As both lord and page dined, they chatted with each other, leaving out the knight. Alfred was becoming irritable, being denied the attention he desired. Having been thrown out for annoying and constantly interrupting Arthur when the lord was trying to talk to the new page, he stood outside on the other side of a door, peeking in and glaring at the young boy. He turned away and walked outside to the animal pens.

While he walked by in his noisy armor, the fowl were thrown into panic and flapped around and the pigs squealed loudly and made it sound like angry prisoners screaming their innocence as they stood in line for execution. The lock, as well as the door of the pen, broke open with one kick and the swine went loose. He ran back inside as quick as he could and made his way into the kitchen. All the cooks turned toward the clanking armor and out-of-breath knight.

"There's a big problem! The pigs have broken through the doors of their pen and are loose among the fowl! They're all in a frenzy because of the storm coming on!" Alfred told them, earnestly. All the cooks ran out the kitchen past him to go restore order to the livestock. Alfred watched each of them run out and then he went further into the kitchen in search for the tea. He finally spotted the tray, on which the lord's chalice was and a smaller cup placed beside it for the page. He brought out a paper with an herbal kind of powder that he had obtained from the sorcerer and shook some of it into the smaller cup. The dusty powder dissolved into the tea as he poured it into the cups. One of the cooks came back in and pushed him aside and took the tea out to the lord and child. Alfred's lips twitched into a bombastic grin.

-

Arthur took a sip out of his cup and glanced out the window. The sky was already getting dark so quickly after noon. He looked at Matthew, who was making a face at his cup like it was filled with something rank. The boy saw Arthur looking at him. He panicked thinking, somehow, he had offended the lord, and so he held his breath and drank all that was in his cup in one gulp. Lord Arthur smiled a little and returned his attention to the window, thinking how strange the boy was. After all, it was just tea…

"The sky's getting dark pretty quickly today. How about we go for a walk and get back before the storm hits? What was your name again?"

Matthew nodded and wondered if they could make it back before it started raining. "My name is Matthew…"

-

When Lord Arthur walked out the front gate, Alfred was standing very nearby with his steed, smiling at them as if he had just slayed the dragon attacking town. Arthur had still not forgiven him for his rudeness from earlier and turned his head away. He turned his head away and took the young page's hand, pulling him forward and walking faster. This made Alfred's smile drop. Matthew turned around, smiling back at him sweetly and waved before turning back to quicken his pace to match Arthur's. Alfred's face dropped further into a frown. He watched the two of them walk away before he took out the paper and poured the sulfuric powder into the dirt on the ground.

-

As Matthew had expected, it started raining before they got back. To make matters worse, it seemed that the lord caught a cold on the way walking back to the castle. They ran under a tree for temporary cover to let Arthur rest for a while.

"He he… Not a very good first day here for you, huh?" Arthur spoke whilst both chuckling and coughing.

Matthew had on a little grin and only gave a nod in response. He was feeling strange, or to be more precise, had been ever since they left the castle. Up until that moment he was feeling terribly nauseous and then, in a blink of an eye, he was spewing out his innards and everything he had eaten that day. Arthur's coughing fit ceased and he got up and nervously placed a hand on Matthew's back and rubbed it.

"Hey, lad… Are you a-alright?" he asked, so worried that his voice was beginning to tremble. Matthew's hazy eyes lifted up to look at him as he gasped to breathe before he fell over into his arm and the sound of his gasping stopped.

-

After slowly walking in the rain, carrying the young boy, he finally could see his castle. It was still pouring but, still standing there, with his now asleep horse, was Arthur's "favorite" knight. Arthur felt his anger rising as he approached his knight.

"Did I do well, my lord? I got rid of something that would become an imminent nuisance for you in the future!" Alfred grinned.

Arthur's brow creased and he placed the dead body that was in his arms gently to the side. He walked past his knight and pulled the sword out of his scabbard as he walked by. when he was behind Alfred, he turned around sharply and held the blade close to his neck, ready to kill his knight.

"He was a boy! A boy of only seven years of age…! His life was cut so short for nothing!"

Alfred suddenly fell into despair. "I was supposed to be your favorite! I'm supposed to be your son, not some kid you've only known for a day! So what if you're supposed to take care of him, what about me? You're supposed to be MY lord…" he spoke, turning around slowly so that he wouldn't get his head cut off. He faced Arthur with tears in his eyes. "My lord…"

He began to relent and lowered the sword he had to Alfred's neck. Alfred fell onto his knees and sobbed, apologizing to lord again and again.

Lord Arthur sighed. "Raise your head, Alfred. You're forgiven this time." A hoarse cough was emitted from his throat and made his body shake even more in the rain. "Pick up the lad's body and let us go inside. I'm going to finish up the duties I left behind earlier today and head to bed early. First thing tomorrow morning, you must go to Viscount Bonnefoy's manor. Explain to him why his son is dead and apologize and don't come back unless he has forgiven you." Alfred nodded and brought in Matthew's body, following behind his ill lord.

-

The next morning, Alfred was on his was out and encountered the sorcerer from town. He stared at him for a moment and bowed, explaining that the sorcerer's long journey was in vain for the lord had passed away during the night with a case of pneumonia. He then brought out a little bag with a good amount of money in it and offered it to the sorcerer.

"If this is enough, I'd like to buy another poison from you…"

-

On the bed in the lord's chamber, Arthur laid there with his hands folded over a letter, cold and unmoving. Left on the chair by his bedside, Alfred had left his shield, helmet, and sword. He no longer deserved them.

-

I'm sorry, my lord, but there is no way I will be able to get the viscount to forgive me. Knowing this, I leave you this note saying that I will not be returning to the castle, as you have told me. After doing what I did the previous day, I have deemed myself unworthy of the position of a knight. It was also against my own philosophy to do such a thing, so I will atone for my own sin with the only way I know how to. If I am ever to meet you again, let me stay by your side as you have let me in this life. My lord, I bed thee my last farewell.