The Knight of Chivalry

Chapter 25

After Simon had breakfast he got ready for the meeting with the king today. He trimmed his beard and then he dressed in his finest clothes and shoes. He then belted a knife around his waist. Once he was ready he left his room and went back to the hall where everyone was gathering, they were all in their finest clothes too. Once everyone had gathered here who were going with the lord to meet the king. They left the lord’s estate and headed towards the palace in a formal procession. As they walked through the inner ring of the city, the people of the cities looked at them for a short time and then would move on with their day. The came to the gates of the palace and the guards saluted the lord and let them through. The palace was incredible, so intricate with its design, it was jaw dropping. It was a very large building and it must have taken a long time to build, it had a lot of elegant sculptures that were on the walls. They entered the place into the main hall and it was extremely large with high walls and it was pretty long to where the throne was. The king was seated in the throne dressed very finely with a golden crown upon his head. There were a lot of seats arranged for the court and there were a lot of people seated in them all dressed in the fanciest of clothes. A steward was standing close to the entrance.

            “Here comes Lord John Reiner and his retinue” he announced. The lord walked along the hall and bowed before the king as did Simon and the others who were behind the king.

            “Rise my lord, you are most welcome here” the king said.

            “You are most gracious sire” the lord said.

            “How are you John?” the king asked.

            “I can’t complain lord, things are good in my lands, I’m still healthy enough to ride all this way though it was quite a tiring journey and is a long way for me but I had to come pay my respects to you and celebrate the great event of your son getting married. Plus it’s been awhile since I’ve seen a grand tourney and I look forward to that. What of you sire?” the lord said.

            “I am very well John, thank you for asking. And yes this wedding will be a great event and the tourney full of excitement, who will be fighting for you?” the king asked.

            “This time Sir Simon will be fighting for me” the lord replied.

            “Ah Simon I remember him from the rebellions, he fought well then, I hope he shall fight for you honourably in the tourney” the king said.

            “He shall indeed” the lord replied.

            “Who have you brought with you?” the king asked and the lord introduced his retinue to the king and he made the appropriate comments and then they talked of his land and how things were there. Then they talked of the realm and the lord gave the king a little advice on some of the problems within it. Once all the more official business was done they reminisced on old battles from years gone past including those from the northern rebellions. Simon just had to stand there whilst they talked and he was very bored and his legs began to ache but he did not complain because it was expected of him. But the king grew hungry and so he released them and went to have his lunch and the lord took his retinue back to his estate and ate with them.

            After dinner some lords from the city and some lords who had come for the wedding came and saw the lord and so Simon had to stay with him and stood there looking nice. This was a bit better though as the knights who came with the lords often came and stood next to him and they talked quietly with each other, though he did not know these knights it was always good to speak with a comrade in arms and they had interesting stories to tell. This ate up his afternoon and soon enough it was time for dinner. The lord had invited some lords to come eat with him and the tables were laid out and that night the ale flowed freely and the cooks had exceeded themselves in cooking very tasty food. Simon enjoyed it as he sat with knights in the lord’s retinue and those from the lords who were eating with them and they talked about the tourney and how excited they were for it. Then they talked about past ones they had been part of and their successes and failures in them. Once the food had been eaten the musicians came out and sung songs that made the guests get up and dance and some of the knights went off chasing serving girls. The older ones who had wives stayed where they were and drunk more beer, Simon stayed with them which surprised them as they fought he was like the younger ones but he said he wasn’t that interested tonight in dancing with ladies and would rather drink some more. They talked long into the night of battles and war. He guests started to depart and so the knights left him there as they wanted sleep and Simon didn’t blame them. He got up and stumbled to his room as he had drunk a lot that night and collapsed into his bed. In the morning he felt all the ale he drunk and got up a little late. The lord was waiting for him in the hall, eating some breakfast.

            “Morning Simon” he said between bites of bacon.

            “Morning lord, is there more of that bacon?” Simon asked.

            “There is, help yourself” the lord said and pointed at a plate of it and Simon did with a chunk of bread and a flagon of water.

            “Last night’s feast was very good” Simon said after a while.

            “Indeed it was, just wait till we get to the feast leading up to the tourneys and then the wedding feast, you will see what a party is like then but it well, I shall be hosting a few more of them so Anabella can meet some people like she did last night” the lord said.

            “Ah young lord’s or lord sons to perk her interest and a marriage contract for you” Simon said.

            “Indeed, I’ll let her choice which she likes the best, she didn’t really like Hover and Royce but talked long with William and danced with Filligian last night which I’m happy about but there are a lot of eligible men in the city to court her” he said.

            “I’m sure there are, you can only wait and see lord” Simon said.

            “There is that, you a free for the next few days to do as you like but I will be holding another court like yesterday for lords to come meet me and talk I shall expect you there” the lord said.

            “I shall be sire” Simon said and he finished his breakfast and left the hall to go for a ride to clear his head.