Arthur walked down the hallway, concentrating on the sheets of parchment in his hands. He walked past an open door, then turned back with a look of surprise on his face. Had he just seen what he thought he had? He poked his head into the room.

"Terence? What are you doing?" he asked with a look of bemusement on his face.

Terence looked, startled. "Sire! I didn't see you there!"

"Yes," Arthur raised a brow. "I can see that." He glanced around the room. "So what exactly are you doing in an empty room on the third floor, halfway through a window that's way too small for you to have even gotten this far?"

The window looked to be about six inches wide and two feet tall. Terence was trying to go through it sideways and had managed to get his head and chest through but seemed to be having problems getting the rest of the way through.

Terence grumbled. "Well, Gawain wanted me to clean his armor."

Arthur nodded. "And you are doing this how?"

"I was trying to hide from him and got stuck."

Arthur's mouth twitched. "Yes, you most certainly did."

"But it's not my fault! It's the fault of whoever designed this stupid castle! They shouldn't have made the windows so small!"

"Well, I don't think they expected truant squires to try and climb through them. Couldn't you tell that the window was too small for you to fit through before you actually tried?"

"It looked bigger from the outside," Terence grumbled.

"I'm sure," Arthur smirked. "Maybe you should lay off the pastries, then." Terence glared at him in response. Arthur chuckled, turning to leave.

"Wait!"

He turned back, an inquisitive look on his face as he tried to hide his laughter. "Yes?"

"Where are you going?"

He held up the sheets of parchment. "I have a meeting with Kai about the grain supplies. It's very important. I don't want to miss it." He turned to leave again.

"Are you just going to leave me like this?"

Arthur shrugged. "Yes. I was planning on telling Gawain, though. I'm sure he would be willing to help you."

Terence's face paled. "No! Please don't! I'll never hear the end of this!"

"Well then, you should have thought about that before you skipped out on your chores and tried to hide from him by climbing through a window that was too small for you to fit through." Arthur turned and walked away, waiting until he had turned the corner before breaking into laughter.

Behind him, alone in the room, Terence strained forward with a valiant effort to free himself. He slumped forward panting. It was going to be a long week.


It's got to have happened at least once, right?