Orphin's Pride Read online

Orphan's Pride

  Chapter 1

  Today, I turned ten summers. Thomas could shovel that into his fat mouth. There is no way the young popinjay was going to come hither and mess with my day. The truth is Thomas was a Duke’s son and I was his whipping boy- an orphan like any other chosen at random to be beaten in his stead. One Day Sir Stanson gave me a chance to get even with the young lord on the practice field and we have been fast friends to this day.

  I wasn’t allowed during the winter to participate in weapons practice because I stayed at the monastery. During the spring and warmer months I made the trek down several times a week to assist Thomas in learning.

  The monastery wasn’t as large as the Duke’s castle, but it was my home. Where the Duke’s castle held hundreds of people, our monastery consisted of just thirteen orphans and thirty-six monks. It was a quiet life compared to the castle’s throngs of people running around incessantly. The moon shone through the small skylight in our room and I turned over anxious about tomorrow’s opportunities down by the castle.

  I slowly moved my covers over my body careful not to make too much noise. The wool rustled about, but didn’t generate a reaction from the others. Pulling on my shoes with care my head darted around the room. The moon was bright so the window still afforded me enough light to withdraw my pride.

  The bed made noise when I made the slightest adjustment in weight. Ever so slightly I pulled my now uncovered legs around the end of the bed. The noise was unavoidable, but with Miguel’s snoring I knew us all to be heavy sleepers a this hour. Standing up with care, my weight shifted automatically to my legs as I lowered myself expertly to the cold stone floor. The fire was still lit across the room, but from where I lay it couldn’t challenge the cold dark stone of the floor of our room.

  The room wasn’t anything like the rich gorgeousness of the Duke’s castle. Where golden and crimson drapes reigned from massive windows framed in breathtaking mahogany at the Duke’s castle, our little room could have been better likened to a closet. A small spotlight reined in from the ceiling, but failed to properly illuminate our room on the brightest summer days. We kept it clean however, with sweat and effort the damp moist atmosphere of the room protected us through winter and many of us were lucky to be afforded the warm beds and relative comfort. An orphan's life in most of the kingdom, or se we had been lead to believe, was considerably less fortunate and comfortable.

  Flattening myself to the floor I crawled under the cot with care. We didn’t have many personal items amongst ourselves, but the ones we kept were each of no significant monetary value. Those items were of course given over to the lord in exchange for the comfortable life afforded to each of us within the monastery.

  I spit onto the floor of the monastery at the comfort we were privileged to enjoy. The spitefully crooked grin was replaced by a stern thinning of my lips as I reached my destination under the cot. The previous owner must have been a mouse or somesuch other rodent because the droppings and decay remained despite lying abandoned upon my origional discovery. Searching for the familiar leather strap I pulled ever so slightly and my prize gently withdrew from the stonewall. My smile opened up in delight and I imagine my eyes must have glowed in the darkness beneath the cot with an unhealthy glee.

  The handle was well worn and I imagined the creatures of darkness that now lay at peace or wherever it is creatures of darkness returned to after being destroyed by champions. The blade was the size of my forearm which wasn’t terribly large for a nine year old like myself. However, it was magical; it kept me from the darkness of my youthful imagination as a shining beam of strength ever present to protect me from demons.

  I wasn’t supposed to have a sword in the monastery, but I wasn’t supposed to do a lot of things fun. Slowly bringing the blade back into the case I returned it to under the cot. Never coming out, but late at night I laid my head slowly to the pillow. Gripping down past my feet I moved the blanket back into position. Laying there with a smidgen of moonlight I realized that I needed to get out of the monastery and sleep under the stars to ever truly be a man. Tomorrow was going to be the first day of spring and it marked my return to civilization.