Knights and Princes

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For the Cabin Pressure advent Cremona prompt: a medieval AU. In which Carolyn is the queen, Arthur the prince, Douglas a knight, and Martin wants to be.
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"Sir Douglas!" The knight jumped down from his horse to greet the prince.
"Prince Arthur. It's a fine morning, don't you think?" Douglas could see that Arthur was about to tell him something, and he hoped that it was good news, and not something ridiculous again.
"I have someone I want you to meet. Martin!" A small, ginger boy ran forward, stumbling as he did and bowing his head, not glancing up once. Douglas tried to hide his amusement, knowing full well what was coming next.
"Martin, this is Sir Douglas, my most trusted knight." Martin looked up and caught Douglas' eye.
"He wants to be a knight, doesn't he?" The question was directed at the prince, but Douglas kept steady eye contact with Martin. He was small and thin, but by no means unfit, evidently lifting things for his work. He had a glint of determination in his eyes, and that impressed Douglas. No-one ever stared back at him for so long.
"That's right! How did you guess?" Arthur seemed oblivious to the battle of wills taking place before him. "Go on, Martin, don't be shy!"
"I would very much like to become a knight of the kingdom, if you will have me." It was obviously a rehearsed line. Douglas wondered where Arthur has found him, because Douglas wouldn't have even looked at him had he been searching for recruits.
"I don't see why not." he said finally. "You're not the most awful applicant I've ever seen."
"Brilliant!" Arthur looked pleased with himself. He was by no means the best at anything in the kingdom, but his cheery disposition meant he was very well liked. He was certainly a lot most forgiving and kind than his mother, Queen Carolyn, who was notorious for being harsh and terrifying, though also the best queen the kingdom had ever had.
Martin had relaxed noticeably, his shoulders becoming less tense, and a small smile touching his lips. Douglas moved back to his horse and jumped up into the saddle. He grinned down at Martin and Arthur.
"We are meeting tomorrow, aren't we? I can never remember formalities." Both he and Arthur knew very well that it was not in fact a matter of Douglas' memory, but rather the fact that he really, really hated meeting with the knights to discuss matters that they deemed important, and that Douglas deemed boring and irrelevant.
Arthur nodded. "Don't be late to this one, please."
Douglas rolled his eyes. "Would I ever?"
Arthur shook his head and smiled, knowing that Douglas would always be late no matter what. He said goodbye, and headed off, leaving Martin standing in the middle of the road looking a little lost.
"Come on, then." said Douglas, setting off at a slow walk. "Let's see if we can find you some armor."
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