"Hey, Masbolle?"

"What is it Qasim?" Domitan of Masbolle turned towards the Bazhir tribesmen. His eyes were alight with excitement. He was nearly giddy. Dom found this extremely amusing as the Bazhir was never 'giddy' unless he was drunk.

The men were two of the newest to the King's Own. Qasim, who was in his late thirties was just completing his first year, Dom who was twenty had completed his first month. They found they liked each other's company, often discussing politics, strategy and, more than occasionally, women.

"There is a girl coming to the palace. To train as a knight! I did not think it would happen." Dom furrowed his eyebrows in surprise.

"Really? And how did you come by this interesting piece of information?"

"I heard my lord discussing it with Flyndan. Seems as though not many people in the palace know about it yet."

"Word will spread quickly. If it hasn't already." Dom turned back to the papers he was working on.

"Do you think she will make it?" Qasim asked. "I mean, not all of the boys do." Dow gripped the pen, his fingers suddenly white.

"If she puts in the work she will." He tried to write, but found he could barely move the pen. What was wrong with him? After all he knew a girl would come to the palace sooner or later. His uncle, Barid of Queenscove had told him (and the rest of the family) so countless times. After all countless boys had been pages…

He had been a page.

"Something wrong Masbolle?"

"What? Oh nothing Qasim. Just…lost in thought I guess."

"Hm. Well, we'll have to go and see if this girl is any good, eh. After all the Bazhir think of the Lioness as a hero. Maybe this girl will do just as well."

"Yes," said Dom, "it should be interesting to watch."

…..

Dom didn't remember much about his years as a page. He did not remember that he had had a lot of friends. He did not remember that as a first year he could best fourth years at tilting and archery. He did not remember that he had gone on when other pages washed out. He did not remember that even Lord Wyldon had, on many occasions, personally complimented him for his skills and chivalry.

When he had joined the Own he had washed out all of his memories of his time as a page. But there was one imbedded so deeply in his mind that he could never erase.

It had been in his second year as a page, just after the big examinations. There were no classes that day, and the pages still there had wandered through the halls or tested themselves out on fields against their peers. Dom remembered he had just won a tilting contest against a boy from Eerie Grove, when Laurence had approached him.

Laurence of Peregrine was, by any consideration, a model page, and Dom's idol. He was a fourth year who had passed his examinations with flying colors, and had received knight offers from both Gareth the Younger and the King. He was tall, with imperious blue eyes and a scar down his right cheek from a tussle with bandits the year before. He had sponsored Dom his first year as a page, teaching him the ropes and protecting him from…over zealous hazing. He believed in Dom, which was why Dom believed in himself.

"Masbolle," he called, his easy smile spreading over his face. Eagerly Dom got off his hose and raced over to the older boy, not even bothering to take off his padding.

"Laurence," he said happily, pretending to frown when the older boy tussled his hair. "How are you? Have you decided who you're going to squire for yet?"

"Oh, well, I think I'm going to wait for a field knight. I'm honored both the King and Sir Gareth want me as a Squire, but neither of them see much action."

"I understand," said Dom. Realizing he still wore his tilting gear, Dom began taking it off hurriedly. As he was bending down to remove his knee pads he felt the older boy's stare spreading over the back of his neck. "Laurence?" he asked.

"Hey Domitan, I want your help with something. Can you meet me and some other boys outside the library after dinner?" Dom grinned.

"You want my help?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes. I think so. Will you come?"

"Yeah, of course Laurence." The older boy grinned, tweaked Dom's nose and walked away, leaving him with a sense of pride he had never felt before.

There were three other boys with Laurence. Two of them were third year pages and the other was a Squire. None of them were very big, at least not as big as Laurence was. When Laurence gave their names Dom was surprised to find he had never heard of any of them before, and he only vaguely recognized their faces.

"Why did you bring the young one?" the squire asked, looking at Dom critically.

"He can help," said Laurence with a degree of authority. "Now come on, she'll be there any minute." The five of them walked nonchalantly past the library, following the hall way until they came to the stairwell that led to the part of the castle that housed the noble families. Waiting there, at the base of the steps, was a young girl of eleven.

She was skinny, but tall for her age, with mild brown eyes and a sharp, pointed chin. The other boys laughed when they saw her, though Dom couldn't tell why. The girl looked up excitedly when she saw them. Dom noticed she was holding a piece of paper in her hand, crumpled as though she had been clutching it nervously while waiting for them.

"Are you…are you the ones who left me this note?" she asked, her voice shy. The boys snickered while Laurence nodded, his face calm.

"Yes, we are." He turned towards the rest of them. "Gentlemen, this is lady Rosabelle. Now there is a rumor going around the palace that she wants to be a page next year and her parents are going to allow her to come and train with us." The boys burst out laughing. Dom stared at them, bewildered.

