Temple Sword

Chapter 22 Did You Hear It?

Laszlo looked at Antal's wound in the stable, grinning in discomfort.Antal proudly showed off his nearly fully healed wound and tiny stitches.

"Then I spit on that bastard!" he said, very agitated. "Tell him it's for the Knights Templar!"

"It must be very painful." The little groom opened his mouth.

"I almost died," Antal said, taking back his gown, "but I'm fine now, when I press it, it hurts a bit, but nothing serious."

"I still can't believe you defeated three soldiers by yourself..."

"They're not soldiers," Antal waved his hand arrogantly. "The only thing they know about a sword is that it's sharp, and they don't know anything about swordsmanship! They also smell like feces, yes, I didn't rely on It was won by one man, and Sarecher helped a lot."

The black horse seemed to understand, chewing the hay with relish.Laszlo looked at his friend with glazed obsession, but then his face turned to pure bitterness.

"what happened?"

"What a fool you are," he scolded Antal, "you make friends with an old sergeant in a black cloak who thinks he's a knight, who knows what he's done! You stole your master's sword, Your own uncle's sword, without which you are nothing, you know? If you hadn't been so lucky, you'd be a dead fool by now!"

"Wait, wait!" Antal said, "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Laszlo became more and more angry, "I thought we were good friends!"

"We are good friends!"

"Really? Will my good friend patronize me to fight and race horses with Carlos every day, and then ignore me like air? My good friend will leave me here alone, and then disappear for several months without an explanation. Almost died on the way?"

"I didn't stop you from being friends with other people!"

After a brief silence, Laszlo blinked in surprise, and Antal immediately realized what a stupid thing he had said.

"Go to hell!" The little groom turned and ran towards the yard, almost knocking down William who was on the way.

"What's the matter with your little friend?" William asked.

"He's... nothing," Antar shook his head, then his eyes lit up again, "Please listen to me, uncle!"

"Listen to me first!" William approached the boy, "Umberto told me what happened, you almost died."

"Yeah, I know."

"Is this your answer?" The knight raised half of his eyebrows, "You know? Aren't you going to ask for my forgiveness?"

Antal lifted his chin and looked directly into his uncle's eyes.

"I have a lot to apologize for," he said confidently, "I apologize for disobeying orders and missing prayers a few times just for playing with Carlos, for stealing your sword and running out in the middle of the night and He apologized for the duel, but I can't apologize for what happened on the road."

"Um……"

"We met robbers and murderers on the way to White Castle," Antar continued. "It turned out that they were the same gang as those who desecrated the altar of the church."

"You couldn't have known that at the time," William interrupted.

"It's true, but what I knew at the time was that innocent travelers were being robbed and killed, and as a Templar I felt it was my duty to keep them from being harmed again."

"Antar, you are not a Templar."

"Nevertheless, as a squire I was already a member of the Order.' A soldier of Christ kills with determination and dies with greater determination. He carries a sword for a reason because he is God A tool for punishing evil and promoting good.'Hasn't the protection of pilgrims always been one of the main missions of the Templars?"

"Pilgrims going to the Holy Land," William corrected, "not people going to White Castle!"

Antal swallowed hard, convinced he was right, and while he didn't want to show signs of disrespect, he felt he had to stand up for what he had done.

"I told them to let us go, but they wouldn't listen," said the boy, feeling tears welling in his eyes, and he didn't want his uncle to think he was still disobedient, never again. "I taught them a lesson because I can't let your money, the Knights' money, go into the pockets of robber-murderers that smell like shit, I can't let them do that! What will my honor be then Woolen cloth?"

Antal spoke so impassionedly that William didn't know how to answer.He just watched his nephew with tears in his eyes, clenched his fists, defending his brave but reckless behavior as hard as he could.

"I don't regret being hacked, I don't regret being in and out of death's porch for days, I don't regret it! I'd rather die than submit to unjust murderers who would not only humiliate me, but The cross on my chest! That's why I can't apologize to you."

"I see," William nodded and sighed. "When you left here, I said that when I see you again, I hope to see a mature man, you are not a man, but you have changed a lot since then, you still have Anything to say?"

"Have."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"You always allow me to skip the nighttime prayers and sleep so that I can be more refreshed during the day. From now on, I won't miss a single prayer or any task you give me. I Will sleep without a blanket, always clothed and ready for battle, as our ancestors did 200 years ago. I will be a better student, an apprentice knight worthy of your teachings.

William was speechless, he didn't want to start praising his own nephew.He had always been sure that Antal would become the first truly perfect knight in the entire history of the Knights, but he never felt that he was so close to his goal.Deep inside, he was about to jump for joy, but he was careful not to show any relief on his face.

"Maybe one day," he said as he came out of the stables, "you will truly be worthy of the sword of your ancestors."

"As for the trip," Antar said, "I'm going to go ahead and finish it."

"What?" William turned his head in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"The war forced us to return early, and I was unable to complete the pilgrimage with Umberto. In the spring, if conditions permit, I will embark on the journey again and return in half a year, of course, if you agree."

William didn't answer right away. He wanted to say that he disagreed, because Antal was still too young. If he encountered the same situation as last time, he might not be able to come back alive, or he might not be able to come back with a healthy body.Yet he also knew that Antal was destined to be a knight from the age of five, that his life would be battles, and that he should not run from them.In the end, he still chose the simplest answer.

"We'll talk about that later." The knight left his nephew alone.

"Did you hear that?" the boy whispered in Sarecher's ear, "We'll be back in Buda next year."

(End of this chapter)