The Knight Behind the Pillar (2 page)

Cautiously I moved towards him. 

              “Er, yes my lord” I answered, nerves sounded involuntarily as my steps shortened the closer I approached this unknown stranger.  An odd feeling of discomfort burdened me as I was forced away from the room and I glanced back briefly to check it remained unopened.   

              “Who are you?” He demanded without pleasantries as if I was trespassing somehow.

             
This was the same question for him I had formed in my own head, but of course I would never ask, at least I would not dare as a squire.  So many strangers in so few days I had lost track and in truth I did not care who they were if I was honest. 

             
I was not a stranger to the question being asked.  As usual it did not mean what was my name or was in anyway an invitation to socialise and so I answered as expected.  “Squire to Lord Aries, eh, in fact I am late to atten  “

             
“Squire?”  The man interrupted, his voice boomed despite it not being raised. 

             
He frowned, his already deeply creased face and I quickly realised why

             
“Recently made squire my lord.” I offered boldly and noticed the creases of the man’s forehead dissipated slightly as I had guessed right. 

             
I was young for being a squire in some people’s eyes.  Just sixteen summers and found often that many of the strangers assumed I was just a servant or still a page.  My actual birthday date I had long forgotten and had to guess by the time of the falling leaves each year that I had at some point I had gained another year.  Not that those events in my life would matter to anyone here.  Given my clothes I could have been mistaken for a sheep herder instead of the squire I had become, but my appearance did not matter to anyone either. 

             
Instead in the present I tried to hurry the man along who seem distracted in his manner. 

             
“I am very late my lord and mus...” I attempted to insist, but the knight had heard enough and waved his dark notably very hairy covered hand to vanish any further explanation away or words I had to offer. 

             
I took immediate dislike to him and obediently waited without eye contact.    

             
“You have not been sent by them?” He said and with the obvious disappointment there was a sigh.

             
I was unsure if it was a question or he had already guessed the answer and was just stating fact, but risked an answer.  “No my lord, I have not been send by them?” I ventured and lingered on saying the word ‘them’ as a question in the hope the man would perhaps enlighten me as to who they were. 

             
He ignored me again.  “They are taking too long.” He muttered instead, party to himself and partly to the world without me in it. 

             
He paced a moment with hesitation and the occasional grunt as if on the edge of deciding something before looking back to the open door.  If I could have tapped my foot I would have, but thought better of it.  My mind drifted back along the stonework to the unopened door behind me that I failed to knock upon.  Time was not something I had much to give without risk of more consequences than I was already expecting. 

             
At last he made a decision.  “Well I for one have had enough of child minding.” He said gruffly, “You stay here and attend the lad, do not leave him unless he sends you to find me and keep the room locked, got it?”

             
Before I knew what was happening or could protest I was being shoved into the room through the open door.  Words of protest did run around my head, I had taken ages to get here and now was in the wrong room.  However, all words I had failed to materialise out loud.  In truth this was perhaps due to another voice telling me wait because this meant I was perhaps being saved from my ill fate in the other room.  On the other hand what was behind this door! 

The noble lord insisted he would not be long and stated again I was to keep the door locked as the door slammed shut with a loud thud and I was left staring at the back of it. 

              “And if I wanted to find you?  Who are you and where will you be?” I complained very sarcastically to the closed door as well as pulling a face, but I spoke with a quiet tone just in case it reopened. 

             
Rolling my eyes, I then remembered where I was and that someone might be in this room.  I turned reluctantly to face what awaited me.  What was behind me was a bed chamber, one of the few guest rooms available for some of the more important visitors to Caerleon.  The fashionable damp stone walls that characterised the rest of the tower were hidden as much as possible with decorated oak panelling and roughly woven tapestries.  If there were any illustration once portrayed they were lost to age, in spite of it being so unlikely that sunlight ever entered the chambers to fade them.  This room had windows up high, but were shuttered off and I doubted they were often opened.  Sheepskin rugs lay upon the floor as trip hazards, these had been randomly placed with little thought as this was not a room normally lived in.  Candles flickered and the along with the open fire to one side the room did glow warmly.  A rare sight indeed as I was so unaccustomed to the concepts of warmth and anything even close to dry in this old fort I took a moment to recognise it again.  Impressive stonework framed the fire and reached the ceiling, but my focus was drawn to the person standing in front of the fire with his back to me.

             
While he might have been seeking comfort from the fire, he appeared to be preoccupied and staring outwards to look beyond the stone encased room.  Was this was the lad the man commanded I was not to leave?  Conversation between the noble and me along with having been pushed into the room as well as the door slamming shut should have been enough to gain this person’s attention, but he obviously ignored it all.  Forced instead to seek audience, I coughed purposefully with reasonable loudness.  His body tensed for fleeting moment as his focus returned to the room.  A worried thin face with short scruffy fair hair slowly turned and hunted to find me.  However, his eyes avoided immediate contact dropping to find the floor of more interest and I instantly wondered if he was nervous or perhaps shy. 

             
Surprisingly my own tensions had lifted as I quickly realised that I was free of all duties.  Not faced with being reprimanded, at least not for now, just like that the day got a lot brighter. 

             
A mischievous smile surfaced as the worries of the early hours were quickly forgotten as I knew deep down that this day was going to be a different day after all. 

             
“I’m Tor, squire to Lord Aries.” I introduced myself, “Well, one of them anyways as there are a number of us.”

