Chapter Two: Lord Kaimar
Lord Kaimar was a giant of a man, with a barrel chest and thick, powerful arms and legs. He had a
long red beard and mustache, Flecked with gray and his skin was a deep tan
color. He was the Baron of Pineshare and the best friend of Duke Ryan von
Ravendune. Nearly twenty years before, they had gone off to fight in the Volduvian
Campaigns, when that land had sought to invade Dragonshire; one of the
easternmost of the Amarcainean Dukedoms.
Since then, Lord Kaimar had been the right hand of
Duke Ryan, and trained all the young Squires who sought to join the Knights of
the Holy Sword from his Keep in the forest of Pineshare.
He stood atop the battlements of his keep, surveying
the Initiates who trained in the courtyard below, armed with sword and shield.
Kaimar wore
armor of polished steel, over which he wore a tunic of black, bearing the
insignia of Ravendune- a raven; wings spread over crossed swords. At his hip
hung a broadsword of steel, which had a hilt of silver and pommel of steel. At
his side stood the Duke of Ravendune, who watched the initiates very closely,
particularly his twin sons Eric and Brandin.
“We should have some formidable Initiates for the
test of Knighthood this year,” commented Duke Ryan.
“I believe so,” answered Kaimar, stroking his long
Mustache. “But only a handful of them will succeed regardless,” he added.
It had been seventeen years since the Priests of
Madrin had brought the twins to Duke Ryan. When Eric and Brandin were nine, they
became Pages in the service of Lord Kaimar. When they turned fifteen, they became
his Squires. They took quickly and eagerly to the training in hand to hand combat
and weapons required of potential Knights and were Kaimar’s finest pupils.
Both Eric and Brandin were tall, Brandin being slightly
taller and both had light brown hair and hazel eyes. They were both handsome and were the fancy of every
young girl of noble birth, looking to become Duchess.
Altogether there were twenty Initiates, from
throughout the Dukedom, hoping to succeed in the Tournament that would make
them knights. They practiced for several hours a day. The rest of
the day involved maintenance of Lord Kaimar's keep and work in the stables,
washing and feeding his horses.
They all slept in a barracks within the Keep and ate together in the keep's main hall.
It was early spring, and the Initiates were sweaty from their exertions. The sun was beating down on
their armored heads. Occasionally, Lord Kaimar would bark out an order
to one, correcting their fighting technique.
“No! Not like that, you've overextended your sword
arm. Stay within your arm’s width,” he began.
“Do not reach out like that or you’re an easy mark for a counter
strike,” he added.
“You there, keep your shield up when you strike!
Never let your guard down like that,” he told another. He turned back to Duke
Ryan.
“Your lads are
very fast learners’ M’lord. They are easily the best of this bunch.”
The Duke nodded thoughtfully. Indeed, they had
progressed faster than he thought they
would. The twins fought with the confidence and
prowess of seasoned veterans.
If you liked this preview, check out "The Mark of the Holy Sword," available on amazon.com createspace.com & kindle.com
No comments:
Post a Comment