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Heirs of Charlemagne

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CSK: You're also right. He does misinterpret the situation and is a bit arogant, but the reason they dislike him at the moment is because of his rather malicious promise to make Clara miserable.

Acctually, this reminds me of how Duke Guillaume acted after old Hugues death, a while back. :p
 
You really should post a family tree or something. I'm having a hard time keeping up w/ who is who's kid. Then again, I can barely keep up w/ members of my own family sometimes :p I have a lot of uncles, aunts, and cousins, since my parents both come from fairly sizable families.

Not saying that I'm not enjoying the story anymore, of course :)
 
Specialist290: Maybe this weekend sometime I'll get to it.
 
Chapter 48: No Kind of Insurance

“All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.”

Buddha


Mide, May 29, 1082

“So he said,” Gisulf said, continuing his joke, “that, remember the other guy’s home is burning, he said, ‘Look, it seems that you need some fire insurance.’” The Lombard’s face was plastered with a smirk, and he began to chuckle at his own attempted joke.

While Raymond de Toulouse could admit that some of Gisulf’s jokes, though sometimes morbid, were funny, this one seemed all over the place and could have been presented better. Raymond allowed himself a chuckle, casting a glance up at the hill fort that was under siege by Hammud’s army, one of many in the area. If a fire would start there, no kind of insurance could help those inside.

Gisulf followed Raymond’s eye, “I don’t know why he even bothers to lay seige to these people. Most of them are barely civilized anyway.” Gisulf, having been born in Venice, had a very strict definition of civilization.

Not realy wanting to argue, Raymond looked around, and he spotted who he wanted to spot. Hammud and Bran, mounted, were riding towards them, with Ailleann cautiously riding in behind them. She always tried to go everywhere her father went. She does not want to be alone, but she does not seem to trust anyone she does not know, which means almost everyone.

Gisulf got up, “What did they say?”

“They are willing to talk.” Hammud answered.

“Well, let's go then.” The Lombard jumped onto his nearby horse. While he rode up along side them, Raymond slowly mounted his horse, hanging a bit behind of Hammud, Bran, and Gisulf.

Ailleann, who was now next to him on her horse, looked cautiously over at him. Staring for a moment, she kicked hard at the sides of the horse under her and moved quickly to be along side her father.

Still hanging behind, looked off in that direction. Raymond was trying to figure out why she still wouldn’t talk around anyone. Well, I’m not the most handsome man here, but surely that can’t be the only reason.
 
Raymond is being incredibly self-centred. I can think of several reasons why she would cling to her father that have nothing to do with Raymond.
 
Ailleann, who was now next to him on her horse, looked cautiously over at him.
Click to expand...

Well she gave him a look and then rode away, to me it seems that she feels something for him. But she is to shy to talk to him
 
stnylan: Of course, nobody's perfect.

Veldmaarschalk: Interesting inturrpretation. Isn't it a bit unlikely that a fourteen year old girl would have feelings for a knight in his middle to late 30s whose battle scars are very visible and since she barely knows Raymond's language let alone the fact that she has never had a conversation with him. As Raymond has said, she tries to avoid people and tends to stay near her father.

A rather interesting theory, nevertheless. :)
 
Chapter 49: Another War

“March to the battlefield, The foe is now before us;”

Seneca


Orleans, June 17, 1082

Guillaume de Toulouse cringed while he read over some recently delivered correspondence at his camp near the city of Orleans. He did not gather as many men from the city of Toulouse as he had hoped, for he only mustered a little under 1,500. Few of the higher nobles under him were joining the Crusade, and Guillaume had just learned that Count Bernard of Narbonne had decided he will not join his leige.

All these nobles are too cockey, Guillaume thought to himself, don’t they understand they only have their lands because I am kind enough to let them have it.

He crumpled the parchment and tossed it into the fire to help vent his frustration. It burned up quicker than he would have liked it to. Guillaume picked up a log and tossed that into the flames for good measure.

Pierre, coming back from an errand, came in time to see this, “What’s wrong, Guillaume?”

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong.” Guillaume replied, throwing an even bigger log into the fire, “Count Bernard will not take the cross.”

“There must be a reason.” Pierre reasoned.