             
My voice was light, welcoming and I even stepped forward boldly offering my hand.  Despite the noise of the crowd that drifted in through the cracks of the window shutters, the following silence was deafening as I awaited a reply.  I feared I had perhaps gone too far in my welcome and bravery influenced by my change in fortune, but could not see how I might have offended him.  I guessed the lad, as the noble at the door described, was similar in age to me, near sixteen or maybe a bit older.  He wore a dark blue tunic long sleeved and longer in overall length than my own that passed his knees.  It also appeared to be in a slightly better condition with good patchwork repairs compared to my unattended holes that too often appeared.  Therefore I deducted that this boy was at least a squire or similar, but why he needed to be attended and why he was in this room? 

             
This was out of the ordinary indeed and the question alerted my curiosity and I was ignoring my own internal voice that once again warmed me that such interest had always lead to trouble before.  In this life you do not ask, do not speculate on matters not your concern and that was most things.  To be fair that old voice sounded these days like it had given up hope of ever being heard as I never listened.  I always asked, always wondered what things were, how things worked and yet against all odds had managed to stay alive up to now. 

             
“I’m,” The boy began with a momentary pause, fighting shyness again or perhaps just taking caution in respect of a stranger.  What released him was unclear, but he then continued in a rush, everything all at once, “Art, its short for Arthur, but most people call me Art, that is, well that’s if they bother with my name at all; at least that was the case up until a few days ago and now everyone knows it.  Sorry, err, I mean to say hey.”

             
I didn’t quite catch everything he said in the outpouring of his words as a result of some stressful time of late I guessed, but I took it as a good sign as he took my outreached hand with a quick single shake before letting go.  His hands were those of someone who worked, a little rough and yet unexpectedly red.  This new information failed to give me a clue to why he was in this room.  Nevertheless he had given me a shortened version of his name and that was unusual, but a good sign.  Another question, maybe this stranger wanted to be or needed a friend?  He certainly seemed a bit fed up, distracted and very lost.

             
“Tor’s not short for anything, that’s my name I mean.  Tor, that is and it is as short as it.  Most don’t use it at all around here either or know it unless describing a hill.” I said purposefully echoing him a little and chancing some humour.  And then my patience for scouting around for answers and being light hearted ran out all ran out at once.  I decided to be far more direct.  “So where have you come from then, I’ve not seen you here before?” 

             
“Oh, err, we’ve just travelled from Londonium.  Arrived last night or it might’ve been morning, it was late nonetheless.” Arthur answered absently and far slower now, but not giving to much away.

             
It was as if I was losing his attention, his focus was shifted away to the wall again and I pursued it stepping around a little to stay in sight. 

             
“Do you know about what’s going on then?” I continued to question, trying to sound cheerful, “There’s so many people arriving, been like that for a few days now.  Never known anything like it, rumours of course flying everywhere…..”

             
I stopped talking when I looked back to Arthur’s lightly freckled face that had dropped away.  I knew at once my guess was on solid ground and he knew something important about what was happening outside.  He didn’t reply straight away, his blue eyes with a worried tint glanced away from the walls to look across the room and I found myself looking the same way.  Next to the fireplace was a simple table, old blankets had been discarded under it, but on top an old sword had been placed.  It glowed of red as it reflected the flames of the fire. 

             
“I,” Arthur’s head plummeted a little further still as he struggled to find some words, “I think they might be wanting to see me or…., well I’m not sure.”  He paused again and after a deep breath admitted reluctantly.  “You see I took that sword.”

             
Arthur now looked up again towards the table.  The sword was clearly tarnished I could see that from where I stood and I could not help thinking how much polishing time would be needed to restore it having had to do Aries’ armour almost daily.  Looking closer, the red glow of the sword was partly due to rust as a much as it reflected the fire light.  The worst of deterioration being around the cross-guard and lower part of sword near the hilt.  I approached it with increased alertness, like it might without warning jump up and attack me.  Any decoration or makers mark that might have once existed within the blade had gone, if applied at all.  The grip covering of leather was tatty and worn, parts of the blade shaft the leather once sought to protect the hand from were now exposed.  The cross-guard itself was an uncomplicated block.  Certainly there was nothing special about the sword and its current condition that included many dents and cuts towards the tip of the blade.

             
Satisfied it was nothing of worth I looked back to Arthur.  “What, you stole it?” I bluntly asked now being serious, but regretted the accusation as soon as I had spoken.

              “No!” Arthur replied swiftly and loudly in defence and his forehead creased into a frown in determination of his defence.  For the first time I felt I had his complete attention.  “It was in a rock, abandoned.  I thought it might have once been a grave or tribute to a knight or something, it was just sticking up at the top.   So I just pulled it out, but was going to put it back afterwards.” 

             
“Why?  I mean, why did you need it, especially that old thing?” I asked a little baffled.

             
Arthur sighed again and began to wander about the room.  The noise of the gathering outside was an obvious distraction to him again.  I reflected later that being put in a room and told to wait not knowing what was happening and listening to an increasing crowd of strangers outside was nothing less than cruel.  He gave me a curious look as if to say do I really want to tell an unknown squire who had just been in the room for a couple of minutes my entire life story, but I guessed the answer was yes as he continued after a very long pause.  After all I was not going anywhere as I was under orders to attend him.