Prince Adam (the beginning)

The young Prince Adam was awakened one morning earlier than usual. The sun had not yet come up and he was very displeased with the servant girl that was sent to fetch him, but she was insistent. That only meant one thing: his Father had been the one to summon him. So he dutifully rose and dressed himself. Well not really himself, his servants did all the challenging tasks while he stood there, but in the end he was dressed and ready to start his day.

As he entered the Great Hall, his father called him over to the fireplace where he was standing with a foreboding looking man. The man was enormous and muscular - there was not an ounce of fat to be seen on his body. His thick black beard was well groomed and he gave at the same time, an air of both an intelligent quarry and a vicious barbarian. He was dressed in chain mail and a decorative tabard with a sword at his side.

"My son, this is Sir Randolph Salden. He is a knight of extreme skill and bravery. He has agreed to take you on as his squire. I know that your mother has many qualms about you becoming a knight, but in the end I know it will only help you grow into the man that you must be."

Prince Adam looked at Sir Salden eye to eye. When the knight did not lower his head or acknowledge the Prince's station, it was a moment that all in the room recognized. Normally it would have been a transgression of great concern. The King broke the uneasy silence. "Adam, in order to become a proper knight, you must start by being a proper squire. I have given Sir Salden complete permission to treat you as he would treat any other squire of common blood." Adam's mouth dropped open. Surely this was a joke. But the Knight's next words proved that it was not.

"The first thing you'll be doing...Adam..." Sir Salden paused to be certain everyone heard the lack of the word 'Prince' in his sentence. "...is stripping off those fancy court clothes and getting into something more appropriate for your position. I expect you down in the stables in 20 minutes correctly dressed and ready to work. Do not be late." He bowed to the King, turned on his heel (with is back to the Prince no less!) and strode out of the Great Hall as if he had just finished building it with his bare hands.

Prince Adam was awoken to a rather dark room, which was not common considering he preferred to be in bed while sunlight was filling his room and he enjoyed the reflections off the Stained glass windows. "Why have i been disturbed so early?" he mumbled to the his servant girl. She apologized  for stirring him so early and told him that his Father requested him at the Great Hall.

"That explains it, looks like no time for idle chat this morning. I guess it can not be helped, summon  the others and get my wardrobe ready." Prince Adam  said while stretching. "Fetch me some fresh fruit quickly, I usually do not get to visit the kitchens when Father calls for me this early." He added.

Dressed and fruit in hand, He makes his way to the great hall. Upon entering he notices a unfamiliar face next to his father, possibly one of his warriors. Adam has always admired their warriors and what they stood for. "Morning, father. Forgive me for asking but, why I am awake so early?" to which he gets a stern glance from the unknown warrior. 

His father points out that the warrior is one of his knights, Sir Randoph Saldon and he has agreed to take Adam on as a squire...wait a squire? Also, he has yet to  given him the respect he deserves by lowering his head upon his arrival. He has talked about being a knight to his father, but never a squire. 

Before he can open his mouth to demand an answer the knight forgetting his place,  his father goes on saying he has given permission to Sir Knight to treat him as common blood! At this Prince Adams face turns red and stood there in shock for a short time. Thinking to himself, "I know I consider myself more down to earth than most of my family but not being given the proper respect and then his own father giving the same person permission to treat him as a peasant?  What is he going to do next court one of my sisters?"it was then he noticed  his mouth is wide open he closes it and regains his composure. 

Sir Randoph  spoke next addressing him without his title and told him to put on some proper clothes and meet him at the stables in 20 minutes, which caused him to laugh.  Becoming a knight has always just played out different in his head. With the the knight left the grand hall as if it were his. 

"This sure will be interesting, Father." Prince Adam said as he left the grand hall to go get ready.

Adam had his servants get his riding gear out and helped him get undressed and redressed as quickly as possible.  Talking to them aimlessly about the knights antics. 

Fully dressed again, Prince Adam makes his way to the stables bringing along a scribe to record his venture into being common blood. 

As Prince Adam rounded the corner to the stables, he was assailed by the smells of the horses. It made his eyes water and his nose go dry. He looked about and finally found the knight standing off the to side, watching the sun come up as he had no other cares in the world. The Prince approached him from behind with the idea to startle him, but the knight apparently had eyes in the back of his head and spoke in a booming voice. "Well I see that you are at least punctual. That will help you a lot, hopefully you have other gifts as well."

As he turned to meet Prince Adam, his face fell, then skewed into a glower. He half ran up to Adam, not caring to stop and practically bowled him over. "WHAT is this nonsense you have attired yourself in?!?" he yelled. "You are NOT going out for a hunt, nor for a tour of the local serfs! This riding suit is not. appropriate."

