Prologue:
A small band of knights descended slowly late in the afternoon from the west into the small village nestled in a quiet forest. The knights exhausted beckoned a passing old farmer for food and rest or where they might receive it. The farmer pushed past the knights ignoring their request towards his little cottage. Once inside the old farmer bolted the door shut, the knights looked about to see that all the others had done the same. The sun set quickly and in the darkness shadows appeared over the ridge the knights grouped together facing the on coming riders. The riders were shadows and swift, moving aggressively they threw torches on to the vegetable gardens and drew polished iron long swords against the weary knights. The battle did not end quickly when the smoke had cleared only one knight stood amongst the fallen bodies on his comrades and those of the riders who appeared from the shadows. Morning was near as the knight fell to his knees weeping helplessly for the lives of his beloved comrades, the farmers who had watched from their windows all night slowly emerged confused from their small stone cottages. As they emerged the lone knight collapsed from exhaustion and distress, it took a moment for any one to move, the first who did was a young daughter to the farmer who had pushed past the knights the night before. She rushed to the knight pulled his head gently upon her lap and began lovingly stroking his hair, after a time of gazing at the exhausted man she begged her father to help her bring him inside so he might recover from his wounds.
The daughter nursed the knight for days to no avail, his wounds were too severe and kept him unconscious. Finally on the third day, mid afternoon, he awoke. The daughter was so overjoyed she nearly forgot to offer the wounded knight food. Wearily the knight spooned a few mouthfuls of broth into his parched mouth past his chapped lips. Soon after he dosed off into a restful slumber, not remembering the battle nor his grief. Meanwhile the farmers had all gathered and were questioning the purpose of the knight wandering into their village, for up to this point all strangers were deadly and taxing upon them. The daughter who nursed the knight insisted that he was of good nature and could help them fend off unwanted visitors like the Ebononyx, who had been pillaging and raiding the village nightly for years. The villagers were not convinced and proposed to toss the body of the semi conscious man into the forest to be consumed by the beasts. The farmer and his daughter refused to do such a thing claiming that it would bestow bad karma on them all, and said that they had no choice but to await his return to health. The knight had, after all, killed the Ebononyx and the raids on the village had since ceased. Such was the decision of the council, by consent of none and opposed by all but one.
Ten days after the Battle of the Night, or soon it would be come to be known as, the knight arose in full health. He was most indebted to the daughter for her aid in his time of need. He expressed much thanks and questioned her and her father as to if there was anyway to repay them for saving his life. The daughter leaning over to the father whispered something quickly gesturing towards the knight the father nodded and bid the knight to wait here with his daughter for a short while. The knight agreed without any question, but as the hours past and the father still had not returned the knight began to wonder. Sometime after supper he began to question the daughter in a childish like manor as to what had been said. The daughter getting agitated with the knight said nothing but scolded him as if he was her child. By midnight the father had still not returned, the daughter slept peacefully under a blanket near the fireside. The knight now restless broke his pacing in the room when the door squeaked open, finally the father had returned. The old farmer was very fatigued and nearly collapsed as he pushed open the door, quickly the knight helped him into his bed. Then returned to the table in the center of the small cottage and sat awake for the rest of the knight watching over the farmer and his young daughter.
When morning finally came, the daughter rose first and set immediately about preparing breakfast, wrapping herself in a cloak so not to be bitten by the cold morning air while she collected eggs from the chickens. As she returned to the warmth of the cottage, she began making bread and paused every few minutes to rub her hands. The knight studied her but said nothing, thinking to himself that she was a true woman, knowing all the hardships of life and yet not complaining once about what she had to suffer, a noble woman in the guise of a poor daughter. As the two ate in silence, the knight grew uncomfortable and asked the girl her name. She paused and looked at him as if she did not understand the words that he spoke. The knight insisted that the girl must have a name, he said that he was called James by his comrades. As the daughter began to think this over she realized that no one had ever called her by anything, in fact no one in the village was ever called by anything. She explained slowly and carefully that they came together for protection by numbers, which worked for a time but the Ebononyx were skilled riders who had haunted their night for as long as she could remember. The villagers only ever spoke to each other when absolutely necessary, most of their lives were lived almost in entire silence. The knight was confused by this thought of not naming children nor taking comfort in the company of others, life was agonizing enough without adding the constant feeling of isolation and loneliness. It was at this point when the knight decided to name the girl, Aadi.
