A Quest of Heroes (Book #1 in the Sorcerer's Ring)

something Erec said threw
Thor off.
    “Did you say a journey, sire?” he
asked surprised.
    Erec stopped tightening the
harness, turned and looked at him.
    “Today is the day of my birth. I
have reached my twenty-fifth year. That is a special day. Do you know about
Selection Day?”
    Thor shook his head. “Very
little, sire; only what others tell me.”
    “We knights of the Ring must
always continue on, generation after generation,” Erec began. “We have until
our twenty-fifth year to choose a bride. If one is not chosen by then, law
dictates for us to find one. We are given one year to find her, and to bring
her back. If we return without one, then one is given to us by the king, and we
forfeit our right to choose.
    “So today, I must embark on my
journey to find my bride.”
    Thor stared back, speechless.
    “But sire, you are leaving? For
one year?”
    Thor’s stomach dropped at the
thought of it. He felt his world crumbling around him. It wasn’t until this
moment that he realized what a liking he had taken to Erec; in some ways, he
had become like a father to him—certainly more of a father than the one he’d
had.
    “But then who shall I be squire
to?” Thor asked. “And where will you go?”
    Thor recalled how much Erec had stuck
up for him, how he had saved his life. His heart sank at the idea of his
leaving.
    Erec laughed, a carefree laugh.
    “Which question shall I answer
first?” he said. “Do not worry. You have been assigned a new knight. You will
be squire to him until my return. Kendrick, the king’s eldest son.”
    Thor’s heart soared to hear that;
he felt an equally strong attachment to Kendrick who, after all, was the first
one to look out for him and assure him a spot in the Legion.
    “As far as my journey….” Erec
continued, “…I do not yet know. I know I will head south, towards the kingdom
that I hail from, and search for a bride in that direction. If I do not find
one within the Ring, then I may even cross the sea to my own kingdom to search
for one there.”
    “Your own kingdom, sire?” Thor
asked.
    Thor realized that he didn’t
really know that much about Erec, about where he came from. He had always just
assumed he had come from within the Ring.
    Erec smiled. “Yes, far from here,
across the sea. But that is a tale for another time. It will be a far journey,
and a long one, and I must prepare. So help me now. Time is short. Harness my
horse, and stock it with all manner of weapons.”
    Thor’s head was spinning as he
sprang into action, running to the horse armory and retrieving the distinct
black and silver armor that belonged to Lannin. He ran back with one piece at a
time, first placing the mailcoat on the horse’s back, reaching up to drape it
around his huge body. Then Thor added the shaffron, the thin, plated metal for
the horse’s head.
    Lannin whinnied as he did so, but
seemed to like it. He was a noble horse, a warrior, Thor could tell, and he
seemed just as comfortable in armor as a knight would.
    Thor ran back and retrieved
Erec’s golden spurs, and helped attach one to each foot as Erec mounted the
horse.
    “Which weapons will you need,
sire?” Thor asked.
    Erec looked down, seeming huge
from this perspective.
    “It’s hard to anticipate what
battles I might encounter throughout a year. But I need to be able to hunt, and
to defend myself. So of course, I need my longsword. I also should bring my
shortsword, a bow, a quiver of arrows, a short spear, a mace, a dagger, and my
shield. I suspect that will do.”
    “Yes, sire,” Thor said, and broke
into action. He ran to Erec’s weapons rack, beside Lannin’s stable, and looked
over the dozens of weapons. There was an impressive arsenal to choose from.
    He carefully removed all the
weapons Erec specified, bringing them back one at a time and handing them to
Erec or placing them securely in the harness.
    As Erec sat there, tightening his
leather gauntlets, preparing to leave, Thor could not stand to watch him go.
    “Sire, I feel it is my duty to
accompany you on this journey,” Thor said. “I am your squire after all.”
    Erec shook his head.
    “It is a journey I must take
alone.”
    “Then may I at least accompany
you to the first crossing?” Thor pressed. “If you are heading south, those are
roads that I know well. I am from the south.”
    Erec looked down, considering.
    “If you want to accompany me to
the first crossing, I see no harm in that. But it is a hard day’s ride, so