Malcolm makes a request

Malcolm pushed the door open hesitantly.

He could not understand how a man like the King could be such good friends with a man like the Earl. There was nothing he could see that the two had in common. The Earl was not a man at whom one could wink. It was always a great surprise to Malcolm merely to see him laugh. And today he certainly did not look as though he might laugh.

“What is it, Malcolm?” the Earl asked him without looking around.

“His Majesty said that if there were anything I needed from him, I should ask your lordship instead.”

“And what did you need from His Majesty? Would you care to sit down?”

Malcolm sat.

“Hilda has been riding my horse, my lord.”

“Do you mean Lady Ragnhild?”

Malcolm winced. “Aye. I mean, her ladyship has been riding my horse.”

“Well? Is your horse not gentle enough for a lady?”

“He’s a gentle horse, my lord, but he is my horse. My cousin Malcolm gave him to me. And I went out to saddle him today, and found him gone. And they told me that Hil – that Lady Ragnhild had taken him out, and that she has been taking him out these past days.”

“Shall I understand that her ladyship had not informed you that she has been riding your horse?”

“Her ladyship hasn’t to inform me! He’s my horse!” Malcolm cried, forgetting to be polite. “If she likes, she can ask me, and I shall say no, and that will be the end of it! But the grooms won’t do as I say, because I am only a boy, and Hilda is the wife of an English knight, even though my father is a Scottish lord.”

“Her ladyship’s father is a Norse baron.”

“Aye, but we are in Scotland now. And anyway, he is my horse, and no one else rides him except my cousin Baby, and only if I hold the bridle.”

“Would you like me to tell her ladyship so?”

“I suppose I can tell her that. I would like you to tell the grooms that Druid is not to be saddled for anyone but me. That way, if she is not an honorable lady and tries to ride my horse anyway, they won’t allow it.”

“Are you asking me to make arrangements against the possibility that her ladyship is not an honorable lady?” the Earl asked gravely.

Malcolm squirmed in his chair. He already had reason to believe that her ladyship was not an honorable lady. But of course, a gentleman couldn’t say so. “No…”

“I shall inform the grooms. Her ladyship is not the only one who might desire to ride your horse. But I believe that you will find that if you ask her kindly, she will not take your horse in the future. However, you might consider simply allowing her to do so, if he is as gentle as I believe, as a favor to a lady.”

He didn’t understand! This wasn’t a book that Hilda was borrowing – it was a horse! His horse! That his cousin Malcolm had captured from an Irishman and brought to him!

And she wasn’t a lady! Not really. Indeed, Malcolm suspected she was riding Druid merely to spite him.

“I thank you for your assistance,” Malcolm said politely. “May I go?”

“You may go. And be a good boy,” he added as Malcolm went out.

A good boy! He was ten-​​and-​​a-​​half years old! What did he expect him to do? Steal cake out of the kitchen? It was difficult to believe the Earl had ever been a boy at all, so little did he understand.