Chapter 16: Fight
Logan didn't say anything to Lee about that little conversation he'd had with Julian, but he started keeping a sharper eye on the boy. It was the wrong time for something like this to happen; Logan should have devoted all his time to training. The cold weather had broken, and the King was just waiting for most of the spring rains to stop before heading out to the battlefields. The knights were practicing on the field harder than ever, in preparation for the coming battles with Gallas; and as a result the squires were busier than ever. There were no more incidents, thankfully, with manure and muck in the boy's things; his new place, sleeping in Logan's room, prevented that. No one dared do anything in front of the knight.
However, Lee couldn't hang around Logan all the time, and besides, the meetings King Richard was having with the few selected knights he trusted took up increasingly more of his time. The nobles came back to court, and with their return, (especially Nathan, Stephen, and Roger's return) Logan saw the boy start appearing with bruises on his arms, face, legs, and hands. Lee refused to tell Logan what happened; to the knight's repeated questions, he would only reply that he had slipped on something and fallen, or gotten clumsy in practice, or something similar. Logan was exasperated. Yes, he was busy; yes, he had a lot of things to do; yes, he had a lot on his mind; but the boy's welfare and health was important to Logan too. The kid seemed determined to stay out of Logan's way all the time; by the time Logan got to his room at night the kid was wrapped in his blanket, asleep; by the time Logan woke in the morning the boy was up, dressed, and waiting to help Logan get himself together for breakfast.
"The King wants ta have breakfast with us knights," Logan growled one morning as he pulled his freshly-cleaned red tunic over his head and inspected the tear the kid had fixed in the sleeve. It was hardly noticeable anymore; the rip was gone. Logan liked the way the boy mended things. "So I gotta go ta his rooms this mornin'. You go on an' have breakfast, okay?" Lee nodded silently. Logan continued. "I don't know how long I'm gonna be with the King, so when ya get done, go on out ta the field and train with the squires. Then untack and come back here. We're gonna be heading out ta the border soon, and my armor needs ta be cleaned, oiled, and gotten inta working condition. I'd rather ya do it here than in the barn with the others." Lee nodded again, and Logan went off to the meeting with a lighter heart.
King Richard had only called his trusted knights, apparently conceding to Queen Renee's demands that no one outside his intimate circle know of their plans. Logan was mildly surprised that Julian was not included in that 'intimate circle'; the other man had been a knight for longer than he himself had; had, in fact, become a knight under King Richard's father's reign. However, he wasn't going to complain; he didn't even want to see the other knight, not after what Julian had done to Lee.
He walked into the king's private audience rooms, took a seat at the table there, and watched as the other knights started arriving one by one. There were six in all; Logan, Sir Nicholas, Sir John, Sir George, Sir Andrew, and Sir James. Then King Richard came in, with Queen Renee on his arm, and all of them rose and bowed courteously, until the Queen settled herself on her chair. Servers started bringing in platters of fresh spring fruit and other breakfast items from the kitchens, and talk stayed on lighter topics for a while.
Finally, as the dishes were being cleared, the King took a large, rolled-up map from a nearby table and spread it out before the knights. "This is a map of our western border," he said. "Gallas is here, here, and here," he put three coppers on the map where Gallas's men were, "and we will be coming from the east here," two silvers were put on the map and moved along the roads leading from the capital to the battlefront. "Our spies tell us he's concentrated his forces and attacks near Argonne; we assume that's because his summer fortress is only three miles away from the town. Also, since Argonne is on the river on which we depend for our water, it's a pretty sure guess that Gallas will try to take the town, block the river to cut off our supply of water, and besiege us until we surrender. He must not take that town. Whatever we do, it must be to prevent that."
He sat down, looking serious. "I had a couple of spies planted in Gallas's court last fall. Two months ago, they stopped reporting; I can only assume that they were found out …and silenced." Logan bowed his head; more men lost could only be a bad thing. And the loss of spies…that, too, was a bad thing. "The problem is that now, with no source of information inside Gallas's court, we have no idea what his troop strength may be like, and what he might be planning to do. We can only hope that we have guessed correctly what he might be planning. Also, I have another serious matter to report; or rather, Renee does."
Logan eyed the Queen respectfully as she tipped her head gracefully to the assembled knights. "I regret to inform you of this," she said clearly, her voice clear and precise. "There is, among the number of you here in court, a traitor."
