A doughty force of knights marched north, one and twenty, behind Sir Reiner of Boncot, that leader of men. They were minded alike in that they hoped to find some port or river-served city rich in charts and ships, and together in purpose they marched under the sky-coursing sun. Yet when the moon rose, talk turned, as it often did when men of more cities than one came together, to King Percy, how he had settled matters after the war and what it would be good for him to do or for lords to do against him. And never did two men agree on that, or even one with himself from one day to the other.
What started it was this, when Sir Reiner, of all King Percy's men not the least, said, “With every village we pass it becomes surer that it was well that the old king lost his reign. We will have fame for that and not the sort as would shame us. However, it is sure as well that this country is like a man whose disease has been cured but cannot leave his bed still and may perish for lack of food and nourishing drink. I lean left and right in my mind whether it were better that the king put his hand over this country for its good or that the cities here be left to themselves and not add to his burdens, which are weighty.”
To that Sir Donn of Caerffos said, “It is surely a good vassal who has such care for his lord as that. Where a good vassal sometimes errs, though, is in being too sure that a land would love his lord as much as he does were it only to know him and fall under his sway. I have passed through cities and islands that grumbled at the fingers that hold their unwanted reins. Beware that King Percy become not hated more than he is, if you will hear out a man no wiser than you who was trapped by a sorcerer with like ease, and now that I think on it, you should not.”
Sir Pardos of Hephon, who had his knighthood there though born in Agasis its colony, said this. “To speak just and true words, and not only to please Sir Reiner though I am eager to do that, I might add that I have lived in two grumbling cities myself. And when they speak ill of King Percy, they do not think to replace him with some such man as was in Cuculna and slain there. Were the choice between them, even in Hephon they would put up a statue of Boncot's lord right in the square, every rich man would vie for the honor of paying the cost, and give thanks to it every day that they had so kind and honest a man above them. Were that the choice.”
Some of the knights liked well the amount of honor that speech allowed King Percy, those from countries unfriendly to him. Sir Reiner, for his part, said, “Even so was my thought. I am not blind or deaf, as you have learned yourselves. More than that, my fingers, tongue, and nose all work. There is no city, or even a town, where every man loves its ruler. What dislike must there be for a king so wide-ruling as my lord? That allowed, I have no doubt that this country would be the better for his reigning over it, if not more thankful.”
“I cannot deny that,” Sir Donn said. Nor did any dare to say too much with Sir Reiner about, who had seemed to them the sharpest sword or longest spear wielded by the king of Boncot, fearsome, so that even to speak with him had oddness to it for all that they knew that they were men who served King Percy, full of daring and bravery, and of wit as well.
“There is this,” Sir Lanfranc of Beauval said. “Think of a fisherman who learns of the pay woodsmen have. He splits his day two ways, half in the forest and half on the sea. He catches fewer fish and fells little lumber so that he is paid worse than before though his effort is greater, much of it spent in travel. Beauval has suffered harm from pirates and is not alone in that, though it is not far from Boncot. King Percy is able to reach farther than a common man and touch whatever land he likes, but reaching as far as we can is a mistake we learn to cease as squires.”
The talk after that had much of piracy in it, battles on sea and shore both and how best to put an end to it, which would be a boon to all the world worthy of a king who hoped to be named in ages hence. That recalled to them the blue-gray sea and their homes they were eager to reach, the more so when they looked to the left and saw the crashing waves and foam of the ocean that was unlike the coast they knew. For all that, the country around seemed fair and suited for orchards, and as they walked they saw men and women begin to leave safe walls and work toward that.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
The change there was so swift that the knights rested in a village and awoke to find the street through it clearer, the houses in better repair, and the clothing better fitting and brighter as the villagers no longer deemed it needful to play the part of people unable to be robbed by reason of their lack. Wealth and cheer waxed all around them save at one town which bandits came to plunder in the accustomed way, but they picked a poor day for it.
The knights fell upon those brigands who had failed in their scouting for so sure they were that at Viljami's death there was no army stronger than theirs for many long miles. They were wrong in that to so long a length that when Sir Reiner after the fight asked what deaths or wounds there were among his men, none answered with anything more grievous than a bruise soon healed. But the brigands all died but that they yielded and suffered themselves to be made prisoners.
The town rejoiced and welcomed those knights who proved by their deeds they loved right more than wrong, a thing not sure when a band of warlike men under the banner of no lord marches where it will, one hoisting a man bearded and old on his back, something startling to look upon. Of the mayor there, Sir Reiner asked this.
“A few of these men were wise enough to save their own lives by doing for once what they ought. That is the way of things in every country whatsoever, but after that I doubt. We are no natives and so must have your advice. Leave we here our prisoners for you to judge and punish, or is there some lord nearby or court where that is carried out?”
The mayor answered. “Sir knight, what you ask has an answer, which is to lead these men to Ambiripali. All the towns and villages close by agreed long ago to give that city the honor of holding the law and seeing it done in any suit but the small. Ambiripali has this fame also, that its theater is in all the country King Gaspar once ruled the finest. I hope that you will have time to visit it between your brave deeds. It is a marvel, I tell you, and a shame to miss.”
“Well, I will do that. Boncot has a theater as well that is large and has hidden under the stage tools and tricks that give visitors startlement when used. But oft their use is poor and witless, I admit. A playwright might win praise without doing anything worth recalling later or putting on again, for so little merit is there in newness alone. Ah, but I could speak on this for three watches, and no man here would wish to hear it.”
So Sir Reiner said, and Sir Henryk of Bagnad, the young cousin by marriage of Sir Pardos and his friend beside that, spoke next. “I have heard that King Percy rewards the playwrights that please him passing well. And the actors too, and the choruses of course, but to a lesser amount.”
To that Sir Reiner said, “You are not the only man who has heard that, Sir Henryk, because it is true. Therefore men full of hope and, at times, art, come to Boncot, and we must deal with them first to spare our king the worst, who would watch every play were he able. I have sat longer in the theater than the saddle, a fine boast for a knight. While I am gone, Sir Terric is sure to be squirming, bored by many a plot he has seen before and songs bereft of passion. They think, those artless playwrights, to win through by adding a few lines in praise of King Percy and nothing else good, but them we do not allow to go on. Were that all the king desired to hear, he has men enough about him who are able to talk, if they can be heard over the ladies and his daughters. Boncot is never short of praise. I will speak no more on that. Younger knights like to not to listen to this, that your lords want aid from you aside from renown-winning feats of arms, and will not always tell you what more you may do for their good. Knights must have awareness as well as endless wind and deft hands.”
After that the town wished to feast those right-guarding men, which was done. All through the day there was much talk of the duties knights had in their homes, both the men there and others they knew, while the town readied the feast and served them. The work was slow, for men and women dawdled that they might hear more of those faraway cities and castles, though the children had no liking for stories that lacked battle and gore. But it was done in the end, and all were merry save the prisoners.
The town hosted its guests that night, a third of them in the mayor's house and the rest elsewhere, and moreover sent guides to lead them to Ambiripali when the stars yielded to the masterful sun. Many guides who had cause of their own to visit the city, so that the knights knew they were relied on in fact as guards, but they did not hate that task or refuse it. Wagons and mules set out, lightly burdened from how little time there was to ready that caravan but urged on by men eager to go, for already they had waited longer than they liked. The threat of bandits had caused much not to be done that ought to have been and finally was, much as when a judge, placed over the laws by a lord with many worries, waits on the men who have it as their charge to add days to the year, unable to set which weeks the court will be open and when closed till the calendar is settled.