The Knight and the Moth

During the journey from the Seacht to the Fervent Peaks to confront the Ardent Oarsman, Six and the gargoyle ride in a cart. Six asks Maude about her past. Maude is 41 years old and became a knight in a family of legendary sprite hunters; she didn’t know what a righteous kill was until King Benedict the First told her the truth about the Omens, and she slayed the Faithful Forester. She was loyal to Benedict, who told her to deny him so that she wouldn’t also be condemned and could continue hunting the Omens; she threw the first stone at Benedict. After his death, her family took Benji in. King Benedict the First also brought Rory to Petula Hall when he was 11, and Maude made Rory her squire. 

Six falls asleep in the cart and is woken when a mountain sprite attacks the retinue. She and the gargoyle are thrown from the cart in the chaos, and Benji becomes trapped under stone. He cannot free himself, but even as the sprite charges them, Six refuses to abandon him. She uses her hammer and chisel to free Benji, and then the gargoyle flies them out of harm’s way at the last second.