Protector - Squire Part 2

"The sparrows carry their own weight, Flyn," said Raoul. "Or did you forget, they led us to the spidren nest?" He reached down to pet Jump. "Her gelding's a piece of work, too." To Kel he said, "I'm glad you stopped by. I forgot to see to your kit. Do you have an hour? I know you'll want to sup with your friends, but we should handle some things while we can."

Kel nodded.

"We'll see to personal armor tomorrow, but as you know, such things take time. Qasim will help you draw pieces to tide you over when we're done talking," Raoul explained. "Until you get your own weapons, use company issue. You need a sword and dagger, a small axe, a shield. That's a company shield, Qasim - I'm having a proper Goldenlake shield made, but that takes a week. Kel, which are you better at, longbow or crossbow?"

"Long, my lord," Kel replied. "And I have a bow, sword, and dagger."

"Let Qasim review them," Raoul said. "He may ask you to use ours for now." He nodded to Qasim. "Standard field kit. Now, long weapons..." He gazed at Kel thoughtfully. "Lances are good for tournaments, giants, and ogres, but they're unwieldy in a scramble. Most of us carry spears - "

"A third use halberds," Flyndan added.

"I know you can use a spear," Raoul continued, thinking aloud. "Have you tried a halberd?"

Kel hesitated. Lord Wyldon had never let her use her favorite weapon, which was similar to a halberd. I won't know if I don't ask, she thought. "One moment, my lord?" she asked. At his nod she returned to her room.

"She's polite enough," Kel heard Flyndan say.

"What did you expect?" Raoul was amused. "Wyldon trained her. He's serious about manners."

Kel's wooden practice glaive and a standard glaive hung on a rack behind the connecting door. She took the live weapon down. The five-foot-long staff was teak, the base shod in iron. The blade was eighteen inches long at the tip and broadly curved. The blue ripples under the polished surface marked it as the best steel money could buy. It was a gift from her mother and Kel's prize.

"I can use this, my lord," she said as she returned to the next room. The three men were talking. When they stopped to look at her, Flyndan's jaw dropped. Qasim smiled.

Raoul walked over to her, eyes on the weapon. "May I?" he asked, holding out his hands. Kel gave him the glaive and stood back. He spun it in a circle, as he might a staff. "Nice weight," he commented. "Hey, Flyn, look here." He extended his arm and balanced the glaive on one finger. It remained steadily horizontal. He picked up a quill and set the end on the blade's edge. The steel cut it in half without Lord Raoul pressing the feather down. Flyndan whistled. "What's this?"

"It's a glaive, sir," Kel replied. "The Yamanis call them naginata. n.o.blewomen fight with these. Since we were at court, we learned, too."

"Can you use it?" Flyndan demanded. "Don't take this the wrong way, but that looks awkward for a - " Flyndan swallowed a word and finished with "youngster."

Raoul handed the glaive to Kel and pushed back some chairs to make room. Kel began the cuts, turns, and swings of a pattern dance. She picked up the pace, until her blade was a silver blur shadowed by the longer dark blur of the staff. She finished with a rapid spin and halt, the blade stopping just short of a chair.

"Captain Whiteford." She offered him the weapon. Flyndan took it in one hand and nearly dropped it; he'd been unprepared for the weight.

"So you've got a long weapon," Raoul said calmly, resting his behind on his desk. "Chain mail?"

"I will find something to fit," Qasim promised as Kel shook her head.

Flyndan, expressionless, returned the glaive to Kel. Qasim dusted his hands - the birds had eaten every cherry - and jerked his head toward the door. Kel bowed to Raoul and followed Qasim, her animals in their wake. She stopped to put her glaive on the rack.

"I chose a tent and bedroll for you already," Qasim remarked. He pointed to a tightly wrapped bundle on Kel's clothespress. "The bedroll is inside the tent. So too are the stakes and rope you will need. May I see your weapons? I need also to look at your travel gear."

Qasim checked everything, eyes sharp as he tested edges and cleanliness. He then inspected her travel packs. "This is all very good," he said. "I am envious."

