Temple Sword

Chapter 9 You Are Inside the Living Wall
April 1301

William Barto's estate, Dubica, Slavonia

He galloped through the courtyard on a huge warhorse that was as dark as night, and before he stopped, he circled two big circles, and then stopped slowly in front of the stables.Antal Barto jumped from the saddle and stood still, leading the horse into its stable.

He tried to sneak home without the others noticing, and nearly fell ankle-deep in the snow on his nose on the way.He had no chance, however: William and the occasional Friar Lawrence waited impatiently for him at the manor gate.

"Where have you been?" his uncle snapped at him, skipping the greeting. "You should have been home an hour ago!"

"Sorry," the boy bowed his head, "we can't run fast in the snow."

"Don't lie, I just saw you running on the snow!"

Antal sighed, he knew very well that he would be punished again.

"I was in town helping Laszlo."

"Maybe he doesn't have church status like you do, does he?"

"Yes." He muttered under his breath.

"Where else have you been? You went to see John, didn't you?"

Antal nodded.

"Including last week, this is the fifth time you have missed prayer time, you should be whipped!"

Antar's face was flushed, and he wanted to fight, but he knew that doing so would only make his already bad situation worse.In the monastery, other church members are not allowed to miss the eight hours of daily prayer.While William usually allowed Antal to skip late night and early morning prayers, they both kept the matter a secret.

However, when he had to strictly follow the day's prayers, and with the presence of the appointed overseer of the local monastery, William had to deal with his children even harsher than usual.

If Brother Lawrence reports to the Knights that William has flouted certain church rules, he will also be punished and Antal will be taken away. In the best case, he will complete a long training in the monastery and be knighted. Worst case scenario is excommunication.

"Antal, you have indeed offended our Lord," said Lawrence, who had put on a lot of weight in the past three years. "Even the smallest sin is a sin..."

"I know, Brother Lawrence." The boy bowed to him. "I promise I'll try harder to follow the rules from now on."

"Very good," the monk said with a smile, "now it's time to start today's lesson. I was going to let you translate the Bible, but as a punishment, you have to read more texts today, and you have to recite the words of our order in Latin." the rule of."

Antal was a little dizzy after hearing that there were so many tasks, but nodded in agreement. "I see, Brother Lawrence."

"Then what are you waiting for?" William's voice sounded, "Get started!"
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"There's no snow in the Holy Land," the boy protested impatiently, posing, shivering from his soggy socks.

"We don't have any holy places anymore." William took a quick step forward and slashed at Antal with his lead sword.

A year ago, he thought the boy could start practicing with real people, so he asked someone to make himself a weight-bearing training sword.

Antal took a step back with his right foot in the parry and struck before Willian could strike again.He aimed for William's neck, but the knight parried the cut softly, then pressed his sword close, putting pressure on the blade.

Antal snorted because of the excessive force, but finally managed to flick William's sword aside, then spun around, yelled, and slashed at his stomach, this time the knight jumped back to dodge opened.

"Very good!" William nodded approvingly, "You are getting faster and faster."

"Maybe you are getting slower and slower, Uncle." Antar said provocatively, "The years are slowly passing by your side..."

"I know what you're up to, boy, but this old trick isn't going to distract me."

He pretended to take a step forward with his right foot, but ended up taking it with his left and attacking from the exact opposite of what Antares expected.

"Ouch!" the boy exclaimed, shaking his sore right hand violently.

"Respect your elders, you little slug!" William laughed and teased, "You are too young, and you still have a lot to learn..."

Antal changed hands in an instant, held the hilt of the sword with his left hand, and came to William's side with a flexible rotation, lightly dodged the knight's blow, pushed his sword aside, and then threw his own sword back Right hand, launch a new attack.He managed to confuse his opponent with his dance-like quickness, knocking the weapon out of William's hand with a powerful blow, and finally pressed the edge of his wooden sword close to his throat.

"I've learned a lot." Antal panted and grinned.

"Where did you learn that trick, boy?" William asked in amazement.

"An old man."

"Not bad, but not good enough." Saying that, William pushed him back, and when Antal drew his sword again, William had already drawn out the dagger.The knight suddenly dodged the sword, grabbed Antal's wrist with his left hand, and twisted the training sword out of his hand.

"You see," William smiled triumphantly, and pressed the dagger to the boy's throat, "that's the benefit of carrying more weapons."

"Your little William, uncle," Antal whispered.

"what?"

"Your little William," he repeated, "I'll eunuch you before you finish me."

William looked down and saw that Antal's left hand was holding his own little dagger, which the knight had had someone make for him on his seventh birthday, and it was pointing at his groin, shining coldly.

"Let's say we're tied." Antal shrugged jokingly, then sneezed loudly and took a step back. William was afraid that he might accidentally injure him by not holding the dagger firmly in his hand. "We shouldn't be training in the yard in this cold weather!"

"Really?" William asked mockingly, "maybe I should remodel the dining room and put a bearskin on the floor and let the fire crackle in the fireplace?"

Antar didn't want to answer him, he put away his dagger, picked up his sword from the ground, and shook the snow on it.The cold wind brings a distant melody from the west: the clock of the six o'clock has already struck.

"Do you know how weak rulers fight?" William asked as they went inside to pray at the altar.

"In a warm and comfortable hall?" Antal looked at him and sneezed again.

"Their opponents pretend they can't fight normally," William grimaced in disgust, "so that, though these rulers may be a mess of technology, they can still win against those who let him win on purpose. I've seen kings There are a few champion warriors with a lot of money around, and the king can even defeat several people at once. Antal, do you know what the king will do on the battlefield?"

"what are they doing?"

"Some were watching the battle from afar," William explained, "and other kings were on the field with their soldiers. They sat on a well-armed horse right below the banner, while the knights circled the They protect them like a living wall.

Your great-grandfather Thomas, my grandfather, died with the Templars at the Battle of The Tisza.The Tartars continued to attack the living wall, and finally King Bela survived under the wall, but the grandfather and other warriors who made up the wall remained under the hooves of those heathen horses... There is always a king on the battlefield Stay somewhere safe, and you know where you'll be? "

"Inside the living walls, right?" Antal asked.

"That's it, boy, in the living walls." William nodded. "That's why we don't train like kings."

(End of this chapter)