Sir Salden put the fingers of his left hand into his mouth and gave a loud whistle. Being so close to the man, Prince Adam instinctively winced and pulled back. As he did, Randolph reached out with an enormous right hand, grasped Adam's doublet and pulled him near. As much as Adam fought back, it was completely useless; he was utterly at the Knight's mercy. He has never been touched in such a manner by anyone and even more, had never felt so physically helpless before. He could do nothing but stare into the dark brown eyes with shock. "No you don't. You. stay. right. here."

A stable boy had arrived in answer to the whistled summons. Sir Salden lifted Prince Adam with one arm as though he were nothing but a scarecrow and tossed him over at the dazed young lad. "Yes. You're about the same size. The two of you go into that stall over there and switch clothes. And do not make me wait."

He then turned to the scribe that had been standing here all along, eyes and mouth agape. "And you. When you are through catching flies in that mouth of yours, you can take your pen and scroll and give them to the King. Tell him that all is going well and that Adam will make an excellent squire if he can just learn to follow orders. Now get the hell out of here and do not come back."

The scribe, the stable boy and the Prince all stood there in awe. No one moved or said a word. Suddenly Sir Salden's face grew red and he screamed "MOVE!!". There was a flutter of activity in every direction. As the dust around him settled, the knight looked about, walked slowly over to a water barrel, lifted its cover, pulled out the ladle, and drank deeply from it.

On his way to the stables, Prince Adam mused to his scribe how much he enjoyed a good ride and was glad he just had his leathers cleaned and oiled. Approaching the stables he saw the knight staring off in the distance and  decided this would be a great chance to  get him to jump. Shockingly, the knight noticed his presence and spoke of his punctuality. Hearing that Prince Adam got a smirk on his face and made sure his scribe took note of that.  

Prince Adams smirk faded when the knights face darkened  and babbled about his attire being  nonsense and inappropriate. What then did he expect him to wear?  Before he could make a wise comment, a loud piercing whistle jarred the prince out of his  reverie. Taking a step back in reaction to the noise, the knights meaty hand latched on to the princes clothes and held him like he was some common thief!

Dumbfounded and in shock Prince Adam did not notice the stable boy approach. In the same moment he was tossed at the stable boy and told to switch clothes quickly. As the prince was about to object, the knight started to rattle off some prattle about how excellent the prince will become to the scribe and to run off to the king and not return. Which in turn added a sense of urgency his need to object, but when the knight screamed at the three to move Prince Adams urgency shifted to running and not bumping into the stable boy.

The two boys stood in the stall for a second then begin to switch clothes. "I can not recall the last time I undressed and dressed myself." Prince Adam said half laughing. "By the way what is your given name? I would rather not call you stable boy." "Philip, my lord" he replied.  Philip was more than thrilled with his new clothes, but had some issues putting them on and strapping everything needed. He commented on how nice they were and this was the best gift he ever received and kindly thanked the prince over and over.  At least some people still have proper manners, he thought to himself.  Prince Adam was happy to make Philips day. "No disrespect, but these are the itchest clothes I have ever worn." the prince mumbled. Which in turn, caused a little smile from the newly attired friend. 

The duo made their way back to the knight, each walking awkwardly in the others clothes.

Sir Salden turned to see a most comical sight. There before him stood the two, each as equally uncomfortable in their new attire. He laughed out loud. "Ha! You two are quite the vision! But we must be away. You, boy go and fetch the two horses that I brought in this morning. Be quick about it and then I suggest you immediately run home and get out of those clothes, they are worth more than you make in a year I am sure. So Adam I assume that you know how to get on a horse unassisted? We will be riding to my keep."

Phillip's eyes grew wide and he ran off. Less than 2 minutes later, he reappeared with the horses and did not wait for further instructions. He bowed quickly and disappeared.

As the two rode away from the castle, Randolph spoke to Prince Adam. "You'll find that I can be harsh, but I promise you I will fair as well. If you have any problems with any of the others, be sure to let me know. But do not expect to be anything but my squire to them as well. You'll be introduced as nothing but Adam to them. I am sure that we can all get along if we agree to that. When we arrive I will need you to water down and brush the horses and then stable them accordingly. You may ask the stablehands for assistance if you need it. They are Robert and Claire and both of them are excellent workers."

After about an hour's ride, Adam saw Sir Salden's keep. It was well kept with two towers and a large entrance. They dismounted and a young girl ran up to greet them. She was about the same age as Adam and had fiery red hair that was obviously very long, but tied up. Most likely this was to not get in the way while working. Adam wondered how she would look with it let down. Then he realized he had never looked at a commoner in this manner before. This would surely be an interesting experience indeed.

She took the reins and was about the lead the horses away when Randolph spoke to her in hushed tones. She glanced over at Adam with a curious look. As the knight walked away, she approached the newly common Prince and said "Hello Adam, the master said you are to tend to the horses, but that you might need some help. I'm Claire, let me know if you need anything." She handed him the reins for the horse he rode and kept those of Sir Salden's steed.