Free The Baron's Quest by Elizabeth Rose Page B

talking about?”
    “Henry, the kitchen servant who carves the meat just the way you like it. It’s him. You do remember him, don’t you? He also makes that tart with fish and fruit that you like so much.”
    “Of course I remember him. He’s better with a knife than any of the Carvers, and no one can come close making the Tart de brymlent that I love so well. Now what about Henry?” Nicholas was getting hungry just thinking about his favorite meal.
    “He’s up to his old tricks again.”
    “Tricks? What tricks? What in bloody hell are you trying to say?”
    “I’m trying to tell you that your servant has run away. He’s been seen in town, and is obviously hiding out, wanting to become a free man.”
    “Bid the devil! Not again. This is the third time this year.” Nicholas ran a weary hand over his face. “We need to find him and bring him back immediately.” Nicholas’s stomach growled at the disappointment. “Why the hell are you just standing there, squire? Get my horse from the dock stables and let’s go. I’ll not lose my servants to the town and have no one left to work in my manor. Now hurry up, I say. This is important.”
    “Aye, my lord.” His squire nodded but just stood there.
    “Why are you still standing there?”
    “I’m being calm, my lord. Just like you.” The boy looked up and smiled and Nicholas reached out and swatted him on the head.
    “Point made, you fool. Now if you want to remain my squire and continue in training to someday become a knight, I suggest you do as ordered. Because I won’t have a slow squire, no matter how much noble blood flows through your veins. Now go!”
    “Aye milord, right away!” Roger ran through the crowd, bumping into people along the way. He knocked into a merchant carrying a basket of fruit, and it spilled at his feet, with apples rolling across the dock. He stopped and quickly helped the man scoop it up before he shouted out once again. “Out of my way, everyone. I’m on a mission. Move aside, the baron is coming through!”
    Nicholas just shook his head and smiled. He remembered when he was young, he was a lot like this boy. Roger was wild at times, but had potential to be a good knight some day.
    He looked over to the marshlands he owned, feeling bad that no sheep grazed in the pasture. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the girl’s ring and held it between his fingers. It sparkled in the sunlight, a gem in the rough. Just like her. He jammed it onto his little finger and headed towards the stable.
    It had been a long two days, but the girl’s time was up. He would stop at her home while he was in town, and today she would give him his answer.
     
    * * *
     
    “Muriel, you really should take the baron’s offer,” said Cecily, as she and Muriel made their way through the streets of the town, trying to sell some of her belongings. Her brother was up ahead, having had more luck than them. He’d managed to sell off their table and benches on Tanner’s Row. It was a smelly, disgusting part of town, and the people who could be found lingering in the streets could not be trusted. Muriel was thankful Isaac hadn’t been robbed on his way back. They were now headed down Brewers Street.
    She didn’t usually go to this end of town. Her shop was a two-storey stone and wood building, like the rest of the establishments in town. The Carpenters’ Guild and the Stone Masons’ Guild had been commissioned to do the work and keep up repairs as well. All the shops on each street were connected in a row. The second storey extended far out over the first, and often times people cut holes in the eaves to use as their privy. One never walked directly under these overhangs, because if so, they might end up covered in urine or feces.
    “I won’t go work at the castle as nothing more than a servant,” complained Muriel, holding up her skirts, making her way through the sludge-filled streets. She wore pattens, or wooden platforms on her feet that were