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Arien had always been good at not complaining when it came to training. From when Sam had taken him into the castle at age eight, he had been eager to do as much as he could the second he got the chance to. If Sam asked him to burn some energy running around the courtyard, the kid would not stop, running lap after lap. He had endless energy, far more than Sam had dealt with during his past experience with squires. Airen’s endless energy had been a lot when he was still eight. Bare feet pattering against the floor as he chased behind Sam like a lost duckling through the day.
Part of Sam misses the days when Ari was so little. The feeling caused his older squires to tease him for being an old man missing his younger days. Sam always gave them a hard time when they did, but they all knew the older knight thought it was humorous.
Arien was the younger of his boys when he came to the castle. Sam hadn’t been looking to train another squire, but the boy wormed his way into Sam’s heart faster than Sam had the chance to prepare for it. He was quiet and determined, yet Sam could see he was carrying something far too heavy for his age. As he slowly grew under Sam’s training, the older man had learned more about the situation where Ari had come from. Sam never pressed the boy for information. He solely tried to create a space where Arien felt safe enough to talk about it himself.
Back to his original point, Ari had always been really good about pushing himself to his absolute limits in training. Physically and intellectually. Whenever he struggled with a lesson or skill, he would continuously ask Sam for help until he completely understood it. Which really confused Sam when he sent Ari on a warm up job a couple of days prior, and the boy’s pace was lacking significantly. When Sam had briefly told him to pick up the pace, he jogged faster for about ten paces before slowing back down to the original pace. Sam had scolded him for moving too slowly another three times during training before he dismissed Arien early and told him to show up to training with a better attitude tomorrow. That he wouldn’t tolerate lazy work for another day. Arien had nodded at him, not a lick of the fire Sam usually saw in his eyes present, before retreating back to his barracks with his head hung.
The next day wasn’t any better. Ari was sluggish and lagging behind his usual pace more than the previous day. Sam got onto him about it. Arien hardly reacted, just continued training at the same slow and lazy pace. Sam didn’t understand. Arien was never like this, and if he ever was lagging, one word from Sam would have him pushing it again. He wasn’t the type of person to just laze through an assignment. That’s what confused Sam so much. Ari wasn’t lazy. He was smart, hardworking and talented. The past couple days though, He just wasn’t performing to the extent Sam knew that he could. It worried Sam as much as it did frustrate him. He knew this kid was fully capable, and still he wasn’t.
After another day of training being cut off early and Sam scolding Arien about his lackluster attitude, Sam was through. He pulled Arien aside in the training yard and began drilling him about what was going on. Sometimes Sam hated the mask on the boy's face because he couldn’t read his emotions. He knew that it was the point, but as the boys mentor, it got frustrating pretty quickly.
“You think the King is going to tolerate the prince’s personal knight slacking off in training?” Sam demanded. The mask was staring at him. Arien’s posture was hunched. “No. He would get rid of you if you aren’t fit.” He knew it was extreme. He knew he was being hard on the boy in front of him. Ari was only fourteen. In any other place, he would still be running around gardens and spending most of his days playing outside, likely working on a family farm. Yet, this was the life Ari chose. He chose the discipline and work of becoming a knight, and that meant Sam was not going to let him start falling behind. When Ari didn’t respond to him, Sam huffed. “Are you listening to me?”
“Yes, Sir.” His voice was scratchier than usual. Sam didn’t think much of it. Most got at least a little choked up when they were being scolded in front of the entire yard.
“Do you want to let down your prince?” Sam demanded.
“No, Sir.”
“Your King and Queen?”
“No, Sir.”
“Your Knight?”
“No, Sir.”
“Then start acting like it,” Sam ordered. He gestured back towards the course Sam had been planning to watch Arien run on today. “Are you warm?” Arien nodded, giving his legs and arms a quick stretch where he was standing. Sam studied him. “Good, let’s get to it.”
Arien looked over at the beginning of the course then began to make his way to it. Sam whistles, “On a jog.” He picked it up to a slow jog as he made his way to the start. Once Ari got set, Sam checked the time on the pocketwatch he kept tucked against his hip. “Set.” He waited for the clock to hit a solid increment before shouting, “Go!”
Arien took off faster than he had run all week. Sam smiled briefly. There you are, kid. He watched Ari bound over hurdles and scramble up short walls. His strides were quick and controlled in the way Ari usually ran. He picked up the pace through the straight, following that by diving under the next set of obstacles.
Ari could run this course better than any squire Sam has ever seen be trained. He was quick and controlled over every single obstruction. His coordination and agility were unmatched by any squire in the kingdom.
Arien turned around the corner towards the final stretch. This was usually the point where the boy would show off his speed, pushing his legs and lengthening his strides. Except this time he didn’t. His pace stayed slow. There was no explosion of speed that Sam was expecting. His brows furrowed.
