Kneeling, with bowed head, Erec answered: "You sent for me, my king."

"Oh yes." Erec remained still as he heard the rustling of fabric and the scrape of wood on stone and knew the king was taking his seat, "so I did."

Erec listened as the king asked for more meat and made a growl as he took a bite of his meat, smacking his lips loudly. Erec knew it was a show of just how unimportant his presence was to the king. After taking a loud slurping drink from his cups the king grew quiet.

Erec could feel the hatred in the king's gaze upon his own bowed head as he remained kneeling.

"What news have you of your campaigns?"

Erec remained on his knee, although he now lifted his head to look at the king as he spoke. It was a show of defiance on his part, but it could not be said that Erec was disrespectful of his king.

Erec was curious to know if the King was merely forgetful, or if there was some ulterior motive for asking a pointless question. Erec had already given a detailed report on his first meeting the morning of his arrival.

"Overall success, my king. Where we could not advance our holdings, we held the borders."

"So, I have lost nothing. And I have gained...what exactly?"

"We took Alomar and Blackboughs to the east, and left the remaining forces retreating to Garret's Keep on the coast. Winter was upon us, so we had to withdraw, but our enemy was left overpopulated and without proper provisions. As we stripped the corpses as we retreated, he also has a shortage of soldiers and armor."

Erec paused to gauge the reaction of the king, which was bored indifference. So Erec finished: "If we attack again at the first blush of spring, they will be weakened in body, as well as disheartened."

"And half-frozen no doubt. Good. Good. Let the harsh coastal winter siege them as we never could."

"Just so, my king."

"What else?"

"The kingdom to the far north has been collecting mercenaries and amassing an army. I believe he intends to march against Colter, to the north and west, as they have a long-standing blood-feud betwixt them, my king."

"It may be as you say, for they have battled back and forth betwixt themselves for the entirety of my existence. But that is not what you believe, not truly. Is it?"

"Aye, my king. It is what I believe. Truly. Or else I would not have spoken it." Reigning in his growing anger, he softened his tone and added, "my king."

"Come. Come. We are all men here. Is it not true that you fear they are amassing an army so that they can march...on us!"

"Nay, my liege. I tell you verily, they know that would be a foolish and fatal move on their part. Our own forces are far superior, but more than that. With our allies to the north east, we would easily intercept their forces long before they reached our borders."

"Ah!" the king stood, slamming both hands down on the table before him causing his goblet to spill over his bread. Ignoring the growing mess, the king leaned over and smiled. "Yes."

Erec felt a knife in his gut. The king was entirely too pleased with himself...this did not bode well.

"And that is precisely what we shall do. You shall take an army with you to our allies and entreat them to join our defenses. Then you shall LEAD the march on the far north FIRST. We need to send a message of strength."

"But sire!" Erec began, "Winter is all but upon us. My men have only just returned. We have been away from the first thaw of spring all through the autumn harvesting. The men will not be superior if you force them to march so far so quickly—and the horses need time to rest to be fresh for such a long march."

"Right you are." The king smiled and the knife in Erec's gut twisted. "So, you shall take MY men. They have been here all the while and they are well rested and in full fighting form. My men will be your army. I trust you to lead them to a victory in my behalf."

"I shall lead them as I led your father's men."

The truth of the matter was that, aside from the one victory he mentioned, they had only just been able to hold the lines elsewhere. If something were not done soon, the kingdom would begin to lose ground.

It did not help matters that the king's men continued to fall from the inside allowing enemies to press more easily from without.

Erec was dismissed with a flick of the king's wrist, and his men beckoned. All appetite lost, he retreated from the castle and found his way back to the garrison. His steps led him to his own quarters—a large suite of rooms over the barracks overlooking the training arena. He was there, standing at the window staring at nothing in particular when Molly arrived with a tray.

"Come, Erec." She set the tray on the table and settled into a chair before reaching for the block of cheese. "You must eat. The king has decreed you shall leave with the first light."

Erec turned obediently and sat heavily with a sigh. Molly gave him a look of motherly concern as she broke bread and cheese onto a plate for him. As he ate, Molly poured wine into his cup. They ate in silence, but her motherly presence was warm with her love and it was some comfort to him amid his dark thoughts.

The king was well enough pleased with the spoils, but as with the previous two campaigns, he was being sent away again without the proper time for rest or repair. Once more there was not even time to mourn those that fell. Erec did not long wonder at the pattern.

He could not be dismissed from his position, nor could he be banished for the people held him as their own champion. But that did not mean that he could not be done away with by other means. IF he should fall under the enemy's sword, the king could not be faulted.

Erec was not so easily killed. His earliest memories were at his father's knee in the barracks. He knew weapons and warfare intimately and what is more, he excelled at it.

The next morning Zeus let his displeasure be known as he kicked at the poor stable boys and cracked the wood of his stall. Erec managed to calm him and get into the stall, but nearly lost a finger when he tried to slip the bridle over Zeus's head.

"In the name of the king!" Erec groused as he shook his bruised hand, grateful that he was wearing gloves against the bitter cold of the morning. "Zeus! I have no time for your attitude this morn. Behave or I shall be forced to throttle you!"

Zeus jerked his head back, almost pulling the reins from Erec's hand. Erec held on, but when Zeus tried to rear up to kick at him, Erec balled his fist and struck the powerful animal on the cheek. With a snort of displeasure Zeus finally relented.