"And…?" he asked, failing to see what was so ridiculous about the situation.

"You said you were going to talk about it to me," piped up the girl, "it's in this note." Dom nodded, still failing to see what was so amusing. He thought it was right good of them to give the girl some pointers.

"Indeed," said Laurence, a smile forming on his face. "We thought it would be good to warn you…well…rather tell you, that you will not be a page next year."

The girl frowned. "Yes I am! Mommy and Daddy said I could, and I'm going to!" The three boys smirked, mimicking the girl's high pitched voice. Dom glared at them, disgusted by their childish behavior.

"That's not what I meant," continued Laurence. "What I meant was, we are not going to let you be a page next year." The girl clenched her fists.

"I don't care if you let me or not. I am going to be a page!" She stamped her foot, glaring angrily at the fourth year.

"Well, gentlemen, she's going to be a page," said Laurence reverently. "Then let us teach her the first lesson of being a page. And that is, when you get into a fight, always tell people you fell down." He nodded to the three other boys who took the girls and held her by her arms and shoulders, one of them clamping a hand over her mouth. Laurence stared at her, his face now dark. He turned to Dom who stood in shock when he saw what they were doing.

"No…no…" he stammered.

"What's wrong Dom?" Laurence asked.

"This is…this isn't right," his voice had begun to fail him. He looked at Laurence, not wanting to believe what they were about to do. "She's only a girl let, her be."

Laurence sighed and turned passively to Dom. "Look, I know what we're doing doesn't look right, but don't you see it's for the greater good? We're not going to hurt her too much, just enough so she knows it's ridiculous for her to try this." Dom just stood there, shaking his head. Laurence sighed. "Dom, you know women can't be knights. Somehow that Lioness woman got past everything, but a girl like this would just be a nuisance. A danger to good men. Don't you understand Dom? This is your first chance to protect the realm."

Dom looked at them, unable to believe what he was hearing. He looked at the girl, her eyes fearful. He could hear her muffled screaming and felt Laurence's hopeful look. "I know it's not right to beat up a defenseless girl at least two years younger than most of us," he said quietly.

"I see," said Laurence. "Well, don't interfere."

"Or we'll do the same to you," growled one of the boys. They turned away from Dom.

Dom couldn't do anything but stand there motionless as the lot of them began punching the girl. For some reason it sickened Dom that they took turns. "This isn't what a knight's supposed to do," he thought to himself. "This isn't right. This isn't for the good of the realm…"

Without really registering what he was doing, he threw himself on top of one of the pages. He screamed, falling backwards with Dom's weight. Both crashed to the floor, another one of the boys turning to attack Dom. The rest joined in leaving Laurence holding the girl. A wave of fury swept over Dom when he saw the girl's tears and the bruises on her face and neck. Struggling to free himself, he dragged down Laurence as the other boys tried to pull him back. Down went Laurence, but only for a moment. He hit Dom angrily across the face.

"Run!" screamed Dom. The girl looked at him fearfully before bolting up the stairs.

"Bitch!" screamed one of the boys. "You tell your parents about this and we will kill you!" The four of them then proceeded to thoroughly beat up Dom. Laurence delivered only a few of the punches, but the older page's disappointed look hurt more than any of the blows he received.

In a few minutes they heard footsteps and left Dom in the middle of the hall way struggling to get up. He was taken to Lord Wyldon's office, given the standard questions and gave the standard answer. Wyldon seemed surprised, not by his answer but how thoroughly the boy was beaten up. When asked about it, Dom said nothing, taking his punishment work in silence.

Every time he saw Laurence as a squire he heard others talking about what a great knight he would be. When he returned from field work (he had waited for another offer) Dom still had the urge to go and sit with him, to ask his forgiveness and beg to be his protégé again. Then he would remember the girl's bruised face. The girl who might have made a fine knight if they had let her have her chance. He would shake his head, disgusted with himself. "If that is a great knight," he said, over and over, "then I never want to be one."

…

"Dom," asked Qasim, "are you alright?

"What? Oh, I'm fine," he said. "Just thinking about things." Suddenly it swept over him. A girl had decided to become a knight. He couldn't help but let a grin spread over his face. He thought of what the great Sir Laurence would think when he heard the news. Suddenly he began chuckling.

"Dom?" Qasim looked at him uneasily. "You are crying." Dom shook his head, continuing to chuckle as tears began to stream down his face.

A/N: Hey look who's back from the dead! So I've been tossing fanfic ideas around for Ptos and this is the only one I have yet to finish an entire chapter for. Hopefully over the course of this fanfic I will not turn Dom into a whiny emo kid...I'm not entirely sure that's possible actually. Anyway basic idea behind the fanfic was explaining what Dom did as a page and squire and why he decided to join the Own instead of becoming a knight. Not going to say what the next chapter's about, but it will include a minor, rather unlikeable character from Squire. Thanks for reading.