The Knight of Chivalry

Chapter 10

The field after a battle was a disturbing and gruesome place, on it lay the dead and dying from both sides and there was a lot of blood and guts all over the place from wounds and it was making a terrible smell that Simon noticed, it also smelt like a sewer and he guessed that it must be true that you shit yourself when you die. He was walking through the battlefield looking for some of his mates that were posted as missing, it had been a few hours since they had won the day and the sun was heading down towards the horizon and he knew there wouldn’t be very many hours of light left for this search. He would from time to time come across someone who was still alive sometimes from his side sometime from the other he would clear the bodies of them and looked at them, if they weren’t to injured he called out and the physicians helpers came over and took them off to be treated, if they were too badly injured he would put them out of their misery as they wouldn’t live anyway. He had rested for a couple hours as swing a sword all that he did in his armour he had been utterly exhausted but he felt a lot better after the rest and he had taken off his armour and was in a good leather tunic with a sword and dagger belted around his waist. He kept going around this area, this was where the others had said that his friends had been positioned, he went from body to body looking at them and taking off helmets to make sure they weren’t his friends, he had done many bodies so far and still not found them and it was getting him down that he had not found them yet. A few hours more of searching and the sun had almost set and he had moved a lot quite a bit and found a lot of injured soldiers and a lot of dead ones too. He had found two friends so far both had been dead and he mourned their passing, there were three more that was missing but with the sun setting so he left and went back to the camp which was set away from all the dead. The crows flew up as he walked along as they had come to feast on the dead, he just ignored them.

            The men who were alive were celebrating the victory they had won this day with a lot of mead and feasting and he saw that there were some women amongst them who were servicing the men’s needs and he smiled at this, he knew the feeling they were experiencing, happy to have lived through the battle and they planned to use this time to the fullest as they might not be so lucky the next time. He knew he might not be just like the friends he had found dead who were able soldiers and he was sad for them they had been good friends laughing and joking with him and were so full of life and now they were gone from this world and never would they share another moment together. He went and got to the lords tent and he saw that he was in there with a few of his fellow lords and they were sharing a flask of wine and feasting like everyone else.

            “Sorry lord that I was not here to serve you and prepare your meal” Simon said, the lords all looked at him and smiled.

            “It is ok I can’t expect you to be here when there was celebrating to be done, you fought well today and saved my life, thank you for that it will not be forgotten” the lord said and the others all said how they had marvelled at his skill on the field.

            “I haven’t been celebrating I have been searching for my friends who are missing I have found two of them dead, three more remain missing hopefully they will turn up” Simon said.

            “Aye it is a sad business it is true and that is why we must revel in the life we have and live for each moment as it might be our last, I know you feel sad about your friends and we mourn their passing as we all have last friends in fights and we deal with this by drinking to their honour so come share a cup of wine with us in honour of the fallen, and then I insist you go find your living friends to celebrate and mourn together, company is best at this time” the lord said and he poured  a cup of wine and handed it to Simon, they all raised their cups and said to the fallen and then drank the cups quickly.