“I request that you accompany for a walk now my retainer”

“Of course my lady”

As I walk on the path through the garden’s of the wyleven estate I find myself troubled. This retainer of mine follows my will but is that all there is to

it, my intuition has never failed me and it screams that there is more to him. He is not just a simple retainer knight bound by duty, what is his

motivation in serving me. He could easily have brushed me off with saying some excuse that actually has credence but does not. All the provocation I

heaped on him for a reaction does nothing, no purchase in the armour of his face or posture.

“Please procure for me an apple my retainer”

“Of course my lady but would that not ruin your appetite for the tea party later today?”

“What tea party my knight?”

“Why the tea party that mother wishes to know if we want to have”

“Ahhhh that, perhaps I won’t have it today. I want a bit of a change of pace today now about getting me that apple there” ‘Perhaps I can find out more of him from this move, or not since he has not revealed much yet so far the other times’

‘His attitude is strange, he has this wry smile that worries me. I doubt that he has any malicious thoughts towards me but this is too indulgent, I feel he is treating me a little too relaxed or dignified despite how I have been so far”

“Of course my lady” ‘Tuwonk’ ‘Plop’

“Did you just knock an apple off a tree with a knife?”

“Yes my lady, it would be an issue if I had to climb a tree and cause the need to change my clothes. That would be more of a burden on the maids then needed and as I had some of my equipment on me I felt that this was the simple solution”

‘There he goes with that weird wry smile again, he has some inner joke he is amused with but I can’t be sure if I am the but of it’

‘Very well then’ as I take the apple he offers me, hmm looks like they put some effort into gardening, this apple is just ripe and sweet enough, though that could be why there are only a few left on these trees in the first place.

“Will you be needing a handkerchief my lady?”

“Very well then” ‘How many hidden items does he have on him, that looks like a normal training jacket yet he has pulled out so many items so far in addition to these ones just now’

“That jacket of yours intrigues me, what is it made of?”

“Normal cloth and leather my lady though there are many pockets and pouches to contain my practice weights. I simply took advantage and had

some more added to carry anything I need, and the throwing knives are part of a harness I also wear as part of my daily wear to familiarize myself

for the future”

“A knight with throwing knives is not very chivalrous now is it?”

“Our family while a martial noble house still keeps a number of traditions from before our founding along with customs taken in overtime, all for the benefit of improving ourselves to better aid the country of course”

‘That smooth line and smile, along with all the things he has done already. I need to keep my eye on him as much as possible’

“Do you enjoy being able to accomplish and surpass anything that happens to occur?”

“I simply feel that one should always be ready, inability to guard against the uncertainties of the future will only lead to sorrow”

“Then would you never be able to rest, you cannot ever hold against the future not if you are not a grand prophet or oracle”

“That is true but simply to lie down in the face of adversity will not allow people to prosper, one must work hard in order to care for the people around them and themselves lest they find themselves regretting that they did not do what they could have done beforehand”

‘An interesting worldview, wonder how he could have gained such a thing, hmmm’

“Your hand my lady, it is time that we move on or do you wish to enjoy the smell on the wind of the garden some more?”

‘His hand is stretched out before me, it is a hand that is already calloused heavily at his age with some scars on it as well. If it was a noble in a noble

house their hands would be nowhere near this state, the hands they would have would be unblemished and cared for; a dainty thing smooth to the

touch for both men and woman’

“Very well then let us move on, that would be for the best now”

“Of course by your will my lady”

‘That attitude again, why are you so self-confident and assured of yourself, two years age difference is not enough to be this different now would it? Then again it appears that neither of us are so simple, an interesting point to ponder with this man that will be by my side till the end. This superior attitude is tiring to keep and I doubt he is truly effected, I should just give it up as I am not getting a rile out of him. A rather rough strategy to get a reaction which failed miserably, I wanted to find out as quickly as possible if he had a bad attitude or not. Much as I hate to admit it he is much more experienced in general than I am, he did not even lay a finger on me during the training he oversaw for me but I still feel so weak. My spells did not faze him and I feel as if he was not giving much effort in spite of everything I threw at him. Still I found out some important things, he is relatively tolerant and is confident in his skills with reason. Good traits to have in a guardian knight, the rest I can find out in the future but here is to hoping he has no deviances I should be wary of’