in the air, trying to avoid the feet of those who sought to trip him. No one was quite sure how the game had come into existence, or exactly what the rules were, but the boys played with battlefield intensity, as their fathers had years before.
Pug ran onto the field and placed a foot before Rulf just as he was about to hit Tomas from behind. Rulf went down in a tangle of bodies, and Tomas broke free. He ran toward the goal and, dropping the ball in front of himself, kicked it into a large overturned barrel, scoring for his side. While other boys yelled in celebration, Rulf leaped to his feet and pushed aside another boy to place himself directly in front of Pug. Glaring out from under thick brows, he spat at Pug, ‘Try that again and I’ll break your legs, sand squint!’ The sand squint was a bird of notoriously foul habits – not the least of which was leaving eggs in other birds’ nests so that its offspring were raised by other birds. Pug was not about to let any insult of Rulf’s pass unchallenged. With the frustrations of the last few months only a little below the surface, Pug was feeling particularly thin-skinned this day.
With a leap he flew at Rulf’s head, throwing his left arm around the stockier boy’s neck. He drove his right fist into Rulf’s face and could feel Rulf’s nose squash under the first blow. Quickly both boys were rolling on the ground. Rulf’s greater weight began to tell, and soon he sat astride Pug’s chest, driving his fat fists into the smaller boy’s face.
Tomas stood by helpless, for as much as he wanted to aid his friend, the boys’ code of honor was as strict and inviolate as any noble’s. Should he intervene on his friend’s behalf, Pug would never live down the shame. Tomas jumped up and down, urging Pug on, grimacing each time Pug was struck, as if he felt the blows himself.
Pug tried to squirm out from under the larger boy, causing many of his blows to slip by, striking dirt instead of Pug’s face. Enough of them were hitting the mark, however, so that Pug soon began to feel a queer detachment from the whole procedure. He thought it strange that everybody sounded so far away, and that Rulf’s blows seemed not to hurt. His vision was beginning to fill with red and yellow colors, when he felt the weight lifted from his chest.
After a brief moment things came into focus, and Pug saw Prince Arutha standing over him, his hand firmly grasping Rulf’s collar. While not as powerful a figure as his brother or father, the Prince was still able to hold Rulf high enough so that the stableboy’s toes barely touched the ground. The Prince smiled, but without humor. ‘I think the boy has had enough,’ he said quietly, eyes glaring. ‘Don’t you agree?’ His cold tone made it clear he wasn’t asking for an opinion. Blood still ran down Rulf’s face from Pug’s initial blow as he choked out a sound the Prince took to mean agreement. Arutha let go of Rulf’s collar, and the stableboy fell backward, to the laughter of the onlookers. The Prince reached down and helped Pug to his feet.
Holding the wobbly boy steady, Arutha said, ‘I admire your courage, youngster, but we can’t have the wits beaten out of the Duchy’s finest young magician, can we?’ His tone was only slightly mocking, and Pug was too numb to do more than stand and stare at the younger son of the Duke. The Prince gave him a slight smile and handed him over to Tomas, who had come up next to Pug, a wet cloth in hand.
Pug came out of his fog as Tomas scrubbed his face with the cloth, and felt even worse when he saw the Princess and Roland standing only a few feet away as Prince Arutha returned to their side. To take a beating before the girls of the keep was bad enough; to be punished by a lout like Rulf in front of the Princess was a catastrophe.
Emitting a groan that had little to do with his physical state, Pug tried to look as much like someone else as he could. Tomas grabbed him roughly. ‘Try not to squirm around so much. You’re not all that bad off. Most of this blood is Rulf’s anyway. By tomorrow his nose will look like an angry red cabbage.’
‘So will my head.’
‘Nothing so bad. A black eye, perhaps two, with a swollen cheek thrown in to the bargain. On the whole, you did rather well, but next time you want to tangle with Rulf, wait until you’ve put on a little more size, will you?’ Pug watched as the Prince led his sister away from the site of battle. Roland gave him a wide grin, and Pug wished himself dead.
Pug and Tomas walked out of the kitchen, dinner plates in hand. It was a warm night, and they preferred the cooling ocean breeze to the heat of the scullery. They sat on the porch, and Pug moved his jaw from side to side, feeling it pop in and out. He experimented with a bite of lamb and put his plate to one side.
Tomas watched him. ‘Can’t eat?’
Pug nodded. ‘Jaw hurts too much.’ He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and chin on his fists. ‘I should have kept my temper. Then I would have done better.’
Tomas spoke from around a mouthful of food. ‘Master Fannon says a soldier must keep a cool head at all times or he’ll lose it.’
Pug sighed. ‘Kulgan said something like that. I have some drills I can do that make me relax. I should have used them.’
Tomas gulped a heroic portion of his meal. ‘Practicing in your room is one thing. Putting that sort of business into use while someone is insulting you to your face is quite another. I would have done the same thing, I suppose.’
‘But you would have won.’
‘Probably. Which is why Rulf would never have come at me.’ His manner showed he wasn’t being boastful, merely stating things as they were. ‘Still, you did all right. Old cabbage nose will think twice before picking on you again, I’m sure, and that’s what the whole thing is about, anyway.’
Pug said, ‘What do you mean?’
Tomas put down his plate and belched. With a satisfied look at the sound of it, he said, ‘With bullies it’s always the same: whether or not you can best them doesn’t matter. What is important is whether or not you’ll stand up to them. Rulf may be big, but he’s a coward under all the bluster. He’ll turn his attention to the younger boys now and push them around a bit. I don’t think he’ll want any part of you again. He doesn’t like the price.’ Tomas gave Pug a broad and warm smile. ‘That first punch you gave him was a beaut. Right square on the beak.’
Pug felt a little better. Tomas eyed Pug’s untouched dinner. ‘You going to eat that?’
Pug looked at his plate. It was fully laden with hot lamb, greens, and potatoes. In spite of the rich smell, Pug felt no appetite. ‘No, you can have it.’
Tomas scooped up the platter and began shoving the food into his mouth. Pug smiled. Tomas had never been known to stint on food.
Pug returned his gaze to the castle wall. ‘I felt like such a fool.’
Tomas stopped eating, with a handful of meat halfway to his mouth. He studied Pug for a moment. ‘You too?’
‘Me too, what?’
Tomas laughed. ‘You’re embarrassed because the Princess saw Rulf give you a thrashing.’
Pug bridled. ‘It wasn’t a thrashing. I gave as well as I got!’
Tomas whooped. ‘There! I knew it. It’s the Princess.’
Pug sat back in resignation. ‘I suppose it is.’
Tomas said nothing, and Pug looked over at him. He was busy finishing off Pug’s dinner. Finally Pug said, ‘And I suppose you don’t like her?’
Tomas
