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 The
Stoneholding - page
8
man, lumbering his way towards the top of the stairs like an unchained
bear.
"Where in creation did he come from? I could fit two of me in his
breeches!" Cammas said under his breath.
A mountain indeed, unnerving too, for Frysan remembered vividly that
he had met this Captain Baldrick one time before -- on parade four years
ago when he had been inducted into the ranks of the Life Guardsmen, just
before they were disbanded and banished from their barracks near the Silver
Palace, forced to reassemble their ranks secretly at a hidden spot in
the countryside outside of Dinas Antrum. It was this Captain Baldrick
who had personally welcomed the new recruits for King Colurian, taking
their oath of fealty on his behalf.
The occasion stood out in Frysan's mind. He had been a smooth-faced nondescript
youth then, slighter and less muscular, but hampered by a noticeable limp,
for he had badly torn a tendon in his heel during a training session in
the tiltyard the day before. When his name was called, he hobbled up to
the dais. There had been a moment of discomfort when their eyes met and
Captain Baldrick asked gruffly what ailed him, since all the other newly
minted guardsmen were stepping up smartly to receive their commission. Frysan's
answer was brief'no more than a phrase. The big man nodded and then Frysan
placed his hands between the Captain's and swore his oath. He withdrew to
let the next man in line do the same. It had been a long and tedious ceremony.
There were many that had pledged their fealty that day, including soldiers
from other regiments, a great number of them already in the direct employ
of the Mindal. Now Frysan hoped he was a long-forgotten face to ...
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