<html> <body> Part 7!  And the end of another Metamor Keep tale! :-) --------- March 27, 708 CR More rain came that night and so all morning long at Lord Avery's instruction, a long wooden platform was erected on the Glen commons. This was in two sections, with a smaller raised platform toward the western end of the commons. A long burgundy carpet was arranged down the middle of the longer lower section of the platform, while the same carpet was spread across the whole of the upper platform. Railings were erected all along the exterior of the upper platform except for where the carpet on the lower platform was adjoining. Several basins of water were set at the far end for the washing of mud from paws. Poles were fixed into the upper platform, and stretched between them at a height twice to thrice the tallest Glenner, were the green, gold, and blue banners of the Glen, each bearing the heraldry of two tall trees in full leaf standing atop a forest floor of golden Autumn with a small lake and mountains in the background. Between these, and the centerpiece of the upper platform was position a twin throne. Either end was shaped like the redwoods that dominated the Glen, with the back set of intertwining branches. The arms were modeled on the roots that stretched outward before sinking deep within the earth and tangling together. This throne had once sat in the Avery fort at the base of the hills overlooking the lake in the days before the Curses were laid down reshaping their bodies as well as their village. The invading army had destroyed the fort, leveling it completely to the ground in their push southward. While the women and children had retreated to Metamor, Brian's father led a force of men to harass Nasoj's army only to be cut down an hour from his home, leaving Brian and the rest of their men to try and outrace the army to Metamor to help make a stand there. When Nasoj's army was defeated, the new Lord Avery had the throne repaired as he and the rest of his subjects adjusted to their new bodies. Brian was forced to spend much of his time at the brewery in the caves or up in the trees with the wood mage Burris who was busy using what they had to build a more hidden secure life for themselves in what was left of their home. By the time the artisans had finished repairing the throne, Lord Avery saw no need to create for himself a large throne room as he was far more comfortable just sitting around a table at the brewery to meet with his people. And so the throne disappeared into one of the caves, kept safe for those few occasions when protocol demanded ceremony. And that morning the throne, to much excitement and awe, the Glenners beheld the throne emerging from the caves to take its place there on the platform, and in it, Lord and Lady Avery sat, their two boys dressed in their finest and standing at attention on either side. Both carried cushions in their arms, and on the first laid Lord Avery's sword, while the second held the squirrel's signet ring. Rare indeed was it to see all these symbols of Lord Avery's noble office together in the Glen commons, and everyone gathered to watch. At midday, the ceremony began. Charles Matthias, attired in a suit of chain mail, with only his linens on underneath – he had left the vine back in his home to keep it from being pinched by the armor – stood at the far end of the lower platform, where after his paws were washed of mud, strode onto the burgundy carpet. Musicians played a stately march, with a pair of trumpeters blasting a rigorous fanfare. Charles looked straight ahead, his snout and face combed so thoroughly that not a single strand of fur was out of place. Bright torches at either side of the lower platform made the black hand-print over his right eye glisten with a fiery sheen. To that march, Charles walked in the procession, one hand resting upon the pommel of a sword at his side. His family waited for him just off to the left and only a few feet before the railing separating the lower platform from the upper. Standing at that railing, carrying a folded bundle in his arms, was Sir Saulius beaming with pride, dressed also in his chain mail with tabard covering his chest and back, both sides proclaiming his coat of arms, a rat holding a bundle of wheat in its paws. Once that rat had been a dragon, but like so many things, the curses had brought a change to how the Steppelands knight saw his duty. Everyone present was dressed in bright colors. Everywhere Charles's eyes glanced he saw a prismatic spray of red, blue, green, yellow, gold, silver, and hundreds of other gay hues, each of them bright and full of cheer. Charles wanted to smile to each face he knew that cheered him on, but he kept marching, maintaining his dignified pace and following the beat of the musicians. But next to the colorful panoply surrounding him, he felt almost naked in only a set of chain mail. And in a sense, he was waiting for his proper attire. He did offer James a smile as he stepped past the donkey, who had one arm draped over Baerle's shoulders. The opossum blushed a little in her ears as their eyes briefly met. Then he smiled even wider as he stepped past his wife and his four little children all gazing up at him in awe and wonder. Kimberly's expression was one of simple, unselfish delight. When he reached the upper platform, the musicians brought the march to a stop, and both he and Sir Saulius faced the throne together. Lord Avery remained seated in his throne, his wife at his side, paws resting on the arms of the great chair, while their tails rested against the interweaving branches. In a voice that echoed across the commons, the gray squirrel asked, “Sir Erick Saulius, has your squire mastered all of the trials of knighthood?” Sir Saulius, used to projecting his voice on the tournament field, had no trouble making himself heard now. “My squire, Charles Matthias, hath passed all of the trials, milord.” “He has shown bravery in battle?” “He hath!” “He has shown loyalty to his knight and to his lord?” “He hath!” “Has he shown compassion to the poor and needy?” “He hath!” “He has shown courtesy and honor to all women?” “He hath that and more!” Lord Avery's smile took on a slightly odd twist as he then asked, “Has he shown faith and fidelity to the Ecclesia, and obedience to her priests?” Sir Saulius's smile widened. “He hath!” Most of the Glen were Lothanasi, and so this little change must have been arranged by Sir Saulius, the rat knew as he listened with both pride and a bit of self-conscious modesty. Lord Avery stretched out his arm, paw opened and inviting. “Then step forward and attire your squire as befitting a knight.” Sir Saulius and Charles took the large step up to the upper platform. There, Charles knelt down before Lord Avery, keeping his back straight, and Sir Saulius came around behind him. Over the rat's head he lowered the folded leather draping it across Charles's shoulders, before bidding him to rise so that he might secure the lacing at either side beneath his arms. The tabard came down to his knees, and was split in front and back just beneath his waist and above