Admiration by Alex Wright

admiration

By: Alex Wright

Sir Ainsley Stonecaste of Naporia was a proud man. He was a proud man because he had much to be proud of! You see, Sir Ainsley was a castle builder. He had built castles, fortresses, and even a few palaces far and wide. He was famous for designing the keep which kept King Forells guards. He Painstakingly laid the foundation for Queen Ja’Mrins extravagant tower. He himself dug the moat surrounding Duke Irleas’ motte. He even laid the stone and the brick for each and every palace within fifty miles.

He was knighted by the king for his deed, gifted many treasures from the queen and promised support of the dukes army in time of need. Yet, for all of this Sir Ainsley did not live lavishly. His hut was wooden, his bed made of straw and feathers. He ate just like any other peasant. Why? He did not strive to live as royalty does, for royalty is admired only by the people they rule. No, Sir Ainsley was not content with the life of royalty for he did not live for the admiration of his peers. He lived for the admiration of kings. Of queens. Dukes and duchesses.

Royalty does not admire other royalty. Face to face, they share pleasantries but in separate rooms, they scheme against one

another; loathe one another. To live as they do would be to catch their ire. No, Sir Ainsley was smarter than that. He built them their security and he built it well. They admired his work. They admired him. In this way, he was content.

So, imagine his surprise when he finds himself in a stone cell, that he himself built, in a crumbling castle. He stares out of his iron bars to the guards surrounding duke Irleas. The Duke glares at him in contempt. The motte that was the foundation for his castle had eroded astonishingly fast.The dried marshland was made whole once again with the addition of the moat and the motte sank and eroded away. The castle atop crumbled.

This issue was one that Sir Ainsley could fix, given time, but Queen Ja’Mrins had decided to take the land from the Duke with support from King Forells. The Duke, unable to get word to his own King and with no castle to protect him, was defeated quickly. He fled to his old fortress on the outskirts of his land and attempted a counter attack on his enemies. The Queen and King alike enjoyed the safety of Sir Ainsley’s work and the counter attacks failed. The Duke assumed Ainsley, a knight of a neighboring nation, to be the catalyst of this destruction. He summoned Sir Ainsley to his fortress and here he stays, neither living like royalty nor peasant, but as a prisoner.

The architect is left to sit and contemplate his time among Kings and Queens.

Those who have admired him, have also abandoned him. No one needs a master architect when the building is complete.