The room fell quiet again as Sir Edward ceased talking. His Grandson stared open mouthed as the story came to a close. Sir Ector meanwhile, simply nodded in understanding, after all he had heard the story many times before, though never as raw and honest as from the man himself. The only sounds in the small dining chamber of the tower, was the crackle and pop of the fire as insects within the fresh logs were caught in the inferno, and the light tapping of the odd mouse scurrying under the furniture looking for food. The old castle cat, reclined on a cushion by the window without so much as a flick of an ear, the tom being near twenty years old himself looked almost as ancient as his master.
“That was…” Geoffrey finally broke the silence, though unable to truly form a coherent sentence. “That was…” He tried again.
“Thank you for confiding in us my lord.” Sir Ector supplied for the struggling squire. Edward smiled at the both before giving a noncommittal grunt.
“It’s only an old story, Ector, it was a different landscape in those days.” He tried to brush off the awkward silence as though it had never been there. Geoffrey would have none of it however as he finally found his voice.
“You were fifteen?” His voice rose an octave in the characteristic tones of a boy who has begun his trek to manhood. “Knighted at fifteen?” The sheer disbelief in his voice caused the old lord to raise an eyebrow, unsure whether to be flattered or insulted by the tone.
“Well I had just killed a belted knight in front of thousands, it was the best political strategy the Emperor could come up with on the fly, to be seen to both reward and punish me for the death of a Lord he was having troubles with, it’s not that I deserved the accolade then, I was just in the right place at the right time. I can’t even say it was my own skill at arms that won it, the strike was a pure fluke.” Edward chuckled again, the deep rumbling tones echoing out of his once powerful chest.
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“Then what?”
The question took Edward by surprise.
“What?” He asked as his eyes focused on Geoffrey again.
“There has to be more right?” the squire asked.
“It can’t just be the end, I need to know more about what happened, the King’s Tournament at Seageld, your new lands, all of it.” The boy’s eyes were alight with desire and determination, Sir Edward was sure he was looking into his own features from many years ago.
“Well I suppose we can keep going a little, though I’ll say the next few years were to be some of the most damaging and educational of my life, maybe just a quick recap of what happened, after all the war was both exceptionally boring, and horrifically scarring.” The old knight’s own eyes were alight with something darker, and had he not known better, Geoffrey would have sworn they glistened with unshed tears.
“I came into my own over the intervening years; however, I trained every day I could when I wasn’t in the saddle executing the Emperor’s war, few took me seriously as a knight to begin with, but Sir Clement and Sir Felix saw worth in me, at the very least.”