Squire (Tamora Pierce novel)

Squire

Original Random House U.S. hardcover of the book featuring the title character.
Author	Tamora Pierce
Cover artist	Joyce Patti
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Protector of the Small
Genre	Fantasy novel
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	2001
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	399 pp
ISBN
OCLC	46456256
LC Class	PZ7.P61464 Sq 2001
Preceded by	Page
Followed by	Lady Knight

Squire is the third book in the series Protector of the Small by fantasy author Tamora Pierce. It details Keladry of Mindelan's (Kel's) continuing quest for knighthood.

Squire tells the story of Keladry of Mindelan's years as a squire, between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Having passed the "big examinations", Kel becomes a squire without a knight-master. While she becomes frustrated at waiting for offers from knights, her best friend, Nealan of Queenscove, becomes squire to Alanna the Lioness, the first lady knight in Tortall, and Kel's personal hero.

While Kel is disappointed at not becoming the Lioness's squire, she shortly receives an equally prestigious offer from Lord Raoul of Goldenlake, commander of the elite King's Own and a personal friend to the Lioness. As Lord Raoul's squire, she travels with the King's Own and participates in routine duties ranging from chasing rogue centaurs to helping to rebuilt villages afflicted by natural disasters such as mudslides. Along the way, Kel acquires a baby griffin from the bandits who kidnapped him from his parents' nest. Due to the high incidence of kidnapping immature griffins for their magical powers, griffin parents attack any human who has ever touched one of their offspring, so this task is not without its dangers.

As knight-master, Raoul teaches Kel the fineries of command, and hones her proven skills in jousting, eventually entering her into tournaments where she jousts against other squires and knights. She jousts twice against Wyldon of Cavall, her previous training master, a political conservative who was initially vehemently opposed to Kel's training to be a knight. After the second time, she meets three girls, two of them sisters, who explain that they wish to train for knighthood as well. Kel gives them some advice, noting that the sisters appear serious about it while the third girl seems more like the type that jumps around from idea to idea.