Temple Sword

Chapter 19 43 Sprigs of Lavender

Umberto decided to stay in Buda for the time being, not only because Antares is still in weak physical condition, but also because Charles Robert of the Anjou family and his biggest supporter, Archbishop Gregory Bisquet, are now both in Buda.At present, there is no better place in the whole kingdom than Buda for news of the kingdom and the current state of the struggle for the throne.

Antal was recovering quickly, a hearty meal and a little wine quickly restored his strength, and on the third day he was able to ride Sarecher, of course, without Umberto knowing in the case of.

Antares toured the city thoroughly while Umberto was away, and he had never seen such a crowded and colorful place.The center of the kingdom was even more exciting to him in reality than Antal had imagined it to be.Neither Dubica nor Seksad could compare: the majestic and beautiful buildings lined the belly of Buda, and no matter where he turned, the towering houses made him feel like he was walking uphill.He also found a high spot from which to admire the Danube, where it dropped like a silver ribbon at his feet.

His sightseeing trip ended up taking longer than he had planned, and on a sudden impulse he turned northeast and rode toward Kamokhov.Since Bela IV, successive rulers have lived there, and it is probably the richest and unique place in the whole city.If Charles Robert was really in Buda, Antal thought, he must be in Kammerkhov.

But he did not reach his destination in the end. The closer he got to Kamokhov, the denser the crowd and the more difficult it was to move forward.Antal was a little confused. All the nationalities living in the Christian world might be in this place. The most he saw were Germans and Hungarians, but once someone shouted to him in a language he had never heard.

At last he was blocked by guards and a small detachment of light soldiers, so he turned and decided to find out where the Franciscan monastery in Buda was.

"Old man!" After wandering around for a long time without finding the monastery, Antal asked an old fruit stall owner for help, "Where is the place where King Andre is buried?"

The old man explained it to him, and in return Antal bought an apple from him.Before he had finished eating the apples, he found the monastery, and there was also a large crowd, though not half as many as Kamokhov's surroundings.The Franciscans didn't seem to let everyone into the monastery, but Antal managed to get permission, and of course he had to keep Sarecher outside.He made a little boy look after the black horse for him, and paid him when he came out after a few minutes of prayer at the tomb of the recently deceased king.

When he returned to the hotel in the west of the city, it was past noon.Antal worried that he might run into Umberto, but his fears proved to be unfounded.Contrary to the unhappy Umberto, he meets again the beautiful girl who took care of him.As he approached her, his throat dried instantly and he realized he didn't even know the girl's name.

"Feeling better, my lord?" she asked, and Antal didn't look at him, just stood opposite her with his head bowed.

"Well, much better," Antal replied hoarsely, "Thank you for taking care of me."

"It's actually nothing, you're welcome."

The boy didn't know what to say, but he didn't want her to leave, he wanted to be with her, even for a little while longer.He wanted to hear her voice, to smell the unique sweet lavender scent of her hair and skin.

"You're not taking care of me because I'm a Templar, are you?" Antal asked, wondering if she was taking care of him out of duty, but once the words came out, he felt that his question was stupid .

"No... my lord, I took care of you because my father asked me to help."

"Do you work here?"

"I'm hanging out around the hotel doing what I need to do."

"I understand." Antal nodded, feeling his face gradually turning red.

"I... I went to my business, my lord."

"Wait!" The boy's voice was louder than he wanted to say, and it was full of urgency. "I don't even know what your name is, what should I mention when I pray to God and thank those who saved me?"

"Agnes," she said, "my name is Agnes."

"A beautiful name," the boy said with a smile, "My name is Antal."

"I see, my lord."

"Please don't call me an adult," he smiled a little embarrassedly, "I am not an adult, I am a servant."

"I thought only people of noble birth could become squires."

"That's right," he nodded, "but I don't want you to call me Sir."

"Okay," Agnes looked at him, moving a little closer. "You look younger than me."

Suddenly, Antal was speechless, he was taken aback by the girl's bold behavior, and just moved his lips silently, Agnes looked very shy before, but now she was standing in front of him , looking at him from head to toe.

"Tell me, how many winters have you seen?"

"Fifteen," he stammered.

"You look younger than 15."

"That's because... I'm only 14 years old." He quickly looked away, looking at a clump of grass behind her.

"Then are you 14 or 15?"

"Fourteen," he nodded firmly, "but I'm going to be fifteen soon!"

"Then why did you say you were 15?"

"I don't know either," Antal looked into Agnes' eyes, and those sapphire eyes fascinated him again immediately.Suddenly, an unexpected question came out of his mouth: "Would you like to ride a horse with me tomorrow?"

"I dare not think," she laughed, "that my father, Uglin, would slap your back dozens of times and lock me in the warehouse."

"No, you misunderstood!" the boy immediately quibbled, "I don't mean to pursue you! It's just my horse, Sarecher is used to running in the wild, so I want to take him out of the city gate, I think it will Make it feel better, but I don't want to go alone."

"So you don't want to pursue me," she put her hands behind her, and Antal nodded briskly, "Do you think I'm ugly?"

"No, but...but...that's not it!" the boy explained incoherently, and Agnes was clearly amused. "I'm a member of the Knights, I can't have a family..."

"You're still too small for me anyway," she said, ruffling Antal's hair, his skin tingling at the touch, and his knees trembling for a moment. "I'm full this fall."

"It's... only four years!"

"Didn't you just say that you didn't want to pursue me?"

Antal was a little dizzy, even more dizzy than when he stood up for the first time after being in a long-term coma. Every word of Agnes was extremely sharp, and he felt that no matter what he said, he was going from one trap to another. a trap.Perhaps he would have been more experienced in the situation if he hadn't donned a cloak and lived a rigorous knightly apprenticeship from an early age.

"I'll just call you Master Antar," Agnes announced, "is that all right?" But Antar didn't say a word. "What's the matter, why don't you talk?"

The boy seemed to be frozen in ice. He looked at the dream girl in front of him. He wanted to touch her and smell the deep part of her hair, but he didn't dare, and he couldn't.The ice melted, and he also began to speak.

"If I could speak in the tongue of all men, and the words of angels, but not love, I would be like a tinkling gong and a tinkling cymbal," he said, and this time it was the girl's turn to be silent. "If I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all faith, which enables me to move mountains, but have no love, I am nothing. If I give all I have The poor, who give their bodies to be burned, but have no love, are of no avail to me."

"Beautiful sentences," Agnes whispered.

"Paul's hymn to love," Antal replied quietly, "I don't think I could be a good knight without love."

"If you love...you can't be a Templar..."

"Perhaps we Templars are cursed."

"Do you know, Master Antal?" She smiled sweetly at him, "If you were my age, I would ride out with you." With that, she turned and left.The boy watched behind her for a long time, standing there even after she had long since disappeared into the house.

While sleeping at night, Antar found a bouquet of lavender on his straw bag, and he knew who had left it there.All night he tossed and turned, listening to his heart beating violently, counting lavender stalks over and over, repeating St. Paul's verses to himself.He fell asleep under the first ray of sunshine with the sound of raindrops beating slowly, with a total of 43 lavenders in his hands.

(End of this chapter)