The knights rose as one around the table, shouting in anger and swearing their innocence. Logan remained seated, watching the queen with a smile lurking around the corners of his mouth. The King was clever, letting his Queen give the news. Every knight here in this room had also, at one time or another, been a bodyguard for the Queen; they were all tried and true, loyal to only one King, one Queen. There were other knights in court who had sworn allegiance to Gallas or another king at one time, only to resign from their former courts to serve in Richard's, for their own reasons. Julian, he now realized, was one of those That explained his absence here.These six knights were the only ones in court who had only sworn allegiance to one King in their lives. And now, with that realization, Logan saw that Renee must have compiled the list of knights to attend this meeting, because she knew which ones were loyal to herself and Richard.
She waited for the uproar to peak a little, then held up a hand. There was instant silence. "I am not accusing anyone here," she said with a quiet little smile. "I know all of you are loyal; I have my own network of spies here in court, carefully placed over the last year. There were too many battle casualties last summer, gentlemen, for it to be coincidence. Richard and I suspected that someone within court was passing information out to Gallas. Over this past winter, my spies have been bringing me news; thus far, I know there are two confirmed spies; a nobleman and a knight. I do not know which they are, but I will find them."
Sir Nicholas stood, his face flushed. "Your Majesty, when the traitor is found we would ask that he be bound over to Knights' justice. He swore to uphold our codes, he swore he would serve Your Majesties, and only Your Majesties, until such a time when he resigned from court. He violated that oath. We will punish him for the breaking of that oath!"
Renee smiled warmly at Nicholas. "The honour of the King's Knights means so much to you, then, Sir Nicholas? The dishonour of one dishonours you all. Yes, when we find the traitor, you may demand justice of him. Richard and I will deal with the other. And I thank you for your support, and your loyalty." Nicholas bowed over her hand, kissing her royal signet; the rest of the knights followed his example.
Richard watched with a look of satisfaction, and didn't speak until all the knights were seated again. "We will be leaving for the battle front in a week. It should be enough time to have your gear repaired and gotten in working order; and your squires trained and prepared for the rigors of hard travel. Sir Logan, I am worried somewhat about your squire. Would it not be better for him to remain here? The battlefield is no place for a child."
Logan was quiet for a moment before replying. "I asked the boy the same question myself, Yer Majesty," he admitted finally. "He 'minded me that his entire village was destroyed an' his parents an' all the townsfolk were killed. He's no stranger ta death, Yer Majesty; I don't think he'll pause in the carryin' out o' his duty even in the middle o' the battlefield. He watched his parents die under a murderer's blade; after somethin' like that, he can't be considered a boy any longer. He'll be comin' with us when we leave."
The King nodded his head gravely. "I shall trust your judgment on this, Sir Logan. If you say the boy will be all right, then he will be permitted to come."
Logan hurried out to the practice field after that with a much lighter heart. He knew in his bones that Lee could handle the trip; the kid was, indeed, eager to go. Knowing that the King had given his permission for the boy to be included took a weight off his mind, as regards what everyone else would think. With the king's approval, no one would pick on him about his choice.
He rounded the corner and stopped short. The squires were standing around in a circle, watching something in the center of the practice field; Logan couldn't see what was actually going on, but he did catch a glimpse of a brown-haired head. Then he saw a black-haired head that could only be his squire.
"Outta my way!" He barreled into the surrounding circle of boys, and headed for the center of the circle. When he got there, he stopped.
Lee was facing Nathan. Logan raised an eyebrow; the noble's boy had grown in the few months he'd been away from court. He was now taller than Lee by several inches, and had apparently been taking lessons from somewhere that had made his muscles bulk up considerably. Logan studied the boy calculatingly. Nathan's hair was kept at shoulder length, as was currently the fashion among the young scions at court; the length presented too easy a handle to grab the boy. He had his fists put up in what would seem like a brave, defensible gesture, but which Logan could see was patently ridiculous. He could have gotten under Nathan's defenses easily; Lee could have beaten Nathan easily. Neither combatant was sweating or breathing heavily, which meant the fight had just gotten started. Logan briefly considered wading in there and breaking it up, but decided not to. This would be a good test of all those hand-to-hand combat skills he'd been teaching the boy. He crossed his arms and settled in to wait, his eyes flicking briefly over the rest of the crowd, seeing who else was there. And there, lurking at the back of the crowd was Julian, among a knot of other knights who had seen the fight start but not interfered. Logan pushed down his rising anger and turned his attention back to the fight.
They were still circling each other. Nathan was sitting back and waiting for Lee to bring the fight to him; Lee was waiting for Nathan. Someone in the crowd jeered, "What's the matter, slant-eyes? You scared to fight?" Lee flushed, but didn't allow himself to get angry, keeping his attention focused on the boy in front of him. Logan nodded approvingly. Good. The boy hadn't forgotten that particular lesson.
