Your First Giant

by Lee Williams

You toy listlessly with a selection of stuffed olives and allow your gaze to roam the plain before you, all the way down to the river which marks the far northern boundary of the duchy and beyond which lies the frozen kingdom of the giants.
In front of you stand the three small regiments which your brother, with infinite condescension, has seen fit to lend you, their pennants crackling and snapping in the wind and the flag of the duchy, your father’s flag, billowing paternally above them all, showing a great brown bear strangling a rooster in each paw.
As the youngest son of the Duke, it has fallen to you to defend this stretch of comfortless scrubland and the lumpen buffoons who inhabit it against the attentions of a giant who has been seen heading in this direction from across the river. Perhaps their crops have failed again this year. Or perhaps this giant has been cast out by his own people. You don’t really care. Your father believes this encounter will build strength of character but you would far rather be developing your character in the fleshpots of the city or the warm seclusion of your castle.
Still, you are here and resolved to make the best of a tiresome situation. Your makeshift command centre is not without its comforts and you have managed to set up your tent to take advantage of the evening sun. All around you bustle the various pages, entertainers and cooks essential for any serious military campaigner.
Your steward approaches and asks if you are ready to review the troops.
What will you do?
Review the infantry
Review the cavalry
Review the archers
Decline to review the troops
Start again