The Knight of Chivalry

Chapter 3

Simon ran around quickly and got the lords lunch prepared, it was a simply but think stew of meat and some vegetables in a bread trough. Luckily it didn’t take him to long to get it ready and he also got a pint of ale for the lord and took it to him in his office, he looked disapprovingly at Simon.

            “You are late with my lunch this will not do” he said.

            “I’m sorry lord I was at combat training as you suggested and the other squires coerced me into a fight which lasted longer than I thought it did I will try and not fail you again” Simon said.

            “That’s alright I was your age once and fights tend to get out of hand and I still got my lunch you best go get yours” the lord said.

            “Yes lord” Simon said.

            “Then come back here” the lord said and Simon nodded at this and he left and went down to the hall and got some stew of his own and he ate it quick it was nice and warm and filling. He also had a pint of ale which he supped on as he ate, once he was finished he went back to the lord’s office. The lord had finished with his dinner and sat back in his chair looking content.

            “Well Simon how was the training this morning?” the lord asked.

            “It was good my lord I learned some new things about combat that I did not know and they should prove useful to me” Simon said.

            “That is good Sir Francis is a very able teacher and proficient fighter” the lord said.

            “He is indeed” Simon said.

            “It seems there are some outlaws bothering a settlement of mine in the north I will be sending Sir David of Haven and some of my men to go deal with them that was the letter I got this morning” the lord said.

            “Yes lord” Simon said.

            “When you have land of your own you will have to deal out justice and I hope you will be a just lord like me rather than a cruel one like some who are lords” the lord said.

            “I Hope to be people deserve a fair trial and a good life without worrying about a cruel lord who punish them for a small slight or anytime he wants just because he feels like it” Simon said.

            “Then I have high hoped for you, I would send you off to fight these outlaws but it’s important for you to carry on your training here but maybe one day you will be ready to go off” the lord said.

            “Of course sire I understand” Simon said.

            “Right I need you to polish my armour this afternoon, I’m going to be wearing it tomorrow” the lord said.

            “Right away lord” Simon said and he left and went down to the armoury and found the lords armour and he got the equipment to clean and polish it. It was going to take many hours to get this armour shiny as it was meant to, luckily it wasn’t so bad as he had done it about two weeks ago, the armourer told him how to look after the armour a month ago and the lord makes him do it now and then sometimes just as punishment but Simon felt this time the lord really wanted the armour to look good as he was going to wear it and so he got to work on it. Doing this usually gave him a lot of time to think as it didn’t take much focus to clean the armour. He thought about all that had happened today from the dream he woke up from this morning to all that the lord had told him and he thought deeply about this as it was good advice and he appreciated how the lord was teaching him all this it shows that he had high hopes for him in the future. He also thought about the combat training and advice that Sir Francis had given him this morning and thought how he could act on this to improve himself and come up with some interesting things which he will try out tomorrow when they would be fighting in armour and hopefully it would work out ok. He thought about those other squires, he was older than all of them it was true but he just didn’t get why they didn’t like him and was just trying to ride him down every day but he was to strong and dealt with this shit before by other bullies in his life and this didn’t face him at all he just wish they didn’t bother at all and that they could get along as they would be in the same company for some time yet, maybe they will one day though at the moment Edward did seem to like him the best as he wasn’t the one always picking on him sometimes he’d make a joke at Simon’s expense but that was it and that wasn’t so bad the others were way worse.

            It took him a couple hours but the armour was clean and polished so that it shined his own reflection back at him and he put it back onto the stand for the lords armour and then he went down to the kitchens to help prepare this nights meal as he was tasked to do. There was a stew for starters and then they cooked meats and vegetables for the main meal and they had fruit for afters if anyone was hungry after the first two courses. Once this was done he could hear the hall above them filling up with people and he knew it was time to serve so he got the lords plate and went upstairs. The lord sat at the top table with his family and most important advisers and knights, he was joking with them and sipping on a tankard of ale which the serving maids had already brought round and they were now handing out all the other meals. He reached the top table and put the lords stew in front of him, the lord nodded and he went and sat down with the other squires and ate his stew luckily he didn’t need to take the lord the rest of the meal as there would be plates of meat and vegetables for the lord to serve onto his own plate. Simon enjoyed the meal it was good and the ale was nice, he was getting used to just drinking that at meals as most people didn’t drink water at all, it was strange at first for him to not have that. Soon the meal finished and people went about their business of the evening, some men went to the taverns in the town to drink more and to gamble, others would visit the prostitutes of the town or go home to their wives. The squires left saying that they wanted to go gamble but they never invited him, he wouldn’t have gone if they did he didn’t really like to gamble instead he went to the library at the church and carried on to read one of the books there, the priest of the church was surprised to find someone who could read and read well as that, only lords and men of god could do it, it was a struggle as the language was older than he was used to but he could do it and enjoyed to do it as he often learned a lot from this. He read for a few hours before going back to his room and going to bed and so ends another day.