Kel wasn't sure if she ought to tell this man, however kindly disposed he was, about her anonymous benefactor. That person had sent her gifts during her page years, from exercise b.a.l.l.s to help her strengthen her grip, to weapons. She decided to be quiet for now. There was a Yamani saying: "You need never unsay anything that you did not say in the first place."

They went to the stables, then to the armory that served the King's Own. All of the equipment she chose pa.s.sed Qasim's painstaking inspection. He loaded her with things she did not have - tack for Hoshi, a chain mail shirt, a padded round helm, even a square leather carrier that fastened onto the back of her saddle. The men of the Own often traveled with hawks and dogs in case they had to hunt or track. Like the company's terriers, Jump would ride in style.

Putting her gear away, Kel realized that an important moment in her life had come and gone as she chose a riding saddle and inspected shields. For the first time a warrior had thoroughly tested her knowledge of equipment, and she had pa.s.sed. Qasim had rejected none of her choices. It was all the more startling to Kel because he'd done it in such a matter-of-fact, commonplace way.

Today she'd dealt with two men who took her on her own terms. Thank you, Mithros, for this gift, she thought to the G.o.d of war and law. Then she remembered that she was at her window, grinning foolishly. Shaking her head at her own folly, she got back to work.

It was nearly suppertime when Kel finished putting everything away. She had one more thing to do concerning Peachblossom. She had thought to go to Daine - the Wildmage was home, Kel knew - but she chose to talk to the gelding on her own first. She didn't know if this was because she respected Peachblossom so much that she thought he might listen, or because she resented the idea that he would listen to Daine and not his rider. Whatever the reason, she prayed this would work Like other palace animals, Peachblossom had grown more intelligent in human terms over the years. By this point, surely, Kel didn't need Daine to translate.

The stable was deserted. No one was there to snicker at her. "Uhm, Peachblossom? Could I have a word?" she asked the gelding. She hadn't brought any treats. This was too important for bribes.

He walked to the front of the stall and, in a rare gesture of affection, thrust his long brown muzzle against Kel's chest. He snorted at the smell of old iron left by chain mail but didn't move away.

Kel stroked him. "We're going to be with plenty of other horses," she told him. "Hoshi's just the start."

Peachblossom threw up his head to eye Hoshi. The mare, quietly eating hay next door, switched her tail as if to say, Go away, boy.

"n.o.body will be able to work if you're forever biting them," Kel said. "We could get in trouble if you start fights. They might make me leave you behind."

Peachblossom fixed her squarely with one eye.

"I don't know if they will," she amended, scrupulously honest. "But it seems likely. We'll always be together when I'm a knight - surely you know that. But consider getting along here? You don't have to be friendly. Just don't make trouble."

The thought of having to leave him made her eyes sting. She loved every scarred, irritable inch of Peachblossom. She knew she would like Hoshi: she was a gift from Lord Raoul. She also seemed like a horse who could view disaster with a calm eye. But Peachblossom was the friend of Kel's heart, her staunch ally. She hugged him fiercely around the neck.

"Think about it," she told him, and left him to it.

Kel, Lalasa, Jump, and the sparrows were asleep in Kel's old rooms when thunder broke through Kel's dreams. Sitting up in bed, she realized what she heard was not thunder, but someone pounding on her door.

She leaped to answer it without pulling on her robe. Qasim almost rapped her nose when she yanked the door open. "We are called away tonight," he said. "When you are dressed, go to the stable and ready your mounts. I will pack the gear you will need."

"But my lord's armor, his gear and horses - that's my job," she protested.

"Another time," Qasim ordered. Kel was about to close the door when he stopped her. "It will be bad," he said. "Haresfield village in the Royal Forest was attacked by robbers. The messengers say it is a b.l.o.o.d.y mess. Be ready."

Is anyone ever ready for such things? Kel wondered as he left. She took a breath and concentrated on what had to be done. Lalasa was placing a basin full of water and a towel on the desk. As Kel washed her face, cleaned her teeth, and combed her hair, Lalasa put out her clothes, including a fresh breastband and loincloth, and one of the cloth pads Kel wore during her monthly bleeding. It had begun the day before.