Aadi was crying tears of joy when her father awoke and came from his bed to the table, he looked at the knight, who replied gently that he had filled a void in his daughter’s life. The father looked curiously at the knight, who proceeded to explain the morning’s conversation. The father was just as dumbfounded as Aadi was, and beckoned the knight to give him a name as well, James thought for a moment, and responded Titus.
Titus with a sudden newfound purpose asked James to follow him, they walked out to the well in the center of the town, where Titus stood and called for everyone in the village to come out and join him. Curiosity lead all from the warmth of their cottages into the cold morning air, as the village gathered about him Titus began to speak very eloquently about the courage of the knight who had delivered them all from the terror of the Ebononyx. And the whole reason they had come together so many years ago was for protection, so if this new stranger could teach them to fight and protect them then why should they be so averse to allowing him to help. As the words poured forth, James listened intently to Titus as he beckoned his fellow villagers to think rationally. James may not have wanted this responsibility but by the end of the speech he was so moved that saying no and leaving the village to their own fate was not a question.
Thus it was that the kingdom was established, more and more villages after hearing of how Sir James had saved one, which they wanted to join with him for protection. Young men volunteered to be trained to be knights and in just a short five years, James was hailed as king and married Aadi. Upon his deathbed to keep the peace he ordered his two sons to split the kingdom in two and maintain a link through marriage between the king of each to marry the queen from the other kingdom. The sons agreed signing their names in blood over their father’s soulless. And this was how the two kingdoms were born and past through history building castles of peace, training generation of knights constantly refining skills and weaponry. Peace reigned over both kingdoms for many hundreds of years before incident and evil crept back from the west.
A small band of knights descended slowly late in the afternoon from the west into the small village nestled in a quiet forest. The knights exhausted beckoned a passing old farmer for food and rest or where they might receive it. The farmer pushed past the knights ignoring their request towards his little cottage. Once inside the old farmer bolted the door shut, the knights looked about to see that all the others had done the same. The sun set quickly and in the darkness shadows appeared over the ridge the knights grouped together facing the on coming riders. The riders were shadows and swift, moving aggressively they threw torches on to the vegetable gardens and drew polished iron long swords against the weary knights. The battle did not end quickly when the smoke had cleared only one knight stood amongst the fallen bodies on his comrades and those of the riders who appeared from the shadows. Morning was near as the knight fell to his knees weeping helplessly for the lives of his beloved comrades, the farmers who had watched from their windows all night slowly emerged confused from their small stone cottages. As they emerged the lone knight collapsed from exhaustion and distress, it took a moment for any one to move, the first who did was a young daughter to the farmer who had pushed past the knights the night before. She rushed to the knight pulled his head gently upon her lap and began lovingly stroking his hair, after a time of gazing at the exhausted man she begged her father to help her bring him inside so he might recover from his wounds.
The daughter nursed the knight for days to no avail, his wounds were too severe and kept him unconscious. Finally on the third day, mid afternoon, he awoke. The daughter was so overjoyed she nearly forgot to offer the wounded knight food. Wearily the knight spooned a few mouthfuls of broth into his parched mouth past his chapped lips. Soon after he dosed off into a restful slumber, not remembering the battle nor his grief. Meanwhile the farmers had all gathered and were questioning the purpose of the knight wandering into their village, for up to this point all strangers were deadly and taxing upon them. The daughter who nursed the knight insisted that he was of good nature and could help them fend off unwanted visitors like the Ebononyx, who had been pillaging and raiding the village nightly for years. The villagers were not convinced and proposed to toss the body of the semi conscious man into the forest to be consumed by the beasts. The farmer and his daughter refused to do such a thing claiming that it would bestow bad karma on them all, and said that they had no choice but to await his return to health. The knight had, after all, killed the Ebononyx and the raids on the village had since ceased. Such was the decision of the council, by consent of none and opposed by all but one.
