Adam+Giurlando

The Veteran’s Tale

Long ago in a land not unlike this A great king sensed that something was amiss.

An army of thousands came from afar their only want and desire to make war

They came by sea and land, hope it seemed lost The King ordered defense at any cost

The army was raised, the best in the land They had never been bested by any hand

Yet this new foe was fierce and the King unsure His general had died some years before

A new leader was needed, one with skill Despite all his options none fit the bill

Sir Barmore too elder to lift a lance, broken in body and weak at a glance

Sir Finster brash and without the respect to even consider his chances wrecked

Sir Asdly stupid and stubborn as hell never grasped how to use tactics well

A new leader was needed the king had to choose, which squire to his Knights he would add

There were two whom he had to consider One a lad of low birth, no beginner Practicing his drills and learning to fight coming from low rank and rising to height

The other groomed to lead since day one he was the King’s Nephew, his brother’s son

He had a good mind, but was quite lacking The skills required for battle planning

These two were good friends but it was perceived That one would follow, the other lead

Lacking faith in the man low of birth The King overvalued his own blood’s worth

The Nephew was knighted, the other not He was told ‘just be content with your lot’

When he inquired why he was denied ‘A man of low birth should never preside

over men who may lose their lives, royal blood is far superior, just be loyal

as the King commands commoners to be he angrily replied ‘Why not pick me?

I’ve worked all my life to gain my skill My friend has hardly completed a drill

I do not deny that he has some will but to lead he cannot match my earned skill!’

‘I command this matter done!’ yelled the King ‘My Nephew will lead, let us end this thing.’

‘Yes m’lord’ said he in quite a pained tone ‘we must respect he who sits on the throne’

The defense was prepared for the worst and all seemed to be going well at first

The enemy rebuffed multiple times The King’s Nephew had well held his lines

The enemy not able to gain ground and their own leader having been downed

Victory was proclaimed by the King but he had failed to consider one thing

No one having seen the common born squire Whose patience had begun to expire Since he Rode into the night days before

Yelling that he wanted to have more

The merriment and joy swept through the land The enemy beaten by the King’s hand

Yet the enemy remained to a degree fighting in small groups some few as two or three

When suddenly a shift in the enemy began, their attacks became steadily

Stronger and organized by some strange hand They began to sweep across the land

They took cities by scores and towns they burned All the King’s tactics they had somehow learned

were broken quite easily without effort and those that they captured made to suffer

Their army now led by a masked man A fearsome warrior new to the clan

Their violent sights set on a new goal The Kingdom’s center they seeked to control

Their march began, to take over the throne The masked man at the front his goal well known

The city in sight the battle drew near and the King himself began to fear

That his Nephew would fail to protect him and should that happen his prospects were grim

The battle began and his fears realized His army was bested and demoralized

The gates to the palace smashed to tinder The rest of the city burned to cinder

The King and his Nephew bruised and bloodied their rich clothes tarnished, ripped, and muddied

Were approached by the masked man near the throne ‘This is mine I proclaim it my own’

Then he reached upwards and pulled off the mask revealing his face to them at long last

Then the low born squire took up the great throne and the King began whimper and moan

‘You I shall spare’ said he to his friend ‘But as for the King, his life will has to end’

‘You must respect he who sits the throne, well now that is me you should have known

I was superior in every way when you chose your new leader, you chose the wrong way’

And so it came to pass the squire became the King for a time, but he was no better than he before him. For it is power that goes to a man’s head, and this he learned the hard way. His cruelty in war translated to his rule. His bitterness and anger consumed him in the end, for he could not bring himself to harm his friend. Yet his friend was the symbol of all that he hated, given instead of earning all that he had. Blood may separate him from the past kings, but greed and bitterness do not discriminate.