"I'll need more pads," Kel said, fastening her breastband and hitching her shoulders until it fit properly. "And three days' worth of clothes - how much do I have here?"

"More than that," Lalasa said. Kel glanced at her. The maid smiled sheepishly. "I just wanted to give everything a last look-over," she explained. She briskly folded and stacked shirts, breeches, tunics, stockings, underclothes, and, in one of the shirts, more cloth pads.

"You'd think I rip my seams every day," Kel grumbled, pulling on her stockings. By the time she straightened her tunic, Lalasa had put her clothes in a wicker basket.

Kel hugged the girl, who was as much friend as maid, then grabbed the basket and gave her key to Lalasa. "Tell Neal and the others I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye," she said, and raced down the hall with Jump and the sparrows.

In the stable Kel and over a hundred men saddled riding horses and put lead reins on their remounts. Qasim had left a pack with Kel's name on it for her spare clothes; she filled it from her basket and gave the pack to the supply officer when he collected them.

Qasim had put a burnoose, weapons, mail, helmet, and shield with her tack. Kel popped out of her tunic, slid into the mail shirt, then pulled the tunic over it. The men of the Own wore burnooses as cloaks. Kel fastened hers at the neck, hoping Qasim would show her how to shape a hood from it and fix it to her head when there was time.

She fastened her shield and weapons to her saddle, then donned her helmet. She was ready. Looping Hoshi's reins around one hand and Peach-blossom's around the other, Kel walked out of the stable with her mounts and Jump. The sparrows had vanished into Jump's carrier on Hoshi's back.

Kel tethered her horses on the edge of the courtyard where the company a.s.sembled. The torches, blown by the wind, gave the scene a dreamlike feel as the faces of the men were first brightly lit, then shadowed. The night itself was a cool one, the wind smelling of water and the first hay cutting of the summer.

Kel watched the men unnoticed. Some were thirty or older, but most were young, single men in their twenties - married men were not allowed to join the King's Own. A third were Bazhir. Of all the realm's forces the King's Own had done the best at enlisting the once-scorned Bazhir. That was Lord Raoul's doing: he had taken the Own to live among the Bazhir for two seasons and recruited new men from their sons.

"So who's this youngster?" someone asked. Hoshi's bulk shielded Kel from the men's view. "We've got Lerant here for standard-bearer." "A squire," sneered a young man's voice. The one who'd first spoken exclaimed, "He's never wanted a squire - "

Kel stroked Peachblossom's nose. Eavesdropping had become a vice for her. She strained to hear a whispered remark, but didn't catch what was said. Then: "The Girl!" someone demanded. "I don't care if she's the Wave Walker," someone drawled. "She's green as gra.s.s."

"She better not foul us up in the field," another voice proclaimed.

"Don't you saddle rats have better things to do?" a gruff voice demanded. "Let's have an inspection. Mithros witness, if I find one strap undone, heads will roll."

"But, Sergeant Osbern, sir, I like my head," someone muttered.

"Very well, Gildes of Veldine. Let's inspect you first and put you out of your misery," the decisive voice said.

Now that they were no longer talking about her, Kel emerged from between the horses. Gildes must be the drooping fellow who led his mounts to a blond, barrel-chested man. The others were double-checking their things.

"Did you eat?" someone asked Kel. A young man about four inches taller than she approached her. He gave Kel a warm turnover. "Just rolled out of bed and came charging on down, I bet. You'll learn. Eat."

Kel bit and discovered sausage and cheese inside the turnover. "It's good!" she mumbled, her mouth full.

The stranger grinned cheerfully at her. In his early twenties, he was broad-shouldered, big-handed, and very handsome. He wore his dark hair cut just below his ears. His mouth was long and made for smiling. He wore the uniform of the Own: loose dark trousers, chain mail shirt, blue tunic with silver trim, and a white burnoose. The crimson band around his biceps showed a dark circle with a black dot at its center: a sergeant's badge.