As he led Zeus from the stables, he saw only three familiar faces among the men. His lieutenants: Drew, Thomas and John. It was a bit of a surprise to see them, as Molly informed him last night that his men had been dismissed.

As the four of them rode out, a new threat presented itself to him. If an enemy sword did not bring Erec down, mayhap a friendly blade could do the deed. For the right price, Erec knew, such a thing was an easy enough task to accomplish.

That evening as they made their first camp, Erec confided his fears to his three men.

"You may return to the barracks and to your families and I will think none the less of you for it."

"You may not think less of me, milord, but I would think less of myself."

"Aye!" echoed the other two.

"You are good men, but we are at war without and now there is danger within our ranks as well. If I am to be killed, now that you have come and promised your loyalty, you will also bear a target upon your backs."

"The odds are not in their favor, milord."

"Do you not mean; the odds are not in OUR favor?"

"Any. I spoke true. We are all of us trained at your father's hand. We can best three at a time in combat. That means we could handle a dozen at a time if we fight backs-in."

Erec laughed softly, not wanting to draw more attention. Already he could feel the touch of eyes upon him.

"You are good men. May God keep you."

"Aye. And we shall give him a hand, just to see that he does."

They laughed as a group, ignoring the stares from the other men.

"I wish I knew what will become of the others."

"You mean, will they wallow away in a dungeon?"

"Or will they meet an executioner's axe?"

"If I were the king, that is the king we have now and not the king we lost," Erec paused to meet the eye of the others, "I would retire them to their families. If any had lands, or earthly goods of value, I would press taxes, or arrange an accident or trial so that I might take the land or goods for my own coffers. That way, I could not be accused of gross injustice or mass murder."

"And if the men were any other than your father's, milord, I would say that you would succeed."

"Aye, save for our brothers, none would survive such underhanded dealings."

"If one of our brothers should fall under questionable circumstances, be assured, the others will come to rally and protect. They will present a unified front and it will not be an easy thing to be rid of them."

"I pray you are correct. For I fear that our king sees our years of loyal service to his father as a fault instead of the asset that it is. He is too short-sited to see our loyalty is to the crown, our service for the king and the people. We are no threat to the crown. But the king has replaced the Royal Guard. Of our original number, only myself and you three remain."

Erec stood and walked to Zeus, picketed nearby. As he did so, he carefully took note of the numbers and the positions of the king's men. After a few moments mindlessly brushing his fingers over Zeus's back while making his observations, he returned to his men and their fire.

"I know nothing of these men, but that is to be expected. I have been much away. And on my short stay at home, the men know better than to gossip in my presence."

"I share your dislike of gossip, but last night when I learned of our fate, I made a point to learn what I could of these men. It is not much, but if you would care to hear?"

Erec nodded his consent.

"Most of these men come from the barons. A handful of them were chosen for their performance in a recent tourney, although I know not which. There are we four, of course."

"And the rest?"

"Some of them are under contract. I know only that they are reputed to be men of good character. They are known for their prowess in battle and their loyalty to their masters for the duration of their contracts."

"Our new king chose men of honor and moral character?" Eric seemed incredulous.

"Perhaps his new counsel thought it wise? They are reputed to be the best and we know how our new king feels about owning the best."

"You said they were under contract. Surely if they are the best, they were already under contract elsewhere."

"This borders on gossip, but it is near as truth that I can gather. They were all under contract, but his highness used his royal reach to take their contracts over to himself. Whether he paid their former masters to release the knights, or whether he encouraged their former masters to make a gift of these knights, I could not tell with any certainty."

"Suffice it to say, they are now under contract to our king and they are excessively well paid under said contracts."

"I do not understand why he would so quickly dismiss men who were born on his lands, raised under his father's rule and who have sworn fealty to the crown. To replace such well-trained loyal men for strangers?" Drew paused.

"Granted, they are men of excellent reputation and skill, but they have no ties to the land, the people, or the king himself... save for their contracts. For the king to entrust his very life to such men..."

"At least you cannot be so easily erased as our brothers were."

"Nay," Erec agreed with a frown, "But I bleed. And a well-placed dagger while I am away will do just as nicely as dismissal. Even better, since it will not cast our new king in a poor light."

"Aye. The latter would be a good answer to the problem you present; with your fame as the guardian and champion of the people."

"If you perish away, there is no direct tie to the king, and he can make a show of punishing some poor soul for the deed, maybe even hold a memorial for you, and give a pretty speech."

Erec laughed in response. His men were not far wrong, but the picture of the king—a man who made very little effort to hide his dislike—giving a pretty speech over Erec was indeed a ridiculous one.

"May it be so, if I perish." Erec laughed, "and may he choke on his pretty words."

"I do not think an attempt will be made before we reach the battle. I think they will bide their time, and then when we are three-deep in battle, they will slip a dagger in our ribs. None save we three will be the wiser."

"Truly spoken. And we shall hardly be in a position to protest."

"Nay. Dead men cannot tell their tales of treachery and woe."

"Very well." Erec stretched out, using his arm as a pillow. "Then we shall make certain there is no opportunity to slip a dagger in our ribs. We need to step up our watch and sleep with weapon at the ready."

"That can get uncomfortable."

"And being dead would be more comfortable?"

"I shall take first watch," Thomas offered. "Rest so that you may watch later with the captain."

"Being the eldest among us has some advantages." Drew chuckled as he stretched out to sleep.

"You are not so much the elder." Erec chuckled. "A sennight is no great amount of time."