Squire, by Tamora Pierce

Squire is the third book of the Protector of the Small quartet. Kel is no longer a page, but she does not feel fully a squire. No knight has yet chosen her to be his personal squire, and Kel feels that as The Girl no knight will want her. She knows that her private dream of having the Lioness as her knight-master is highly unlikely: Alanna must stay away from her until Kel achieves her knighthood so that people won’t accuse her of magicking Kel to success. As a complete shock and surprise, however, Lord Raoul the Commander of the King’s Own asks her to be his squire. Over her years as a page he has had opportunities to observe her, and with the Grand Progress coming up he will have need of her knowledge of the Yamanis. Kel is ecstatic to accept him as her knight-master, even after she learns that the Lioness asked Neal to be her squire. Kel must work hard in the King’s Own: harder than most squires. But she loves to work and be needed, and combat is a skill she loves to employ. Along with working on her fighting skills, Kel tests herself against the Chamber of the Ordeal in an effort to fight her fears.

I think that Kel’s time with the King’s Own is some of the best of the series so far. The writing and the action are so vivid and the characters are so real. With Scanra on the rise the kingdom of Tortall receives little rest, and Kel gets almost none. But she is so happy during her time as a squire, and that makes all the difference. During her page years she was teased and tricked and generally tortured. But she is accepted as a squire, and Lord Raoul treats her fairly and well. Kel finally gets to be who she is with very little obstruction. Not that life is all peaches and cream, but it is on the whole better. That makes me so happy for her, and makes me enjoy the book all the more. I’m breathless during the war scenes because I can see it all happening in my head. I laugh when Raoul jokes around, and am glad that Kel could get this measure of happiness. It must be a sign of mental instability that I invest so much in characters in books, but I just feel happy.

As with the other books in the series, Squire continues the tradition of wonderful humor. Raoul has this wonderful line that I’m surprised has never appeared anywhere else because it is so funny. “When people tell me a knight’s job is all glory, I laugh and laugh and laugh. Sometimes I can stop laughing before they edge away and talk about soothing drinks.” There is a realism in the job of knighthood that is rarely addressed elsewhere. This statement takes all the preconceived notions of what a knight’s job is, and turns them on it’s head. I like that. I like it when authors can be original while using the old ideas. And I just love that quote. And so many others that are too numerous to name, but I wish I could. I guess I’ll just have to settle for telling you to read the book. That way you’ll catch them all.