I wanted to do something kind of lighter than what I've been working on, and I have not touched on Blazing Sword yet. Admittedly, I have not completed the game, so I might be wrong in some places.

Time seemed to trickle slowly by as three people awaited the governing Marquess of Ostia. One of them was a very frazzled young knight by the name of Palmer. He kept wringing his fingers together and shaking his head as he glanced at the young lord, the Marquess's brother, Hector. Hector had been a source of annoyance for him in many ways, but today he had been pushed to his breaking point. It was time to seek counsel from his brother, who had been in charge of the not-so-little lordling. The third person, Oswin, a knight in the service of House Ostia, stood with his back against the wall, arms folded over his chest. He stared at Lord Hector, his face devoid of emotion.

He had been the one to find Lord Hector and brought him back to Palmer. Hector would occasionally send a glare in his direction, but Oswin never flinched. It was not he who had sent for Uther, after all.

Were it not for the possibility of some dreadful punishment from his brother, Hector would have laughed. He half expected Palmer to either keel over in a fit, burst into tears, or both. He knew pacing would not bring his brother faster, but the young knight did not seem fully aware of that fact. At the rate he was going, the carpet would be threadbare in mere hours.

"Could you please sit straight and proper?"

Hector stifled a laugh. Palmer sounded close to tears. He remained seated as he was, sprawled in a wooden chair that was somewhat small for him. He sat with one foot hooked around the rung of the chair and the other leg stretched out before him. He, too, crossed his arms over his chest. And he scowled.

Palmer threw up his hands and groaned when Hector would not budge. How long had it been since he had sent for the Marquess? He could not remember. Palmer ran a hand through his shaggy red hair rather roughly. He had taken to doing that after overseeing Hector's training. Hector had once remarked if he kept it up, he would soon be bald.

Palmer's cheeks flushed as he recalled Hector making that comment.

The minutes continued to tick by at a snail's pace. Palmer's pacing and fretting had gotten no better. Hector was just about to tell him to calm himself when they heard footsteps approach. The door opened and in walked Lord Uther. Several others had accompanied him, but he ordered them to wait outside the door. Like Oswin, his face was impassive, but his body language suggested he felt more anger than he showed. "What has he done now?"

"Milord," Palmer began with a bow of his head. "Lord Hector has been nothing but hardship after hardship. You know about his sleeping through his numbers lessons, and that his assignments are handed in late, if handed in at all. He mouths off to his tutors and refuses to follow proper training techniques."

Uther cupped his chin in his hand and looked to his little brother. "I know of all of these instances. And more," he added with a pointed look at his brother. "Hector is willful. He always has been."

"I'm right here," Hector pointed out, but the three older men paid him little mind.

"I have tried my best to be patient with him. It was a hard decision to send for you, milord. I know you are always busy. I have reached my limit with your brother. After the stunt he pulled today, I have no idea what to do with him."

Hector rolled his eyes. Uther caught the gesture and returned it with the slightest shake of his head. He knew as well as his brother when someone was attempting to win his favor.

"What did he do?" Uther insisted again.

Palmer's cheeks burned red again under Uther's intimating gaze. "During his latest lesson, Ostian history, he managed to slip from the room unnoticed by his peers."

"Right out the window," Hector added with a hint of pride in his voice. Uther glared at him and he sank back down in his chair in a sulk.

"Out the window," Palmer agreed. "He climbed out the window and ran off. Naturally, we began to search for him as soon as his disappearance was noticed. We searched the entire building, high and low - I assumed wrongly he had gone off to nap somewhere - and were starting to panic when we could not find him. It was Sir Oswin who found him." Palmer rounded on the older knight and demanded he tell the Marquess where he had found his brother.

"In a melee."

"A common melee," Palmer said with emphasis. "He could have been hurt - "

" - I wasn't - "

" - or worse had someone realized they had the younger brother of House Ostia in the middle of the fray!"

Uther crossed the room until he stood in front of his little brother and stared down at him. Palmer seemed almost excited to see what sort of punishment would be dished out to Hector. His expression went from glee to shock, his jaw nearly hitting the floor, when Uther asked, "Did you at least win?"

"Mi - Milord?!"

Hector's scowl turned into a grin. Even Oswin's lips twitched at the comment. "Yeah," Hector said, "of course I did."

"Good. If you must sneak out of your lessons and get into a scrap, make sure it isn't for naught." Uther turned to Palmer and added, "Unfortunately, my brother has the right idea. There are some things you simply cannot learn surrounded by books and parchment. But I expect him to be watched more carefully."

"Yes, milord," Oswin agreed.

"If that is all, Sir Palmer?" Palmer did not answer. All he could manage was one shocked noise. "Then come, Oswin, Hector. We have much to discuss about this."

Oswin followed Uther out of the room. Hector disentangled himself from the chair and made to follow. He stopped when he reached Palmer and gave him a mocking pat to the shoulder. He laughed as he left the room and shut the door behind him.

Hector's laugh quickly vanished as he stood face to face with his brother. "Hector," Uther began, "I cannot keep coming down here and getting you out of the trouble you get yourself into."

"You don't have to come," Hector countered.

"Oh, but I do." Hector fell in step with him as Uther walked down the hall. "It is my place to take care of you, though you are nearly an adult yourself. But until you are, if I am summoned to answer for you..." he trailed off with a sigh. "I know I cannot get you to behave, that would be as impossible as moving a castle by myself. But just remember, what you do reflects on me, not just as your brother, but as the Marquess as well."

"Yes, Uther."

"Now, then, tell me what happened this afternoon."

Hector's smile returned as he launched into a detailed account of sneaking out of the class and how he wound up at the melee. It did his heart good to see Uther laugh at his story.