"Actually, I don’t think it would be such a bad thing, if Lord Elijah were to marry the Lady..." one of the younger Knights suddenly remarked.
"That’s right. The Lady is already twenty-six."
"It gets harder to bear children when you’re older. And the Baron might already be..."
"Skipping your patrol duties to hide here and gossip about the Lady’s private affairs? Are you all looking for a thrashing?" A hoarse but resonant voice cut in. The speaker was a burly, flat-nosed, middle-aged man.
His name was Zogo. He was a Breton with a quarter Norman blood. In his youth, he had followed the Old Baron through numerous campaigns. He later pledged his service to the new Baron, Alan, and was now the Knight Commander and steward of Fougeres Castle.
He had been through much in his life, and more than once had narrowly escaped the gallows. At fourteen, as one of the Old Baron’s Mercenaries, he crossed Europe to the Bosphorus Strait to aid the Greek Empire in its defense against the Heretics in Little Asia.
He even had the good fortune to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Though it had been occupied by Heretics for centuries, he could still feel the sanctity of the city. He firmly believed that Christ was still watching over it from heaven, waiting for His faithful followers to reclaim it.
The Greeks had proven themselves too weak to resist the Heretics’ slaughter. Therefore, Christ must be calling upon believers from other lands, and perhaps he was one of them.
If not for Duke William’s conquest of Mann, he might have remained in the East with the Old Baron, fighting for the cause of Christ.
He had joined the Old Baron’s service because the pay was better than what other leaders offered, but his respect for the Old Baron soon surpassed his regard for any other noble. His valor in Serbia earned him a promotion to Sergeant. By the time of the main campaigns in Little Asia, he had become one of the Old Baron’s core guards.
As the only Breton among forty boisterous Mann People, Zogo had to prove his worth again and again.
Finally, he could bear it no longer. He ambushed his tormentors, strangling one of them to death with a spare bowstring.
A crime like that should have meant death, but the stern Old Baron, acting out of character, showed mercy to his disreputable new recruit, pardoning him at the foot of the gallows.
Instead, he had the soles of Zogo’s feet branded with a red-hot iron, then told him he could follow the company barefoot if he chose. And for a week, the branded Zogo did just that, stumbling through the wild, mountainous terrain of Serbia.
With his mouth agape, he made harsh, rasping sounds with every breath, and each step sent excruciating pain through his body. The Mann People strained their ears, listening for a plea for mercy or the thud of his body hitting the ground.
But every time they glanced back, he was there. Sometimes trailing them, sometimes lagging far behind, but always hobbling onward, using his spear shaft as a crutch.
When he opened his dust-caked eyes, he saw one of his companions standing over him, a hand resting on the reins of a Spanish pony. "The Baron says you’re a Knight now," the man said.
And just like that, he was made a Knight.
He vowed to spend his life in loyal service to the Old Baron and his family, even if it meant shedding his last drop of blood.
After returning to their homeland, the Old Baron had an illegitimate son, who would become Baron Alan. The Old Baron appointed Zogo as Alan’s personal guard. Unlike the Old Baron’s somber eldest son, Alan was valiant in battle, yet also merciful and humble, having inherited all of the Old Baron’s finest qualities.
More importantly, of course, Alan was half Breton, had a purely Breton name, and was never ashamed of it.
Though a Hostage, the valiant Alan quickly earned the trust of the Duke of Normandy and was granted a sixth of the lands of Mann—an honor the Fougeres family had never before received.
Even though Baron Alan had abandoned his new wife and the Old Baron on his wedding night to join the Holy War in Iberia, Zogo never lost faith in him.
Therefore, he would protect the Baron’s wife with his life. And though he had fallen deeply in love with the Lady himself, he always kept his feelings contained.
But with no word from the Baron for years, Zogo was growing worried.
Many of the Nobility in Mann, and even Normandy, believed the Baron had already fallen in battle.
A domain without its Lord is vulnerable, especially since Lady Eleanor was also the Lady of Loire Castle. Lord Elijah’s recent and aggressive desire for Fougeres Castle was becoming difficult for Zogo to handle.
The arrogant and domineering Elijah was no worthy match for Lady Eleanor.
’He just didn’t know how much longer he could hold out.’
"The countryside is a total mess now. Patrols feel pointless."
"Yeah, everyone’s saying the plague is a calamity sent by God. A divine punishment."
"Divine punishment, my ass. It’s the Normans who are behind this."
"The Normans are part of the divine punishment."
"In short, everything is upside down. The bad have become good, and the good have become bad."
"And every time we say we’re going out on patrol, we’re actually distributing aid. The Lady tries to save everyone, but there’s just not enough grain."
"We have to keep buying grain from Normandy and Brittany. How much longer can the Baron’s fortune hold out?"
The Knights complained amongst themselves endlessly.
They knew the Lady was acting according to the will of God, but mortals have their limits.
Their wages as household knights depended entirely on the Baron’s coffers.