A morning thunderstorm brewed on the outskirts of the City Fortress of Anglevin. Princess Brandywijn stirred in her bed, half asleep, half disturbed by yet another foul dream of a flood engulfing her. Her nightmare was always the same, a deluge formed on the Earth from massive amounts of rain that poured out from the sky, not in droplets but in a large vast outpour of water miles wide and miles round. The rising water was raging and extremely violent, with waves reaching beyond the heights of great mountains, the sky was black and full of flashes of lightning, and the wind blew with the force of a thousand tempests. As she struggled to keep her head above the water line and water crashed around her, she saw a figure in the distance, it was a man bleeding from his head, with lacerations all over his body, wrapped loosely in a deep scarlet cloak, he was walking upon the water with his hand stretched out towards her as if to say “take my hand”. As she wallowed amongst the roaring waves in the dreadfully deep black sea, she reached for the man’s hand… and every time she was about to take his hand, she would wake up.

She suddenly awoke, and through bleary eyes saw her head-handmaiden stretching out the grand curtains in her chambers. It was morning and she had duties to fulfill as princess of the kingdom. She stirred a bit, pondering her foul dream, she would consider it a true nightmare if she wasn’t so curious as to what would happen if she was able to take the man’s hand. Her pretty bright eyes blinked open slowly but surely, when suddenly she felt a stir from her side, it was her small feline pet, he was snuggled up against her and was nonplused that she had awoken him from his slumber. She smiled and gave him scratches and soft kiss on the head. She then rolled herself out of the bed. Her night gown was white with gold trimmings, she slipped on her morning slippers and greeted her handmaidens who were scurrying around getting things in place for her. Matildy, her newest and youngest handmaid set the chamber table with a light breakfast, Janith her oldest and head handmaid was in the bathing chamber drawing warm water for her in the tub. Her days typically started in similar fashion. She would start with a bath, then a light breakfast of fruit and light bread, then she’d get dressed to attend to her studies of linguistics, astronomy and poetry. Finally, during late-morning, she would get to her favorite part of the day… combat training. The rest of her day would include riding lessons, worship to the gods, and whatever bureaucratic luncheons, banquets or meetings the court had planned for her. She sat in the tub as her maids scrubbed her. As they scrubbed, she stared off in a daydream, She thought pensively about the Shepherd from the other day and how she could find out more about him, and also fell into day dreaming of besting the knights who she trained along with and impressing Captain Ivarsson, and being given a place next to her brother Verstappen in the Order of the Red Bear, the most elite unit in her fathers army. Her daydream was cut short however, as she was being whisked up and out of the tub and noticed her head maiden speaking to her saying,

“Up, up, your highness, we must be sure you reach your appointments on time, we mustn’t be late! Headmaster Strugge will be quite irritated if you arrive to his lessons late again.”

She silently obeyed and slowly walked to the end of the bathing chamber and stood so her maids could dress her in her gown for the day. It was a gown of dark green and gold with ornate embroideries and lacey trimmings. She then slipped into her hand-crafted leather slippers and went to eat her quick breakfast.  As she ate there was a knock at her chamber door, her head maiden went to open it. A few moments later her brother Verstappen strode in with a large grin on his face. Brandywijn loved Verstappen with all her heart. He was her hero, and the most talented swordsman in the realm, proven on the battlefield and in his victories in the grand tournaments her father held every spring. She looked at him with a bemused expression and said,

“To what do I owe the honor of the greatest knight in the realm visiting me in such an informal manner?”

Verstappen smirked and replied,

“Strugge has fallen ill, your morning lessons are hereby canceled…which means, your combat training is to be with me and the Red Bears today, since a princess cannot go without something to occupy her time of course!”

Brandywijn leapt up from her chair causing her handmaidens to gasp and gave a loud cheer! Her eyes sparkled with joy; she finally would be able to test her mettle with the very warriors she would hope to join one day.

Janith smiled, knowing that Brandywijn longed for such opportunities and said like a stern mother,

“Now, now, your highness, we must hurry along then, to fit you into your gambeson and strap you into your armor!”

Brandywijn wasted no time, her brother Verstappen turned quickly and shouted as he walked out,

“Hurry up, do not keep my men waiting as you try to look pretty in your armor.”

She shot him a mean look and he turned and peaked behind himself and gave a sly wink and left.

As Brandywijn rushed to the Armory, a dividing curtain was set up to keep her concealed from the men who were changing in the main Armory Hall. Her handmaidens quickly fit her into her under armor wear and into her light plate armor.  She was nervous. She typically faired well with the inexperienced foot soldiers she usually trained with, but today she was with the best the kingdom had to offer, and her brother was never one to go easy on her. Her handmaidens presented her sheathed blade to her. She took hold of the heavy sword, it belonged to her great grandfather, he used it as a side arm to fell many of his would-be usurpers as he carved his legacy through the realm. She took hold of it and squeezed it tight, anticipating what would yet come. She then was handed her round shield and took a deep breath before exiting the armory.

