Garinor looked from the guardsman to his weeping mother to the unfinished piece of toast in his hand. Something wasn’t right about this whole thing. He took another bite of his toast, trying to decide what to do. He looked over at his mother’s terrified face.
“Mother, what does the letter say?”
The guardsman interrupted. “It is none of your concern. You must simply come with me.”
Garinor set down the last bit of his breakfast and stood up as if he was ready to comply, but he had other ideas in mind. He wanted to know what was in that letter. He approached his mother with a look in his eyes like he was going to say good-bye. But as he reached down to embrace her, he snatched the letter from her hand and darted away.
The guard called out in protest and shouted in a tone that sent chills down Garinor’s spine. Nonetheless, he darted toward his room, determined to at least find out what words had made his mother cry, even if he needed to escape through his window to do it.
He dashed around the table and sprinted for his room. His mother cried out for him to stop and to obey the command of the king, but he didn’t hear her properly. His feet thundered on the wooden floor. But the steps were drowned out by louder footfalls. The guardsman was faster, by far. He was no mere trainee. He was apparently a full-fledged warrior with great agility. Even in his leather armor, he intercepted the fleeing boy with ease.
“Such actions do not shine well upon you, boy,” he scolded as he wrestled Garinor still with one hand and dislodged the king’s letter with the other.
Moments later, Garinor stopped struggling and he crumpled to the ground with a sigh.
The guard took pity on him. “I understand why you might try to flee, son. This is all sudden and confusing. But you must come without a fuss.” He placed the letter on the table out of Garinor’s reach. He then looked at Luinna and beseeched her, “Perhaps you could console your son?”
The woman shook her head slowly, which Garinor could not see. She seemed to be fighting against words that wanted to surface on their own. “Son,” she said, “don’t resist. Do as he says.”
The fight had gone out of him anyway. He nodded slowly and looked up at the guard. “When do we go?”
“We go now,” he answered immediately. “And I will overlook this transgression. But not another one, so stay in line.”
“I will,” Garinor promised. He went over to his mother and he kissed her good-bye, promising he would be home soon. This seemed to bring more tears to her eyes, but he wasn’t sure why.
A firm hand gripped his shoulder and the guard then turned him about and escorted him from his home.