Chapter 02: Lord Padraig in trouble
Lord Padraig haMinch started to hate his job. Today was the day the new pages arrived. Today the girls would arrive. He had already met four of them. Three might be a problem.
First, there were the sisters Aidan and Ariadne of Crystal Lake. They had arrived with their brother Aaron. The three were triplets. Very active triplets; not able to sit still one single minute. Wearing the same clothes and having the same haircut, nobody would be able to distinguish them.
Then there was Berenice of Gohman. She didn't look happy becoming a knight. Not at all. That made life much harder for him. The girl's mother was a bit ... difficult. As he had tried to explain to the girl the difficulties of becoming a knight, Lady Damaris nearly killed him. How could he dare to frighten her daughter! His problem was that he was related to Lady Damaris. They were quite close relatives. It could happen that his aunt, the family dragon, would join in the debate. That could become bad for him! 'Bloody relatives!'
At least the last girl seemed quite normal ... for a young lady who wants to be knightened. Corvina of Kourell was calm, obedient and willing to learn. But she still was a girl.
Lord Padraig buried his head in his hands. 'Oh gods. What have I done to deserve this?'
Suddenly somebody was knocking on the door. Lord haMinch looked up. "Come in!"
A servant entered. "Lord Victor of Pinehollow. Lady Samira of Pinehollow."
A man in his mid- fifties entered the room. He was an impressing person. Tall, grey hair, almost yellow eyes and an edged face made him look like a hawk. A hungry hawk.
Lord Padraig couldn't prevent gulping. After the man a girl entered the room. She wore breeches and her blond hair was cut short.
'She will be a beauty, someday if she would stop behaving like a boy.' Lord Padraig cleared his throat. "Please, sit down." He looked at Samira, who looked straight back into his eyes. Her eyes were moss green with a few golden spots. "Well, Samira. You came her to become a knight. I hope you don't think it will be easy. Four years as a page, four years as a squire and then Chamber of Ordeal are between you and your knighthood. The classes and the training will grow harder with time. You will need physical and mental strength. Do you really think you will be able to do this?" 'As if she would say no.'
"Yes, sir," was the calm reply.
'I knew it.' Lord Padraig was feeling very uncomfortable with the piercing glare of Lord Victor. 'Please gods, let me survive this.' "I have to tell you that you will be treated like all the other pages of your age. There are no privileges because of your sex. If you can't keep up with the boys, this is the wrong place for you."
Now Lord Victor looked really angry.
'I live dangerous. He looks like he want to eat me. Gods, please help me!'
Samira herself looked as calm as ever. She didn't seem to be easy to influence.
'I hope she'll make it. Lord Victor will hold me responsible if she fails.' "If everything is clear, you can go." After they had left Lord Padraig sighed with relief. 'Thanks to Mithros. That's it. That was the last page. This year will be very hard. How could I've been so stupid to take the job as the pages' trainingmaster. I must've been completely insane. Now I need a drink!'