the green Ravens: departure into uncertainty

The greatest Knight of the Empire

After a long walk, Sahra and those she had followed arrived at a large open field outside the city walls.

Everywhere, there were tents in different colours. On each of these tents there was a flag with a symbol on it. Sahra knew these must be the tents of the knights and the symbols must be the signs of their families. One symbol immediately caught Sahra's eye, it was a grey wolf howling against a green backdrop. She knew immediately where she knew the symbol from. She looked at the handle of her sword, the exact same wolf was depicted on it. She checked the flag a few more times and then the handle again to be sure, but it was the same wolf. She remembered that her father had once told her that he came from a big and proud family called Mahrim. Sahra briefly considered heading for the tent. She saw a man who was almost the same age as her father and also looked similar. She wondered if this man knew her father.

But then someone grabbed her by the shoulder.

„Are you all right, Sahra?" someone asked her, which startled Sahra a little as the hand settled on her shoulder. But when she turned around, she saw that it was Baldir who was addressing her.

„Oh Baldir, you scared me." He looked at Sahra a little questioningly.

„Is something wrong, you seem to be in thought? Have you been thinking about something?" Sahra wondered for a moment if she should say anything to Baldir.

„No, everything's fine, I was just having a look around. So many different tents and colours."

Baldir glanced at the tents and smiled a little.

„Yes, quite impressive. But come, let's go to the arena. The first jousting is about to start." Baldir led Sahra across the field, past the tents, to a small arena.

From the looks of it, this arena wasn't there all the time. That was because the grandstands, where some people had already taken their places, were made of simple wooden beams. They seemed to have been quickly nailed and tied together. The wooden fences against which people were leaning were also made of simple logs. Nevertheless, everything was decorated with colourful flags and garlands. On one of the two grandstands, a large platform had been erected on which two large chairs stood, as well as several smaller ones. The emperor's banner was also set up there and some guards had already lined up.

Baldir led Sahra to the opposite grandstand. There were already some people standing there, waiting for the tournament to start.

She and Baldir stood right at the edge of the grandstand, so they were directly next to the field where the jousting was to take place. Sahra curiously looked around. She noticed that on the grandstand where she and Baldir stood, there were only people who appeared to be traders or craftsmen. On the other grandstand, however, there seemed to be only nobles and knights.

„Is there a reason why there are only nobles standing over there, Baldir?" she asked curiously, Baldir had to laugh.

„Of course, don't you see the platform. That's where the Emperor and his wife will sit later, and they certainly don't want to sit with the common people." Sahra nodded. She continued to glance around the arena. All around the perimeter of the arena, there were young men standing around in fine clothes. And at either end, there appeared to be squires already standing by. Sahra also spotted some dwarves on the other grandstand. She turned towards Baldir.

„Baldir, the dwarves there, is one of them the king of the dwarves?" He looked closely at them.

„I don't think so, I've been to many tournaments. But the dwarf king has never shown his face. They must be his sons or relatives of his, who knows." Sahra eyed the dwarves closely. They wore fine garments, just like the other nobles. But except for their height, the dwarves were no different from other nobles, which puzzled Sahra. She had always thought that dwarves were short and stout and wore long beards. But they looked like normal people, only they were short. Suddenly, a slim man in a fine robe walked across the arena and stood directly in front of the platform of the other grandstand. In his hand, he had a roll of parchment. The young men blew their horns. Everyone in the arena was suddenly silent and turned to look at the man. He unrolled the parchment and spoke.