Greenwood Knight

Chapter 35

"I do not remember much, for I was young at the time. I do know that the crown prince was killed. Hugh was devastated when he heard the news. He mourned for days in his rooms. He saw no one and neither slept nor ate. And then he appeared suddenly and ordered my father to ready the army. They left that day and were gone for a very long time."

"I remember." Drew added. "We were at the palace with Baron Brecken. He was called for King's Council and decided we needed more education and brought us along. He went off with the king and we were left at the palace with the royal children. Hugh II did not like you much, even then."

"And what became of the Bishop?" Gwyn asked.

"He left and I do not think he ever returned to the palace. As for whether I believe that he might be up to something, or that he dislikes the king, well...I cannot yet say for the first, but as to the latter, there are many who do not like our current king very much."

"What on earth was Robin doing spying on the Bishop in the first place?"

"He was hiding in the Baron's room from the tutor when the Baron came in with the Bishop. He did not pay much attention to them at first, since he was trying really hard not to be discovered. But then he heard the Baron ask the Bishop what his family had to do with anything. My guess is, that to a boy with no family, any family is interesting."

"And that is when he heard the Bishop tell the story of King Marek."

"I know that one. King Marek was an ancient King. He died without a son to take the crown so the crown passed to his cousin, King Xavier."

"King Xavier, he was what, four or five kings before Hugh the Great?"

"I confess, I paid very little attention to that part as it was a lecture given in Latin and I was never very good at Latin." Drew chuckled.

"It matters not." Erec said. "Except that King Xavier was the FIRST King in the current royal blood line. Before that it was part of another even more ancient line of kings going back for centuries."

"You do not think..."

"The rumors of the bastard son?" Gwyn asked then at their looks of surprise added. "My mother liked her history lessons. But the way she told the stories to me, I always thought they were fairy tales."

"Aye. I have heard such tales." Drew nodded. "Marek did not have any sons when he died, but some believe that his father had a secret mistress and that there was a child...a son by the name of Norek."

"Does not the fact that this Norek did not come forward upon his brother's death to claim the throne signify that this is just the mumblings of old men spinning tales?"

"It might, except that the rumor is that when Marek's father died, his mistress took Norek and fled the kingdom for fear that Marek's family might seek retribution." Drew answered.

"And...the stories say that by the time word reached Norek, he was living quite well in another kingdom. By most accounts, he was wealthy, prosperous, and happily married with a very large family. He had no desire to leave his home and family to seek out his brother's crown. Especially since it had already passed over to Xavier by that time."

"I see. So...What does this have to do with the Baron and the Bishop?" Gwyn puzzled.

"I think the Bishop was intimating that if a man could provide proof that he was descended from the original ancient royal bloodline, that such a man would have a legitimate claim to the crown."

"Surely you are not suggesting that the Bishop was...that is high treason!"

"Aye. And Brecken would rightly have been upset. But this scroll is an old one. It is a letter from a merchant to a man named Brecken, second son of Norek of Brindlehaven."