'What is lady's name?' he struggled with the language.
'I'm not allowed to say.'
'What you mean?'
'She wants to meet you,' the boy said slowly. 'She will be in the hayloft above the royal stables.'
Alvero glanced towards the stables and saw a group of young men whom he recognised as members of the princess' bodyguard.
'She said I was to give you this.'
The boy reached into his pouch and pulled out a lock of jet-black hair, tied with a silver thread. Alvero's heart missed a beat. There was only one person with hair as dark as that. He glanced back towards the stables and found that the young men had gone. Excitement overcame fear.
'You take me?'
The boy shook his head. 'You must go like you are investigating something. No one will ask questions if you act like you belong.'
Alvero entered the stables and mounted the stairs with a sense of foreboding. He was off duty and his only weapon was a knife, which was meant for peeling apples. The door at the top of the stairs was open and he could see the princess inside. She was sitting on a pile of hay. No one else was there but there was no shortage of places to hide. He ventured up the last few steps and Adrina smiled at him.
'Come and sit beside me.'
Alvero approached cautiously. From where he stood, he could see a smart leather boot protruding from a pile of sacks. He wondered how many of the princess' bodyguard were hidden in the loft.
'I've been watching you for a long time.'
Adrina spoke in the southern tongue without the slightest trace of an accent. 'I have been looking for a brave companion from my father's land.'
'Does your father come from Ibero?'
Adrina stoked her long dark hair.
'Can't you see that we have the same southern blood?'
Alvero relaxed a little and listened.
'My sisters tell me that a lot of the brothers from Ibero want to go home.'
'We can't, Princess. We need boats.'
Adrina leant forward and took his hand.
'Alvero. I can put twenty of the brothers on the next boat taking tin to Ibero. They are needed there. A war has broken out. The empire if falling apart.'
'No one has told us that.'
'They wouldn't.' Adrina patted his knee. 'If they told you that it would be very bad for moral.'
Alvero nodded. 'What do you want me to do?'
'You gather together the brothers who are loyal to Ibero. You must swear a blood oath. When you are ready report back. The boy, Weasel, will be our messenger. He will tell you where to find me.'