Her face fell slightly and she looked at the surcoat, made from a lovely and billowingPersefabric. It was very fine.
“But these are already made,” she insisted. “This one will fit me. Do you not like it?”
Richmond looked at her, a smile playing on his lips. Then he looked at Gavan, who simply lifted his eyebrows. After a moment, Richmond returned his attention to Arissa’s hopeful expression. He couldn’t deny her and they all knew it.
“I like it,” he told her, conceding complete and utter defeat. “Get what you will.”
Arissa was back to smiling brightly. With a giggle of joy, she rushed back into the shop and began having the shop keeper remove several more surcoats that were hanging on nails. As Richmond stood there, ignoring Gavan’s smirks, something suddenly hit him on the back of his armored legs.
It was not a hard hit, but enough to get his attention. Hand on the hilt of his broadsword, he turned to see a young girl picking herself up out of the dirt. She was a filthy little urchin, with tangled red curls and freckles on her nose. Richmond peered down at the child as Gavan, having heard the knock against Richmond’s armor, reached down and grasped the child by the arm.
“Here, now,” he all but shoved her away from Richmond. “Watch where you are going.”
The little girl tripped when Gavan firmly directed her away and ended up on the ground again, this time falling on a rock. She immediately started wailing as she came away with a cut knee. That brought a cavalry charge of more children pouring out of the shadows and doorways around them. There had to be a dozen or more, all rushing in the child’s direction.
“Oy!” a boy around ten years rushed to the child’s side, pulling her up off the street and noticing her bloody knee. Ratherthan cower from the two enormous knights, he actually grew angry. “Did ye have tae hurt her, then?”
Gavan looked rather surprised at the challenge. “I did not hurt her,” he said. “She fell and scraped her knee. Moreover, she ran into us first. She should be more careful next time.”
The boy with the matted blond hair and extremely dirty body did not back down as more children gathered behind him in mute support. There was strength in numbers. The weeping little girl was absorbed by the group as they pulled her back into a protective huddle.
“She couldna have hurt ye,” the boy sounded very much as if he was scolding Gavan. “Ye didna have tae bloody her!”
By this time, Arissa heard the commotion and exited the merchant’s stall to see what was going on. She saw Richmond and Gavan squaring off against a gang of small children, the eldest of which could not have been more than ten or eleven years old. In the middle of the group, a little red-haired girl wept loudly.
“Richmond?” Arissa positioned herself between Richmond and Gavan, her focus on the suspicious children. “What is going on?”
Richmond shook his head. “I am not quite sure,” he admitted casually. “But I believe we are being threatened.”
Arissa’s brow furrowed as she looked between Richmond and the children. “What happened?”
He shrugged. “A child ran in to me,” he said. “You can hear her crying. When Gavan tried to remove her, she fell and hit her knee on a rock. Now these children think we have brutalized her.”
Arissa looked at Gavan. “What did you do to her?”
Gavan put up his hands as if he truly had no idea. “I did not do anything to her,” he insisted. “She was on the ground so Ipulled her up and directed her away from Richmond. And then she fell.”
Arissa looked displeased. “Gavan, I have seen you when you go in defense of Richmond,” she said. “Did you truly just direct her away? Or did you push her?”
Gavan looked at Arissa as if insulted by the question. Then he rolled his eyes and stepped away, unwilling to get into a verbal battle with her. “I did not shove her,” he said, walking away.
Arissa scowled at the man before returning her attention to the children. In truth, Richmond did not seem to know how to react to a gang of youths accusing him of injuring one of their own so he thought it best to say nothing. He did not want to start anything that might bring out the adults, or worse, other knights. He was not looking for a fight in any case and did not want to waste his time. Therefore, he focused on Arissa.
“If you are thinking of making a purchase, go and make your selection,” he told her. “We have a few more miles to travel before setting up camp and I do not want to be setting up in the dark.”
Arissa nodded, though she was still eyeing the children. The boy who had defended the little girl so stringently was still standing in front of the group, his fists balled, as if preparing to do battle. She focused on the young lad.
“Is the little girl your sister?” she asked kindly.
The boy looked at the lovely young woman who was not a whole lot bigger than he was. He appeared confused by the question at first but eventually shook his head. “No,” he said. “She dunna have a brother.”
Arissa smiled at the lad. “You make a very good brother. You are very brave to protect her.”
The child scratched his head, looking at the group behind him as if his courage was suddenly waning and he was looking to them for support. Then he looked back at Arissa.
“Hedidpush her,” he insisted, though it was without force.
Arissa nodded patiently. “If he did, I am sure he did not mean to,” she said. “I am sorry if your friend was hurt.”
