Castle Heart Environs

The morning after the feast I found myself with Gerald, Jarrod and Minerva touring the castle grounds. Entire companies of soldiers would greet us in their best parade dress uniforms and we would tour their camps. Everything seemed to have been organized with extreme attention to detail. Even now Gerald had working crews preparing camps for incoming soldiery before they got here. If you've never been in charge of organizing a military camp, it's complicated. Wood for fires, food for bellies, latrines for shitting, tents for sleeping, smiths for sharpening, stropping, and repairs, silage for horses and draft animals, fresh water supplies and so much more had to be considered for each company that came into the Castle Heart environs. Already the Castle proper was filled with soldiery or reserved spaced for incoming high and middle nobility, and all the common born soldiery were being encamped outside the castle walls.

It was clear to me that the common soldiery was overawed by the presence of their overlords touring the camps. I could feel every eye trained on our procession as we passed, and whispers once they thought we were far enough away to not be heard. I had unnaturally sharp ears and heard most of their disjointed conversations.

"The Duke and his son her-"

"Monster of a man, think hes a personal guard?"

"No you dolt, that's the Heir,"

"Lady Minerva is a beauty befit-"

"They bleed like any other, if you stick them hard enough" said someone off to my right. They jumped when I stopped and my head and eyes snapped over in their direction, making them easily identifiable since they were the only ones to react. It took a moment for my parents to notice that I had stopped and that Gerald had stopped a half-step after me, following my gaze.

"Bring those two to me," I ordered, pointing at the pair of men who tried to shy away before several pairs of hands grabbed them and yanked them roughly towards us. Jarrod and Minerva looked at my in confusion.

"What is it lad?" Gerald asked me as the men were made to kneel in front of me.

"Search them, and their possessions," I said to a captain that had rushed over. To Gerald I said, "I heard them talking about how we'll bleed like anyone else if they stick us hard enough," Gerald's eyes narrowed like a hawk as he turned to look at the two men, who paled.

"Bloody ears of a falcon," whispered one of the watching soldier's to another. I glanced at him and he paled.

"Probably best not to whisper near someone with the bloody ears of a falcon, Sergeant," I said with wry amusement and the men around him chuckled at his expense.

The Captain and his squad of soldiers returned with several bags and items, and the Captain himself presented a stack of papers to me, which I took and rifled through for a few minutes.

"Spy's for the Duke of Iron, it seems father" I said to Jarrod and passed him the stack. While he perused their contents I turned back to the men and considered them. They had both lost all the blood in their faces by now and knew that a grim fate awaited them.

"Hmm... What could you men have been up to I wonder" Jarrod said after a few minutes as he passed the stack to his wife. "Did you know that insinuating harm against seated nobility is a capital crime if caught? It warrant's immediate execution. Did you know that insinuating harm against seated royalty is an even worse crime, and warrants death by torture?" Jarrod informed them coldly as Gerald unsheathed his sword.

"Your grace, please allow me to handle this," I said from the side, drawing everyone's eyes to me as I unsheathed my own sword, "It would be fitting practice before the war if I were to take my first life in a controlled combat environment.. And we cannot be ungracious, surely if one of them manages to slay me they should be awarded their lives for such a valorous display," I stated all of this calmly to my father's wide eyes, and I could tell that my mother was very displeased by my suggestion.

"Zerial, I am not su-" Jarrod began, only for Gerald to interrupt.

"Your Grace, Zerial is soon to be deployed in the war. I am am sure that their Graces thought that I would employ him as a clerk, or a runner, but that is not the case. Zerial is a belted Squire of the Order, and as such he must be blooded in combat. He will see combat in this war, I will make sure of it. The future Duke of this realm must be blooded, must see the realities of war, if he is to be a good leader," At first my parents looked thunderously angry at Gerald's interruption, but as he spoke the anger eased away to be replaced with a reserved acceptance.

"Very well. You two will fight the heir of the realm, the future Duke Zerial Hexenguard. If you should manage to kill him you will go free. If you instead only incapacitate him you will be rewarded further," Jarrod spoke at last, indicating with a casual wave that the two men should be released and their weapons returned to them. Immediately a group of soldier's formed a ring around the three, with several more shielding the Duke and Duchess from any potential assassination attempts. Gerald stepped out into the center of the ring to officiate the sudden duel.

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"Name yourself, and your grievances," Gerald called out to Zerial, beginning a common ritual for Hexenguardian duels.

"I am Squire Zerial Hart Hexenguard, Heir Apparent to the Duchy of Hexenguard. My grievances are that these two did conspire to harm royalty, and further violated, through their association with the Duke of Iron, the Royal Edict forbidding intrigue of a violent nature and any acts which might weaken the Kingdom As A Whole. By speaking about either myself or my parents, these two have violated both Royal Edicts, as well as violating numerous Hexenguardian Laws. The documents in their possession detail a plan by which one or more of the Ducal party might be harmed," And Gerald, having read the papers himself, nodded.

"Your Grievances are noted and valid. Gentlemen, Name yourselves and your grievances." He turned to the two men who stood there glaring daggers at Zerial.

