The eighteenth day of summer, 514 AV
"Hmm..." Ser Normit sat at his desk surrounded by piles of paper. His weathered face was turned down into his customary frown as his keen, dark eyes scanned over the letter he'd just received several times more. Wynn sat in one of the three chairs on the other side of the cluttered piece of furniture, picking at his cuticles absentmindedly while the other two girls wiggled about impatiently. "What does it say?" Linnae spoke first, her voice filling the room with a touch-too-loud echo that faded away while Ser Normit looked up over the edge of the parchment. All three of the squires tensed, waiting for the reply.
"It's a request from an old friend of mine." The answer wasn't nearly as exciting as any of the squires had been hoping for, and their disappointment was clearly shown in a slackening of posture and several sighs. "Well then." Ser Normit raised his eyebrows with disdain as he settled down in his chair to reread the letter for what seemed like the hundredth time. Linnae gave Wynn an exasperated look that was echoed by Tareesa making a face, both seemed to want Wynn to speak up. Feeling the pressure, Wynn cleared his throat, gaining the attention of his patron in a matter of ticks. "What... ah..." He glanced at the girls before continuing, his cheeks tinged with pink. "What did your friend want? ...exactly?"
Ser Normit set the letter down, interweaving his fingers as he placed his lips against his indexes, "What did he want?" The three squires exchanged quick glances and nodded that that was indeed the question they were hoping to get an answer to. "Well..." He drifted off, raising a brow as he enjoyed the frustration of his squires. "To start with, it's from Ser Logan Meyers." More glances were exchanged between the squires, but this time there was a measurable increase in excitement. "His request was actually for one of you." Here he paused, letting the statement trail off into silence.
Wynn figured because he had started into the current line of conversation he might as well continue it. "Which one of us?" Ser Normit shrugged, his face remaining impassive as ever. Tareesa raised her own brow, "Did he specify which one of us, or merely requests that any one of us assist him? ...in some way." She added the last part as a nudge, hoping to draw out whatever Ser Normit wasn't telling them. Linnae let out a sigh, rolling her eyes and leaning back in her chair. "I loathe spontaneous interrogation training." Wynn and Tareesa both turned to "shush" Linnae; Wynn had more of a panicked motion that Tareesa's condescending flick of the wrist, but both knew if Ser Normit decided they were forfeiting the game, they'd never know what Ser Meyers was requesting.
Apparently willing to ignore Linnae's outburst - as she now sat sullenly quiet in her chair with arms crossed -, Ser Normit responded to Tareesa's question, his voice level and measured. "He did not specify, no. Though..." His eyes slowly moved to rest on Wynn's face, "He may have used a specific set of pronouns." Wynn pointed to himself with a tilt of his head. "Mmm, yes." Linnae muttered under her breath, "If he asked for Wynn, you coulda just said that..." But Tareesa was quick to talk over her, her singsong voice drowning out the mumble of the disgruntled squire. "So he needs Wynn for something? Does it have to do with anything labor intensive? Construction, perhaps?"
Ser Normit shook his head, turning his face to look at Wynn's once more. Taking the attention as a cue to make his own guess, Wynn clicked his tongue a few times before taking his shot. "Am I training with one of his squires?" He'd been doing a lot of that lately, but Ser Normit shook his head once more, this time offering a bit more information. "He would like you to accompany one of his squires but not for training." Linnae snapped her fingers and sat up, startling both Wynn and Tareesa as they jerked their heads to stare at her. "Patrol! He wants Wynn to patrol!"
Ser Normit nodded, letting his hands move forward to rest on the desk as he glanced at the candle that had been burning the entirety of the time they'd been playing their "game". "Two and a half bells." The three squires let out a collective sigh of relief. Interrogation training wasn't anything any of them looked forward to, as it was really more of just asking question after question at a complacent brick until eventually the answer was pulled out like a rotten tooth. "Oh, and Wynn, Ser Meyers' squire, Altros Coglias, should have arrived at the gates some ten chimes ago. I suggest you hurry to meet him."
Ser Normit's words fell on Wynn's ears like a friendly reminder for something he'd forgotten to do but still had plenty of time to accomplish. Wynn nodded, smiling as he rose to stood. The moment his legs straightened, the realization that he was already ten chimes late hit him in the form of widening eyes and a quick bend of the knees before he rushed out of the room. He had yet to meet Ser Meyers' squire, but his first impression was already going to be soured by tardiness. It only helped reinforce Ser Normit's original explanation of their "game": I have what you want but very little reason to give it; you, on the other hand, have all the reason to get it from me as quickly as you can. Had he been more active in the interrogation earlier, perhaps he wouldn't have been so very late.
Huffing and puffing through the crowded streets and hallways, Wynn shoved and pushed his way past the people, his boots slapping onto the cobblestone with each stride he took. He hadn't had time to grab his armor or his axe, but if it was just patrolling, he doubted he'd need much more than maybe a shortsword. Halfway to the gate, he had to slow his run to a brisk walk, panting from the sprint that had taken him all the way from Ser Normit's quarters to the open air of the main gate's entrance. The street was filled with people, as always, and Wynn nudged his way through the mass of bodies until he managed to extricate himself from the crowd by slipping between a wagon and several stacked boxes.
There, he pinpointed the man who he was supposed to meet. Altos Coglias, if he remembered correctly, stood slightly off to the side of the gate. He had two saddled horses' reigns in his hands and appeared to be waiting for someone. Wynn figured that someone was he, so he hasten over to where the man stood, offering an apologetic grin once he'd made it there. "Are you Squire Altos Coglias?" Quickly, Wynn added a voiced apology for his tardiness. "I would have been here sooner, but I don't think I'm quite cut out for interrogations."
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