by Kivutar » Wed Sep 13, 2017 1:40 am
Miles looks after Sir Terwynn, confused. Well, if there's one thing he isn't interested in, it's figures. Besides, Sir Persidius doesn't seem too interested in his opinion anyway. He finishes off his soup more loudly than necessary and steps outside.
As he steps into the sunset-tinged courtyard, he feels something hit him on the head. Before he can look up, a pinecone rolls at his feet. Then, just in front of him, a small, green twig falls into the watering-trough just in front of him.
Miles shrugs and is about to continue, when an instinct makes him look up. There, most of the way up a small pine tree, is a small figure.
"Floridas!" Miles bellows. "Floridas, come down from that tree at once!"
Then, as the figure doesn't move, he says in a slightly more alarmed voice, "Floridas, have you been eating strange mushrooms again?"
A string of loud gibberish confirms his suspicions. Miles considers climbing the tree, but he doubts it would support his weight. He'll find another squire or two and make them fetch the boy.
Suddenly, the figure moves and produces an object Miles hadn't spotted before: a bow. Suddenly, he notches an arrow and fires it haphazardly, shouting something completely incoherent. The arrow sticks into the side of a building.
All right, this situation needs to be addressed immediately. Miles puts a foot on the watering-trough and pulls himself into the lower branches, shouting his squire's name.
He finally gets the boy's attention, but instead of coming down, Floridas squeals and heads higher, into the thin top branches. The tree, which is not very stout, begins to sway precariously. In seconds, it is nearly bent double.
"Floridas! You heard me! Get down this instant!" Miles roars. Unfortunately, Floridas chooses this time to obey, and drops the relatively short way to the ground.
The tree snaps back in an instant, and the jolt gives the young branch Miles is balancing on its last push. It snaps, and with an oath and a splash, Miles lands heavily in the watering trough.
He jumps out in an instant and, seizing his misbehaving squire by the ears, dunks his head into the trough, pulls him out to call him a curse word, and shoves him in again.
After a few more dunkings, several more minutes, and a number of cups of water and wine forced down his throat, Floridas looks a great deal less addled and much more chastened.
Seeing how frightened the boy looks, Miles takes pity on him.
"Floridas," he says more gently, "Do you remember what I told your old mother when she wanted me to take you on as my squire?"
As a matter of fact, he had flatly refused and the request had passed through Miles' own mother several times before he had given in, but the point still stood.
Floridas nods guiltily. "You told her you would train me as best you could, Sir."
"That I did, and I believe I did my best. But it seems you aren't cut out to be a squire, lad."
Floridas nods again.
"Go put on some dry clothes and pack up your things. You're going home at first light tomorrow."
"But who'll look after you, Sir?" Floridas pipes up.
"I'll manage. Now run along."
Floridas scampers off. Miles watches him leave a little ruefully. He'd wanted to give the idiot a chance, but this was really too much. He'll have to see about finding a gift for the boy to bring home to his mother, or he'd never hear the last of it. The sumpter his ex-squire has been riding will do, he supposes.
Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes."
Hosea 3:1