"Setting The Record Straight"

A somewhat different point of view

By ALWrite

What is it with people? They use big words, mighty gestures, and define who is good or bad by very strange methods, indeed.

For me, as a horse, the truth is very simple: my master is simply the best.

You cannot buy a horse's loyalty. You have to earn it. And the only way a horse judges its master is by his behaviour. And my master's behaviour has always been beyond reproach.

~~~

Together we have been all over England. We have even been to France together, and we have even seen a King!

My master was at London when Prince John was crowned King. I saw him close to the King, and King John was speaking to him. To my master...

~~~

When you are tied up with other horses you talk. You learn what humans are capable of - both while they are astride your back, hacking at you with spurs and lashing you with whips, and also what they are capable of when afoot. I can safely say that I have known few horses who have or had a better master than me.

~~~

"Brutal", "a fierce warrior", "wielding a merciless sword". I've heard people say this about my master. Together, we have been in battle, slaying enemy soldiers. During battle, I always did my best to get us through the chaos as safely as possible.

But life is not all battle, not even for a horse like myself.

~~~

I like running through the lush English forests best of all. The smells and the sounds... the soft forest earth beneath my hooves, the sounds of the other horses from behind... naturally, from behind, because I run in front, carrying my master - the leader.

It is true that sometimes he led me into danger, but we were friends-at-arms. We trusted each other, and I trusted my master to know what he was doing. He may have lead me into battle, but I always did my best to protect him, and to get us both out safely.

Always.

Even during that last battle on the coast when we were fighting on the soft beach. I can tell you that fight was so ferocious you didn't know where to turn in order to avoid the blows raining down around you. That battle need not have been our last together. But, alas, it was.

~~~

Now my master is dead. He fell from my back and never got up again. Couldn't because an arrow had been shot right through his neck. I stood beside him, waiting for him to mount again but I waited in vain. The water turned red with his blood, it stank and scared me, and I finally ran off...

~~~

So now I am in this stable for sale. You can buy me if you want. But you cannot buy my loyalty. That you must earn...

THE END

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