Gavin, the Unusual Squire

Gavin wasn’t sure where his life went as bad as it had, being into the service of knighthood wasn’t something the now 22-year-old Gavin wanted when he was 6, when he was 6 Gavin wanted to be a blacksmith or woodworker but he was by a decree of the king that went out just two weeks before he turned 6 into the service of being a knight’s squire then eventually a knight himself. The kingdom Penelias had plenty of footsoldiers already, but the king had decided a few years back he needed to bolster the knight ranks in the kingdom, thus made the decree that all the eldest children of every family from the age of 6 and up would begin training as knights, the decree lasted about a decade and had done nothing but make Gavin and a few of his fellow squires miserable.

Now Gavin was 22 years of age and still officially recognized as a squire under the most narcissistic knight in the current age, Sir Gelthias. With his brown hair and green eyes, Gavin wasn’t that considered attractive, even though he did have above average appearance. Sir Gelthias was in his late forties or early fifties, it was really hard to tell, given the man’s mannerisms and appearance. Sir Gelthias was a stout, portly man with a handlebar mustache that looked more like an abnormally large fuzzy caterpillar was resting on his face than something he intentionally grew himself, his rotund form could barely fit into his armor most of the time, and almost all the medals decorating his attire and armor were mostly through the work of Gavin himself and some of the other squires Sir Gelthias had under him, he got those decorations and medals by taking credit for doing the work others did, even when all the evidence showed he was nowhere near where what happened went down. In short, Gavin despised the man. And to top it all off, in the time he was under the man he had become far more adept at swordplay and a knight’s arms than his so-called mentor.

Gavin was taller and with a more robust figure than Sir Galthias, that wasn’t to say Sir Galthias was not a capable warrior. One of the few things Sir Galthias actually excelled at was competitions, he was able to fight at a higher level in a competitive environment than most other knights and often came away with the first or second prize, depending on just how skilled his opponent really was. But Sir Galthias was still far more decorated than he had the right to be, and Gavin knew it better than most people. That all said, the man was also incredibly lazy and was prone to making excuses as to why he couldn’t take part in anything he deemed beneath him, which basically meant anything short of a knight festival or official conflict between nations was going to mean he didn’t do much more than vaguely state what he wanted Gavin, and sometimes other squires under him, to do.

To Gavin, the fact he was not formally recognized as a knight by now was mostly because of Sir Gelthias, he would learn much later that was only a part of the problem. Gavin’s family were all peasants, or plebians as some liked to call them, and they were still one of the few families that had not been ordained with their own name. This was likely due to a quirk of Gavin’s family that the nobility, especially the royal family, did not want anywhere near an official position of power.

Be that as it may, circumstances would prove to be placed on Gavin in a very cleverly disguised opportunity that would lead to some better circumstances for himself, and later his family. Gavin wasn’t a talented fighter, like the noble brats that were his fellow squires under Sir Galthias. In point of fact, he had no natural talent for combat, but he was a quick study and very dedicated to practicing weaponry, to the point he was probably more skilled with most of the weapons the knights had at their disposal than any of the officially recognized knights and could probably give his so-called mentor a challenge if he were permitted to take place in the combat of a knight festival.

Gavin’s abilities are sorely underappreciated. He took up smithing as a way to lessen the strain Sir Galthias usually puts on those of smithing profession, and also so that he could mend broken weapons and equipment. Sir Galthias’s ego meant he was far too rough on his equipment, it wasn’t uncommon for his swords to look like he had been fighting a losing battle with a steel door or massive rock, and the less said about the strain the man put on his other weapons the better.

Gavin was far more respectful with his equipment, the basic iron shortsword that he was given, in terrible condition, had lasted well past the swords of his fellow squires. When he was made Sir Galthias’s squire, Gavin was given a beaten-up iron shortsword that was very close to falling apart and an iron spear that had given such rough treatment the head was dulling and the shaft literally needed replacement. With those two weapons, he was told by Galthias that his first task as a squire was to make sure both the knight’s gear and his own were in useable condition, at the very least. Gavin went above and beyond to make sure all the equipment was in a pristine condition suitable for a prolonged battle, only for Sir Galthias to treat his own equipment so rough that Gavin needed to bring things back up to superior standards the following week. In short, Gavin despised the man on principle alone and seeing how Sir Galthias disrespected his tools just made it worse.

Gavin had taken up smithing and woodworking as a means to personally maintain Sir Galthias’s equipment, and his own, to the high possible standards he could. Gavin was a crafter at heart, much like most of his family, and treated all his tools, and weapons, with such care that the smallest crack or blemish on the tools or equipment usually didn’t last more than a day or two at most. He also did not take it well when other people messed with his tools, which his fellow squires did far too often for his liking. If it weren’t for the royal mandate he was to serve as a member of the knights, Gavin wouldn’t even be in the position he was.