Kingdom of Spades
Luke
The most exciting day in the village had finally come. All of their waiting and hoping and training was finally coming to a head, and it had all of the children in the kingdom whipped into a frenzy.
Luke had been waiting for this day for a long, long time. Finally, he was old enough to be given a position. 12 was the youngest you could be accepted as a page, or a mage's apprentice or any kind of position in the caste, really. And all the 12 year old children in the village were invited to the castle for a big party in which the chosen children got their assigned jobs.
He had been practising his whole life. His father had crafted him a little wooden sword for his sixth birthday, and the trusty thing had been his companion since. He had tried to learn to parry and to fight. Being a knight was all he had ever wanted; all he had ever wanted to be. His parents were bakers. Nice people. He was the youngest of ten, and because of this he always got stuck with the boring, mundane jobs. Carrying the flour. Rolling the dough. It was so unexciting, and the boy lusted after adventure and excitement. So, he had put all his energy into this.
he was tall for his age, build well from packing around enormous bags of flour or sugar. Dirty blonde hair hung in his bright eyes, overdue for a cut, but he could never sit still long enough for his mother to get out the scissors and cut it back. She had been scolding him for it just this morning, claiming that nobody would want him working in the palace with such a messy little mop, but...well, he would deal with that then. If they wanted him to cut his hair to be a knight, he would do it, no questions asked.
He scurried into line with all the other kids, pushing his way to the front. Everybody was shouting and fooling around, but as soon as the trumpets blew, there was complete and total silence. The King and Queen took their places on the thrones, the knights and mages filtering after. Stretching to try and see the knights over the crowd, Luke nearly tripped over the wooden sword he still had at his side. He didn't want to listen to all the rest of the announcements, he just wanted to know his assignment. So, so badly. His heart was pounding so hard it hurt.
The King made a speech about the young people in the kingdom coming to an important part in their lives, but Luke was hardly listening. He was straining to see which knights were in the line up, which ones would be taking pages this year. Of course, being a knight's page was essentially being their bitch, but that all went away when you earned your spurs. Then you were a real knight, and you didn't have to listen to anyone.
Finally the boring speech came to an end, the King gesturing to the line up of knights. "I'm sure everyone would like to know who will be assigned to knights this year, so we'll be doing that first." he nodded. He pulled out the scroll and unfurled it, naming pair after pair.
Luke's heart sunk deeper with every name. Every name that wasn't his meant there was one less knight in need of a protege. One less spot for him. His heart sunk lower and lower until he was sure there was nothing left for him. One name left to be called, and it wouldn't be his. He turned away, wooden sword dragging behind him pathetically.
The king's voice boomed out over the crowd. "And the last of the knights, Luke Hayfeild has been assigned to Sir Aron! Pages, please come around to meet your knights, living arrangements will be discussed shortly after the ceremony.."
Luke's heart leapt, a wild grin on his face as he hurried around the back of the set-up to see the knight he was to be paging for until he was old enough for his spurs. The knight he would be living with, following around. Suddenly his future seemed a lot brighter, and Luke had never been so excited.
Luke had been waiting for this day for a long, long time. Finally, he was old enough to be given a position. 12 was the youngest you could be accepted as a page, or a mage's apprentice or any kind of position in the caste, really. And all the 12 year old children in the village were invited to the castle for a big party in which the chosen children got their assigned jobs.
He had been practising his whole life. His father had crafted him a little wooden sword for his sixth birthday, and the trusty thing had been his companion since. He had tried to learn to parry and to fight. Being a knight was all he had ever wanted; all he had ever wanted to be. His parents were bakers. Nice people. He was the youngest of ten, and because of this he always got stuck with the boring, mundane jobs. Carrying the flour. Rolling the dough. It was so unexciting, and the boy lusted after adventure and excitement. So, he had put all his energy into this.
he was tall for his age, build well from packing around enormous bags of flour or sugar. Dirty blonde hair hung in his bright eyes, overdue for a cut, but he could never sit still long enough for his mother to get out the scissors and cut it back. She had been scolding him for it just this morning, claiming that nobody would want him working in the palace with such a messy little mop, but...well, he would deal with that then. If they wanted him to cut his hair to be a knight, he would do it, no questions asked.
He scurried into line with all the other kids, pushing his way to the front. Everybody was shouting and fooling around, but as soon as the trumpets blew, there was complete and total silence. The King and Queen took their places on the thrones, the knights and mages filtering after. Stretching to try and see the knights over the crowd, Luke nearly tripped over the wooden sword he still had at his side. He didn't want to listen to all the rest of the announcements, he just wanted to know his assignment. So, so badly. His heart was pounding so hard it hurt.
The King made a speech about the young people in the kingdom coming to an important part in their lives, but Luke was hardly listening. He was straining to see which knights were in the line up, which ones would be taking pages this year. Of course, being a knight's page was essentially being their bitch, but that all went away when you earned your spurs. Then you were a real knight, and you didn't have to listen to anyone.
Finally the boring speech came to an end, the King gesturing to the line up of knights. "I'm sure everyone would like to know who will be assigned to knights this year, so we'll be doing that first." he nodded. He pulled out the scroll and unfurled it, naming pair after pair.
Luke's heart sunk deeper with every name. Every name that wasn't his meant there was one less knight in need of a protege. One less spot for him. His heart sunk lower and lower until he was sure there was nothing left for him. One name left to be called, and it wouldn't be his. He turned away, wooden sword dragging behind him pathetically.
The king's voice boomed out over the crowd. "And the last of the knights, Luke Hayfeild has been assigned to Sir Aron! Pages, please come around to meet your knights, living arrangements will be discussed shortly after the ceremony.."
Luke's heart leapt, a wild grin on his face as he hurried around the back of the set-up to see the knight he was to be paging for until he was old enough for his spurs. The knight he would be living with, following around. Suddenly his future seemed a lot brighter, and Luke had never been so excited.
♠ ♠ ♠
Awwh, little lukey is cute.