The taller of the two began, "I am Iron Knight Ronald Du Vanguard. My grievances are that the Duchy of Hexenguard have trumped up some commoner son to prop up their failing regime, violating Royal Edict that a Duchy may not be passed off to illegitimate children or orphans. My grievances are that the duchy has chosen this unblooded child to test against me in a trial by combat, and so I denounce this Duchy as spineless," said the man. He was either operating under a delusion or creating the pretext by which the Duchy of Iron would assassinate a political rival. Either way it was an idiotic move and Gerald just shrugged.

"Your Grievances are noted."

"I am Iron Knight Kessal Du Vanguard, and my grievances are the same," the other knight stated a tad more calmly and with less vitriol than the previous man.

"Your Grievances are noted. Iron Knight Ronald Du Vanguard, as the first to speak you will be the first to fight," Gerald said, indicating that Kessal should move out of the way, to which the knight complied.

I drew my sword and advanced to the center of the circle, holding my sword with an imperial low ready guard. "Come." I said, nodding at the Knight.

"Time to die, Boy," he snarled angrily, advancing to within a step of me and bringing his sword out horizontally for a vicious chop.

I shifted my steps slightly backwards and the sword whistled by my face, before taking a lunging step forward and driving the tip of my sword at his neck. He shifted to the side hastily but was forced to roll as I adjusted my aim to follow. His shifting gave him enough time to bring his blade up and tap mine out of alignment and he stepped into my guard, shoving me back and trying to hook my foot with his. I raised my foot and stepped over his while recovering my blade and bringing the point back in line with him. He raised his blade again and came at me. Over and over he attacked and I led him around the ring, beating his sword down and to the side, up and out. Every time he managed to recover his position and get off a retaliatory attack I was there to bat the attack away and deliver measured strikes that tested every side of his defense, probing every slight gap and taking advantage of every hastily placed foot.

At first I fought conservatively yet aggressively, as I had been taught by Roderick to duel and that was his style. He was a master of many styles from defensive to aggressive and everything in between, and I figured most knights fought like him. Yet I found myself becoming disappointed in Ronald, as it seemed like he was full of slight errors and minor over-corrections that changed what should have been a beautiful flowing strike-after-strike overwhelming strategy into a blundering man waving a sharp piece of iron around. Ronald gasped for breath as he brought his blade wildly back and around then up and over his head to deliver a massive two handed strike to my head, only for me to step into his guard and punch him in the nose with fist. He rolled out and away from me, scrambling to get back up and barely managed to get his sword up in one hand to block mine, only for it to be shoved violently away as the full force of my follow up two handed over head strike crashed into his sword. My blade bit into his shoulder hard and everyone winced at the meaty thump and strangled yell. He fell to the ground with his right shoulder torn nearly off and his life's blood spurting out his neck to the beat of his heart.

I felt violently ill at the sight. This was the first life I had taken, and not even with mage assistance could the man be saved. I raised my blade and plunged it mechanically into his eye, ending his suffering. Before I could ruminate on the careless situation, two soldier's came up and dragged the dead man off.

"Knight Kessal." I heard Gerald call, and I turned to face him. I had lost my stomach for the game I had been playing and resolved to end this fight much faster. I realized by the looks on everyone's faces that they thought I had been playing with him before effortlessly dispatching him when he grew too tired to continue. Kessal had gone ghost white and stared at me with terrified eyes, noting for the first time probably that I was the size of a fully grown man for all that my face was free of any masculine features. It was at that point that I realized that even though I was not considered a knight by Heart standards, I was way above the curve of your standard hereditary knight.

Kessal took a deep breath and strengthened his resolve as he faced me. I could tell by the set of his shoulders and his middle-guard that he intended to play defensively, hoping I would tire due to my previous fight and hoping that I would make a mistake. "Knights of the Heart train to fight for hours, even days when necessary, to fight and die in full plate armor. I am fresh and do not need a rest," I said, deciding to crush his spirit to make the fight go quicker. I watched the light die in Kessal's eyes. I took three rapid steps forward, adopting an aggressive strategy, and struck out directly at his blade. He blocked, naturally, but the sword jerked violently in his hand and he was unable to get his grip set before I angled my sword and drove it through his wind pipe and out the back of his neck.

"The Duchy accuses you of sedition, and you have been judged in a trial by combat to be guilty," Gerald's voice rang out as the crowd of soldiers around me exploded into cheering. I turned to face my parents and my adoptive father and saw the sympathy in their eyes. They might've been the only ones to notice my dazed look and shaky hands. I cleaned my blade of blood before glancing at the blade. It had been whetted in combat, and tradition dictated that it needed a name. All three of my parents watched and waited, knowing what I was debating.

"My blade shall have no name, for the dead have no name that they can speak, and it is fitting that those who die and have no name be killed by an implement with no name" I said at last, sheathing my sword.

"Throat Slasher or Ripper would've been cooler, Zer," Gerald said offhandedly as both he and my parents looked slightly perturbed at my serious tone. I chuckled darkly as we continued on our way, and my mother rubbed my back in an attempt to comfort me.