“Excellent. I’m sure that Fenice and Vandal will be willing to let you have a go without charge, since you’re not making a fuss about them being here, and staying in your house. Let’s go see Alec and he can fit you with some armor.”
An eye-opening twenty minutes followed, in which Alden learned the difference between a bazuband and a gauntlet and why the heavy cotton arming tunic and hose were necessary.
“OK, let me see if I get my spiel right.” Mercy consulted a sheet of handwritten notes, and pulled out of a bin a weird-looking jacket that appeared to be made up of bits of sheet, cotton batting, and leather. “This is the arming doublet, or gambeson. Let’s have you slip into it. No, over your T-shirt is fine.”
Alden stuck his arms through the thick padded sleeves, and immediately start
