**** Two Years Later ****
It was our last year before we became squires, and I was terrified of what lay ahead. We were to squire for a knight, and if I wasn't careful, this would be the end of my secret, and therefore, the end of me. My only foreseeable hope lay in the hands of Sr. Godfrey, an old friend of my father's. I remember him well, as he often visited with his son Ralph, before losing him to the same illness that took my parents. He had known me since my birth, and I had grown to love him like an uncle. If I could get him to understand my predicament and take me on without spilling my secret, I might yet avoid the hangman's noose. He had recently returned to court for the ceremony where new squires were to be chosen by knights. He had heard of my residence at court, and wanted to visit, sending a request for a meeting tonight. I sent him a return message accepting and informing him that I would visit him that evening in his quarters after the dinner that was to be held in honor of the knights present. That what I planned to do, just not in a dress as he would be undoubtedly be expecting. I was going to see him dressed as Will, letting him see me for who I had become, just as my Father, his childhood friend, had taught me to be.
I was in a corner of the banquet hall with Sam and Barney, waiting until he had finished with his most recent pint of ale. He had sat down with a look of eager glee, one that had slipped from his face as he searched the crowd and did not find me among the dinner guests. After that, he had begun ordering drink after drink. I felt awful, but I was supposed to help the servants tonight, and stake out a good knight for me to "woo" into accepting me as his squire. Sr. Godfrey waved over the nearest servant, but was refused any more, as he had "had more than his share already". He grunted and rose rather unsteadily headed out to the corridor. Sam nudged my arm and I headed after the retreating knight, trotting to keep him in my sights. He turned the corner and entered his rooms, closing the door with excessive force. I walked up to the door, steeling myself before knocking. The door swung in almost immediately, Sr. Godfrey, stifled a belched as directed a questioning stare at me.
"Can I help ye?" My tongue was thick, not really allowing more than strangled noises to escape my lips. "You alright lad?" His eyes lost their sad anger, and glowed with the fatherly concern that I received each time I had a hard fall after play fighting with his son. I gestured into his quarters, indicating that I wanted to speak with him in private, and he stepped aside with a raised eyebrow. I entered and sat at the small table he pointed to, and he joined me a minute later with a glass of water that I gladly gulped down. "Now, Lad, if you don't talk, I can't help you, so why don't you tell me why you're here?"
I took a deep breath and began from the beginning. I told him all that I remembered from his visits, assuring him of my identity. I reminded him of all the times his son and I went around the kitchen and stole pastries from Cookie and were chased from the room with a broom and the threat of a beating if we tried it again. I soon had him laughing and crying from the memories. I apologised again and again for not being at the table to greet him at the feast, but he waved it off. Then, I had to tell him why I was dressed like a boy, and why I needed his help.
"Lass, your mother would hang me for even considering it, but there's quite the… erm… sticky situation if you quit now. Besides, knowing your father, I think he would find this infinitely amusing and insist I help." I look up, excited at the tone of resignation in his voice. "I'm not saying that I'll do it, but I'll think about it. It's my neck too if we get caught."
"I understand, thank you." I give him a quick hug and a kiss on his weather worn cheek before bolting out the door.
Sr. Godfrey, of course, took me on as his squire, and none was the wiser to my secret. He treated me like any other boy, except for giving me more private sleeping arrangements. I still trained with Old Tom (as we never left the castle in order to keep up the ruse with Aunt) but Godfrey and I would train late into the night, sometimes out in the forest not far from the castle so we could talk of my parents and his son without fear of discovery. Sr. Godfrey stepped in a bit as a father figure, making the same jokes and being just as hard on me during training as my Father had when he was here. All was well. For now.