‘What’s it worth to you?’
Nicholas said, ‘How about I don’t knock you on your backside?’
Harry appeared to consider this for a moment, then said, ‘Seems fair to me.’ With a laugh he said, ‘Don’t worry. You’ll get used to being a squire. Look at me; I’ve done right well being yours.’
He entered his own room, and Nicholas looked heavenward, as if to say, because you’ve never had to act like one. With a feeling of deep foreboding, he entered his cell, closed the door, and undressed. Blowing out the lamp, he made his way in the dark toward the pallet, and lying on the straw-packed sack, he pulled the single blanket up over him. The rest of the night was spent tossing and turning, with only a little rest and a deep sense of dread.
Nicholas was awake when the knock came. He fumbled his way in the dark and realized with a sinking feeling that he hadn’t located any means to light the lamp before he had blown it out. He found the door handle in the dark and opened the door. Harry, who stood there, said, ‘You planning on going like that?’
Feeling silly standing in only his undertrousers, Nicholas said, ‘I forgot to locate the flint and steel.’
‘They’re on the table, behind the lamp, where they usually are. I’ll light it; you get dressed.’
Nicholas opened the chest and found a simple tunic and trousers in brown and green, which he took to be the uniform of a Crydee squire, as Harry was garbed in like fashion. He put them on and found them a close enough fit. Pulling on his own boots, he said, ‘What is this business of awaking before dawn.’
Harry put down the now burning lamp, closed the door, and said, ‘Farmers, I guess.’
‘Farmers?’
‘You know. Country people. Always up before dawn, asleep with the chickens.’
Nicholas grunted a vague acknowledgment of the remark as he pulled on his boots. His left foot seemed slightly swollen, which made getting the specially made boot on that more difficult. ‘Damn,’ he said, ‘must be damper here than at home.’
Harry said, ‘You noticed! You mean the mold growing on the stones next to your bed didn’t give you a hint?’
Nicholas swung a lazy backhand at Harry, which he avoided easily. ‘Come on,’ he said with a laugh, ‘it wouldn’t do to be late our first day.’
Nicholas and Harry found themselves alone in the hallway and suddenly Harry said, ‘Where are the servants?’
‘We’re the servants, you dolt,’ said Nicholas. ‘I think I know where the family quarters are.’
By trial and error, the boys found their way through the castle to the family’s wing. Modest quarters compared to what the Prince was used to at home, they were nevertheless considerably more comfortable than the cells the boys had inhabited the night before. A pair of servants were leaving two of the rooms, and Nicholas asked and was told that they were indeed Lord Martin and Lady Briana’s quarters and young Master Marcus’s.
Taking up their stations by the respective doors, the boys waited. After a few moments, Nicholas ventured a quiet knock. The door opened and Martin looked out and said, ‘I’ll be with you in a few minutes, Squire.’
Before Nicholas could answer, ‘Yes, Your Grace,’ the door was closed in his face.
Harry grinned and raised his hand to knock, but before his knuckles could strike wood, the door opened and Marcus stepped through. ‘You’re late,’ he snapped. ‘Come along.’ He hurried down the hallway, and Harry almost had to leap to catch up with him.
A few minutes later, Martin emerged from his bedchamber and moved down the hall without comment. Nicholas fell in behind him and followed along. Instead of heading for the main hall, as the boy expected, the Duke moved through the quiet keep to the main entrance, where stable hands were bringing out horses. Marcus and Harry could be seen riding out the gate as a servant thrust reins in Nicholas’s direction.
Martin said, ‘You can ride?’
Nicholas said, ‘Of course … Your Grace,’ he added quickly.
‘Good. We’ve no shortage of green horses that need a firm hand out.’
As he climbed aboard, Nicholas instantly found himself in a contest with the horse. A quick half-halt jerk to the mouth and a hard seat brought the fractious animal under control. The gelding was young and probably had been cut late, given the stallion-like crest of his neck and his aggressive behavior. Nicholas also didn’t care for the heavy saddle, which made contact with the animal difficult.
But Martin gave him no time for consideration of the finer points of horsemanship, having turned his animal and headed for the gate. Nicholas put heels to the sides of his mount and found he had to use a lot of leg to keep the horse moving forward. Then the explosion came: the animal bucked hard before trying to race through the courtyard. Nicholas automatically gripped with his legs, sinking down in the saddle and giving a quick and firm halt on the reins. He guided the horse into a circle, half-halting with the reins until the animal was calmed down to a nice posting trot. Then, when he was at the Duke’s side, Nicholas slowed the animal down to a walk to match the Duke’s mount.
‘Did you sleep well, Squire?’
‘Not really, Your Grace.’
‘Aren’t the quarters to your liking?’ asked Martin.
Nicholas looked to see if he was being mocked, and saw only an impassive face regarding him.
‘No, they’re adequate,’ he said, refusing to be baited into complaining. ‘It’s the newness of all this, I guess.’
‘You’ll get used to Crydee,’ Martin said.
‘Does Your Grace usually not eat in the morning?’ asked Nicholas, his stomach already noticing the absence of breakfast.
Martin smiled, a slight upturn of his mouth, much like Nicholas’s father’s half-smiles, and said, ‘Oh, we’ll break fast, but there’s always a couple of hours’ work to do before we dine, Squire.’
Nicholas nodded.
They entered the town, and Nicholas saw that the streets were already busy. Shops might still have their windows shuttered and their doors locked, but workers were already on their way to the docks, the mills, and other places of work. Fishing boats could be seen heading out of the harbor in the grey light of dawn, the sun not yet above the distant mountains. Rich smells filled the air as bakers continued the work they had begun the night before, getting ready the day’s wares.
A familiar voice cut the air as they reached the docks. ‘Get those nets ready!’ shouted Amos.
Nicholas saw that the Admiral was supervising the loading of some stores from the dockside. Marcus appeared around a corner, walking along beside a slow-moving wagon, Harry a step behind him. ‘That’s the last of it, Father,’ Marcus called.
Martin didn’t explain to Nicholas what was happening, but the Prince deduced that Martin was adding to the cargo bound to the new garrison up north. The Duke called, ‘Amos, are you going to make the morning tide?’
‘With minutes to spare,’ roared back Amos, ‘if these ham-fisted monkeys can get this cargo aboard in the next half hour!’
The dock workers seemed oblivous to the shouting, taking it as a matter of course, while they efficiently went about the business of loading the cargo nets. When they were full, the crew on the hoist raised up the cargo and swung it above the hold of the ship, lowering it down without missing a beat.
Amos came over to where Martin and Nicholas watched. ‘The hard part’s going to be unloading that mess. I figure the soldiers at the garrison can give us a hand, but it’ll still take two or three weeks to get it all off the ship by longboat.’
‘Are you going to have time for a visit on the way back?’
‘Ample,’ Amos replied with a grin. ‘Even should I be gone a month, I can spend a few days here before we head back to Krondor. If the unloading goes quickly, I might give the men a week of rest before we brave the straits.’
‘I’m sure they’ll appreciate it,’ said Martin.
As the net was quickly reloaded and the last of the cargo hauled away, Martin said to Nicholas, ‘Ride back to the castle and tell Housecarl Samuel that we’ll be up for our meal in a half hour.’
Nicholas started to turn, then said, ‘Should I return here … Your Grace?’
Martin said, ‘What do you think?’
Because he didn’t know what to think, Nicholas’s answer sounded awkward in his own ear. ‘I’m not sure.’
Martin’s tone was not scolding, but it wasn’t warm, either. ‘You’re my squire. Your place is at my side until I tell you otherwise. Return as soon as you’ve done what I’ve told you.’
