Why Did it Come to This?

Why did it come to this?
Please review my story... It is one of my first
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I was sitting in what was formerly a tavern and drank pint after pint of bitter ale. I recently witnessed the murder of my father and suffered a great deal of pain myself. My father and I fought together in many battles. The both of us were knights of the king’s royal army. Although my father was of a higher status he still fought right beside me. He Fought like Achilles, and was invincible, until the day he was cut down. The very king of France killed him, and I was tied to the ground and beaten with a flail until I could feel no more pain.

I was left to die on the field, the food for carrion. As Luck would have a man named John Azor discovered me and brought me to his flet and fostered me to health. I realized that the man who murdered my father was the same man who had slain my mother. I knew it, I remembered his face, his eyes. I knew it was him. As I sat remembering the days that my father and I spent together, John entered and said, “You aren’t going to get anywhere drinking your entire life away!” I responded, “Well what should I do? I can’t just go up to the king of France and kill him alone!”
John said, “You can get help. You say you’ve met our noble king right?”
“Yes, but how could he help? He wouldn’t just give me some men and send me on my way!”
“No he wouldn’t do that, but I’m sure he might have some advice that could be of some use to you!”

As I stood up John told me that I was to seek out the king and ask him for advice. I asked him for his aid, but he said he simply couldn’t. John was once a wandering minstrel, but had no luck and became despised throughout all of England because of the wars he sang about and how he mocked many people, and he feared that if he came with me that I would end up getting a bad reputation and I would be spit upon. I told him I would do all that I could to help him be famous. He packed me a bag of bread, berries, water, and wished me the best of luck. I strapped on my Armour and my weapon and started down the road to the Area of the castle.

I had never felt so strange in my entire life. It must have been the rush of nervousness flowing through my veins, for I hadn’t seen the king for 2 years. Visiting the king was not in any of my future plans. I walked for hours when I came across a man on the side of the road. He was breathing heavily, his face to the ground. The man had some very bad wounds and a large gash in his arm. I rushed over and asked what happened. He looked up at me and said, “I need water, and then I will tell you.” I nodded and pulled out my bag of water. His shaking hand grabbed the water and he drank as if he was never to drink again. I asked him once more, “What happened?” he looked at me and said he was taking his caravan to the town when a band of thieves attacked him and took everything. He paused and looked me in the eye and said, “Are you Walter Fause?” My eyes widened as I said, “No, I am James, Walter was my father!”
“Was?”
“Yes he was murdered by that no good bastard, who rules over France.”
“Oh my, I cannot believe what my ears are hearing, Walter, dead?”
“Yes, and who might you be?”
“Jacob Smithy, I was his companion for many years until he left to join the king’s army.”
“My God! Jacob Smithy? My father would tell me about you and your adventures before I went to bed when I was a wee boy!”
“Yes, he and I used to be adventurers for the king and would go on many missions to help the small villages throughout Britain become great and mighty!”
“Why did you become a merchant? You could have been a great and powerful general like my father!”

As soon as I asked him this question he dropped his head and started talking to the floor. He told me how he was always the weaker of the two and what he thought would happen if he joined the kings army. “What did you think would happen, please tell me?” I asked and he replied, “I knew that if I were to join the army I would be such a bad leader that if I tried to lead there would be a mutiny and I would be killed by my own men.” I reached out my hand and said, “You are with me now, please come with me to the city to meet with the king.”

He grabbed my hand and as I pulled him up he said, “You truly resemble your father!” I told him that it would take us at least two days to reach the city and we might have to hunt for our food, and as I said this he grabbed my shoulder and said, “No worries! I am a master bowman!” I handed him my bow and a quiver of arrows and the journey continued.

As we walked through the luscious green highlands with beautiful green foothills throughout the area. I began to realize how beautiful the countryside was and started observing things. The Plateau was so beautiful and the trees so green, the rabbits small and large caught my eye and reminded me that we were going to need food so I told Jacob and he said that we would hunt in the morning for greater game in the morning. I told him we would need some food for dinner and he said, “Ok! I will get you a meal you will never forget!” As he said this he grabbed his bow and an arrow and drew the arrow back and let go. As the arrow flew through the air so gracefully it pierced the rabbit right in the skull and as the blood came out I thought of how I was going to kill the king of France and get my revenge. As Jacob ran over to grab the game that he had slain, I asked him, “How did you become such a wonderful bowman?”

And he replied, “When your father and I were on a journey to Egypt we met a man named Nbu. I had a necklace that caught his eye and he said he would teach me many great things if I would give him the necklace. As I hesitated on giving it to him I remembered that the king once told me, ‘You can learn many wonderful things in this world, but it will not come free, everything has a price on it great or small.’ I decided to give the man the necklace and he told me that training would be long, but I would learn many great things from it. I gained great bowman skills, I learned how to fight with daggers, and I even learned how to make many meals from the game that I hunted. It was an amazing experience, and was something that I would never forget.”

