Post by sidonie on Mar 8, 2011 8:04:32 GMT 10
Title: The Proposal
Rating: G
Word Count: 315
Pairing: Team Bend-a-Lot
Round/Fight: 1/A
Summary: Jon pops the question.
~~~~~~
“I want you to be my squire.”
Zahir blinked, momentarily stunned. “I'm sorry, your Majesty?”
“I said I want you to be my squire.”
“With all due respect, sir, why?”
King Jonathan sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. “One of the central frustrations of being a king is that, no matter how absolute your power theoretically is, in reality it is absurdly difficult to do anything. You are mostly divorced from your people, hampered by argumentative nobility, strictly bound by the foreign treaties you sign . . . honestly, I'm sick and tired of it. I want to do something real and tangible. He stared at the Bazhir youth, his considering gaze making Zahir distinctly uncomfortable. “I want to make you a knight.
“If I took my son, as the conservatives and traditionalists want me to, I would only be repeating the lessons and morals I have already worked hard to instill in him for fourteen years. It would be a pointless exercise. But you intrigue me. I know you were part of the harassment of Keladry of Mindelan. You are yourself conservative, yet the conservatives dislike you because you are Bazhir. You are competent, but not yet outstanding. Your teachers tell me you are bright, but not outspoken. I think you are capable of either greatness or obscurity, and maybe even real darkness.
“But perhaps most importantly, you are Bazhir and I am the Voice. That is the only part of my kingship where I have true connections to and agency with those I rule, and you understand it. I need that. So I will ask one more time. Zahir ibn Alhaz, will you be my squire?” He reached out.
The boy regarded the hand coolly for a moment before taking it. “I will,” he replied.
“Good. We'll begin supplying you tomorrow.”
QC by: wordy
Rating: G
Word Count: 315
Pairing: Team Bend-a-Lot
Round/Fight: 1/A
Summary: Jon pops the question.
~~~~~~
“I want you to be my squire.”
Zahir blinked, momentarily stunned. “I'm sorry, your Majesty?”
“I said I want you to be my squire.”
“With all due respect, sir, why?”
King Jonathan sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. “One of the central frustrations of being a king is that, no matter how absolute your power theoretically is, in reality it is absurdly difficult to do anything. You are mostly divorced from your people, hampered by argumentative nobility, strictly bound by the foreign treaties you sign . . . honestly, I'm sick and tired of it. I want to do something real and tangible. He stared at the Bazhir youth, his considering gaze making Zahir distinctly uncomfortable. “I want to make you a knight.
“If I took my son, as the conservatives and traditionalists want me to, I would only be repeating the lessons and morals I have already worked hard to instill in him for fourteen years. It would be a pointless exercise. But you intrigue me. I know you were part of the harassment of Keladry of Mindelan. You are yourself conservative, yet the conservatives dislike you because you are Bazhir. You are competent, but not yet outstanding. Your teachers tell me you are bright, but not outspoken. I think you are capable of either greatness or obscurity, and maybe even real darkness.
“But perhaps most importantly, you are Bazhir and I am the Voice. That is the only part of my kingship where I have true connections to and agency with those I rule, and you understand it. I need that. So I will ask one more time. Zahir ibn Alhaz, will you be my squire?” He reached out.
The boy regarded the hand coolly for a moment before taking it. “I will,” he replied.
“Good. We'll begin supplying you tomorrow.”
QC by: wordy