Arien crossed the end of the line and continued his job over towards Sam. The boy stopped in front of him, panting slightly. His gaze shifted up towards Sam.
“Again.”
Sam watched Arien’s posture stumble. Sam repeated it.
“Again.”
“But I just ran it-” Arien started to argue, but Sam didn’t let him finish.
“You did.” Sam responded, “But you also chose not to increase pace at the end when I know you can.” Arien deflated. He knew better than to argue with his knight, but Sam could tell that the boy wanted to. Instead, he turned on his heel and started moving back towards the beginning of the course. Sam let him get set, checked his watch, and “go.”
He took off again. His pace was already slower. Sam frowned. The first couple obstacles were achieved lazily. It got to a point when Sam watched him ready to jump a hurdle only for Arien to catch his foot on the top and almost send himself faceplanting straight into the ground. Sam rubbed his temples.
“Stop!” He shouted. Arien immediately slowed down and looked in his direction. Sam pointed at the ground in front of him and Ari quickly jogged over and stood at his knight's attention.
“What is going on with you?” Sam demanded, “I know you’re faster than your stretch at the end of the first attempt, and I know you have more stamina than a single attempt taking you out.” Arien didn’t shrink under his scolding. Sam appreciated that. At least the boy was going to show some discipline. The boy stayed standing still in front of him.
“Answer me.” Sam told him. Arien looked down for a moment, seemingly contemplating an answer in his head about what he wanted to say. Sam let him. The boy better have a good excuse for his effort and attitude the past couple of days. Part of Sam was concerned that this was the start of a long attitude phase that came with growing up, one that he wasn’t really prepared to teach to his boy yet. Nor that he really wanted to teach yet. He had had that conversation with two boys already, and didn’t necessarily want to have it another time.
“I have no excuse,” Arien admitted quietly, not meeting Sam’s eyes through his mask. Sam huffed, rubbing his face in his hands.
“Look, kid. I want you to do well. I want you to succeed.” There was a moment of softness in his voice that he quickly covered with his next words, “But I am not going to knight you for a lazy attitude because if I do, you will get out in the fronts, and you are going to die.” The words settled heavy over the two of them. It was the reality of the world that they lived in. The world was dangerous and cruel and being unprepared for it would cause him to bury a squire. He didn’t want to outlive any one of his kids.
Arien sighed.
“Take a couple laps,” Sam ordered, “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I’m not tolerating it anymore. I’m tired of yelling, so you're just going to run.”
Arien’s head snapped up. “Sam-” He started, but the knight cut him off. “Get to running, Ari.” The boy didn’t argue again, just turned around and began running. Arien knew the route around the castle by heart, so Sam wasn’t worried about him getting lost or anything. As he watched the boy go, Sam made a move towards the castle. He might as well try and get some paperwork done while the kid ran. No need to just sit and watch the grass grow.m
It didn’t take him long to grab the stack of paperwork he had thrown on the desk in his barrack. He took it back outside and sat down on the bench in the training yard. Supporting the paper with a hardcover book, Sam began working.
When Arien looped around for the first time, Sam only looked up and tilted his head at him. Signaling his head to keep going. Ari watched him for a moment, then sighed and kept moving, starting the second lap.
Sam stayed working until the sun rose to its highest point in the sky. The heat of early summer was beginning to take the castle more each day. After the freezing winter the compass kingdoms had experienced, Sam was happy to feel the sun against his skin as he wrote. It took another half hour for Arien to come back around the loop. His strides were slow and uneven as his body shook. Sam immediately stood up. Arien stopped running and started limping towards him. Sam ran towards his kid immediately.
“Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Arien just shook his head. The boy was panting behind his mask. Sam could see the sweat soaked into every layer of his clothes and dripping down his skin. The boy faltered and Sam immediately grabbed onto him to keep him steady. “Ari.”
“Hot-” He whimpered. Sam’s hands immediately moved towards the mask covering the boy’s face. They hovered briefly waiting for a small nod of permission before pulling the wooden disc off of his head and pulling the fabric covering his mouth down. Arien’s skin was flushed bright red beneath the covering. His eyes were glazed and red. The tip of his nose was bright red as well. His breathing was raspy. Sam could hear it clearer now that it wasn’t muffled by the mask.
“Are you sick? Sam demanded, staring his squire down. Whatever anger that he was showing was quickly swallowed by worry. Arien didn’t answer immediately. He whimpered under his breath. Sam placed the back of his hand up against Ari’s forehead. His skin was on fire.
“Geez kid, you're burning up!” Sam fretted. Ari, again, didn’t respond. The kid was shivering despite how hot he was. Sam cursed as he stumbled forward over his feet and fell. Sam caught him and brought him to the ground softly.
Sam carefully began unbuckling the heaviest of Ari’s training gear. There wasn't much on him, but it was enough to increase the heat pressing on the kid. Once Ari was simply in a plain tunic and pants, Sam went to grab him some water. He sat Ari up and carefully had him drink.
