved to the wooden pike. "You're trying out for the knights." "In three days," Gribb said. "They'll test me." Aldric laughed, but not cruelly. "They'll laugh you out of the yard. You hold that grip like a spoon." He walked closer and crouched to Gribb's height. "You've never held real steel, have you?" Gribb's face burned. "No." "Then a wooden stick won't save you." Aldric reached under his cape and drew a real sword. The blade caught the light. He turned it and offered the handle. "Take it." Gribb wrapped both hands around the grip. The weight dragged his arms down at once. His wrists shook. He nearly dropped it in the mud. "Heavier than a stick," Aldric said. "That's the whole problem. You've trained your hands for a lie." He guided Gribb's fingers, one at a time. "Thumb here. Elbow in. Let the weight fall, then stop it." Gribb swung. The blade tugged him sideways, but this time he caught it. He swung again. The tip stayed level. Something clicked in his shoulders. "Better," Aldric said. "You held real steel and didn't drop it. Now you know what the test feels like." Gribb grinned, sharp teeth and all. For the first time, he believed he could stand in that yard. Aldric took his sword back and sheathed it. His smile faded. "But hear me, boy. If I train you, the crown will hear my name again. There are knights who'd pay to know where I am." He glanced toward the trees, then back. "Teaching you puts a target on both our backs." Gribb looked at his wooden pike lying in the grass. Then at the man who could turn him into a knight. "Teach me anyway," he said. Aldric nodded slowly. "Then we start tonight. And we keep it hidden."

They left the cottage before dawn. Aldric kept his hood up and his sword hidden. "Every road has eyes," he told Gribb. "We need walls no traveler can see through." So they walked into the deep woods, away from paths, looking for a place to train in secret. By midday they heard water. Gribb pushed through wet ferns and stopped. A waterfall poured down layered stone in bright ribbons. Behind the falling water, half hidden, gaped a dark cave mouth. "There," Gribb said. "No one would find us there." Aldric studied the rocks. "Too clean. Someone tends this place." He was right. As they climbed toward the curtain of water, small shapes slid out onto the ledge. Bears the size of house cats blocked the cave. Their fur glowed in pink, blue, and yellow streaks. The largest sat in the center and stared up at Gribb with calm violet eyes. Gribb reached for the cave. The bear lifted a paw. Light bent in the air, and Gribb's hand hit something solid he could not see. "It won't let us in," he said. The glowing bear spoke, small and clear. "The cave opens for the worthy. Prove it. Three tests." Aldric raised a brow. Gribb swallowed. He had come to prove himself worthy of the king. Proving it to a bear seemed a smaller thing. "First," the bear said, "strength." It pointed to a boulder wedged in the stream. Gribb was knee-high, but he set his shoulder to the stone and dug his feet into the mud. Aldric started forward. "No," Gribb said. "Me." He shoved until his arms shook. The boulder rolled free and cleared the water. "Second," the bear said, "steadiness." A narrow log crossed the plunge pool. Spray made it slick. Gribb stepped out, arms wide. Halfway across his foot slipped. He dropped to a knee, clung, and breathed. Then he stood and finished the crossing. The bears chittered. "Third," the bear said, "courage." It walked to the very edge, where the water fell into a deep pool below. "Jump. Trust the pool." Gribb looked down. His stomach turned. Aldric watched, saying nothing. Gribb remembered the weight of real steel in his hands, and how he had not dropped it. He jumped. Cold water swallowed him and spat him back up, gasping and grinning. He climbed back to the ledge, soaked. The glowing bear pressed a paw to his chest. Its warmth spread through him. "Worthy," it said. The unseen wall fell away. The bears filed aside and let them pass behind the water into the cave. Inside, the space opened wide and dry, lit by faint glow from the bears' fur. "A hidden hall," Aldric said. He drew his sword and it caught the light. "No traveler, no knight, will find us here." He tossed Gribb a practice blade. "Now we train for real. And the king's test is in two days."