When we returned to the apartments, Caleb approached Jo with a tight jaw. He had been all smiles with me, but now I saw how worried he was. The two of them talked for a moment in low voices. I could not hear them, but I could only guess that they were discussing our appointment later in the day with the king's advisor.
I stepped forward. "If I'm to be involved in something, I would like to be informed of what's going on."
"Lena, I don't think you should be involved in this," Caleb said, turning to me. "There's just too much that can go wrong."
"Aren't I more of an asset than a hindrance? Isn't that why you brought me here in the first place?"
Although I'd been talking to Caleb, Jo responded, "Well, we were planning to train you a bit first, and to educate you in the complexities of the problem we're facing, so you wouldn't be completely helpless. You might have a silver tongue, but you can't talk your way out of everything if you don't know what's going on." He sighed. "And now you've gone and given a false name to the king's advisor. Well, we can't go back now. Go with Caleb and get your story straight before you meet with the advisor."
I nodded and turned away. Before Caleb and I were out of the room, Jo added, "And tonight I want you to start your training. Caleb will be your tutor for the politics of the situation. Dom will be in charge of physical training. And Arthur will be your third teacher. You will find you need some skills from now on that you've never had use for before. You will need to know how to hide in a crowd, how to follow someone without being seen, how to slip a poison in a man's drink without his ever noticing. Arthur will teach you these. I don't want you out on your own before all three of your teachers deem you adequate in these skills. We can't risk having you in the city when every listening ear belongs to the head of a spy."
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