Before she could do anything in the darkness, Thomas leapt up out of bed, grabbed her dagger arm, squeezed until the dagger dropped, and pinned her to the ground by the neck.

The maid started sobbing. “I’m sorry sir. I didn’t want to, but he told me I had to, or he’d kill my little sister. She’s all I’ve got, and I’m all she’s got. Please have mercy.”

“Who wanted to have me killed?” Thomas asked through clenched teeth.

“I don’t know! I swear! He had his face covered. He told me if I didn’t do what I was told, then my sister would never be seen again.” Then she dissolved into tears.

Thomas removed his hand from around her neck and helped her from the floor. “Where is your sister?”

“No please! Don’t hurt her!”

“I don’t want to hurt her. I want to get her somewhere safe, so where is she?”

“She lived in the maidservant quarters with me.”

“Take me to her.”

She did as she was told, and Thomas found the little girl asleep. So as not to wake her or the others, Thomas carefully picked up the 6-year-old girl and carried her outside. “Where are you going to take her?”

“A trustworthy friend I know no one would dare go against.” And he began the slow trek to Liam’s house. By the time he got there, it was about an hour from dawn.

The little girl started to rise with the sun as Thomas stood there, and the maid knocked on the door. At first the girl seemed frightened, but then she saw her sister and figured it was fine.

None other than Commander Liam opened the door, and the maidservant gasped and hurried into a curtesy.

“Sorry to bother you so early.” He said to a slightly disgruntled Liam. “But I had no idea who else to go to.”

When he saw it was Thomas holding a little girl with semi-fearful eyes, he opened the door and beckoned them in. “Who are these two ladies?” he asked.

“Friends… I think.”

“Are you going to explain anything to me?”

“Last night, I had a little hiccup. I woke up, and she,” He said looking at the older girl. “Was standing over me with a knife.”

Liam drew his sword. “No, no, it’s fine, I don’t think she wanted to. She hesitated, and that gave me enough time to make her release the knife. When I asked her why she did it, she told me that a man would kill her sister if she didn’t. So…”

“So you brought her and her sister here. Figures.”

“Are we going to die?” Asked the little girl with fearful eyes.

“Not if I can help it.” Replied Thomas looking down at her. “So,” He said speaking to Liam now. “What can we do with them?”

Liam debated for a minute. “Well, for now, they can stay with me. Later in the morning I’ll buy them off your father for a hefty price that he won’t be able to refuse. When you become a page, you’ll need your own servants to take care of things that you cannot, so when that time comes, I’ll give them to you.”

“You know my father won’t give me money to pay for them.”

“I know. I’ll pay for them, and any other expenses you’ll need in your days of training. Someone has to. I mean, if you are going to be one of the only knights coming from Thaxon, then we can’t have you making us look bad.”

“Alright.”

“You want to be a knight?” Asked the older girl.

“Eventually. It’s my dream, but I have to be a page, and a squire before I can even think about being a knight.”

“That’s amazing. I’ve never met someone who wants to be a knight.”

Liam turned to the girls. “If you are going to be my servants, then I will need to know your names.”

“I’m Lala.” Said the older girl. “And this is Naitha. But she is too young to do any work.”

“I know. I’ll take care of her until she is.”

“Thank you so much sir!” Lala exclaimed bowing down in a deep curtesy.

“And you Thomas, need to get back home and get ready, so when we get there, you will be changed and packed.”

With those words, Thomas put down the little girl, and took off running. He could make it much faster without a little girl burdening him down.

He got to the house and changed quickly. He grabbed his trusty dagger, and the one that the girl had dropped. He put both in his boots. Then, he grabbed a spool of strong thread.

He knew how dangerous traveling was, and he wanted to be prepared with something even the other soldiers didn’t know: something he made up. He grabbed the thread and stuffed it into a hidden pocket. This thread was very strong. He would know, he had tied it to a horse once, and to a tree, and no matter how much the horse had tried, it couldn’t get away.

He had made sure the horse hadn’t gotten hurt, but with an enemy, it would be a different story.

When he was finished, he walked outside to find the soldiers and Liam waiting.