[RPG][Ata][Eston] Of Boots and Brats

[Diana P.]

Lady Elanina, Countess of Malor, Marshal of the Sabre and Eston's newest 
Cavalier, was trying desperately to unhook her boot from the stirrup 
dangling from her towering Percheron steed.  Hopping about on one foot 
while clinging to her horse's mane, the Countess had already lost her 
temper when she discovered that she could not gain enough balance to 
unfasten her bootstraps. It should be said that the horse was 
considerably more patient than its rider.

Her troops had pointedly looked away while their leader struggled, 
busying themselves with weapons drills, currying, checking shoe nails 
and polishing tack.

"Captain Hermann!"  Elanina barked.  Several men jumped.  The Percheron 
flicked an ear, but otherwise was like a statue.  Hermann dismounted and 
approached the struggling Marshal.

"Your orders, my Lady?"  Hermann's tone was impeccably deferential, but 
there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Bloody hell, man, get me out of this!"  A violent toss of her head sent 
her helmet flying.  Infuriated, Elanina added a few colourful 
explicatives that would have made a sailor blush.

With a little bow, Hermann swung into action.  In almost a single smooth 
movement, he unfastened the Countess's bootstraps and caught her before 
she fell in the mud.  Releasing her as soon as she could stand, he 
deftly retrieved her boot and held it out to her like a butler offering 
a single-malt scotch on a silver tray.

Struggling to regain her temper, Elanina snatched her boot from the 
captain's hands and put it back on her foot.  "How the devil anyone 
manages to dismount from these beasts in one piece is beyond me," she 
muttered, running her hand through her blazing copper hair in irritation 
before picking her helmet out of the mud.

"Lady Marshal?"  Elanina started, then glared at the messenger who had 
suddenly appeared at her elbow.  As the messenger stepped back a pace, 
Elanina noticed the bright yellow band around his arm, signifying good news.

Clearing his throat importantly, the messenger handed her a parchment. 
"Special announcement by Sir Lexington, Knight of Meneriel."

Elanina broke the seal and read:

Sir Lexington Galantos and his Loving Wyfe Bronwyn are pleased to 
announce the joyous forthcoming of a new child.

Then she turned to the captain.  "Did you hear about this, Hermann? 
Apparently Sir Lexington's wife is with child.  Our Queen is in a 
similar condition, and it seems only yesterday that our Arch Priest 
Christofer and his wife Elsabeth spawned twins.  How did so many come to 
be in the family way?"

Hermann raised an eyebrow, wondering how much it was proper to say to a 
lady of noble breeding.  "Well, my Lady... er... when a man and woman 
love each other very much... and are married of course..."

He was silenced by his Marshal crumpling the parchment into a ball and 
throwing it at his head.  The messenger took this as a hint and departed 
swiftly.