his tail. The weight of the leather tabard felt good to Charles, and as he lowered his snout, he could see the coat of arms his knight had chosen for him and his heart beat faster in delight and a determination to bring honor to those colors and signs. It was divided into four sections by two black lines like window panes. The upper left was the largest and was a sandy green with an image of the yew, symbol and hue of the Ecclesia. The upper right featured the broad face of a long sword pointed upward whose quillion ended in a stylized profile of a rat's head all upon a sombre red background. The lower left was the same red and featured a wide-brimmed shield that tapered to a point at its base. And in the lower right, in white on an ebony face was an upraised hand with the palm facing outward; only this hand was more akin to a rat's paw than to the human hand of the Sondeckis heraldry. His faith and his clan were his coat of arms, the green of the Ecclesia, the red of the Sondeckis, and the black of his rank were there for all to see. Once the lacing was complete, Sir Saulius produced a wooden crucifix and placed it very gently into Charles's waiting paws. This he clasped before him with both paws, his eyes searching the sculpted depths of Yahshua in agony and knew that the weight of responsibility he was accepting was far greater than any suit of armor or any set of colors or heraldry. “Come forward and kneel,” Lord Avery beckoned. Charles did so, dropping to one knee before the lord of the Glen, lowering his snout, and holding the crucifix to his new tabard. Brian Avery stood from the throne and stepped forward to where Charles knelt. His two boys followed him. Brian took the signet ring from Darien's pillow and slipped its massive form onto his finger, and then kept his fingers pressed together so that it wouldn't slide unbecomingly during the ceremony. He then grasped the sword hilt and held it out so that the broad of the blade nearly rested upon Charles's head. All who watched held their breath. “Do you, Charles Matthias, before this image of Yahshua, your lord and savior, swear to fear Eli and maintain His Ecclesia?” “I so swear!” Charles declared as loudly as he could without aching his jaw or his chest. “Do you swear to serve your liege lord in valor and faith?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to protect the weak and defenseless?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to give succor to widows and orphans?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to refrain from wanton giving of offense?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to live by honor and for glory?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to despise pecuniary reward?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to fight for the welfare of all?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to obey those placed in authority?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to guard the honor of fellow knights?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to keep faith?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear at all times to speak the truth?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to preserve to the end in any enterprise begun?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear to respect the honor of women?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear never to refuse a challenge from an equal?” “I so swear!” “Do you swear never to turn the back upon a foe?” “I so swear!” If not for his years serving as Headmaster of the Writer's Guild and proclaiming the greatest of stories at festivals, his voice would have been sore after so many oaths taken; Sir Saulius had discussed these oaths in the past when describing what knighthood meant as part of his instructions; many of them were very similar to what he had sworn to uphold as a Sondecki. To swear them again in this ceremony, before Lord Avery and the people of the Glen, and especially before his wife and children, was to set his heart and soul before them and before Eli and bind it irrevocably. Any failure to abide by his oath would be known by all, and censured by all. “And now,” Lord Avery began after a momentary pause to allow the weight of oaths just accepted to settle upon the rat's shoulders and upon the ears of all in attendance. “Do you swear loyalty and fealty to the house of Avery and to the Glen, and to serve that house and that land with all your strength, with all your devotion, and with all your life?” Charles took a deep breath and declared it with all his heart: “I will to my lord be true and faithful; I will love all that he loves and shun all that he shuns. I so swear!” Lord Avery lifted the sword from between Charles's ears and pointed it skyward for a moment. “Then, as Lord of the Glen and the house Avery, I accept your oaths of fealty, loyalty, and obedience, and will treat thee from henceforth as one of my own. I dub thee Sir Charles Matthias, protector of the Narrows, and knight of Glen Avery!” He lowered the sword touching each of Charles's shoulders once, and then placing the broad between his ears one last time before setting it back on the pillow held out in Christopher's arms. Lord Avery then extended his left paw bearing the signet ring. “Rise, and seal thy devotion with your kiss.” Charles rose partway, and then lowered the tip of his snout until his cleft lips and incisors were pressed against the inscribed face of the ring. As he stepped back and stood, the trumpeters began again with their fanfare, and all the Glenners attended whooped, hollered, and applauded, stamping hooves, hooting and baying their delight at their new knight. Charles smiled to Lord Avery and took a deep breath, the crucifix still held tightly in his paws. Sir Saulius, a look of serene pride crossing every feature, took him by the arm, and turned him about to see all assembled. He found the eyes of his family and saw how closely Kimberly's paws were clasped to her chest, while his children all danced and hooted their little squeaks for their Dada. He gasped in awe at the outpouring of delight and pride before him from a people who he had only met two years past. But his oaths were heard, and while they had accepted him as one of their own the previous year, now there was no doubt that he was a true Glenner both in word and deed! He took several deep breaths, each one fresh as if they were the finest gulps he'd ever tasted. His right paw reached down and wrapped about the hilt of his sword and with a metallic hiss he drew it forth and raised it aloft and shouted, “For the Glen! For Glen Avery!” The clamor and rejoicing echoed between the mighty redwoods, that chant shaking the trees from roots to branches, the sky pierced with the joy of the Glen's new knight. ---------- Author's note: The oaths taken came from the 'Song of Roland' from the early 11th century about Charlemagne and his knights.  I hope you all enjoyed this tale!  It was fun to write. May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love, Charles Matthias !DSPAM:4eff5a65116085315134984! </body> </html>