“I am, Sir Horland. You are going to Frother, are you not?”
“We are.” He bowed his head. “I am Monty Laffin.”
A woman’s head poked out of the covers and she squeezed her body in behind the driver. Dipping in an awkward curtsy, she said, “Pleased to meet you Sir Horland of Pradwick. I am Rose Laffin, Monty’s wife. We have the finest ripe cheeses in the kingdom for the king’s table. Would you like to sample our fine produce, Sir Horland?”
She ducked into the back, reappeared, and handed him a wedge of cheese. “Thank you, kind lady.”
He took a bite and nodded. “This is indeed fine cheese. Please, do you have room aboard for a small woman and a child?”
A young man poked his head out, his curly blond hair almost covering his widened eyes, and he disappeared back into the wagon.
The woman huffed. “It will be tight, but we can make room.”
“The lady can sit next to me,” the man said.
The woman scrambled over the seat and sat down beside Monty. “I will sit here, husband, and the knight’s friends can sit in the back with Mayland.”
The driver blushed and smiled at his wife. “Of course, dear, that is for the best.”
The young man trotted to stand between the wagon and Horland. He bowed. “You are Sir Horland of Pradwick?”
“I am Sir Horland, knight to King Pradwick, yes.”
He grinned a silly, wide, lopsided grin. “I’ve heard about you. You’re the one who rid the kingdom of slavers.”
“I did not do that alone—all the knights and the king’s army worked to that one end.”
“So modest,” Briana said.
Horland shot her a black look.
The silly boy was still grinning. “I’m Mayland and I’ve always wanted to be a knight.”
Horland regarded Mayland from head to foot and then pierced him with his gaze.
As if realizing he wasn’t making the best impression, the boy stopped smiling and straightened his back and chuffed out his chest. “Can you tell me how to go about it?”
Briana giggled and the youth glanced at her, drawing his brows together.
“Is it funny that I should want to be so?” he asked.
“No, I think it’s a fine thing, a fine career, but aren’t you a little young?”
“I have already seen sixteen summers. A man by all counts.”
Briana raised her brows. “Well from where I come from, you’d still be in school.”
“The schoolhouse is for children.”
Horland, bored with the conversation, cleared his throat. “Go to Pradwick castle and tell the guard I sent you to enlist in the army. From there, it is up to you to make your bravery and skills known to the king. If he is impressed enough, he may knight you one day.”
Mayland bowed deeply. “Thank you, Sir Horland. Thank you.”
Monty directed his gaze to Briana. “Come along then, we don’t have much time. The king does not like to be kept waiting, and we don’t want Mayland to begin his career with a black mark already against his name.”
Mayland jumped into the back of the wagon and immediately poked his head out behind his parents. The grin had returned, and his admiring gaze made Horland uncomfortable.
Briana stood next to Horland. “It’s okay, you need only make room for the child, I’m not going.”