Once she was ready her handmaidens scurried off to the side of the combat training arena as she walked in. When she entered, she saw standing in the middle were the Red Bears, they stood at attention with Verstappen in front of them, facing them as their commander. As she entered the arena floor Verstappen shouted,

“Ah…Yes finally she has awoken, maybe now my men can receive proper training…that is, if it is ok with the princess!”.

Some of the men chuckled lightly

Brandywijn snarled at Verstappen, and her face turned flush red as she walked towards him. She walked up to him and turned and looked upon the faces of the elite warriors. They were all mostly older men, gruff and rugged, with gnarled beards and scars worth a thousand tales. They looked straight ahead, but some could not help but take a quick look at the immaculate beauty of the princess. She grew anxious, she wanted to train and learn, not be a distraction or a “side-show” for the warriors. Just then Verstappen barked an order, and all the men dispersed into groups, swords and shields in hand. They began light sword work, letting their swords glide through the air and feigning blocking and riposte maneuvers. She went to the side in line with one of the rows of men and started to go through her routine. Verstappen would walk by and correct her movements every now and then but raised an eyebrow as well, he had always noticed Brandywijn was a natural warrior, it made him very proud, but he would down play it, he knew his father did not want her to aspire to the warriors life, and he also did not want his little sister to face such horrors.

When the warm-up routine ended, they would separate in groups and go through drill stations. Verstappen put Brandywijn into a group containing an older red bearded veteran and the two youngest members of the Red Bears warrior elite. They all bowed in deep reverence as she walked up towards them, and the oldest one spoke up,

“My fair highness, it is an honor to meet with you, I am Gunnar of house Handrada, this is Maxwell of Stjanford, and Olaf of Leofric.”

The two young warriors bowed again nervously, not even daring make eye contact with her. Gunnar spoke up again.

“We’ll start with the shield riposte drill, I’m sure you’re familiar with it. The wooden training mannequins will be thrust forward via  the poles held by the two operators, you are to push your shield in its chest, move it to the side and plunge your sword into its armors weak points.”

Gunnar stood ready to demonstrate. Then two foot soldiers stood behind the mannequin rig and thrust it forward, it bolted towards Gunnar whose powerful frame moved much quicker than he looked like he could and his shield crashed into the chest of the mannequin almost thrusting the mannequin rig and it’s two operators back onto the ground, but they stabilized enough to stay up right but then in one swift movement Gunnar plunged his blade into one of the weak points of the wooden soldiers armor and pulled it back out and faced it with his shield up, ending the drill.

Before Gunnar could say anything else Brandywijn boldly stepped up and volunteered to go next. The men were taken back a bit but were also grinning with some admiration for the princess’s zeal for training. The two foot soldiers operating the training rig looked at one another and reset the mannequin and readied it for the drill. The princess readied herself. The mannequin started barreling towards her but without a hesitation she side stepped  and plunged her shield into the mannequins chest, as she crashed her shield into the mannequins chest she felt it’s heavy weight against her arm and it sent a bolt of vibrating pain through her arm and slightly pushed her back, but instead of falling off balance she recovered in a swift movement and jumped and turned on her heel slightly and maneuvered her sword into the neck area of the mannequin, and pulled her blade free and reset herself with her shield up. The men watching were surprised, she seemed so dainty and frail, but come to find she had a natural wiry strength to her. The two young warriors stepped up eagerly wanting to show their zeal as well.

However, before they could move on to the next drill. The King, Brandywijn’s father walked into the training arena, and next to him stood a very tall man wrapped in a large, heavy, deep black cloak, his entire body was engulfed by the black cloak except for his face. The man was different, and suddenly she remembered the shepherd from the other day again, much like the shepherd, this man’s skin was a deep mahogany color, but his color was a bit darker than the shepherd even. The man wore a stoic expression and upon his head he wore a strange cap that she would later learn was called a “Suede Kufi”.  Her father was a monstrously large man but this man was taller, not as wide as her father, but his shoulders were broad and only his frame could be seen, as his body was covered in his large black cloak. Her father and the man stood next to each other, her father motioning towards the men training. Verstappen looked up and saw his father and halted his observing of his men training and walked towards them. As the King, Verstappen and the strange man spoke there was a sudden large crash from the rafters of the arena, and plunging down were ten fully armed berserkers in wolves’ skins wielding battle axes. The men were crazed and unnaturally strong, because even amidst the Red Bears they aggressed forward, bearing down towards the king. It was suddenly clear to Brandywijn after the initial shock faded, these were the Krag Wolves, a unit of elite warriors from the old lands, most likely sent by an old rival of her fathers. It was not uncommon for these elite berserkers to crash training sessions for assassination attempts, because typically the last place a king would expect to be attacked is in and amongst his best warriors, but this assassination attempt was not about survival it was about taking the target completely off guard, even if it meant the assassins dying after they killed their target. King Wotan was unarmed, and Verstappen was only in his training attire. The ten men howled like wild wolves and tossed aside a few of the Red Bear warriors close enough to try and stop the assault, as they barreled toward the king one threw an axe directly at the kings head, but he did not flinch because in that second from beneath his large dark cloak, the strange man produced a curved sword, it deflected the thrown axe away at lighting fast speed, and sent it hurling toward a wall. As the men continued their charge the king motioned Verstappen to step aside and stood firm, the strange, cloaked man moved with violent grace, as he stepped in front of the king and began engaging the ten assassins like a lightning bolt, clashing in a swirl, every second or so one would fall to a lethal strike. Then she heard her father shout,

“Leave one!…”

After a moment nine of the ten lay slain. The sole survivor lay maimed on the floor. The warriors all rushed in around them and Brandywijn and her group ran towards them as well.

