The Story of Silence by Alex Myers

Author:Alex Myers [Myers, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2020-05-25T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

As the winter gave way to spring, Giles began to consider taking to the roads again. ‘If we stay too long in one place, we will lose our reputation, we won’t learn any new songs,’ he’d insist every few weeks. Hob, on the other hand, preferred to stay put. ‘Security,’ he’d say.

‘Boredom,’ Giles would counter.

‘Food and a warm bed.’

‘And your precious wine,’ Giles would snark.

‘And your precious women!’

‘Pah! There are women everywhere.’

The compromise reached, as they entered the high summer season, was to remain in their position at La Marche but also go to festivals. The Count of La Marche happily accoutred them in jackets with his colours so that they could compete in his name. Hob was satisfied knowing they’d only spend a night or two away, and Giles could feel that they weren’t mouldering in the keep. As for Silence, he was pleased to visit new places and have stories to share with Alfred.

So it was that, in the summer that Silence had turned sixteen, the three of them went around to festivals of the Ascension in the villages near to La Marche. When he returned to the keep, Silence found an eager and envious audience in Alfred.

‘I never manage to leave,’ the squire complained. Alfred served one of the count’s oldest retainers, a knight the two of them called (though Silence admitted it was disrespectful) Sir Ancient. ‘Tell me everything you saw.’

‘Well,’ considered Silence, ‘in the second village, a troupe of mummers was also there, which made Hob angry, because he thought the crowd would give their coin to the actors.’

‘I saw mummers last year at midsummer. They did “The Knight and the Saracen”.’

‘This group did a play with the devil in it, and angels drove the devil away.’

‘With wings? Did the angels have wings?’

‘Of course,’ Silence said, trying to sound worldly. ‘They always do.’

Alfred moaned with envy. ‘I never see anything.’

‘Maybe the count will be called to fight …’

‘And Sir Ancient will be left to defend the keep. The last time I left La Marche was to go to his niece’s wedding, and that was when I first became his squire, three years ago …’

Silence fished around for something else to share; Alfred could go on for hours about how unlikely it was that he’d ever get to be a knight, and though Silence had much compassion for his position, it hurt to know that however long Alfred had to wait, it was still a possibility for him. ‘Oh, and Giles got in trouble with some woman; she loved his singing, she said, and next thing I know, I’m standing guard at the stable doors as the two of them …’

Alfred laughed raucously. ‘That’s a job I’ll never do for Sir Ancient.’

‘Next I know, we’re running away from that town. Turns out the woman had a husband, and Hob spent the rest of the trip cursing Giles because we had to walk in a day of rain …’ Silence broke off. ‘I’d’ve rather been here, working at the pell.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.