Bastard Son of a King: A Tale of Betrayal and Survival in a Treacherous Medieval Realm

Chapter 1

I was born William Edward Kingson. My mother had been a maid in the Keep of king Henry. I was the bastard son he refused to acknowledge like several others. My mother ended up marrying the captain of his guards. He was the one that taught me how to use weapons and how to fight. I was fourteen when the king became ill. Captain Mambly arranged for me to work as a caravan guard leaving the kingdom.

For four years I traveled the world and learned many things. When I returned to Eustria it was to learn of my mother’s death. She had died not long after the captain who had died shortly after the king. The whole kingdom was changed. It was hard or impossible for people to leave and the nobles ran over everyone. The only real job I could find was as a bar breaker.

I knew better than to let my half brother know I was here, he would have me killed like he had the other three bastards. The captain had taught me many things and shown me things I never thought about. While the large city sprawled on both sides of the river, the nobles retreat and the king’s Keep was on the island in the middle of the river. There were two bridges to the retreat. They both had huge stone arches at each end of walkways.

What people did not know was that inside each arch was a small room with stairs. The second floor spanned the width of the road and had a narrow walk that allowed men to walk the length on the bridge from arch to arch. I had sold my horse a week after arriving, I could not afford a room and had remembered the gate houses. Everyone was very carefully around the river because of the river snakes. They were poisonous and came out during the day to sun themselves on the warm stones.

For almost a month I worked at the tavern and things got steadily worse. I was barely paying for enough food to keep me going. The conditions in the city only got worse for almost everyone. The only ones that had it easy were the nobles and their favorites, that also included the richer merchants. The night I was fired for breaking up a fight a young noble started was the start of something else.

I stood watching the dark house for a long time before finally crossing the street and moving down the alley beside it. I stopped halfway down and stood listening. I turned and used the cracks between the stones to start climbing. On the third floor I carefully pulled myself onto the narrow window ledge. I pulled a very thin dagger from an arm sheath and slipped it between the windows. I lifted and the inside latch came out of the lock.

I quietly opened the window and slipped inside closing the window behind me. I silently moved through the room and opened the door before slipping out. I made my way to the servants stairs and then went down. On the first floor I moved through the dark hallway to the study door. A moment with my dagger tip between the door and the frame was enough to unlock the door.

I slipped into the room and closed the door before pulling the tiny metal dark lantern from my belt. I opened one shutter as I moved towards the desk. I only glance at the other door with its large ornate lock. I sat and used the lantern to go through the desk. In a side drawer I found a couple of stacks of gold coins. I took them and the small bundle of candles. I took the ornate key from the top drawer and moved to the side door.

When I entered the room it was to see a few small chests. The first two chests held copper pennies or brass six pieces. The next chest held small bags, I opened one to find rare spices. I pulled them out to fill the small pack I was carrying. There were two chests left, the first held silver pieces and the second had gold. I hesitated and then lifted the chest of silver and poured it into the chest of gold coins.

I carried the heavy chest out and locked the door. I put the key back in the desk and went to the door to listen. I closed my lantern and quietly opened the door and moved the chest into the hall before closing it. I made my way back to the window I came in and set the chest down. I unwrapped the cord from around my waist and tied it to the chest and leaned out to lower it.

I wrapped a piece of twine around the latch and looped one end under and the other over the window. I slipped out onto the sill and closed the window before pulling the twine that went under the edge of the window. The latch closed and the twine slowly went through at the top of the window and then came out the bottom. I slowly made my way down and lifted the heavy chest.

I carefully made my way through the alley. I waited and listened before crossing the main street and slipping into the dark alley on the other side. It was to dangerous to move through the dark here. I carefully opened a shutter on the lantern and moved slowly down the alley. I turned right between two buildings and squeezed through until I was on the lip of the river.

I moved back to the right watching my steps and looking for snakes. I came to the darkly tarnish door and shifted to pull the old key from my sash. The heavy door opened silently and I slipped in before setting the chest down and closing the door behind me. I opened the shutter on the lantern wider and looked around before slowly moving the two locking bars into place in the door.

I lifted the chest and crossed to the spiraling stairs and headed up to the next floor. I walked to the narrow table and gratefully set the chest down. I removed the lantern from my belt and set it on the table too. I pulled the pack off and removed the bundle of candles before lighting one from the lantern. I set it in an empty glass globe and stripped before crossing to set the pack on another narrow table beside a small iron stove. I removed the pouches of spices and tossed the empty pack aside.

The room was twelve feet wide and twenty feet long. My sword and bow were on a shelf near the other end of the room and below them was the rolled cloth that held my chain shirt. I used a basin of water to wash my face and hands before putting out the candle and lantern. I slipped into bed and relaxed before falling asleep.

I woke to the sounds of morning traffic crossing the bridge heading towards the retreat. I sat up and glanced at the chest before climbing out of bed. I poured the dirty water into the drain hole in the side wall. I dressed and went to the chest before filling my belt pouch with silver pieces. I slipped out and locked the door behind me before carefully moving along the river chasing a couple of smaller snakes into the water.

I moved through the city until I reached the farmers market. I opened my pouch and pulled out a single piece of silver. I started across and stopped when I saw the small group of homeless huddled together at the edge of the market. I sighed and turned to head for them, I stopped in front of them and gestured to the sausage roll vendor, “Follow me and I will make sure everyone gets fed.”

I turned as they hesitated and started walking toward the vendor. It took awhile and I had to pay before he started handing out sausage rolls. Everyone got two and I left with three less silvers but feeling a lot better. Everyone heard about the merchant being robbed before the city even started getting busy. I bought a few small spice pouches while listening to the rumors. I had an idea about food and after spending the day walking around I headed towards the river. I picked a spot that was not to far from the city commons.

I found several large snakes on the cobbles of the street and it was not hard to catch them and remove the heads. I cut the heads off six inches behind the back of the head and gutted them and skinned them before walking to the common. There were several groups of homeless around and I headed towards one with a small fire going.

It was a family with two young boys and a little girl. I smiled as I knelt and reached for the stick the older boy held. I cut a chunk off one of the snakes and held

Explore my other stories

THE END