Ten days after the Battle of the Night, or soon it would be come to be known as, the knight arose in full health. He was most indebted to the daughter for her aid in his time of need. He expressed much thanks and questioned her and her father as to if there was anyway to repay them for saving his life. The daughter leaning over to the father whispered something quickly gesturing towards the knight the father nodded and bid the knight to wait here with his daughter for a short while. The knight agreed without any question, but as the hours past and the father still had not returned the knight began to wonder. Sometime after supper he began to question the daughter in a childish like manor as to what had been said. The daughter getting agitated with the knight said nothing but scolded him as if he was her child. By midnight the father had still not returned, the daughter slept peacefully under a blanket near the fireside. The knight now restless broke his pacing in the room when the door squeaked open, finally the father had returned. The old farmer was very fatigued and nearly collapsed as he pushed open the door, quickly the knight helped him into his bed. Then returned to the table in the center of the small cottage and sat awake for the rest of the knight watching over the farmer and his young daughter.
When morning finally came, the daughter rose first and set immediately about preparing breakfast, wrapping herself in a cloak so not to be bitten by the cold morning air while she collected eggs from the chickens. As she returned to the warmth of the cottage, she began making bread and paused every few minutes to rub her hands. The knight studied her but said nothing, thinking to himself that she was a true woman, knowing all the hardships of life and yet not complaining once about what she had to suffer, a noble woman in the guise of a poor daughter. As the two ate in silence, the knight grew uncomfortable and asked the girl her name. She paused and looked at him as if she did not understand the words that he spoke. The knight insisted that the girl must have a name, he said that he was called James by his comrades. As the daughter began to think this over she realized that no one had ever called her by anything, in fact no one in the village was ever called by anything. She explained slowly and carefully that they came together for protection by numbers, which worked for a time but the Ebononyx were skilled riders who had haunted their night for as long as she could remember. The villagers only ever spoke to each other when absolutely necessary, most of their lives were lived almost in entire silence. The knight was confused by this thought of not naming children nor taking comfort in the company of others, life was agonizing enough without adding the constant feeling of isolation and loneliness. It was at this point when the knight decided to name the girl, Aadi.
Aadi was crying tears of joy when her father awoke and came from his bed to the table, he looked at the knight, who replied gently that he had filled a void in his daughter’s life. The father looked curiously at the knight, who proceeded to explain the morning’s conversation. The father was just as dumbfounded as Aadi was, and beckoned the knight to give him a name as well, James thought for a moment, and responded Titus.
Titus with a sudden newfound purpose asked James to follow him, they walked out to the well in the center of the town, where Titus stood and called for everyone in the village to come out and join him. Curiosity lead all from the warmth of their cottages into the cold morning air, as the village gathered about him Titus began to speak very eloquently about the courage of the knight who had delivered them all from the terror of the Ebononyx. And the whole reason they had come together so many years ago was for protection, so if this new stranger could teach them to fight and protect them then why should they be so averse to allowing him to help. As the words poured forth, James listened intently to Titus as he beckoned his fellow villagers to think rationally. James may not have wanted this responsibility but by the end of the speech he was so moved that saying no and leaving the village to their own fate was not a question.
Thus it was that the kingdom was established, more and more villages after hearing of how Sir James had saved one, which they wanted to join with him for protection. Young men volunteered to be trained to be knights and in just a short five years, James was hailed as king and married Aadi. Upon his deathbed to keep the peace he ordered his two sons to split the kingdom in two and maintain a link through marriage between the king of each to marry the queen from the other kingdom. The sons agreed signing their names in blood over their father’s soulless. And this was how the two kingdoms were born and past through history building castles of peace, training generation of knights constantly refining skills and weaponry. Peace reigned over both kingdoms for many hundreds of years before incident and evil crept back from the west.
COMMENTS
Comment on Punishmnet (a story i have been working on for sometime)
Join or login to post comments.