LOUISA/CRANE-3

THE BOY IN THE OAK TREE


When Sir DiMather and Crane arrived at their destination, they were warmly welcomed by Sir Remmington Poe, a tall young man of twenty whose blue shoulder length hair was neatly tied in a ponytail with a purple bandana around his forehead.

"I've heard a lot about you, young Crane", Sir Remmington smiled, shaking Crane's hand vigorously.
"I am very honored to have the son of the Knight Superior as my page."

"I give you permission to be strict with him when necessary", Sir diMather smiled back, putting a hand on Crane's shoulder. "He's a very spirited boy, and he tends to be very headstrong on some ocassions."

"Good to hear", Sir Remmington laughed. "By the way,
how's your pretty daughter? What was her name again?"

"Louisa ", Crane answered this time. "She's in the Royal Academy of Music as we speak."

"-Lovely name... must be around 13 or 14 by this time. Any suitors?"

Why is he so particular about ME?, Crane said in her thoughts, annoyed.

"I made her promise not to entertain any while attending to her studies!" ,
Sir DiMather blurted out, to Crane's surprise. "You would do well NOT to think about courting my girl, Remmington, I tell you. And I believe I'm not a very nice future father-in-law!"

"Protective aren't you?", Sir Remmington said. "'To tell you honestly, nothing would
make me happier than to meet such a talented young girl like your daughter and
ask for her hand in marriage-"

WHAAAAT!!??, Crane thought again, her ears burning. The nerve of this dumbass...

"I am serious, William" , Sir Remmington added . "As a knight of the Lucian Order, I would one day love to present myself to your daughter for her hand according to the old tradition. Besides that, Prince Carroll's prediction for me the other day was good enough to make me confident to make this offer to you in person, considering that such a union, if fulfilled, can form a great bond between the houses of DiMather and Poe, don't you think?"

"I have no doubt about that", Sir DiMather agreed, with a twinkle in his eyes, forgetting that his daughter , masquerading as his son, was with them.

"My sister's hand will only be given to the duelist who will defeat me ", Crane spoke, looking sharply at Sir Remmington. "I wouldn't want HER to end up with just ANY man, particularly if he's a weakling."

"You have to be a knight first before you can accept duels", Sir Remmington said, putting his hand on Crane's head. ''And to be a knight, you must first work as a page under me, and then as a squire to another knight, according to tradition. For one thing though, I like your fiery attitude...but try not to be too fiery, I tell you. You have to keep that temper in check. "

"I'm hoping Crane won't be too much trouble for you", Sir DiMather grinned,
pinching Crane's right cheek lightly.

Sir Remmington then led Sir DiMather and Crane to their room, where they would be staying forthe night. As agreed, Sir DiMather would leave Crane under Sir Remmington's care, which meant that Sir DiMather would no longer be around for Crane's training as a page- which was the first step to knighthood. Basically, Crane was now officially Sir Remmington's servant boy, with responsibilities that included being the latter's armor-bearer, messenger and carrier.

__________________________________________________________________


In the morning that followed, upon her rising, Crane discovered that her father had left her already, seeing Sir DiMather's empty stable later on. Hoping to make a good start for the day, Crane went out to the castle garden, just out of habit, to make some body stretches and to take in some fresh morning air.

Positioning herself under a tall oak tree, Crane closed her eyes and stood with her back against the tree's cool trunk. Just then, Crane opened her eyes and looked straight up to where a young boy
her age sat on one of the tree's branches, with eyes closed, looking very carefree.

"How reckless!", Crane called out, wanting to get the boy's attention.
"You could fall off if you're not careful!"

Still the boy did not stir, and this annoyed Crane very much.

"I don't want to be responsible if you fall down and get yourself hurt!", Crane called out again.
"Can't you even hear me?!"

"I can hear you alright", the boy finally spoke, with his eyebrows meeting.
"What an annoying voice by the way... "

"So what if I'm annoying?", Crane said back.
"At least I'm being annoying for a good reason!"


"I'm not in the mood to listen to someone bossing me around in the early morning",
said the boy in a very dignified manner, still with eyes closed. "Just leave me alone before I-"

Without a warning, Crane's slipper came flying straight from where she stood and it hit the boy's right cheek as targeted. It was not that strong a hit but still good enough to get the boy to react appropriately

"What gives?!", the boy exclaimed, with a hand on his cheek.
"You'll see why you shouldn't have done tha-"

Crane saw the boy struggling to find his balance as he stood up on the branch, but then, the worst happened, to Crane's dismay, as the boy in question lost his footing and fell down headfirst.

Crane raised her arms to catch the boy just as he was about to make contact with her, and fortunately for him, Crane was able to catch him just in time -but in such an undignifying position, on Crane's part.

A few seconds post-impact, Crane found herself lying on the ground with the boy,
whom she thought was blind,on top of her, with the side of his face right on her chest.

And THAT really freaked her out.

"So I really fell", the boy said, getting up with his hand around his neck,
while Crane just lay there, speechless for a while.

And next, without thinking, Crane hit the boy on his head, knocking him out cold the way she wanted it. Breathing nervously, she then checked to see if the guy was really unconscious and when she was raelly sure, she dragged him by his shoulders to a spot under the oak tree where he could be easily found by whoever was responsible for him.

"I swear...", Crane spoke under bated breath, with an arm covering her chest.
"...never to let ANY man come near me like this again!"