Randoms

All the King's Men

"Who goes there? Show yourself!" Ed cried, drawing his blade. 

"Right up here friend," Ed looked up to see a man in a tree, his legs dangling down. His cloth was poor, yet he bore a jewelled pendant around his neck, a silver leaf inlaid with emeralds. Shaggy grey locks covered his head with matching stubble upon his jaw. He held a lute in his arms and strummed it softly after every sentence. 

"No need to show your steel, I'm just an old bard," the man chuckled, strumming his lute lightly. “Here, let me prove it.”

There was once was a guardsman, Ed was his name.

He had a great temper, though it would only bring him shame.

For weeks he suffered through rain and muck,

Only to find out he was about to get fucked. 

The man smirked down at Ed, his pearly teeth bared. He bore a striking resemblance to a fox and the whiskers on his lip only made it stronger. Ed was both surprised and puzzled, and it took him a few moments to form words in his mouth.

“Wh-who are you? H-how do you know my name?” Ed stammered. He couldn’t remember the last time he was truly afraid. Why hadn’t Marcus stepped in yet? What were the two couriers doing? The guardsman held his blade in the air, poised to strike the bard even though he was hopelessly out of reach up in the trees. 

“You haven’t heard of me? Why, I’m the Grey Fox. No bells eh? No matter, you’ve heard of me now, and I trust you won’t be able to forget me,”

“How do you know my name?”

“I know when you spit and when you shit and I know how many times you’ve eyed that chest back there. I’m a man of the forest ser, the wind and the leaves are my eyes and ears,”

“You’re a madman you are. Come Marcus, we don’t have time for his ramblings,” Ed made move to keep going however his companion stood his ground. “Come along boy!”

Ed’s world went dark as Marcus’s pommel clapped against his face. There was a throbbing in Ed’s head and he tasted blood dripping into his mouth as he lay on the ground. He opened his eyes to see the two couriers become pin cushions and collapse, some of the arrows snapping under the weight. Ed couldn’t see where the quarrels had come from, but he suspected archers in the trees.

Oh the forest grew dark and gloomy as Ed saw his fate.

It is really quite a wonder, I can’t believe he took the bait.

Soon, soon he will be done and dead,

One less bitter man and a richer one instead. 

“That is the King’s gold,” Ed croaked, trying to stand. The world spun and he found himself with Marcus’s boot upon his neck, a sword point between his eyes. 

“And I am also a man of the King. Not this king mind you,” The Grey Fox chirped as he dropped from the tree, spattering mud and water as he landed. “Our new Lord is a liar, a murderer and a thief with no claim to the throne,“

“So what would you call yourself then?” Ed spat.

“An opportunist.” 

“Do you think yourself Robin Hood?”

“No. I do not steal from the rich and give to the poor. That would be silly, ser. I take what is mine by rights, and fuel the fires of revolution,”

“You’re an outlaw.”

“For now,” the Fox replied, strumming his lute again.

Ed turned his gaze to his former companion. “Marcus, what are you doing?”

The young man didn’t reply, his face stone and mean. His innocent green eyes now burned with an anger and hate Ed had never seen before. 

“You truly know neither of us, do you?” the young man finally spoke, disgust dripping off the words. “You can’t recognize King Robert’s son?”

“Don’t be too hard on him lad. You were only a small boy and I was not so grey. Let us be done with this.”

There was hardly a sound as Marcus’s blade tore through Ed’s throat. The man did not cry or groan. He fell to the sword like culled mutton. The rain began to clear as Marcus and the Fox grabbed the donkey’s reigns, leading him down the path anew. The old man strummed his lute all the while.

In the rain and the mud Ed met his end.

Done in by a blade he once thought his friend.

Here ends his tale, one without dashing nor praise. 

And now begins another, of the king we shall raise.