Temple Sword

Chapter 48 Good and Bad News
Antal returned to the camp set up at the foot of the mountain in the evening. A large part of the tournament field has been dismantled, and only a few tents set up the previous morning are still in place.The hustle and bustle turned back to calm, and the dust turned back to mortal land.

He didn't find William in the tent, only Laszlo who was having dinner.

"Laszlo, have you seen William?" Antal asked.

Laszlo shrugged. "The last time I saw him was with Carlos," he said after eating two goose legs. "They left for an hour, but they didn't say where they were going."

"I'm going to find them," Antar said, but his friends stopped him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly. "You look pale... strange... what did the king say to you?"

"The king talks a lot," Antar said, trying to put a smile on his face, but reluctantly. "I'll tell you everything in time, but now I must find William."

"Sorry, I don't know where they are, and Adam is gone."

"Already gone? Did he say where he's going?" Antal felt a little regretful.

"East, that's all he said," Laszlo replied. "He was looking for you, and I told him you were with the king, and he laughed a lot."

"Isn't he angry?"

"It doesn't look like it," Laszlo said, biting his goose leg. "He said that if anyone could get this treatment, he'd be glad it was you."
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Antal found William and Carlos after the sun had completely disappeared at the end of the world. He was about to end his search and began to look back when he found a small campfire on the river bank.His uncle and the Spanish knight in black were roasting a suckling pig, and they cheerfully invited the boy to supper.

"You must have impressed the king of Anjou," Carlos said. "As soon as you left, more servants came, bringing wine and fruit, and this suckling pig, ready to wait until you returned. I'll bake it for you sometime."

Antal tied Sarecher to a tree and sat by the fire too.The roast smelled heavenly and he hoped it would be ready in no time, he was hungry enough to eat a whole suckling pig by himself.

"As food for me, you took it far away from the camp." Antal wanted to joke, but his voice was strange, and he himself realized that something sounded wrong when he said it.He was troubled now, he didn't know which news to tell his uncle first, whether he was no longer his squire, or whether their Templars were accused of blasphemy, heresy and immorality.

He chose the first message, and he took a deep breath, staring at the flames, summarizing what had happened in the castle.He was no longer a squire, but a knight, and a knight blessed by the king, not the order.

"Forgive me," Antal murmured, all around him being the sound of crackling fires. "I'm sorry if I let you down."

He finally plucked up the courage to look up at William. The old knight's face was already wet with tears, and the boy's heart skipped a beat. Did he make a wrong choice?
"In the past 13 years, I have imagined countless times what you will become, and what the Lord's answer to me is," William said slowly, "I have seen countless different fates, and countless possibilities for you. Fate. I know, I am sure, that you will go far in life, but even in my wildest and most beautiful dreams, I dare not imagine that one day you will be the King's First Knight.

Be his brother, his shield and sword, as he said.How could I be disappointed?No, I fulfilled my vows to God, and now I can die happily when the end of life comes, with peace, not fear.. When I close my eyes, I no longer see corpses scattered in holy places , nor the shattered tower of Acre.I saw a man with a pure heart and I helped him to be like that, thank you my boy. "

He stood up, wiped the tears from his face, and put his arms around the boy.Antal breathed a sigh of relief, stood up and embraced William tightly.The sobs quickly turned to laughter, and Carlos happily joined in the hug.Antal finally decided to tell another news.

(End of this chapter)