"Come on, Nathan, kick the kid's butt like you used to and let's get going," one of the boys standing behind Nathan whined. Nathan flicked his eyes sideways to the boy, and made a rude face.
That moment of distraction was enough. Lee darted in, doing a lightning-fast move, slipped under Nathan's arm, and gave the taller boy a stiff uppercut to the jaw. Before the other boy could do more than yell in anger, Lee was back at his side of the fighting circle, watching Nathan warily for any signs of a retaliatory strike.
He didn't have to wait long. Nathan yelled in anger and ran forward, intending to wrap his arms around Lee and bear him down to the ground. Logan tensed; if the bigger boy closed with Lee it would all be over. Lee was physically smaller and weaker than Nathan; that would make a huge difference in a close fight. Lee's only hope for staying in this fight was staying away from Nathan. He was smaller, lighter, and faster; Nathan was larger, more muscular, and bulky; but he was also slow and not a good thinker.
There! Logan saw Nathan's swing go wide as Lee ducked under the other boy's arm and sprang nimbly across the circle. Nathan didn't even get a chance to touch the boy. Angry now (Logan could see the red flush creeping up the boy's neck from the collar of his green velvet tunic) Nathan turned to look at Lee. "Stop dancing, start fighting," he taunted Lee. "Come over here and fight like a man, not like a girl!"
Lee ignored the taunt, and Logan nodded slightly. Good. The boy wasn't going to be distracted. Nathan sighed, and rushed Lee again. Lee jabbed a foot out, higher than Logan had thought it possible for anyone to raise a foot, and kicked out at Nathan as the bigger boy passed. The foot jabbed Nathan in the jaw, knocking the boy to the ground, and Logan saw blood on the boy's lip when he rose.
They circled again, and Nathan was getting angrier, because his left hand kept swinging past the width of his shoulder, leaving his side unprotected. Lee saw it too. He wasn't actively looking at it, but Logan could tell from his alert stance that he was aware of that crack in the bigger boy's defenses. Lee suddenly made a move for that side, sweeping past in a hard, fast run, and jabbed his foot in the other boy's side. Nathan howled and fell to his knees in the dust, clutching his side. He knelt there for a brief moment, then, completely enraged, he spun and lumbered after Lee, arms outstretched so he could grab the smaller boy in a bear hug and slam him into the ground.
Lee slid out of the way, easily, avoiding capture by flipping backward, a move Logan hadn't taught the boy but which came in handy here and now. As he hit the ground on the other side of that backwards cartwheel, he flattened himself to the ground, wrapped his legs around the other boy's legs, and brought Nathan to the ground. Nathan struggled, but Lee's legs were firmly wrapped around his, and the smaller boy's foot was just behind the kneecap; one fast kick, and Nathan could be lamed for life. And he knew it. Logan saw the weaponsmaster off to the side, silently counting off the seconds Nathan was immobilized and unable to move, then called, "Time!"
Lee unwound his legs and got up, dusted himself off, and saw Logan. With a bright smile, he started to walk toward him.
That was when the attack came that he didn't anticipate. Nathan yelled in anger and fury and launched himself at Lee, grabbing the smaller boy's knees and tackling him, dragging him down into the dust. A huge cloud of dust puffed up around them, and for a moment all anyone could hear was the sound of fists thudding against flesh, and an occasional grunt. They rolled out of the dust cloud, coughing, and Logan stared, stunned. Lee's eye was blackened, and his lip was split, but Nathan was bleeding from his mouth and nose, and his strikes against Lee were half-hearted, at best. Both boys were hitting each other with fists and kicking with feet, and not even the furious shouts of the weaponsmaster was enough to break it up. Logan marched into the circle, folded his arms, and snapped, "Lee."
The boy froze immediately. Nathan got a few more punches in before Logan hauled his squire off the other boy, and the weaponsmaster grabbed Nathan's collar. "ENOUGH!" the man yelled as Nathan struggled against his grasp, trying to reach Lee. Lee, cowed by Logan's glare, waited silently. "Nathan, that was a display of dishonourable behavior as I have never seen from one of your rank before! Time was called; the fight was over. You should not have attacked after time had been called. And attacking anyone from behind was an act of cowardice, especially since the boy was younger and smaller and weaker than you. Your father shall hear of this. Now march off to the Healers, and then go to your room." He pointed to Stephen and Roger. "Go with him; make sure he reaches his destination." He turned to Lee. "You, boy. I understand the second half of the fight was no fault of yours, but the beating you gave one who is higher in rank than you was unpardonable. You will muck out your own stall, and the stall of your knight's horse, by yourself, tonight." Lee schooled his expression, but Logan knew the boy was surprised. Mucking out two horse stalls was not much of a punishment, as most punishments went. The weaponsmaster must indeed have been annoyed with Nathan.
