My Broken Knight

Chapter 2: Back Home

-William-

It was a quiet and warm day. It was still early in the spring, but we had been blessed with a warm day. It felt good on my skin, as I rode through the forest leading to the little village of Greenhill. It was a piece of heaven, at least I had always thought so. So quiet and nothing bad ever happened there … maybe the true reason why I had left to begin with. I had a thirst for more … sadly, I had gotten more than I bargained for.

I had been personally thanked by some commander from another one of our camps in Seeka. He was in personal touch with the king, and he had been informed of my bravery, yet I did not care about thanks or anything. I just wanted to return home as fast as I could, so I could finally marry Vanessa. Unfortunately, the journey to recovery took me a few weeks, but now I was finally home. I just had to leave the forest, and I would be in Greenhill.

I closed my eyes, enjoying the smell of the forest, the animals' sounds and the sun shining through the crowns of the trees. Yes, this was home, yet … as I closed my eyes, memories I had tried locking away kept coming back. I quickly opened them only to realize I was no longer there. I really was on my way home, yet my heart kept beating fast, and I felt fear grip it. I raised my hand to find the cross hanging around my neck. Another thing Vanessa had given me as we parted. She was a strong believer. While I had never really been one, I found strength in the cross she had given me together with the picture. It was going to be so amazing when I saw her and could give it all back, knowing now I had her.

As I finally left the forest behind and walked into the little village, people looked at me shocked. Like I was a ghost returning from the land of the dead. In some way I was. I was not the same William who had left here seven years ago. I had changed. I even looked different. I had not had time to shave or get my hair cut. In the coldness of the kingdom Seeka, it was important to stay warm in any way you could. That meant I ended up looking like the Flesh Eaters. Long hair that ended by my shoulders and a beard so heavy I felt like having a heat stroke on this warm spring day.

Children that were playing in the street quickly stopped as they saw me, their parents pulling them back, as they too noticed me. I was still wearing my armor, the lion so beautiful roaring on my chest and the long blue cape running down my back and over the horse. My sword was securely tied to my hip and one of my hands resting on the handle. I had not been able to let go of it the whole journey. In some way, it calmed me … and it had helped me too many times to count. I was just sad it had not helped Greg in the end …

I rode through town until I got to a less crowded place, where the houses stood further apart and there were fewer people. Most people here were all farmers, and they were not used to knights coming around, so even though the people thinned out like the houses, those left still stopped to look at me. My house was just by a small stream and facing a giant field of corn.

I stopped my horse not far away, just taking a moment to look at it, while people stared at me, whispering about me, but I did not care. It looked so much the same. Suddenly, the door opened, but it was not the man I called father that came outside. No, it was the town’s physician. He had been friends with my father for years and been a part of the battle my father had joined long ago, and he refused to speak about it. The man stopped as he saw me, forgetting to close the door, as he studied me. He had been like an uncle to me, and despite me looking like a caveman, he smiled, recognizing me.

“Will?” he asked.

I nodded before descending my horse and clapping its long and dark neck.

“You are home!” he said.

He walked over to me with long steps and hugged me tightly. I felt so overwhelmed by it all, but soon I found the strength to hug him back.

“I’m home,” I said in a voice that had changed harsher too from the cold and war.

He pulled back, looking me over, like he would a son that had been gone for many years.

“Look at you,” he said and slapped his hand against my arm. “You got big. What did you eat over there?”

I smiled a little but did not answer. Instead, I turned my eyes to the house I had always lived in.

“My father …”

I looked back at Tom, his eyes showing nothing but pain and sadness.

“I’m so sorry, Will. His body has just been wrapped in a shroud.”

It felt like the air was taken from my lungs, as I looked at Tom.

“He is … dead?”

He nodded sadly.

“When?” I asked, as I felt the tears sting in my eyes.

I willed them back, not letting my emotions take over.

“A week ago. I came to … take care of a few things. He will be buried tomorrow.”

“I’m … a week late?”

“I’m sorry, Will,” he said.

He tried touching me, but I pushed him away, walking towards the house and storming inside. There he was. On our f*cking dinner table. Wrapped in white linen all around, sage burning to make sure the place was clenched. I stumbled towards him, falling to my knees in front of him.

“A week,” I whispered.

I lowered my head, not able to stop the tears from coming.

“A f*cking week.”

“I’m sorry, William. Really, I am.”

Tom had followed me inside, he stood by my side, just letting me grieve over the man I had always felt so distant from. I could never understand how he found this life enough. I understood now. For years I dreamed of nothing but coming home, be with Vanessa and live this life. A carpenter’s life.

“How?” I finally said.

“Blood poisoning. He cut himself on a piece of wood. The wound got infected. It got in his blood.”

“Father …”

“He asked for you. Many times … You did not write.”

I felt the tears running down my cheeks, as I looked at the man in front of me.

“No. I did not know what to say … I … I had no words for what was happening up there.”

“I understand. Why do you think your father never spoke of the horrors we saw?”

I looked up at Tom, his face a little wrinkled. I did not remember him having any when I left. His dark hair had turned slightly white in the sides as well.

“I … I should never have left,” I admitted.

“You wanted more. Your father understood that. That was why he gave you his sword and wished you well, instead of trying to stop you. If you had not left with the other knights, then you would have left in another way.”

I could not argue with that. Only because of what I had seen, I had changed my mind, but if I had not left to go to the north, then I would have gone somewhere else. I needed to see the world. Now I had seen it. It was horrible.

“I didn’t get to say goodbye,” I whispered.

“He will continue to watch over you. Now come on. We should not be here, as the spirits are still visiting.”

He was right. You could be here for a short amount of time the following week when the dead were staying with you, but only shortly. The spirits from the other world were always visiting when someone joined them, and if you weren’t careful, they would take you too, thinking it was your time, because you spend so much time with the dead.

“Yes,” I said, shutting off my emotions.

I got back up on my feet, turning to my father’s old friend.

“You will stay with me,” he said.

I nodded at him thankfully and followed him outside. He closed the door where there had been painted a dark spiral that represented the journey to the world of the dead.

“Come,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s get a drink.”

I took the reins of my horse and followed behind him, as we walked to the nearest tavern. I tied my horse outside before following him inside, where people were talking loudly and drinking. They all quieted down as they saw us.

“Everyone,” Tom said. “Let us welcome a lost one home. William!”

They all looked at me shocked, as they saw the man that returned instead of the skinny young boy I had been back then.

“Will?”

A young man my age stood from his seat. At first, I could not recognize him, but then my mind went to work, searching my memories.

“Luke?!”

Luke was an old childhood friend. He quickly walked over to me, hugging me, and I hugged him back. When we finally let go, he held me by the shoulders, the same way Tom had, looking me over.

“You got big,” he said.

”You too,” I told him, eying his beer gut.

“I’ll let that slide this once,” he warned me, but he was clearly joking. “Come tell us all about your journey!”