The Knight Behind the Pillar Read Free Page A

were shuttered off and I doubted they were often opened.  Sheepskin rugs lay upon the floor as trip hazards, these had been randomly placed with little thought as this was not a room normally lived in.  Candles flickered and the along with the open fire to one side the room did glow warmly.  A rare sight indeed as I was so unaccustomed to the concepts of warmth and anything even close to dry in this old fort I took a moment to recognise it again.  Impressive stonework framed the fire and reached the ceiling, but my focus was drawn to the person standing in front of the fire with his back to me.
                  While he might have been seeking comfort from the fire, he appeared to be preoccupied and staring outwards to look beyond the stone encased room.  Was this was the lad the man commanded I was not to leave?  Conversation between the noble and me along with having been pushed into the room as well as the door slamming shut should have been enough to gain this person’s attention, but he obviously ignored it all.  Forced instead to seek audience, I coughed purposefully with reasonable loudness.  His body tensed for fleeting moment as his focus returned to the room.  A worried thin face with short scruffy fair hair slowly turned and hunted to find me.  However, his eyes avoided immediate contact dropping to find the floor of more interest and I instantly wondered if he was nervous or perhaps shy. 
                  Surprisingly my own tensions had lifted as I quickly realised that I was free of all duties.  Not faced with being reprimanded, at least not for now, just like that the day got a lot brighter. 
                  A mischievous smile surfaced as the worries of the early hours were quickly forgotten as I knew deep down that this day was going to be a different day after all. 
                  “I’m Tor, squire to Lord Aries.” I introduced myself, “Well, one of them anyways as there are a number of us.”
                  My voice was light, welcoming and I even stepped forward boldly offering my hand.  Despite the noise of the crowd that drifted in through the cracks of the window shutters, the following silence was deafening as I awaited a reply.  I feared I had perhaps gone too far in my welcome and bravery influenced by my change in fortune, but could not see how I might have offended him.  I guessed the lad, as the noble at the door described, was similar in age to me, near sixteen or maybe a bit older.  He wore a dark blue tunic long sleeved and longer in overall length than my own that passed his knees.  It also appeared to be in a slightly better condition with good patchwork repairs compared to my unattended holes that too often appeared.  Therefore I deducted that this boy was at least a squire or similar, but why he needed to be attended and why he was in this room? 
                  This was out of the ordinary indeed and the question alerted my curiosity and I was ignoring my own internal voice that once again warmed me that such interest had always lead to trouble before.  In this life you do not ask, do not speculate on matters not your concern and that was most things.  To be fair that old voice sounded these days like it had given up hope of ever being heard as I never listened.  I always asked, always wondered what things were, how things worked and yet against all odds had managed to stay alive up to now. 
                  “I’m,” The boy began with a momentary pause, fighting shyness again or perhaps just taking caution in respect of a stranger.  What released him was unclear, but he then continued in a rush, everything all at once, “Art, its short for Arthur, but most people call me Art, that is, well that’s if they bother with my name at all; at least that was the case up until a few days ago and now everyone knows it.  Sorry, err, I mean to say