Paris, 1080
Alphonse was walking back towards their lodgings but his mind was elsewhere.
It was still weeks before the start of tournament and even the cheap and dirty stable on the outskirts of one of the seedier parts of town was quickly eating into the modest amount of money they had.
Suddenly there was a commotion from the alley, a wild band of beggar children in rags rushing towards Alphonse, with two winded guards chasing them. "Stop'em, 'ey stole the ladies purse", one of them tried to yell, but out of breath.
Visions of gold offered by a beautiful noble lady handed as prize filled Alphonses mind as he spurted after the band almost by instinct. Unencumbered by heavy armor or arms he quickly outpaced the guards.
The children were even quicker, though, and knew this twisting maze of alleys and side streets better than their own hands. Soon Alphonse had lost the sight of them and was forced to stop at a narrow intersection of two deserted alleys. Luckily there came a shout from one direction and he headed that way. Across the turn the alley seemed to end in a cul-de-sac.
Alphonse saw three persons there. Two seedy looking adult men seemed to be threatening a boy of about 10 years. The boy might have been one of the band that had rushed past him just as the guard had yelled.
"Now, hand us the purse and we'll let you go home to mommy and daddy"
"But I told you already! The bigger boys had it and they didn't wait for me an..."
"Shut up!" As the man backhanded the child across the mouth Alphonse felt his blood boil and before he could even realize it he was rushing the two ruffians. There was something not quite right in the situation, something was nagging Alphonse but now he didn't have time to think about it. Two against one and grown men against a kid. That wasn't a fair fight!
The two heard his charge and were turning towards him as he collided with the nearer one and sent both of them flying against the stone wall. Luckily the ruffian softened his impact. From the corner of his eye Alphonse saw the other man drawing an evil looking dagger and tried to roll away from the lunge but succeeded only partially. He felt the blade slice across his bliaud and scrape across his ribs. The wound didn't hurt, or slow him down, at the moment but he needed to end this fight quickly. Getting up he scans the environs for anything that he can use to counter the assailants knife. The ruffian he had checked against the wall doesn't seem to be moving anytime soon, but doesn't have any obvious weapons on him either.
The assailant lunges again and Alphonse, again almost by instinct, uses his cloak to catch the other mans arm as he dances away and puts all of his strength on a hammer of a blow towards the mans temple. The blow connects. The ruffian seems to stop mid-motion, twitches a bit and drop to the ground. Alphonse untangles his cloak and approaches the kid who has retreated into the corner.
"I thank you, kind ser, for saving me from these two villains."
Now Alphonse realized what had been bothering him. The boys accent wasn't that of a common street urchin, but of a noble, and under the accumulating filth his clothes weren't raggy tatters, they were fine cotton and supple leather.
"I had... escaped from my home, I wanted some adventure but got in over my head... It seems those beggar boys weren't my friends after all..."
"But you are hurt, let me take you to my fathers place and his people will take care of you. He is an important man and I can assure you that you got yourself a powerful friend" said boy with a smile on his face.
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