“Slow sips.” Sam urged gently, “C’mon kid, you got it.” Arien carefully sipped the cold water. It soothed his throat as it traveled down. After a moment, Sam tilted the water away from him. Ari briefly chased the water as it was taken, but quickly caught himself. The kid took a series of deep breaths.
“You okay?” Sam asked him again, carefully rubbing circles between his shoulder blades. Arien nodded his head, leaning into the touch. After a moment of silence, the boy whined, and leaned farther into Sam’s touch.
“Sam, i’m sick.” Arien admitted. Sam huffed with equal levels of worry and fondness.
“Yeah kid, I can tell,” he hummed to his squire. He gently pulled Arien’s body closer to his own, letting his kid lean on his shoulder. No matter how big Ari got, Sam would never derive him of being held as ling as he wanted it. Sam brushed his hand back over Ari’s forehead. He was genuinely burning. “How long have you been sick, kiddo?” Sam asked him.
Ari groans, “Since the beginning of the week.” Sam groans fondly and ruffles his hair gently.
“So thats why you’ve been slow all week?” Arien nodded against his chest, pressing closer to knight. Sam sighed. “You need to get checked out?” Arien shook his head again. Sam ran his hands through Ari’s hair again.
He knew Ari hated the infirmary. The kid would rather do anything than sit there and let himself be treated and looked at. So, Sam wouldn’t make him go if he didn’t want to. Especially if it was just a minor cold.
“You wanna just sleep this off?” Sam asked him. Arien nodded against his shoulder once again. Sam chuckled softly. He stood up, pulling his kid up in his arms with him. The boy immediately protested.
“Sam!” He shouted, trying to squirm out of his knights arms. Sam didn’t let him. Eventually, his squire gave up and let himself go limp in his mentors arms. “I can walk myself,” Ari complained.
Sam shook his head with a smile. “Sure, kid. Sure.” Arien didn’t protest anymore beyond that. He melted into Sam’s arms, curling up against his chest. Sam held him tighter, rubbing circles between his shoulder blades.
Sam slowly made his way back into the castle and towards Ari’s shared barracks. Sam assured the other two that shared were still busy, so he wasn’t surprised when he pushed the bedroom open and it was empty. Arien was completely asleep in his arms. The boy was limp and snoring softly against his shoulder. Sam huffed. He pulled back the blankets on Ari’s made bed and carefully placed the kid down. Arien shifted slightly, but didn’t wake. Sam pulled the blankets back over him.
After making sure the lid was fully asleep, Sam left the room, shutting the door softly. He shook his head as he left. Stubborn kid.
He wished Ari would have told him he was feeling sick ages ago. Sam should have known there was something else wrong when he started slacking because his kid never wanted to be anything but the very best. He should have known.
Sam sighed, wiling his brow. This kid was work.
The sun was just barely beginning yo rise when Ari opened his eyes. He yawned, stretching his arms above his head and stretching his back. He pushed himself into a sitting position and stretched his arms over his chest.
He wiped his mouth before pulling himself out of bed. He dressed himself, making sure he looked presentable enough before walking out into the castle. He pulled the cloth around his mouth, making sure it was secure, before pulling the wooden disc over his eyes. His two friends were still sleeping in their beds. They didn’t have training until later that day.
Ari quietly slipped out the door, making his way towards the dining hall. Once he arrived, he quickly snatched a banana from a bowl of fruit and started to make his way towards the training grounds. He greeted maids as he passed them in the hallways.
He made his way down the steps and to the training grounds. It didn’t take long for him to stop Sam standing in the grounds, arms crossed and waiting. Arien jogged up with a smile.
“Am I late?” He asked, smiling at his knight. Sam shook his head, looking at the rising sun.
“Nope. Right on time actually.” Arien grinned, stretching his limbs so they wouldn’t be tight when he starts training. Sam gives him a good ten minutes to warm up his muscles, which Ari appreciated.
After taking five days off training, he really needed a good warmup to ensure he wouldn’t pull something coming back. Sam watched him as he did, making sure he wasn’t leaving anything tight. After he stretched Sam beckoned him forward with a nod of his head.
Arien stepped up in front of him.
“You ready to kick some ass today kid?” Sam asked him with a slight smirk. Arien grinned.
“You know it.” Sam handed him a light training sword and dropped back into a sparring stance. Arien imitated the stance, watching his knight carefully.
“You sure you’re not feeling sick still?” Sam questioned. Arien nodded his head. It had taken five days of rest to sleep off that cold. It had completely wrecked his immune system and caused such bad exhaustion. After finally stopping and deciding to rest instead of pushing through, his body began to heal.
He had gotten a long talking to from Sam about hiding illness, one that he has had a thousand times before and probably would have a thousand times in the future.
Sam dropped his leg back, ready to send the first strike.
“Then let’s see what you’ve got.”