The High King's Noble Son, Part I
I.
In and ancient Kingdom of Brateur,
there’s an old tale that troubadours sing,
about High King Hoban’s noble son,
possessed of true courage, unending.
Hoban had two sons, Reth and Garrow,
though only Price Garrow could be his heir,
Reth was a bastard Hoban had fathered
on a peasant girl who styled his hair.
Though the Magi all said bastards were flawed,
King Hoban was not without a heat,
Reth grew in the palace, wanting nothing,
but from his brother he was kept apart.
Rumors of him were an open secret,
though around Reth such talk was stifled,
still the boy knew his future looked grim,
no bastard could hold a noble title.
The only path left was to pick up a sword,
which he did the day he turned seventeen,
his father was proud, but dared not show it,
for fear of offending his own High Queen.
Soon Reth knew well the sound of crashing blades,
of sharp arrows whistling through the air,
he patrolled the frontier, fought off savages,
built up a good name for himself there.
One evening he found Lord Efferin’s coach,
under attack from barbarian scum,
he and his horsemen charged the cruel horde,
sword-strokes rained down on the vicious ones.
Reth slashed one foe across the breast as he
rode towards a heathen blood-red from slaughter,
who frantically tore away the dress
of Saleesa, Lord Efferin’s daughter.
The savage turned to face his enemy,
a long, stabbing spear ready at his side,
Reth saw the danger, and hurled his sword,
transfixing the man’s skull though his eyes.
The barbarians broke, back to the woods,
Lord Efferin ran over to his child,
blubbering,”What can we do to thank you?!”
said Reth,”Rest at your estate for a while.”
The lord agreed, they gathered up their dead,
to his frontier castle they retired,
to all get some sleep, rest the horses,
and feast on mutton to tunes of the lyre.
That night in the castle’s large guest room,
something soft disturbed Reth’s heavy sleep,
he woke to see Saleesa in the doorway,
in a gossamer robe and bare feet.
She padded silently to his bedside,
dropped the robe, and besides him did lay.
Reth said,”What are you doing? This isn’t right.”
Said she,”It’s been years since I was a maid…”
In truth, Reth had never known a woman’s touch,
but Saleesa made it quite a delight,
and in months to come, when patrolling near,
Reth was sure to stop there for a night.
Copyright © David Welch | Year Posted 2018
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