“None!” Guillaume barked.

“I could think of one, if you’ve forgotten.” Pierre said.

“And what’s that?”

“Remember the eager man he was before the battle in Mallorca?” Pierre asked rhetorically, “He lost his father in that war. He lost a lot of the spirit that he once had at that moment. I can imagine he would not like the idea of another war, for any cause.”

“He’s my vassel, God damned!”

The two glared at each other for a few minutes. The argument ended at that.

Fuming, Guillaume looked off to the east, “The sun will rise soon. We begin the march to Nantes this morning.”
 
Guillaume's temper might get him into trouble at one point, since I think that his vassals don't share his view on this subject

they only have their lands because I am kind enough to let them have it.
Click to expand...
 
Good point Veld. His impatience could land him in a lot of hot water.
 
Veldmaarschalk, stnylan, and Specialist290: He is selfish, greedy, and is starting to get to the level of borderline paranoid, [Understatement]so he is yet another character is is not perfect.[/Understatement] ;)
 
Chapter 50: An Enjoyable Hobby

“Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke.”

Benjamin Disraeli


Toulouse, June 26, 1082

Eberhard de Toulouse’s quill scratched across the parchment as he wrote. It was one of the few things to do these days that he found enjoyable. What Eberhard was writing was more than Father Lois required of him. He was just writing what was coming to his mind at the moment.

Even though it had been only a little under two months, Eberhard missed Gaston and Bert. He had know Gaston for as long as he could remember. Sure, Robert was still in Toulouse, but Gaston’s younger brother prefered higher energy hobbies which Eberhard was not fit enough to take part in.

Eberhard wrote on:

I miss him, I really do, but he’s so short sighted sometimes. He used to always do everything with Barnard before he died. Gaston still thinks highly of him.

He does not understand, though. There was so much that happened right under Gaston’s nose. Behind his back. Barnard was a bully. He​

He stopped there for a moment, shifting his weight in his seat:

teased me for by club foot. Constantly. To make it worse, he teased me whenever Gaston was not looking, when no one else was looking.​

Eberhard stopped, not wanting to think about the subject anymore, let alone write about it. He put down his quill, and looked out the window of his chamber. As the sun shone through, he could see that everyone was outside. Eberhard tried to see if he could spot Clara, but she did not seem to be out there. He shook his head.

Picking up his quill , Eberhard began again:

Miquel is just as bad. Clara came back to the manor last evening with a black eye. She would not say anything, and none of the adults seemed to know how it happened. I have an idea.

Pieronela said that Clara would not let anyone, not even Bregida, into her chamber and she stayed there for more than an hour, crying. Why did he do it?​

He paused for a moment, seriously trying to answer the question. Eberhard knew that Miquel disliked Clara and her brother, but he still couldn’t figure out why Miquel was all of a sudden doing this. He knew what Clara must be going through, and felt he could identify with her. But...

He finnished with:

What can I do?​

That seemed to be an even tougher question than the previous one. What can I do? Eberhard thought, Could anything I do help? I can’t stand up to him. He’s bigger and stronger than me.

He walked over to his bed and stuffed the parchment under his matress. What can I do? Eberhard repeatedly asked himself this question. He was beginning to doubt if he could do anything.



----------------------------------------------


A little bit of insightfull character development for Eberhard.
 
I've now caught up with this AAR, and I must say I enjoyed it very much. You develop your characters very well! As Specialist suggested, maybe a family tree or at least a cast of characters would be a good addition, hard to follow the childrens' connections at times.
 
Someone who thinks through his pen - and like many quiet people very observant, and probably overlooked.

Miquel may not realise he has an opponent here - could well discount him entirely - until it is far too late.
 
Veldmaarschalk: But he seems to doubt himself and wheter he can do much, which is his problem.

Shuma: Glad to have you on board. As for family tree, I'll get to it eventually. :p

stnylan: Eberhard would have to get over his lack of self confidence before he could do anything.

Specialist290: Half-brother, actually. :p There are some differences between the two, though.
 
I think Eberhard is actually a very strong character able to do quite a lot once he stops doubting everything. Still, I feel that's not all of him. I don't really imagine him as the good guy saving poor Clara.
 
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