Page 64 of Raven's Rise
“I decided it was safe enough.” She stepped up to them both and put her hands out. The boy stared at her in wonder.
“What’s your name?” she asked the boy as she helped him up. It occurred to Rafe that he hadn’t thought to ask the same simple question.
“Goswin, my lady,” he said, offering a clumsy bow as soon as he was on his feet.
“Goswin, you must not fight Sir Rafe. You wouldn’t win, and to go in hoping for death is no better than suicide. Would your brother have wanted for you to die like this?”
“I’ve got nothing left, my lady,” Goswin protested. “Nothing.”
“You have your life, do you not? Come with us, at least as far as the next town.”
“Withus?” Rafe said. “How do we know he won’t stab me in my sleep?”
“Because Goswin will not break a promise to me,” Angelet said.
“He’s made no promise.”
She asked the boy, “Goswin, will you promise me that you will not hurt or kill Sir Rafe?”
“Or Lady Angelet,” Rafe added.
The boy looked between them, torn, then looked back at Angelet and whispered, “Yes, my lady.”
“Excellent.” She smiled at Goswin. “And I promise to protect you while we travel together. You know, you’re not much older than my son.”
Goswin was startled, casting looks between Rafe and Angelet. “You’ve got children?” he asked.
Rafe was about to correct the boy’s misapprehension that Rafe and Angelet were married. But then he caught Angelet’s quick shake of the head. She put a hand out to touch Goswin’s arm, and captured the boy’s attention again.
“Henry is just ten years old now, and we’re going to fetch him from his foster family. I wish you could meet him. But you can’t do that if you die in some foolish duel of honor. Understand?”
The boy nodded, his big eyes locked on Angelet’s face. Rafe guessed that he’d agree to practically anything she asked by this point.
She looked about. “Surely you didn’t run after us?”
“I hid my pony in the woods,” he said, pointing to the left side of the road.
“Then retrieve him and let’s get moving again. We have a long way to go.”
“Where are you going?”
“We’ll discuss that on the way,” Rafe said, still not trusting the boy.
While Goswin left to fetch his hidden horse, Angelet said to Rafe, “It’s all right if we keep him close, isn’t it? Better to know where he is.”
That was true. Rafe said, “He can come along for a while. I certainly don’t want him wandering around, telling anyone who asks that he’s seen us.”
Angelet smiled, pleased at his agreement.
They continued on, now with the addition of Goswin. Angelet, fortunately, seemed to have a knack for handling the boy. She suggested he ride ahead a little in order to scout out any potential dangers. “Would you do that for me?” she asked.
Of course the boy would. He was already urging his horse faster before Angelet got the whole request out.
“Stay in sight!” she called out after him.
“Why did you do that?” Rafe asked.
“Children like to be given responsibility…and that boy needs to feel useful, considering his bold quest for vengeance just got thwarted.”