He grabbed the rabbit and I set up a site to camp at. I pulled out two flint stones and retrieved some kinder from fallen saplings and started a fire. We sat down and ate a meal that I would never forget.

As we ate the delicious rabbit, that melted in our mouths. Jacob leaned over and asked, “How is your sister?”
I dropped the piece of rabbit and said, “I don’t have a sister.”
“You do.” He said,
“Her name is Lillian. She looks just like your mother!”
“Except my mother died 7 years after my birth and I never had any siblings.”
“How long were your parents married before your mother’s death?”
“19 years… Oh God! I do have a sister! I do recall them speaking of a Lillian, but I never thought that this Lillian which they spoke of could be my sister!”
“Are you upset?”
“I’m crying, am I not?”
“True, but do you not want a sister?”
“It’s not that, Its just, I’d never thought…”
I paused for a while, slowly lowering my head to the ground, and as I came closer the ground my tears turned into a river. Jacob placed his large hand on my shoulder and said, “Come, you look like you need some sleep.” I agreed and as he pulled me up I said, “We must wake up early tomorrow for we have a long day ahead of us and we need to hunt us a breakfast.” He walked me over, and replied “Do not worry about that right now, you need energy, for you’ve a long journey ahead of you!” I nodded and laid down on the somewhat soft grass and drifted off into a deep sleep.

As I slept I had a rather disturbing dream, It was a reincarnation of the bloody battle between the French that my father and had had fought in. I dreamt that all was not well in the kingdom and the French were taking rule over London. The war was coming to and end and the king of France was establishing the throne of our king as his own. As all of the events, in my horrifying dream, occurred I saw a man on his knees bowing to the king. After being blessed into the French’s nation, he stood up. I could not make out who he was for his back was turned to me. As he backed away from the king he became very close to me, but still I had no idea with whom it could’ve been. As he backed up he ended up right in front of me he turned around and I woke up screaming.

As I screamed Jacob awoke and ran to my side asking, “What is the matter?” I replied, “I had a horrible nightmare”
“What was this nightmare about.”
“London was surrendering to France...”
“That is quite upsetting.”
“No! That’s not it!”
“What is it then?”
“There was a man bowing down to the French king.”
“Did you know his face?”
“For a while I did not, but when he turned around I realized that I was face-to-face with myself.”
“Oh my! That is very upsetting!”
He placed his hand on my shoulder and said, “Just wait here and I will return with something that might cheer you up!” I stood up and asked,
“Where are you going?”
He then said, “It wouldn’t be very surprising if I had told you now, so wait right here and I’ll be right back.”
I nodded my head and sat down and waited for what seemed to be hours and I began to wonder if he was to return. Just as I began thinking this he came back with berries of all types that looked as if they could’ve been picked from heaven. He also had two of the most beautiful rabbits I had ever seen and had some spice leaves as well. I smiled at all of this and said, “You sir are very kind!” He then smiled and said, “You haven’t seen the real surprise yet!” and just as he had said this he pulled out a most beautiful sword I have ever seen. The carvings on it’s handle had significant meaning to me. It was the sword from the story that I was told every night until my mother had died. It was from the tale of the manslayer. I turned and asked him, “How on Earth did you get this sword?” he looked at me and said,
“Little do you know I am, Jacob the hero!”
“But you said you would make a terrible leader!”
“Yes I did and I would, but I was not a leader but a mere knight.”
“Amazing! You had slain 1000 men?”
“Aye!”
“How was it possible?”
“The sword was said to have been blessed by the lord God himself, now and am not as strong as I used to be.”
“You aren’t too old.”
“Oh, I thank you for that, but alas I am. Now shall we eat?”
He smiled and started up the fire that I started the night previous and began to roast the rabbit. He added the spices to it and added some berry juice and as the mixture of these things came together, It made a smell that was unforgettable, something that could make even the richest of men say that it was a magnificent scent. I had grabbed a piece and taken a bite out of what must’ve been the best thing that has ever entered my mouth. It was so good that it brought a tear to my eye. As soon as I finished eating the delicious rabbit’s meat I had saved room for some berries of a delicious type. I placed one in my mouth and it had melted like snow being heated. Oh! They were fantastic!

As soon as I had finished eating, the light of day broke out. I stood up and told Jacob that we should be moving out, for the castle was only miles away and we could reach it by the end of the day. As soon as we finished packing up our items we set off for toward the castle in which the king resided. We began to plan out how we were going to be able to tell the king the outcome of the battle, for he would not take it easily. We finally decided to just tell him that we lost many men and that the French have taken over 2 villages.