"I see you've still got your overgrown horse," he remarked with a nod toward Peachblossom. "I was new to the King's Own that day we saw you tilting. Everybody but me bet you'd come straight off his back when he reared. I won a meal at The Jugged Hare because I bet you'd stay on." He bowed to Kel as she wiped her fingers on the handkerchief she kept tucked in her boot top. "Domitan of Masbolle at your service, Squire Keladry. Your page-sponsor was a certain mad cousin of mine."

She squinted to get a better look at him. His eyes - impossible to tell their color at the moment - were framed by wide, arched brows and set over a long nose slightly wide at the tip. It was Neal's nose, on someone else's face. Kel smiled. "You're related to Neal?"

"Sadly, yes. I call him Meathead. Have you ever met anyone so stubborn?" Domitan tucked his big hands into his breeches pockets with a grin.

"He can be difficult, um... Sergeant?"

He shook his head. "Technically you're not in the Own. Besides, he's written me so much about you I feel like I know you. Call me Dom." He offered his hand.

"Kel," she said, taking it. He gave her a firm squeeze, rea.s.suring, not trying her strength as so many young men did, and let go. She felt breathless and tingly.

"You sure grew into this bruiser," Dom remarked. When he offered a hand for Peachblossom to sniff, Kel yanked him back just as the gelding struck. "Oh, I see," Dom remarked, unruffled. "A testy pony."

Kel giggled, then saw that Lord Raoul, Captain Flyndan, and two men, farmers by their clothes, had emerged from the palace. Stablehands brought horses and remounts forward.

"We're ready to do business," Dom remarked. "Welcome to the Own, Kel." He swung himself onto his saddled mount, a dappled gray gelding.

Lord Raoul rode over. "All set to give Hoshi a try?" he asked. Kel nodded. "Mount up. Normally our remounts go in a string at the rear - the servingmen lead them with the supply train. We'll make an exception for Peachblossom. You ride a neck length back on my left, and keep him with you. Behave," he told Peachblossom, speaking directly to the horse. "Or I'll muzzle you like a dog."

Peachblossom shook his head vigorously. Kel hoped that was restlessness, not disagreement. With no time for another word with him, she gave a silent prayer to any listening G.o.ds for his good behavior and swung into the saddle. Hoshi stood patiently as she settled in.

Kel twisted to look into the carrier behind her saddle. "You have to move," she told the drowsy sparrows huddled there. "Otherwise Jump will squash you."

The birds hopped out. Once the carrier was empty, Kel nodded to Jump: he sprang neatly into the leather box. Hoshi flicked two ears back, then swung them forward again. Not even Jump could shake the mare's calm.

"Well, I'm impressed," drawled Raoul, who had watched. "Come along, Squire Keladry. Time to get your feet wet."

Following him to the front of the mounted force, Kel took note of the dogs. Thin, fine-boned greyhounds sat on the ground beside three riders. Four other men rode with terriers in carriers like Jump's. Six wolfhounds stood beside Captain Flyndan, tails wagging. There was no sign of Third Company's hunting birds - probably they were in carriers, asleep.

Lord Raoul faced his men. "Doubtless you know as much as I do," he said, his calm, steady voice carrying over the fidgets of horses and the creak of leather. The men fell silent the moment he began to speak. "Haresfield in the Royal Forest was attacked by a band of centaurs and humans. We've got reports of twenty-three dead. Balim's squad is there now. Chances are the raiders cleared the district, but they could be stupid enough to stay around. Keep your eyes open."

He wheeled to face the gates, raised a kid-gloved hand, and brought it down, nudging his big bay mare into a trot. A brunet young man with a snub nose rode on his right, carrying the flag that announced they were Third Company of the King's Own. Captain Flyndan rode on the standard-bearer's right. Obeying her instructions, Kel followed Lord Raoul on his left. Behind her she heard the thunder of hooves as the riders took places in a long double column.

Kel felt a thrill of pride. I could be a general, leading an army to war, she thought, and smiled. She had no particular interest in armies, but it was fun to imagine herself a hero from a ballad at the head of a mighty legion.