As the crowd of watching knights and squires started to disperse, Lee started walking off to the stables to put the tack away. Logan grinned as he fell in step beside the boy. "Hey. Good fightin' back there. Can't approve o' the second half, but ya did all right fer yerself the first half. An' the second half wasn't all that bad neither," he added with a conspiratorial wink. "Taught that little snot a lesson, did ya?"
Lee grinned and bounced a little on the balls of his feet. "Yep. And it was fun, hearing him grunt when I slammed him." The boy mimed a punch in the air. Logan grinned at the boy's enthusiasm, and ruffled the black hair. "Have fun mucking out the stalls," he said with a wicked, merry smile.
Jubilee turned the corner and started climbing the steps wearily. Mucking out stalls was hard work; her shoulders and back ached, and she could hardly wait to get to bed. Especially since she had to change before Logan got to the room. Living in his room with him had eliminated the need to wash her clothes every day from the pranks that had been played on her, but it also made changing before Logan got to the room a necessity. Fortunately, Logan was fairly predictable in his habits.
She hit the top step, sighed and leaned against the wall for a minute, wondering if she should go and see the Queen before she went to bed. But she smelled like horse muck, and the Queen would surely not like the smell. And Jubilee didn't have anything to tell her anyway. She trudged down the hall toward her room.
She heard the whisper of soft shoes on the stone floor just moments before a heavy cloth sack was thrown over her head. She struck out blindly, unable to see her opponents through the sack but knowing where they were from the sounds of breathing, and was rewarded with several grunts as her fists connected with flesh. One of her fists hit something soft, and whoever it was cried out. She couldn't put a name to the face, but she was pretty sure it was Nathan and his crew.
The sack was pulled down further, until it hit her knees; then she was swept off her feet and her knees were kicked so that her feet would fit in the sack. She felt the sack close around her, and frantically wriggled around and tried to reach for the mouth of the sack. Before she could reach it, it was yanked closed and tied shut. She screeched, wriggled, and flailed inside the sack, but it made no difference to her captors. She felt the sack being lifted and carried off. The sudden movement threw her off balance, and she gulped as the rocking motion made her stomach lurch. There was very little air inside the sack, and it was stiflingly hot; she struggled, trying to get loose.
She was carried along for some minutes, struggling and shrieking, in hopes that someone would hear her, but no one did. Suddenly she was swung off someone's shoulder, and laid on what felt like ground; it was rocky and lumpy. Hands felt for her through the sack; she lashed out with her fists and found then caught by other hands. She yanked, but couldn't free herself. Other hands felt for her, and located her neck; then a rope was tightened around her neck, and one around her hands. Thus immobilized, she was unable to fight as another rope was tied around her ankles. Then all three ropes suddenly tightened, and she tried to scream as her entire weight, sack and all, was suddenly pulled upwards through the air. She was hanging by her neck, wrists, and hands. The pull was agonizing, and she found she could only get a very little air in her lungs.
She was concentrating on breathing, so she never noticed when she stopped traveling upwards.
Nathan indicated to Roger that he should tie off his rope to the tree limb he was standing beside. Lee had stopped struggling; he figured the smaller boy must be concentrating on getting air into his lungs. He smiled, then gave an extra hard yank on his rope, the one around the boy's neck, before tying it off. Lastly, Stephen tied off his rope to another tree limb. Nathan stepped back and surveyed his handiwork. This was good. It was the best idea he'd ever had. They didn't want to kill the little squire; just teach him not to beat up on a boy as highly ranked as Nathan himself was. They'd leave the boy hanging all night, and come release him after breakfast tomorrow. "Good work, Roger," he said as the other two boys came up.
Roger looked at the bag, hanging from the tree limb. It wasn't moving. "Isn't this kind of…cruel?" he asked. "What if the rope around his neck slips, and he chokes to death?"
"It won't," Nathan said confidently. "I tied it securely. It's tight, but it won't choke him. Come on. Let's go in. I'm tired."
Roger looked at the bag for long moments, feeling vaguely uncomfortable. "I don't know about this," he finally said nervously, looking at Nathan.
"You can't tell on us," Nathan said to him, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "If you do, they'll know you helped too. You can't get us in trouble without getting yourself in trouble." He grabbed Roger's arm. "Come on. Let's go." Roger went, with a last look at the hanging bag.