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 shrugged. Between bites he said, “Our Lady Carline is pretty enough, but I know my place. I have my eye on someone else, anyway.”
Pug sat up. “Who?” he asked, his curiosity piqued.
“I’m not saying,” Tomas said with a sly smile.
Pug laughed. “It’s Neala, right?”
Tomas’s jaw dropped. “How did you know?”
Pug tried to look mysterious. “We magicians have our ways.”
Tomas snorted. “Some magician. You’re no more a magician than I am a Knight-Captain of the King’s army. Tell me, how did you know?”
Pug laughed. “It’s no mystery. Every time you see her, you puff up in that tabard of yours and preen like a bantam rooster.”
Tomas looked troubled “You don’t think she’s on to me, do you?”
Pug smiled like a well-fed cat “She’s not on to you, I’m sure.” He paused. “If she’s blind, and all the other girls in the keep haven’t pointed it out to her a hundred times already.”
A woebegone look crossed Tomas’s face. “What must the girl think?”
Pug said, “Who knows what girls think? From everything I can tell, she probably likes it.”
Tomas looked thoughtfully at his plate “Do you ever think about taking a wife?”
Pug blinked like an owl caught in a bright light. “I . . . I never thought about it. I don’t know if magicians marry. I don’t think they do.”
“Nor soldiers, mostly. But Master Fannon says a soldier who thinks about his family is not thinking about his job.” Tomas was silent for a minute.
Pug said, “It doesn’t seem to hamper Sergeant Gardan or some of the other soldiers.”
Tomas snorted, as if those exceptions merely proved his point. “I sometimes try to imagine what it would be like to have a family.”
“You have a family, stupid. I’m the orphan here.”