A Mark of Metal

Chapter 14

"Sorry, but the ladies at the table found it painful to watch you suffer, and I felt a sense of duty to this castle to make sure our guest didn't have an uncomfortable stay." Ester rambles to me, indicating that he may have had a few glasses to drink, but despite the intoxication still carried the same sense of duty and chivalry as the other knights did, or so I thought, looking back at the burly men with disgust.

"Don't put your disgust in all the men here, we aren't all the same, and some may not carry the same set of morals." He spoke, looking to where my focus of disgust was, as he guided me to the table he was occupying.

"I thought knights had a code of chivalry?"

"We do, but don't assume they all follow it. It could lead you into great trouble if you just blindly trust a knight, or anyone in that matter. But don't press too much doubt in knights, most do follow the code." He flashes a rotten tooth smile at me.

Ester, buddy, if you weren't so nice and such a gentleman, I would've stayed with the burly men. I held my breath for a few seconds whilst he smiled at me.

"I know that now. But isn't it common practice to have a knight stand trial if they didn't follow the code? I would've assumed that Caspian would've rid those that would appear to be poisonous to his cavalry, and honour." I questioned Ester, confused on why such brutes still appeared before the chivalrous man.

"Yes, but if you're referring to those men, they aren't knights. In fact most here aren't." I look around the large room filled with fighting men, wondering how many were actually part of Caspian's knightly order.

Upon seeing my confusion, and urging desire to know more, Ester continues.

"I like to call them fillers. When there aren't enough men for a mission, sometimes we need to recruit men from outside the order. This could be abled men from the town, or the military village outside the castle, ex-knights or those that have never passed training to be one." Ester takes a breath before speaking of his conclusion.

"Caspian is a well loved man, if people know he needs help he'll receive it. We've had nobles come to our aid with their men and themselves, and even the king will send Caspian men if he needs it. He's a man known as the leading hope in this country, which makes him an ally of all, but also an enemy. People will kill to be in his position and possess the power and support he has."

"Is he actively a target?" I ask in a purely curious manner, Ester understanding that.

"He's always a target, but he's also a formidable foe. God help any man who happens to touch a single hair on his body. Only shows that you should make a friend of him lass, keep him close and in good spirits towards ya." We finally arrive at the table and sit down.

When he had collected me from my previous table, he had looked at me like once we were to arrive at the table he was situated on, he would leave me to my own devices with women that sat upon the table. But having such an interesting conversation with me, we unconsciously chose to sit together to continue the chat about Caspian.

"I can't really do that, he considers me a threat." I frowed to the middle-aged stinky man.

"Only because he's being cautious to things he doesn't know, it is a skill drilled into him from boyhood."

"But i'm just an ordinary woman! If what you said is really true, then am I to think that each woman on this table is secretly a man!" I whispered-shouted to him, cautious that none of the ladies around me would hear of my insult.

Ester chuckles at my crass remark, not only insulting the woman I sat with but also insinuating that Caspian isn't knowledgeable about women, thus afraid of them.