Preston

From Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki
Revision as of 00:08, 24 September 2012 by Osiris (talk | contribs) (1 revision: Discworld import 2)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Preston
[[Image:|thumb|center|240px|{{{1}}}]]
Name Preston
Race Human
Age 17
Occupation Formerly Lance Private of the castle guard, future doctor
Physical appearance Smart and clean
Residence The Chalk
Death
Parents
Relatives
Children
Marital Status
Appearances
Books I Shall Wear Midnight
Cameos


Preston was a young castle guard (under the new Baron Roland) who is perhaps too clever for his own good. So clever, in fact, that he would play dumb in situations where large words would be unappreciated and unhelpful.

When Preston was a young boy, his grandmother used to lay out the dead. It was Preston's job to provide his grandmother with the necessary supplies for when she prepared the body, such as cloths, warm water, a dish of water, a dish of salt, and two coins for the ferryman. He was forbidden, however, from the actual work with the corpse, on account of him lacking a certificate in "doctrine." (Pills and potions and sawing off limbs and similar.)

Preston was a born healer, if not a doctor. A doctor requires letters put at the end of the name, and those letters are very expensive. The lack of formal training did not stop him from performing surgery on his mum's dog (made him right as rain when he pushed all the bits back in after being run over by a wagon) and on his granny's chickens (curing them of fowl crop, which even a talented pig witch can't do.)

Tiffany Aching finds him fascinating and intelligent, with a rare understanding of the world. Preston shares with Tiffany a delight in language and an imaginative take on vocabulary. He quietly and unobtrusively courts Tiffany, mainly by taking care of her when she is too busy to think of mundane things like sleeping and eating and being there for her when she needs it most.

After Preston assists in her defeating the evil which is walking the world, Tiffany wrests a promise out of Roland that he will sponsor Preston's further education at medical school in Ankh-Morpork. Preston is now presumably a medical student working under Doctor John Lawn. He is also to be among the first teachers at the new school that is to be established in an old barn on Home Farm.

Tiffany is grateful to and admiring of Preston, even somewhat fond of him. She thinks of him as a "young man of considerable resourcefulness" until Preston points out that he's a year older than her. By the end of I Shall Wear Midnight a mutual romantic interest between him and Tiffany is indicated.