The Hedge Knight — Dunk II
At an inn on the road to Ashford, Dunk's plans meet a bald, sharp-tongued stableboy who washes up in a bucket, minds horses like a lordling's groom, and follows him out the door refusing to be sent home.
The chapter retold
At a wayside inn on the road to Ashford, Dunk's solitary plan acquires its other half. A bald, sharp-tongued stableboy washes up in a bucket, minds the horses with a lordling's ease, and — when Dunk tries to leave him behind — simply follows him out the door and refuses to be sent home. The boy calls himself Egg, and the chapter plays their bargain for comedy while planting, in plain sight, every clue to who Egg really is: the fine manners, the careful hood, the way he flinches from no danger and answers no question about home. It is the beginning of one of the saga's great friendships, disguised as a knight reluctantly acquiring a servant he cannot afford.
This movement: The Road to Ashford
- Ser Arlan of Pennytree dies of a chill by the roseroad, and his towering squire buries him — then takes his sword, his shield, and his calling.
- At a wayside inn Dunk acquires an ale, a plan, and a bald stableboy named Egg who will not be left behind.
- Ashford Meadow spreads before them: pavilions, puppeteers, merchants — and a tourney with the fair maid of Ashford as its queen of love and beauty.
- Everything Dunk owns buys armor from Steely Pate; Tanselle's brush gives his shield its arms: elm and shooting star.