Except that ballads never mentioned horses like Peachblossom, or one-eared, ugly dogs like the one who sat behind her. Nor did they mention sparrows perched in a neat row on a horse's mane. Used to these pa.s.sengers, Peachblossom ignored them. Crown had claimed her place on Kel's shoulder.

Once they rode through the Least Gate and across a bridge into the greater world, Kel looked back. The company made an impressive display; two columns of fifty men, each in the white, blue, and silver of full members of the Own, followed by ten men in blue and white. These were the servingmen, who led the remounts and supply train. In the predawn light she could see that five of the Own rode with hunting birds on their shoulders.

"You mind those hawks," she told Crown. "You're safe while they're hooded or caged, but keep out of their sight when they're hunting. At least we'll eat well enough."

"We do try to eat," Raoul called back to her. "I go all faint if I don't get fed regularly. Only think of the disgrace to the King's Own if I fell from the saddle."

"But there was that time in Fanwood," a voice behind them said.

"That wedding in Tameran," added the blond Sergeant Osbern, riding a horse-length behind Kel.

"Don't forget when what's-his-name, with the army, retired," yelled a third.

"Silence, insubordinate curs!" cried Raoul. "Do not sully my new squire's ears with your profane tales!"

"Even if they're true?" That was Dom. It seemed Neal wasn't the only family member versed in irony.

Suddenly Kel's view of the next four years changed. She had expected hard work mixed with dread for the Ordeal of Knighthood at the end of it. Never had she guessed that other Tortallan warriors might not be as stiff and formal as Lord Wyldon. Never had she thought that he might have.

Thank you, G.o.ddess, she thought. Thank you, Mithros. I'm going to learn, and enjoy myself while I do!

They followed the Conte Road southwest into the forest as the sun rose. About the time Kel used to eat breakfast, Raoul held up his arm. Everyone slowed to a walk, Kel a beat behind the others. She had to learn the hand signals. Maybe Qasim would teach her.

Third Company halted beside a river to rest and water the horses - Haresfield lay farther still inside the forest. Kel dismounted, Hoshi's and Peachblossom's reins in her hands. When Raoul climbed down from the saddle, Kel whisked his mare Amberfire's reins from his grip and led the animals to the river. Caring for a knight-master's horses was a normal part of a squire's duties. She glanced back: Raoul grinned and raised his hands in surrender.

Once all three horses had drunk, Kel turned them. Her path to Raoul was blocked by the snub-nosed standard-bearer. He was an inch taller than Kel, a broad-shouldered eighteen-year-old with level brown eyes and a firm chin. He wore his blond-brown hair cropped short at the sides; his bangs flopped over his forehead.

"My lord only took you because he felt sorry for you," he informed Kel icily. "I did his ch.o.r.es before you came. I was good at it."

Kel returned his look with Yamani calm, her emotions hidden. This young man's words stung a little. She knew that Raoul wanted her Yamani experience on the Great Progress. She also knew many would see it as the standard-bearer did. "I'm sorry you feel that way," she replied. "If you'll excuse me?" She took a firmer grip on Peachblossom's reins. The gelding watched the young man with too much interest for her comfort.

The standard-bearer gripped her arm. "Watch your step, squire" he informed her. "Just because Wyldon didn't have the bra.s.s to get rid of you doesn't mean we won't."

Kel flexed her bicep. He stared at her as muscle swelled under his fingers, forcing them open. With a quick jerk Kel freed herself. "Excuse me," she repeated, and walked off with her charges, keeping Peachblossom away from the standard-bearer.

Of course he's resentful, she thought as she joined the column. I've taken his place with my lord - or what he sees as his place. There's nothing I can do about that.

"You spoke to Lerant of Eldorne." Qasim appeared at her side to offer Kel a piece of cheese.

"No, thank you," she said politely, turning down the food. She added, "He talked, actually. I listened."

"He is a good fighter, and devoted to my lord," Qasim explained, eating the cheese. "He took an arrow for Lord Raoul last year, when we fought bandits in the Tusaine hills. He was unhappy to learn my lord took a squire." He offered some cheese to Jump, who gobbled it.