<font color=#3a4c16 face=times size=2>we shall keep the shield wall fast</font>

we shall keep the shield wall fast
IP: 82.19.140.112
Posted on June 19, 2013 at 00:11:42 AM by t r i s t a n

It wasn�t what he had wanted to hear. How long had Tarquin been laughing behind his back in the knowledge that he had been tormenting Thoth for years? What kind of a prince was he if he couldn�t even protect his best friend from someone like that? It was a good job that Tarquin had left, because Tristan thought he might have punched him. He couldn�t remember wanting to do that before, not really. �Why didn�t you tell me?� he heard himself asking, without realising when he had decided to speak or what to ask, �didn�t you trust me?� Tris wanted to be able to understand. It wasn�t an accusation, the tone of his voice portrayed that much, containing only a stiff kind of curiosity. He had never been bullied. Being the heir to the throne probably went some way to help with that, but he had learned enough from his interactions with his peers at court that even if he hadn�t been royalty, he was not the kind of child who was likely to attract them. He had Thoth had always shared a sense of adventure and a curiosity that had often lead them into trouble. Their interests differed, the prince rarely read non-fiction for pleasure and was at his happiest when on horseback or in the training yard. Thoth�s love of books had never seemed weird to Tristan, it was just part of who his friend was, and he had always been that way. It had not occurred to him that others might not have been so accepting. He could not work out whether he should be annoyed at himself for not realising, or whether considering that the way Thoth was might have been perceived as odd would have been an insult to their friendship. Tristan was inclined towards the latter, but he should have noticed. He really should have done.

The cook had called him self-absorbed a good few times. On some occasions she had known he was there, and on others she hadn�t. She threw a lot of words around about him, arrogant and cocky being another couple of choice favourites, and Tristan hadn�t really given any of them much thought before. Was he really self-absorbed? Was that why he had failed to notice what was happening between Thoth and Tarquin? He had been content, even if Tarquin sometimes was irritating he was good to compete against when they trained with the sergeant of arms, or practiced jousting. In fact, in those situations finding him annoying was actually helpful...it meant you hit harder. Tristan glanced at Thoth and saw him shivering, and took a steadying sigh before suggesting that they wander back towards the castle. He would have recommended that they go and get a hot drink from the kitchens, but he didn�t think that he would be especially welcome down there yet. The puppies, who had been playing in the shallows noticed that Tristan was leaving and charged after him with their too-big paws in order to trot beside by his ankles, one on each side.

The prince felt his temper flare again when Thoth explained what Tarquin had said, but again, despite everything, he managed to hold it in. There was a taught quality to his voice when he replied and his eyes were not as warm and inviting as usual, but he did his best. �Do you know how often the others at court claim things like that? If I listened to them, I�d have a new best friend every week. But you�re my best friend. Where were they when my brother died and my mother ran away or when we climbed that waterfall?� Shaking his head he offered Thoth a reassuring smile, half for his friend�s benefit and partly to distract himself from a renewed urge to hit Tarquin. �No.� Tristan responded, more firmly than Thoth. He reached out for his friend�s arm and pulled him to a stop half way down the corridor. The words he had been about to say however were cut short by Thoth�s latest revelation. Tristan frowned. When he spoke, his voice shook with suppressed fury, �how many times, Thoth?� he demanded before finally snapping. �I swear,� he stormed, his voice rising enough so that it seemed to echo around, �I�ll bury my fist in his fucking face.� Tristan paced up and down their patch of corridor as he tried to regain his composure. It was difficult. What he actually wanted to do was march off and find Tarquin, but his temper did not have the best of him to such an extent that he didn�t rapidly realise that that would be far less effective than the other things he could do. Tristan turned back to Thoth, �listen to me. When I�m finished with him, it won�t matter at all where I am, or where his father is. He will not touch you again.�

_{photography by Dominic�s pics | Mark Cutler at flickr.com}
Replies:

like a champion high diver, - By thoth June 19, 2013 at 04:10:58 AM

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