Tamed by the Knight by Loki Renard

Author:Loki Renard [Renard, Loki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stormy Night Publications
Published: 2014-11-26T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Six

He spoke the truth. The morning came early for Madeline. Sir Gregory woke her before the sun had roused itself and informed her that it was her job to fetch his bread and his morning brew, and to ensure that the horses were fed and brushed.

Madeline informed him that he could go boil his head and that she was going to go back to sleep. What ensued was not a lot of sleep, but a rather loud and insistent slapping delivered to her still sore cheeks.

“You are a brute,” she said, stamping across the room. “I wonder that anyone would become a squire.”

“Young men become squires so that they might one day become knights and have their own squires.”

“And what is my reward? To one day become a wife who watches her husband gallop off to adventure whilst she tends his brood? There is no advantage in my performing the duties of squire. Do them yourself.”

“If I do them myself, people will notice and wonder. Rumors will start.”

“I do not care about rumors. I am not your servant. Get your own damn food. I will see how the hounds and horses are faring.” Madeline pulled her britches on, donned her shirt and cap, and stormed out of the tavern to the stables. The hounds had not roused themselves; they were slumbering at the end of chains. Even the horses were at rest, Melyngar nibbling lightly at Hexmark’s wither with sleepy affection.

A snoring in the shadows told her that Sir August’s squire had spent his night with the animals. She felt a small pang of pity for the young man. A squire’s life was rough and hard and there was little in the way of reward as far as she could tell. Madeline had often used the guise of servants to get her own way, but she had not spent a great deal of time thinking about their lot in life. As a princess she had regarded the people who served her almost as props, not truly people, just means to an end. It struck her rather suddenly that each of the servants had their own thoughts and hopes and dreams, small and petty as they might be.

Sir Gregory approached and handed her a hunk of bread stuffed with melted cheese. “Eat, you scamp,” he growled. “Do it quickly. I would be off before the sun breaks the horizon.”

Madeline took the food and ate of it. She had not recognized her own hunger until he brought her food. It was a little difficult to eat quickly whilst being glowered at, but she managed it.

“What makes you screw your face up so?”

“The disobedient little scamp who seems so reluctant to play a role in her own rescue.”

“The Dark King isn’t here,” Madeline pointed out. “You are not rescuing me so much as carrying me off to your hovel.”

Sir Gregory narrowed his eyes at her. “You speak rashly and rudely as always. Watch your tongue. Better still, refrain from using it at all.

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