1 Bastard and Squire

"Roderick! Roderick! Don't die, mate!" A desperate looking redhaired youth was crying out.

Paul de Lapaille was in a weird state. He was half-asleep and half-awake, feeling the alien thoughts in his mind to be the product of an intense dream. There were vivid memories, thoughts and feelings, not his. 'Roderick Grey?' Paul wondered.

He woke up to the sound of water violently gushing out through his mouth. "Ugh. Ugh. Ugh." He coughed violently for several moments, emptying his lungs of that sweet lake water.

"He's alive! I told you he wasn't dead!" The young man to Paul's side exclaimed as he wiped the tears off of his face. "The others all left, thinking you to be a dead man... I told you not to do it! You know you can't swim, mate...", he was breathing heavily, "Thank the gods, I thought we lost you..."

"Did you save me, Arnold?" Roderick barely managed to formulate a sentence while heaving incessantly.

"I tried... but...", Arnold cried, "I thought you were a goner, brother... I punched you in the gut so..."

"Yes, Arnold. I can feel that." Roderick interrupted him as he continued to catch his breath. "I should thank you, but for some reason, I don't really want to right now..." He smirked and rubbed his stomach.

"Hahahaha! Roderick, that's funny!" Arnold tapped his shoulder. "Can you stand?"

"I'm not crippled, just out of breath, brother." He accepted his friend's help and got up.

There he stood, Roderick Green, a tall, lean and strong, 22-year-old young man. His medium long chestnut brown hair was fluttering in the wind like a lion's mane. His pronounced brows were knitted as grey-green eyes stared into the distance.

'How long was I unconscious for? Did I die in a coma or did they put me to...' Paul was recollecting what had happened in his past life as he scanned the new yet familiar surroundings. 'Or was I always Roderick and Paul... was a dream?' He couldn't make out what was fiction and fact, dream and reality. Unable to gain clarity, he chose to focus on the present.

"Did you get it? Whatever it is you were looking for?" He asked while crossing his arms.

Roderick took a pouch out of his jacket and dangled it in front of him. "I did."

"You think they'll pay up? Your employers... whoever they are?" Arnold narrowed his eyes as he examined his friend.

"I don't know who they are either." Roderick shrugged. "Someone I trust proposed this task to me in Snowsky Peak."

"What in the seven heavens were you doing in the Kingdom of Everwinter?" He was flabbergasted.

"Running an errand for Sir Rennard, of course..." He pointed to the east, roughly in the direction of th knight's family estate.

"For God's sake Rod, you're better with the sword than he'll ever be! You're twice the man he is! Why the heck would you choose to be that man's squire?!" He viciously poked him in the chest with his index finger.

"I thought it was my best chance to..."

"To get ahead?" Arnold interrupted him, "Is sending a squire to another kingdom for an errand, a way to help - said, squire - with getting ahead? That's just..."

"As I said." Roderick calmly retorted. "It was the best chance I thought I had... but then"

"You received a shady proposal that almost cost you your life!" He again poked him in the chest.

"Hey! Stop that! It was a price I was willing to pay, Arnold. No matter what."

Arnold posture relaxed and he looked regretfully at Roderick.

"I cannot remain a bastard... squire..." Roderick turned to the east and said, "follow me, I will go resign."