Knights and Butterscotch by Faith Ashlin

Author:Faith Ashlin [Ashlin, Faith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing
Published: 2013-08-13T00:00:00+00:00

* * * *

Six days might have felt like a huge amount of time but it seemed to go in a heartbeat. The day before he was due to leave Matti got his uniform out, washed and pressed it, making sure it looked as good as it could. He’d worn it during the fighting and it showed, but that was only right. Each knight usually had about three uniforms that were changed as they got dirty, each with the same ribbons and badges, each telling the same story. The knights believed a uniform should show its owner’s history, what he stood for and who he was.

Matti put it on a hanger and brushed it down. His uniform said a lot about him, but it wasn’t just about any medals he might have won or campaigns he might have fought in. How he felt about being a knight showed in the respect he gave his uniform every time he touched it.

He ran his fingers down the sleeves, pulling them straight, then rubbed them across the emblem above the pocket, taking his time as he did it.

“You do that a lot,” Jamie said, from where he sat on the sofa, balancing the predictable drawing pad on the arm.

“Do what?” Matti brushed invisible dust from the trousers.

“Rub or just touch that badge. Isobel did it as well, when we got married. It’s the knight’s insignia, isn’t it?”

“It’s the emblem of my order of knights, Isobel’s order as well. It’s…special to us.”

“How so?” Jamie stopped drawing to watch him.

“It’s hard to explain.” Matti shrugged. “I knew which order I wanted to join years before I was old enough, but I didn’t think they’d have me. They’re one of the oldest and they have a reputation as the most honourable. Duty before everything.”

He stopped, turning to face Jamie, the brush still held in his hand. “I was really surprised when they accepted me. I’ve been trying to live up to them ever since. But it’s more than that because your order becomes family and you get truly close. There isn’t one person there I wouldn’t trust with my life, even though I know things about them that would make your hair curl. We’ve been together for a long time now and I’ve fought alongside most of them, been to hell and back with some. We fight together for the same things and that means something.”

“I think it means a lot,” Jamie said. “When you leave you always touch it before you get in the car.”

Matti considered how to explain it. “It’s kind of like our group identity. When times are shit you touch it and it reminds you what everything is about. When times aren’t so bad it does the same but also reminds me who I am, what I believe in.”

“Is that why you rub things on it?” Jamie asked, looking down at his hand for a moment. “You rubbed the ring on it before you put it on me.”

“Did I? I don’t remember, but I know I do it automatically now, if something matters to me.

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