"So this is the place shown on the gold coin?" Kup asked uncertainly. He only remembered it being mentioned once when they'd talked about the coin, and it was hard to connect the rather abstract design with the complex fortress where they were now.
"Yes, and I remember you already asked me that yesterday." As Kraft answered, he lifted a scroll-like object with wooden rollers onto the table. Wilbert had handed it to him after working on it all night, along with two kitchen menus and a list of people scheduled for an audience. "Pop quiz: how do you spell 'castle'?"
"Huh?"
Caught completely off guard, Kup was at a loss. Since they'd left Solace Port, Kraft had only grown more relentless about their lessons. His surprise quizzes were impossible to escape. Who could've guessed that opening his mouth would trigger an encounter?
Yvonne, who seemed not to have been paying attention and had been silently reading with her head bowed, quickly looked up and raised her hand to catch Kraft's attention.
But she probably hadn't prepared enough. She stumbled through the spelling and missed a letter. Prompted by her, Kup answered correctly a moment later.
"You could be more thorough, but that's still very good." Kraft considered it. Since he was about to clear the table anyway, he handed the fruit platter to Yvonne. "Winner takes all. Today's fruit is yours."
The small victory gave her a considerable boost. She happily accepted the platter, revealing a rare smile even harder to catch than the sweetness of wild blueberries. She took a ripe orange, then handed the platter back to Kraft.
It was rare. The last time he'd seen Yvonne show such clear happiness, she'd been fiddling with the rusty dagger she still hadn't thrown away. As a self-appointed half-guardian,