"I will try my best." He smiles, if a little sadly. This kid knows his position is a delicate one. With a final nod, he departs.

He rises and clasps it in return.

"I appreciate that, Lord Tournemine. Thank you very much for your time."

"My convictions? Who I would like to be?" His eyes widen a little more. "Um...well, I think I should like to be a great knight, like my father and his father, and King David of Scotland, my ancestor. And also I believe that a lord has obligations both to his lord and to his followers, as the Saxon k...

" Well , I'm squired to Sir Henry de Grey. He says I'm fairly good with a sword for my age, and I can ride and care for horses. I know how to cook a little, and to sew, and how to tie about five different sorts of knots. Sir Henry says it won't too difficult to prove myself a knight when I'm of age....

"Well...you see, I am rather..." He takes a breath to steady himself. "I don't know if you've heard of me, but I was supposed to be Constable of the Realm, like my father was. And now things have become a terrible muddle. I have been making a circuit of the Earls, but of course many of them have the...

Standing in the hall is a boy of about 12. His expression is troubled.

"Oh!...Em..." he begins, his voice still pitched a little high. "I'm Henry de Bohun. I wonder if I please could have a moment of your time?" His blue eyes are a little wide as he looks up at you.

"Um...well, I think receiving them would be perhaps the right thing. I can show them my hospitality that way." He looks frightfully earnest. "I rather think that will impress them."