Post by allymarty on Mar 5, 2010 15:30:07 GMT 10
Title: Kinsmen I - The First Bet
Rating: G
Length: 588 (not including the book quote)
Competitor: Faleron
Round/Fight: 2/A
Summary: First in a series of stories about the relationship between two kinsmen and the eventual object of their mutual affections.
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"You." He pointed to a boy with the reddest, straightest hair Kel had ever seen. "Your name and the holding of your family."
The boy stammered, "Merric, sir -- my lord. Merric of Hollyrose." He had pale blue eyes and a long, broad nose; his skin had only the barest summer tan.
The training master looked at the pages around him. "Which of you older pages will sponsor Merric and teach him our ways?"
"Please, Lord Wyldon?" Kel wasn't able to see the owner of the voice in the knot of boys who stood at Wyldon's back. "We're kinsmen, Merric and I."
"And kinsmen should stick together. Well said, Faleron of King's Reach." A handsome, dark-haired boy came to stand with Merric, smiling at the redhead.
-- Tamora Pierce, First Test
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"Merric?" Faleron of King's Reach whispered his kinsman's name in the dark. Their mothers were first cousins and very close - closer than sisters. "Merric, are you awake?"
The boy in the pallet next to Faleron's bed rolled over and grumbled, "Hmph! I am now."
"I'm so glad you're finally here," Faleron said. "I was worried that you wouldn't make it, what with the late floods causing the rivers to swell and all. It would have been very bad if you weren't able to start your training on time."
"I just wish my room had been ready on time," complained Merric of Hollyrose. "Somebody should have checked to make sure it wasn't infested with mice!"
"That room used to be Ludley of Whitethorn's private quarters before he became a squire," Faleron explained. "I feel sorry for his knight-master; Ludley was always eating and hiding food in his belongings. The mice probably found his forgotten stash of food and they kept feasting and breeding all summer long."
Merric shuddered. "Well, I wish they'd have just assigned me to a different room. I don't know if I'll be able to rest if I think there'll be hungry mice running about searching for food that's no longer there."
"Then get a cat," Faleron said. "Under the circumstances, I'm sure Lord Wyldon wouldn't mind if you secured a good mouser from the stables. Cats come and go as they please, anyway, so it wouldn't be like you had an actual pet."
"I don't know," Merric said hesitantly. "What if the Training Master thinks I'm just sniveling over a few mice?"
Faleron made a rude noise. "The thirty or so mice that scampered out of the wardrobe closet when you opened it were not 'a few mice' and no one would think that getting a cat would be sniveling on your part. Besides, if anyone is sniveling, it'll be the Girl."
"You mean, Keladry of Mindelan?" Merric asked. "She doesn't look like the sniveling type to me. And besides, she has her own room tonight, while I'm here sleeping on a pallet in my kinsman's room."
Faleron chuckled and snuggled down into his comfortable bed. "Stop sniveling, Merric - you sound like a girl."
"I do not!" Merric protested.
Faleron scoffed. "What do you know of girls?"
"I've got four older sisters, don't I?" Merric said. "And when they bring their friends home from the convent school, there's always a lot of giggling and screeching and whining and complaining. Keladry of Mindelan doesn't seem to be like my sisters or any of their friends."
"Well, she's still a girl and I'll bet she whines like a real one before the end of the week."
"How much?"
"How much what?"
"How much do you want to bet?"
"Over the Girl?"
"Yes. How about ... one silver crown?"
Faleron sounded incredulous, "You have a silver crown to lose?"
"My father gave me an allowance before he left me here," Merric sounded indignant. "But who's to say that I'll lose it on this bet?"
"Alright, one silver crown it is," Faleron agreed. "By the end of the week, the Girl--"
"Keladry of Mindelan," Merric verified.
"Yes, that's the one," he said, closing the potential loophole. "I bet she'll be whining so loudly, Lord Wyldon will tire of her and send her home." Then the boys clasped each other's forearms to seal the bet.
At the end of the week, it was Faleron who sounded like a sniveling girl as he placed the silver coin in the palm of Merric's outstretched hand.
