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Sir Owen of Jesslaw was a knight in the realm of Tortall. He fought in the Scanran War alongside Keladry of Mindelan in the early 460s.

Biographical Information[]

Early life[]

Not much is known about his early life, except that his mother was killed by bandits when he was young, prompting his hate for them and his dream of ridding Tortall of them. He learned his tactless ways from his father, according to his cousins. This made Fief Jesslaw a sort of madhouse[3].

Page Years[]

Owen of Jesslaw entered page training in 453 HE[4], a year after Keladry of Mindelan. He was sponsored by Prince Roald of Conté, the Crown Prince of Tortall. He became friends with Kel when she stopped Joren of Stone Mountain and his friends from bullying Owen, after the boy had ventured into a library on his own. He joined the study group that Kel's friends had formed, that took place in Neal's room. After the incident in the library, Kel decided to move the group there to keep Joren from harassing new pages there. Owen was very excited by this prospect and skipped along on the way to the library.

When the pages had to serve during the banquet for Midwinter, Owen was one of those targeted by the sabotage set up by Joren and his cronies. When Master Oakbridge assigned Owen to wait on a table of young ladies that included Kel's sisters, Owen was afraid, saying that he would rather be assigned anywhere else due to his fear of girls who giggle. Owen wanted to fight Joren, but was stopped by Kel, who said that if they picked a fight, they would just look bad.

During summer camp, when Wyldon had split the pages into groups, Owen was in Kel's group, along with Faleron of King's Reach, Neal, Prosper of Tameran, and Merric of Hollyrose. While hunting, they stumbled into a band of bandits, and were forced to run to a cliff where they claimed to await Lord Wyldon's party. After the fight, when Wyldon mistook Kel's nausea, Owen defended her, saying that she was only sick from the climb, and not from the fight. He also said that without her, they would be dead, and that she "saved their bacon"[5].

After the pages came back from break, his cousins Iden of Vikison Lake and Warric of Mandash were starting their page training. Owen asked Kel straight out if she would sponsor one of his cousins, making Iden and Warric blush at his tactlessness[3].

After Kel had rescued Lalasa Isran, missing the big exams completely, everyone was sure that she would either quit, as she would have to redo her previous four years as a page for her lateness. Owen was crying when she came into the mess hall, but smiled tearfully when Kel joked that she would have another year with him. When the Lord Magistrate revealed that Kel would be permitted to take her exams, as outside forces that were not under Kel's nor Wyldon's control prevented her from being on time, Owen cheered along with his cousins, Warric of Mandash and Iden of Vikison Lake, and other first-years whom Kel helped during her time as a page[6].

Squire years[]

Owen became a squire in 457 HE, the first year of the Grand Progress. This made it so finding a knight-master for Owen was nearly impossible, as no one was in a hurry. Knights in the Progress simply gallivanted around, not wanting nor needing a squire, and knights who weren't in the progress claimed that a squire would slow them down. As Owen wanted desperately to become a bandit hunter and to gain field experience, this wasn't boding too well for him. He was assigned to be a squire in palace service until he found a knight-master[7]. This meant paper shuffling and doing errands for mostly Myles of Olau. He said that even though Sir Myles was a good enough fellow, he wanted a proper knight-master. As Myles only needed him for some work, Owen was mostly at the beck and call of the Master of Ceremonies, which annoyed and frustrated him to no end[8].

After Wyldon of Cavall resigned from his post as training-master, due to two failings that year, Kel suggested to him that he take on Owen as his squire[9]. Wyldon agreed and Owen was ecstatic, even though Wyldon promised to break him to bridle. He went north with Wyldon to do what he could against Scanran raids.

In 460 HE, at the start of the Scanran War, Owen was still a squire to Lord Wyldon. When he met Kel and company at the fort, Kel was amazed to see how much Wyldon had changed him from his jolly, rough and tumble ways. She was pleased to see that Wyldon hadn't completely broken him to bridle when Owen neglected to spirit Duke Baird away immediately, instead content to say hello to his friends. After Wyldon assigned Kel to the care of refugees, Owen was ashamed for not finding out and warning Kel earlier.

After the Scanran raid on the refugee camp, Haven, Owen went after Kel into enemy territory with Tobeis Boon, Kel's new servant. Everyone tried to convince Owen to return to Wyldon, as he would break faith both with the Crown and his knight-master for doing this. Owen refused.

