Everdog: Tale of the First Female Knight

Chapter 07 - The Real Nightmare

His solid arms were against her throat, slowly stifling her of oxygen. Too weak to fight against Sir Williams, Everin leaned against the wall trying to keep her consciousness. Sir Williams retracted his other hand into a fist. How dare this lowly creature attack Sir Lee? This creature was nothing but a petty thief that couldn't resist the urge to steal.

"Sir Williams, release him!" Sir Lee ordered shocked by Sir Williams's hostile behavior.

The lad futilely clawed Sir William's arm, but Sir Williams tightened his lock. He didn't want to release the lad, it didn't deserve Sir Lee's attention or protection.

"William, I said release him!" Sir Lee demanded.

Sir Williams released the feeble creature and the creature dropped to the ground. It coughed and gasped for air. Sir Lee bent down to check on the lad's condition.

"Are you injured?" Sir Lee asked the lad.

"...," The lad gave him no response.

From the looks of its face, Sir Lee could tell that the lad was very ill. Its face was covered in sweat and it was clutching its abdomen in pain.

"Someone!" Sir Lee called out for a servant. Miss Lucy, who heard Sir Lee, came running down the hall. When she saw the lad collapsed on the ground, she immediately rushed over.

"He is in pain. Bring him to his quarters." Sir Lee ordered.

Miss Lucy wrapped the lad's arm around her shoulders and aided the lad to its quarters. The two knights watched as Miss Lucy and the sickly lad disappeared down the hall. Sir Lee was displeased with Sir Williams's hasty decision.

"He posed no threat. There was no need for you to react that way."

"He attacked you."

"He was protecting himself." If Sir Lee hadn't stop Sir Williams in time, Sir Williams would have killed the lad.

"Sir Lee, the lad is not to be trusted." Sir Williams cautioned. "I caught him trying to steal from the infirmary."

"The lad was stealing from the infirmary?" Sir Lee tried to organize his thoughts. The lad did look ill, it must have been searching for some medicine before getting caught by Sir Williams. Since Sir Williams oversaw the residence infirmary, anything that goes in and out of the infirmary doesn't go without his notice. With his kept personality, he did have everything in there accounted for.

"Thankfully, the lad wasn't able to take anything." Sir Williams informed Sir Lee. Aside from catching the lad, Sir Williams also took the liberty to punish the lad with garberobe duties for the remaining weeks.

Sir Lee heaved and headed back to his office. There was no time to discuss about the lad's punishment. The lad had left empty handed which meant that it was still in pain. Sir Williams might be unwilling to offer the lad medicine from the infirmary, but Sir Lee had his own storage of medical herbs which he kept for personal use. This was the least that he could do for the lad.

The two knights stood in the hallways of the servant quarters waiting for Miss Lucy who was tending the lad in the closet sized room. Sir Lee hasn't spoken a word since delivering the medicine and Sir Williams was growing weary of waiting for Sir Lee to speak.

"Why are you worrying over the lad? He is mere a servant, a criminal." Sir Williams said not understanding why Sir Lee was so persistent on protecting the lad.

Sir Lee knew Sir Williams would react in such way. "The lad is my guest and I am not fond of the way you treated him. On another topic, I am more concerned about you. Killing a servant is not something that a knight should do."