Rating: G
Length: 588 (not including the book quote)
Competitor: Faleron
Round/Fight: 2/A
Summary: First in a series of stories about the relationship between two kinsmen and the eventual object of their mutual affections.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"You." He pointed to a boy with the reddest, straightest hair Kel had ever seen. "Your name and the holding of your family."
The boy stammered, "Merric, sir -- my lord. Merric of Hollyrose." He had pale blue eyes and a long, broad nose; his skin had only the barest summer tan.
The training master looked at the pages around him. "Which of you older pages will sponsor Merric and teach him our ways?"
"Please, Lord Wyldon?" Kel wasn't able to see the owner of the voice in the knot of boys who stood at Wyldon's back. "We're kinsmen, Merric and I."
"And kinsmen should stick together. Well said, Faleron of King's Reach." A handsome, dark-haired boy came to stand with Merric, smiling at the redhead.
-- Tamora Pierce, First Test
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Merric?" Faleron of King's Reach whispered his kinsman's name in the dark. Their mothers were first cousins and very close - closer than sisters. "Merric, are you awake?"
The boy in the pallet next to Faleron's bed rolled over and grumbled, "Hmph! I am now."
"I'm so glad you're finally here," Faleron said. "I was worried that you wouldn't make it, what with the late floods causing the rivers to swell and all. It would have been very bad if you weren't able to start your training on time."
"I just wish my room had been ready on time," complained Merric of Hollyrose. "Somebody should have checked to make sure it wasn't infested with mice!"
"That room used to be Ludley of Whitethorn's private quarters before he became a squire," Faleron explained. "I feel sorry for his knight-master; Ludley was always eating and hiding food in his belongings. The mice probably found his forgotten stash of food and they kept feasting and breeding all summer long."
Merric shuddered. "Well, I wish they'd have just assigned me to a different room. I don't know if I'll be able to rest if I think there'll be hungry mice running about searching for food that's no longer there."
"Then get a cat," Faleron said. "Under the circumstances, I'm sure Lord Wyldon wouldn't mind if you secured a good mouser from the stables. Cats come and go as they please, anyway, so it wouldn't be like you had an actual pet."
"I don't know," Merric said hesitantly. "What if the Training Master thinks I'm just sniveling over a few mice?"
Faleron made a rude noise. "The thirty or so mice that scampered out of the wardrobe closet when you opened it were not 'a few mice' and no one would think that getting a cat would be sniveling on your part. Besides, if anyone is sniveling, it'll be the Girl."
"You mean, Keladry of Mindelan?" Merric asked. "She doesn't look like the sniveling type to me. And besides, she has her own room tonight, while I'm here sleeping on a pallet in my kinsman's room."
Faleron chuckled and snuggled down into his comfortable bed. "Stop sniveling, Merric - you sound like a girl."
"I do not!" Merric protested.
Faleron scoffed. "What do you know of girls?"
"I've got four older sisters, don't I?" Merric said. "And when they bring their friends home from the convent school, there's always a lot of giggling and screeching and whining and complaining. Keladry of Mindelan doesn't seem to be like my sisters or any of their friends."
"Well, she's still a girl and I'll bet she whines like a real one before the end of the week."
"How much?"
"How much what?"
"How much do you want to bet?"
"Over the Girl?"
"Yes. How about ... one silver crown?"
Faleron sounded incredulous, "You have a silver crown to lose?"
"My father gave me an allowance before he left me here," Merric sounded indignant. "But who's to say that I'll lose it on this bet?"
"Alright, one silver crown it is," Faleron agreed. "By the end of the week, the Girl--"
"Keladry of Mindelan," Merric verified.
"Yes, that's the one," he said, closing the potential loophole. "I bet she'll be whining so loudly, Lord Wyldon will tire of her and send her home." Then the boys clasped each other's forearms to seal the bet.
At the end of the week, it was Faleron who sounded like a sniveling girl as he placed the silver coin in the palm of Merric's outstretched hand.