Owen proved to be a valuable warrior on this trip, showing his growth as a squire and as a fighter. At the battle of Castle Rathhausak, against Blayce's minions, Owen fought well. His favorite horse, Happy, died in the fighting, which made him distraught, as he was a gift from Lord Wyldon.

After they returned to Tortallan soil, Owen, Neal, and Kel met with Wyldon, kneeling before him. When Wyldon asked if they had anything to say for themselves, Owen confessed that he got Happy killed and that he was sorry for breaking faith with his knight-master, although he'd "do it again under the circumstances". Wyldon said that he was sorry for the loss of the horse, but he'd be sorrier if Owen was killed, as he took pride in his young squire. This surprised all three of them[10].

After Wyldon excused Owen and Neal, saying that he needed to talk to the lady knight in private, Owen was suspicious. He told his knight-master that if he was going to yell at her, he couldn't. Wyldon responded frostily, demanding an explanation. Before his foray into Scanra, Owen would've ducked his head in shame and sidled away, but he explained clearly to his knight-master that Kel didn't deserve to be yelled at, as she had killed Blayce the Gallan, saved Tortallan prisoners, and kept them all alive. Wyldon's resolve broke and he said he wasn't going to yell at Kel[11].

Knight years[]

Owen's Ordeal of Knighthood was supposed to occur in either 460 or 461 HE, but was postponed due to the onslaught of the Scanran War. He passed, whenever he took it, and became a full knight of the realm.

He married Margarry of Cavall, Wyldon's youngest daughter. He was happy about this, saying that she liked horses and dogs as much as he did, and that it would be "jolly".

Physical description[]

In Page, he was described as being short and chubby with a round face, and blond hair. In Lady Knight he was described as stocky and strong and only a little under Kel's height.

Personality and traits[]

Owen is described as having a very jovial temperament, even in dire straits. He is loud, boisterous, and not afraid to get into a fight with someone older, bigger, and more experienced than he is. This had made him a legend among the pages. He is determined and willing to fight for what and who he believes in. He is also incredibly outspoken, and doesn't think before saying things that would be considered extremely inappropriate. He commented about Kel's bosom out loud, and said that they weren't melons or anything but just noticeable[3].

Throughout his time as a page and squire, Owen was a staunch supporter of Kel, a good friend, and incredibly loyal to her.

He really started to discover that war was less "jolly" than he thought after he saw what was left of Fort Giantkiller after it was attacked by Scanrans.[12]

Relationships[]

Pages and squires[]

Keladry of Mindelan[]

One of Owen's most notable friendships was Keladry of Mindelan, the first girl to openly train as a page, and the second girl page to train in over a century. Owen liked Kel almost immediately, and joined their anti-hazing campaign that was started the year before while Kel was still a probationary page. Kel and Owen had a long, lasting friendship that went well into their adult years.

Other[]

Owen got along well with the other pages and squires in Kel's group, such as Nealan of Queenscove, Cleon of Kennan, Prosper of Tameran, Merric of Hollyrose, Faleron of King's Reach, etc. Like most of them, he despised Joren of Stone Mountain, Vinson of Genlith, Garvey of Runnerspring, and the other pages and squires in Joren's posse.

Wyldon of Cavall[]

Owen was scared of Lord Wyldon and had a huge amount of respect for him. Unlike many pages and squires, Owen had no problem outwardly correcting Lord Wyldon, much to the training master's chagrin. Wyldon took him as his squire upon a request from Kel, and threatened to work him like a horse but also to teach him important things about knighthood. After coming back from their foray into Scanra, Lord Wyldon revealed that he took pride in Owen as a squire, something that none of them ever expected Wyldon to say.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Lady Knight, Ch. 9 (pg. 203; Random House Books)
  2. Marriage mentioned by Tamora Pierce on the internet
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Page, Ch. 8
  4. Tortallan timeline
  5. Page, Ch. 7 (Random House paperback)
  6. Page, Ch. 15 (pg. 249; Random House paperback)
  7. Squire, Ch. 10 (pg. 198; Random House paperback)
  8. Squire, Ch. 10 pg 199
  9. Squire, Ch. 14 (pg. 287; Random House paperback)
  10. Lady Knight, Ch. 18 (pg. 403; Laurel-Leaf Books)
  11. Lady Knight, Ch. 18 (pg. 404; Laurel-Leaf books)
  12. Lady Knight, Ch. 3

See also[]

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