"Sir Pitre, I would like you to meet someone."
"Gladly Sir Darius."
"This is Sir Lionel. He will be riding with us."
"Have we met before?"
"Only briefly. I was one of the first recruits to train with you by the lake."
"Ah, you were the one that we so full of questions. I hope I was able to answer most of them to your liking."
"Oh yes sir. It is such a pleasure to ride with you and the other Knights."
"This will be Sir Lionel's first assignment."
"Stay close to one of your fellow Knights. We all have that one person that we trust with our lives, and that person trusts us in the same way."
"Yes sir."
"Now ready your horse lad, we will be riding out in a few minutes."
"Yes sir, and it was a pleasure to finally officially meet you Sir Patchwork Knight."
I looked sternly at Sir Darius.
"Don't look at me, everyone of the new recruits and a great deal of the experienced men call you that name."
That last part of what he said was muffled by a laugh, and I joined in. We walked together in silence to our horses and mounted up for the ride. Darius then signaled the men.
"Ready men? For the Kingdom!"
The men replied in force "FOR THE KINGDOM", and we rode from the palace grounds down the trail of the mountain and into our future.
***
I stopped our band at the location where Sir Constance died, so that everyone could pay their respects to the place that he fell. It was a somber moment. Every man had a tear in his eye as they passed the spot I stood marking the spot. Tears clouded my vision as I remember how I failed to save him and return him from darkness. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. I turned to see Rolf with a look of sympathy in his eyes.
"We haven't talked about this, since it happened, but you have to know, that you did all that you could."
"I'm beginning to learn that, but I still have a ways to go, before I will accept that there was no more I could do. If I had been quicker, or tried to pull more from the aether, or if I had stayed closer to where the two of you were."
"Aether, what is that?"
"What?"
"You said you could have tried to pull more from the aether, what is that?"
"Oh, it is long in explanation, but I will tell you about it."
I had made a decision right after Sir Constance died, that I was going to teach Rolf everything that my father had taught me, and even how to reach out to the aether in my stone. I would have to see if I could make a stone like Arial had made for me, but that would take some trial and error on my part. She only briefly explained what she had done to create the stone. I lowered my voice to speak to Rolf again.
"I want to train you in more advanced techniques. Things that I haven't taught the other Knights, things that must remain between you and me. When we have time alone, I will show you these things, and we will discuss the aether."
"There are more fighting techniques? More than the Eight Movements?"
"Yes, but you can not speak of this to anyone except myself. I swore an oath to my father about this, and I'm breaking it by telling you this now, but I want you to have this information. I want you to have all the knowledge that I hold, in order to keep you safe."
"I will not speak of it Pitre, but I will want to talk to you about maybe teaching these things to a few others. Can you imagine the advantage we would have if more men could fight like you?"
"I can, and I have. I even spoke to my father in the same way you are speaking to me, and he told me that the more men have power, the more they will abuse that power. He said he had seen it when he was learning all the movements, and that he feared for a world that was ruled by men with such power. That is why when the Blind War was over, he left the Kingdom and became a simple village blacksmith. He didn't want a life full of war and fighting. He wanted a world of peace. The King understood and thanked him for what he had done to help win the Blind War, but even he didn't know what my father knew."
"I will keep my silence Pitre, but I can't say that I won't still try to talk you into teaching others."
"I would have it no other way Rolf. Mount up, it is time for us to leave this behind us."
I stood for a moment longer staring at the spot that Sir Constance died before mounting my horse and catching up with the rest of the men. I said one last apology to Constance for not saving him, and then let it go. It had to remain in the past and that is where it would stay. I would remember, but I couldn't hold on to it any longer.
While riding along the trail, stories began being told of Sir Constance and his telling of stories.
"Remember the time Sir Constant told the tale of him falling down the well?
"Aye, what about the time he went fishing and caught the largest the Realm had ever seen."
"Oh, I actually loved that one. He told it with such glee. Waving his hands around as if he were reliving the moment that he landed the beast from the deeps."
The stories went on for miles, and it felt like Sir Constance was still along for the ride. They finally faded as the sun began to hang low in the sky, and we stopped for the day. Sir Darius and Sir Gorin set up the guard schedule. I was to take the last watch with Rolf and Sir Lionel.
It was Sir Darius himself, who woke me for my turn at watch.
"Pitre, I want you to wake Rolf and Lionel, but before you do, I want to make sure that you are doing well."
"Of course I am. I just had a pleasant sleep."
"That's not what I'm talking about. This is your first watch since Sir Constance was killed. I just want to make sure that you are in the proper mind."
"I am. I made my peace with Sir Constance yesterday along the trail. I will not let anything get past me to harm anyone in this group."
"I'm sure you will, but I worry that you will try to focus too much. Mistakes happen Pitre. That is all part of getting through this thing we call life. You do understand that right?"
"Yes sir. I have to let that go, and move forward and do my best not to let it happen again."
"Alright Pitre. If you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm sure it will be Rolf, but I want you to know that I am here for you as well. I know I don't always come across like that, but I am."
"Thank you Sir Darius. I will keep to my word and follow your orders, and I will come to you if I feel a need. You should get some more rest now. There is still a lot of dark to get through this night before the morning comes. I will wake you at first light."
"Fare well Pitre, now go wake the others, and replace the guard."
Sir Darius placed his hand on my shoulder as I nodded a goodnight to him. I could see the care in his eyes, for me and the rest of these men. He was a hard man, but he was fair and cared a great deal about his men and the rest of those in the Realm. I would not let him down again.
While riding along the trail, stories began being told of Sir Constance and his telling of stories.
"Remember the time Sir Constant told the tale of him falling down the well?
"Aye, what about the time he went fishing and caught the largest the Realm had ever seen."
"Oh, I actually loved that one. He told it with such glee. Waving his hands around as if he were reliving the moment that he landed the beast from the deeps."
The stories went on for miles, and it felt like Sir Constance was still along for the ride. They finally faded as the sun began to hang low in the sky, and we stopped for the day. Sir Darius and Sir Gorin set up the guard schedule. I was to take the last watch with Rolf and Sir Lionel.
It was Sir Darius himself, who woke me for my turn at watch.
"Pitre, I want you to wake Rolf and Lionel, but before you do, I want to make sure that you are doing well."
"Of course I am. I just had a pleasant sleep."
"That's not what I'm talking about. This is your first watch since Sir Constance was killed. I just want to make sure that you are in the proper mind."
"I am. I made my peace with Sir Constance yesterday along the trail. I will not let anything get past me to harm anyone in this group."
"I'm sure you will, but I worry that you will try to focus too much. Mistakes happen Pitre. That is all part of getting through this thing we call life. You do understand that right?"
"Yes sir. I have to let that go, and move forward and do my best not to let it happen again."
"Alright Pitre. If you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm sure it will be Rolf, but I want you to know that I am here for you as well. I know I don't always come across like that, but I am."
"Thank you Sir Darius. I will keep to my word and follow your orders, and I will come to you if I feel a need. You should get some more rest now. There is still a lot of dark to get through this night before the morning comes. I will wake you at first light."
"Fare well Pitre, now go wake the others, and replace the guard."
Sir Darius placed his hand on my shoulder as I nodded a goodnight to him. I could see the care in his eyes, for me and the rest of these men. He was a hard man, but he was fair and cared a great deal about his men and the rest of those in the Realm. I would not let him down again.
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