There is a knock at the door of Geoffrey Tournemine. It is followed by a nervous clearing of the throat. Someone might want your attention.

Geoffrey answers, not fancy enough to have guards and servants here. He greets whoever is there with a pleasant smile.

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.

"Certainly, you can," he invites the boy in to join him, setting aside the book he had been reading after marking the page.

Offering a seat, Geoffrey takes one himself. "How can I help you?"

"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 their own problems. I did hear that you are rather close with His Grace the King, and I was rather hoping that I might persuade you to, well, to take up my case, as it were. I wouldn't ask, save that I haven't got my majority yet, and with the Crown having collected most of our rents since father's death, we aren't able to just buy up the seat, as the Earl of Oxford said I should."

He takes a breath right about there, his wide eyes meeting yours.

"It's a tough spot for sure," Geoffrey replied with a nod. "I could certainly try to talk to him, but I also don't particularly know you well enough to do so on your behalf. Tell me a bit about yourself?"

"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. Oh! and I'll also be 4th Baron of Trowbridge and master of Caldicot castle. Um..." He furrows his brow. "It is rather difficult to talk one's self up. Um...I am told that I am very easy to talk to? I...think that's pretty much all." He looks like he's going to be a little sick.

"Henry, you are a very respectable and well mannered young man. Reminds me of my own youth, when such things had to be scolded and paddled into me," he says with a chuckle. "Hopefully you are more level-headed than I was and don't have too many a scolding from Sir Henry."

He pauses for a few moments. "You know, there's so much more to a person than the things they have done. Like the things they've felt, their convictions, and the hopes they hold for the future. Being good at fighting makes someone a soldier, being noble in that pursuit potentially makes them a knight, but holding to their beliefs... that makes them a man. You may be in line to be a baron, and you may be a talented young man meant for a glorious life as a knight. But I want to know about you. What are your convictions? What kind of man do you hope to be known as? What do you want others to think when they look at you? And what are you doing to cultivate that?"

"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 kings oft showed of old, and should be held to those obligations by his honor, and by the stern insistence of his peers. And what is more, a lord must be willing to lay down his life for his realm, if it should be necessary, and not squeeze it for money until its people cry for mercy, as I have observed some Sheriffs to do."

His voice has become stronger over the course of speech, and gradually you see a shadow of the powerful man that just might be sitting in front of you in the form of a young boy. This is a true conviction, and it could be worked for great weal or woe in days to come.

"I apologize; I am not often asked for my opinion. I sometimes find it challenging to express it delicately, as perhaps it ought to be."

"I have not expressed an opinion delicately in years de Bohun. Never apologize for knowing yourself and what you want to become," Geoffrey replies. And while he was speaking to a boy, it is clear that through the entire conversation that he didn't treat Henry as anything less than an inexperienced man.

"Pride is a sin, confidence and knowing yourself are not. I definitely see a resemblance to many honorable knights I have known over the years. I'll speak on your behalf, and trust in that conviction."

"I'll spare what words I can afford on your behalf where it does not negatively impact my family and allies. You have my word on that. In return, be the honorable man I see in you, and remember that you are not alone in your desire to protect this realm. I've got your back."

He offers a hand for the boy to clasp.

He rises and clasps it in return.

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

"Of course. Take care of yourself de Bohun," he replied with a nod.

"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.

/scene?

/scene