Quote.

"Well, it's a bit of a surprise, Halt. I'd never thought of you as. . . well, being royalty, I suppose."

Halt's baleful gaze turned to focus on the tall young knight riding beside him.

Oh, really?" he said. "I suppose I'm just so unroyal in my bearing, is that it? Too coarse and common altogether?"

Will turned away to hide a smile. Horace seemed to have a real knack for getting under Halt's skin with his attitude of innocence.

"No, no, not at all," Horace said, realizing that he'd annoyed the Ranger but not sure how it had happened. "It's just you don't have the. . ." He hesitated, not quite sure what it was that Halt didn't have.

"The haircut," Will put in.

Halt's glare swung toward him. "The haircut." It was not a question. It was a statement.

Will nodded easily. "That's right. Royalty has a certain sense of fashion to it. It has to do with bearing and behavior and. . . haircuts."

"You don't like my haircut?" Halt said. Will spread his hands innocently.

"Halt, I love it! It's just that it's a little Rufus the Roughnut for the brother of a king. It's not what I would call. . ."

He paused, leaning across in his saddle to study Halt's salt-and-pepper hair more closely, ignoring the drawn-together brows and the dangerous look in Halt's eyes. Then he found the word he was looking for.

". . . sleek."

~ Ranger's Apprentice book eight: The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan.