The False Prince

Mott and Sage make their way back into Farthenwood. Mott instructs Sage to return to his room to clean up after their sparring and then go immediately to bed because he will have a long day tomorrow, since their training begins in earnest.

As Errol helps Sage dress in his pajamas, Sage asks, “‘Errol, while we ate, there was a server girl. About my age, dark hair, dark eyes’” (72). Errol explains that her name is Imogen, and she came to the estate about a year ago when her father fell into debt to Conner, who is the landlord on her family’s home. Imogen is there to work off her family’s debt, and Errol also reveals that she is “a mute” (72).

Sage takes the bed near the window, despite Errol’s protests that it has been reserved for Roden. Sage asks Errol about his old clothes; Errol is still working on securing them and leaves the room. Sage is alone in the boys’ sleeping quarters, and as he stands before the window with the night breeze blowing on his face:

the emotions [wash] over me like a tide. Conner’s plan [is] worse than I’d anticipated, and no matter what Mott [has] said, I [know] I [am not] up to the challenge. I [look] out into the dark night and [wonder] how long it would take me to run the length of Conner’s property (74).

But Sage resists the urge to flee and instead settles into the idea that his only options are to either become Prince Jaron or be killed by Conner.

Sage awakens in the morning, slightly disoriented, but “then I [remember] where I [am] and the strange game I [am] caught up in. The reality [is] stark and cold.” (75). Roden is also awake, and soon Tobias is, too. Roden admits that he very much wants to be selected by Conner to be Prince Jaron; he wishes Sage would have left back in the wagon, when he had first tried to escape, so that there would be less competition for the throne. Tobias wonders aloud what Conner has planned for the boys that day. Sage is resistant to Conner’s plan; it is dangerous because the boy who is chosen to impersonate Prince Jaron will be tried for treason if he is ever found out. Sage suggests that the boys band together; if they stick together and refuse Conner’s plan, he will not force them to go through with it. Tobias rejects this idea, saying that he actually wants to become Prince Jaron.

Their chatting rouses the servants guarding the door. The servants come in and dress the boys. When they exit the bedroom, Mott is there and explains that the boys will be focusing on education today. Tobias will be working with an advanced tutor; Sage and Roden will be learning basic reading comprehension with a separate tutor. While Tobias heads to the library, Roden and Sage go to a room upstairs that was once a child’s nursery. Their tutor, Master Graves, is there to instruct them. Sage requests an adult-size chair instead of the tiny ones that decorate the former nursery, and finally Mott agrees to provide them to the boys. After their lesson, Roden says, “‘I never expected to be able to read, and Master Graves said he’ll have me in a children’s reader by tomorrow’” (80). The boys are getting hungry after their first lesson of the day, but Mott informs them that lunch will be served after their next lesson on history of Carthya. After that, they will have lessons in “sword fighting, horseback riding, dinner and etiquette with the master, and tonight you will study in preparation for your lessons tomorrow’” (81). Sage is silent, fearful, and cautious over what trials lie ahead.

Next, the boys join Mistress Havala for a history lesson on Carthya. She is “an excellent tutor, and by the end of the class session, we [can] all name the major Carthyan cities and describe their contributions to the country” (83). Tobias already knows the answers to Mistress Havala’s questions, and what he does not know, he learns quickly. When the lesson concludes, it is lunchtime. Imogen and a few other servants enter the room with meat pies on trays for the boys.

Mott collects the boys from their history lesson and leads them outside to Farthenwood’s stables. Cregan is waiting to teach them about horseback riding. Even before the lesson begins in earnest, Sage’s sharp tongue offends Cregan, when he says, “‘My skills are better than yours [...] I can outride you with my eyes closed’” (84). Cregan is angered, and he insists that, if Sage is in fact the better rider, he show the group. Cregan goes into the stables and returns with a wild, untrained mare. The horse bucks and whinnies, and Sage knows he is unable to ride this beast—in fact, he is terrified of the horse, which Cregan informs him is named Windstorm. When Sage tries to get out of it, Cregan says he will tell Conner that Sage failed this lesson if he does not ride Windstorm, so Sage reluctantly agrees. When Sage finally climbs atop Windstorm, she immediately gallops at breakneck speeds, far from Farthenwood and closer to freedom. 

Evening falls and Sage is awakened deep in a nearby forest by the sound of Mott, who is riding a horse and carrying a lantern while calling Sage’s name. Weakly, Sage answers: “‘Over here […] I had hoped it would be Mott who found me. If it had been Cregan, he’d have likely beaten the last of my strength from me as punishment” (88). Mott collects Sage and puts his bruised body atop his horse; together, they ride back to Farthenwood.

During their ride, Mott takes pity on Sage and tells him that he must learn to control his sharp tongue. Mott also asks Sage what his interest in Imogen is. Earlier that day, she passed Mott a note asking if he could somehow get Sage to stop staring at her. Sage is taken aback by this; he asks Mott why Imogen would be fearful of him looking at her. Mott explains, “‘When the servants feel one of them has been singled out or favored, they tend to get jealous. That can become dangerous’” (91). Mott goes on to say that these two weeks will pass quickly and that Sage is far behind the others—he needs to catch up if he is going to stand any chance of being chosen by Conner.