Brandywijn’s heart thumped in her chest. She could not believe she had just witnessed such a daring attempt at her father’s life.

When she got to the crowd the men noticed her and stepped aside. Her father was standing over the maimed man who was snarling in pain. The strange man in the black cloak stood behind her father with a solemn, stoic, look on his face. Verstappen was enraged but kept himself together, periodically glancing toward the large, cloaked man who saved his fathers life in bewilderment. When the king saw his daughter emerge from the crowd his face dropped, he did not expect to see her there and after such a violent assassination attempt, he feared for her. He suddenly snapped to and ordered the men to stand on alert for any straggling assassins and ordered Verstappen to take his sister to his personal chambers with her mother and stay put until the entire castle grounds were searched and cleared.

Hours passed as Brandywijn sat in her father’s chambers with her mother and toiled. She had so many swirling questions and was coming down off the adrenaline rush from earlier and felt a bit lightheaded. Her mother sat close by worried but held a strong disposition befitting a Queen. The Queen was a kindly woman and spoke up and said,

“My Brandywijn, This is why I do say stay away from such yearnings for combat and glory. It’s bad enough your father and brothers must deal with such things.”

Brandywijn did not want to hear it, she wanted to know what happened and how such an attack could have been so deadly close to succeeding. Also, on top of that she wanted to know who the cloaked man was, his prowess with a blade was unlike anything she’s ever seen, and also…why did he look so similar to the Shepherd man that piqued her curiosity the day before.

Just then the door of the chamber where her and her mother were put, swung open and the several guards from outside the door let in her brother Verstappen. He walked in with a serious look on his face. He greeted his mother with an embrace and turned to Brandywijn who was rife with anticipation. Verstappen spoke up and said,

“I understand you both would like some explanations. Well as far as we gathered from the only living assassin, their true target was me, but when they spotted father in the hall, they could not help but attempt to assassinate him on the spot. However, what they did not anticipate was fathers…guest…the cloaked man…he is some sort of warrior from a distant land, he is in Anglevin escorting his brother, who apparently is a shepherd who pays us to drive his flock through the city to get to the pasture side. This cloaked man saved fathers life and was to be honored tonight with a feast as is our tradition for celebrating those who come to the defense of our kingdom, but he curtly refused, citing he needed to rest to leave early tomorrow with his brother, the shepherd, to drive the herd out of the city.”

Princess Brandywijn stirred to her feet, her heart thumped, the man was indeed connected to the shepherd she saw the day before. It was one thing for him to be connected to the shepherd but him to be such a remarkable warrior on top of that made her mad with curiosity. Brandywijn sensing a rare opportunity spoke up and said,

“ I have to meet this man, and his brother, I want to give him thanks for saving father…and I am curious as to his relation to the strange shepherd man…I saw that shepherd man…he has the same features as fathers ‘guest’ has. He seemed odd and piqued my interest. I’d like to meet them both as soon as possible!”.

Verstappen was about to object but saw the look in his sisters’ eyes. He wanted to object because his father ordered that none of the family be allowed out until he felt the castle and Anglevin at large was clear of assassins….but…he knew if he said no, that she would think up some sort of scheme to sneak off and have her way anyways. He raised his eyebrow and decided that he would take her to meet the man himself with a portion of his elite guard. Verstappen spoke up after letting out a long sigh and said,

“Oh Brandy…look…The man in question has gone back into the city, he is staying at an old back ally inn in the heart of the city. My guard and I will take you to them so you may properly show gratitude, because I know you, you will not be denied when you are this riled up”.

Brandywijn smiled wide and after giving her mother a hug and kiss on the cheek, she set off with her brother….

They rode in a large, armored carriage with guards on either side. Only Janith was with her and her brother in the carriage as they all sat quietly. Brandywijn ran the assassination attempt through her mind over and over as the carriage rolled through the castle gates and through the city at large. She was caught in a whirlwind of emotions but before she knew it the carriage stopped and they got out, guards on all sides as she and her brother stepped out of the carriage and prepared to enter into the old shabby back alley inn when from the corner of her eye she saw the shepherd. His flock was filing along the side of the alley, and he was sitting under an awning of sorts with a small crowd of beggars, orphans, and diseased vagrants surrounding him, he was turning the pages of a large book, she looked and leaning against the wall next to him was the large cloaked man who saved her fathers life. The cloaked man saw her, gave her a glance and looked back to the shepherd, she got her brothers attention by tugging at his sleeve and pointed towards the shepherd, they approached the small crowd and she heard him reading from the old tattered book…

Press play below to hear the Shepherds reading of The Good News According to John Chapter 15, Verses 1-27…these are the words of Christ Jesus.

To be continued…

Written By: Marcos A. Lopez II – 8/18/2024