As we were planning we heard a faint music coming from the distance. We looked out and saw what we had not seen for a good long time. As we approached the city the music grew louder and louder. I knew the song, it was the song that was played only when there was a great tournament. We reached the gate when the guard of the gatehouse shouted, “HALT! What business do you have in the royal city!”
I replied, “I must talk to the king, for I have important news!”
“The king is not currently seeing anyone!”
“I am here with the outcome with the battle against the French”
“What part of ‘not seeing anyone’ do you not understand?”
“Tell me gatekeeper. What troubles the king?”
“Who are you, and why must you know about the king’s matters?”
“I am the knight, James Fause, son of Walter Fause, and this is my companion, Jacob Smithey.”
When I said this the guard’s eyes widened and he yelled, “Open the gates! Lord Fause has returned!” I smiled and nodded my head to the guard. He told me that the king was awaiting my arrival and I asked him why, and how he knew I was coming and he told me that he did not know why, but he did say that he has been waiting for 12 days. I followed the gatekeeper to the castle and he led me through the main corridor to the king’s quarters. When we entered the room, the king was sitting down and writing a letter. The gatekeeper kneeled down just as we did and said, “My lord…” He was cut off by the king who said, “I’m busy, can you not see that?” He replied, “Yes my lord, I apologize, but you have some visitors.” The king looked up and said, “Rise up, let me see your faces.” We stood up and lifted our faces to the king and just as soon as we did the king joyfully shouted, “James! You have returned! Please have a seat, there is much to be discussed, please tell me the outcome of the battle” I sighed and said, “We were not victorious, the French won the battle. I am sorry my lord.” He got upset and asked, “Who all survived?”
“No one survived. Many good men were lost to the French.”
“DAMN THOSE FRENCH!”
“I am sorry my lord.”
“How did you survive?”
“I almost did not.”
“How did you though?”
“A man by the name of John Azor rescued me.”
“The name is familiar, please tell me, who is he?”
“He used to be a minstrel, but now he is just a poor man.”
“I remember him now.”
“Please, my lord, you must help this man for he is a good one.”
“Any man who helps a royal knight deserves my respect.”
After saying this the king rose up and said, “Now please tell me who your friend is?” I smiled and said, “This is Jacob Smithey. He once served as a royal knight and an adventurer for you.” The king burst into tears and he yelled, “Jacob, Jacob, you are alive! I thought I would never see you again! How have you been!” Jacob also began to cry as he said, “Oh my good friend, I have been marvelous!” The king rejoiced and embraced Jacob like a son who had been gone for years. As they chatted I interrupted them and asked the king, “What has been troubling you my lord?” He slowly turned to me and said, “It is my daughter, the French have taken her and now I fear that her life may be in grave danger.”
“You have a daughter?”
“Yes, and I must tell you some news that you may find upsetting.”
“My lord?”
“Walter Fause...”
“Yes?”
“Was not your real father, I am your father.”
These words came out of his mouth and I fell to my knees and began to scream. I cried like I had never cried before. I screamed, “WHY! WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME THIS? WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME?” He walked up to me and said, “I did not want the French to kill the only heir to my throne. I could not let them kill you.”
“DAMN IT! DAMN IT! I CANNOT BE YOUR SON!”
“You are my son and I am your father.”
“I barely even know you, and you don’t know anything about me!”
“I know more about you than you think I do.”
“Why didn’t my fathe...OH GOD, WHY?”
“He was not to tell you, for if he did your life could be in danger.”
“What of Lillian, My sister?”
“The French have her, and I am afraid that she could be dead.”
“How could this be possible?”
He walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Come get up, You must tell me why you come.” I looked up to him and said, “It is hard to call another man ‘father’ when I barely even know him.”
“I understand the pressure that this has put on you and I apologize.”
“May I ask you a question?”
“Anything my son.”
“What happened to your two older brothers?”
“Truthfully speaking, they last went to the tower and vanished.”
It was hard to believe him, but I did. We all three talked about the matters in the kingdom and how they could be fixed and I finally said, “F…Fa…Father?” He turned to me with a smile on his face and said,
“yes, my son?”
“What I came for…”
“Please, my son, tell me what troubles you?”
“Although Walter was not my father, I would like to ask you…”
“Yes?”
“There is a favor that I wish to ask of you.”
“Please tell me, what do you need?”
“I want to avenge my father…Walter’s death!”
“What are you planning on doing?”
“I wish to assassinate the king of France.”
He lowered his head and said, “I am afraid I cannot do that.” I felt a sudden hurt in my heart and asked, “Why? Why not? Why can you not do this?” He put his hand on my shoulder and said, “The French and ourselves have signed a peace treaty and we wish not to break that treaty by plotting a murder to our new friends.” I looked at him and asked, “Why? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?” He lifted me up and had me look him straight in the eye, and he said to me, “It is not by accident that this happened, and we were not forced into it. I wanted to do what was best for England. I wanted to stop the fighting and start a brotherhood.” I looked him back in the eyes and asked him, “Why did it come to this?”

I was sitting in what was formerly a tavern and drank pint after pint of bitter ale. I am no longer there. I am now a prince and successor to the throne of Richard III. My sister was taken from the French by the Germans and was killed. I do believe though that I will meet her again someday. As for John, he now lives in a room in the castle and has charge of overseeing that all of the musicians for the festivals are good ones. Although things did not go as I had planned them, I am happy and believe that I will remain happy until the day I die.