Wooden Sword’s

Danson watched quietly as the two boy’s practiced their sword fighting. The wooden swords clashing together in a flurry of blow’s he found the rhythmic tap of wood on wood somewhat relaxing.

Both boy’s where excellent students, Quillen was perhaps the better swordsmen but what Duncan lacked in that department he more than made up for academically excelling in Latin and the subject of law.

As he watched Danson wondered if the lesson’s, these fight’s they meticulously practiced now would one day turn become real. It was a question everyone thought about and the reason why Thomas allowed Quillen to continue to train as a knight. Hoping the friendship forming between the boy’s would continue on into adulthood where they would each rule their own kingdom.

The boy’s where close, they were the same age and had been raised together here in the barrack’s from the age of 6 years old. They were great friend’s but Danson could already see crack’s starting to form as the pair approached adolescence.

Both boy’s harboured a lot of rage, Quillen was mostly confused about his parentage. Nothing ever good came of confusing a child. Children thrived off consistency Danson mused and while he understood that Thomas’s intentions towards the boy had been noble, he thought it would have been kinder to stay out of the young lad’s life allowing him to see only Tarik as his father.

Duncan however had a whole other set of rage. Alistair had been taken from his life when the boy was too young to remember much about him, since then all he had learnt was this idolized view the world seemed to have of the man. Danson had never met Alistair he had no idea if he would have held up to the vision the boy had of his father? He doubted it very much and it was alot for a young boy to live up to.

Still since his father’s death Duncan had been passed from pillar to post living his life in the barrack’s while his mother moved on with her life with another man. While Duncan was made welcome at Christmas and Holiday’s, by Thomas at the castle. It wasn’t really quite the same as the un-yielding love of a parent. Still if the rumour’s where true it seemed Kaitlyn had lost her mind, perhaps the boy was better off without her, after all.

Suddenly the rhythmic tapping stopped and the peace was broken as one of the wooden sword’s skittered across the courtyard towards Danson’s feet. “At least my Da’s not dead!” he heard Quillan yell. He stared at the sword for a moment but quickly returned his attention the boy’s as he watched Duncan’s fist fly towards Quillen’s face, resulting in a shower of blood from the young lad’s nose.  

“What is going on” Danson demanded, standing and heading to where the pair stood angrily facing off against each other.

“He started it! he said, my da was going to hell” Quillen growled accusingly slipping into common speech the way he often did when he was upset.

“Why do you think King Thomas is going to hell?” Danson queried.

“Not him!” Duncan protested “Tarik..He killed a priest so he’s going to hell” referring to the fact that news had reached the castle that morning that Father Mathew had passed away during the night, died from his injuries after Tarik’s attack.

Danson shook his head “that’s for god to decide” he replied simply “there is no reason for you boy’s to fall out, now let’s all be friends”

“No!” Quillen replied folding his arms indignantly across his chest “not till he say’s he’s sorry and that my dad isn’t going to hell”

“But he is” Duncan insisted “he killed a priest”

“So!” Quillen retorted “So he deserved it… he killed my…. a girl “he quickly corrected but Danson didn’t miss the slip.

“She was a witch!!! So she deserved it!” Duncan exclaimed sarcastically as though Quillen where too stupid to understand.

Danson watched as Quillen’s face went red and screwed up, but just as he thought the young man was going to respond, but after a moment’s pause, the young boy instead simply stamped his foot and fled frustrated.

Danson wasn’t quite sure what was going on. Truth be told the whole Grimstead/Darkfire situation confused him. He’d read some of the report’s about the reasons why Tarik had taken his people back to the mountain’s. There were a lot of things that didn’t make sense.

Like why Henry and Thomas allowed Tarik to keep his land, when Tarik had been the one to shoot Holly? Or how Tarik had managed to defeat the barbarian tribes that had been attacking Grimstead with no soldier’s??   

He guessed the report’s had been left purposely vague and suspected there were more detailed report’s hidden elsewhere. Still he was just a knight it wasn’t his duty to question why King’s kept their secrets so he left the situation well alone.

~ by katherine on October 28, 2009.