The Life of a Man Named Gilbert
Gilbert had heard that Jutarian was in the camp for a brief meeting with the Krestarii commander, so he thought he would go and see him. He found his tent and pushed into it. “Hallo Jutarian!”
“What are you doing here Sir Gilbert?” Jutarian said, with a little bit of hostility.
Undeterred by this Gilbert sat in the chair next to Jutarian and continued the conversation, “I just wanted to say hello.”
“Why would you possibly want to talk to me?” Jutarian asked. He was getting annoyed, after such a long ride he was quite tired.
“Have you forgotten that we used to be sort of friends, I guess.”
“And when were we friends?”
“You know, when we would all go tromping through the woods with Wilhelm and Johann.” Gilbert playfully punches Jutarian in the shoulder. He laughed and turned away, not noticing Jutarian slightly rub his shoulder.
"Oh, then. I miss those carefree days…”
“Great days those were. Now we have to kill things, huh?”
“I prefer not to kill things. There are far better ways to settle disputes for me. Besides, I have never been very good with a sword…”
Gilbert laughed, “Oh Wotan… Johanna was better than you if I remember correctly.”
Jutarian quickly objected to that, “She was not. She could barely hold the thing!”
“Sure, keep telling yourself that Brother.” Gilbert said as he got and grabbed a cup and a bottle of wine. He then sat back down and began pouring himself a cup of wine.
“Well there are certainly some things she is much better at than sword play…”
“Oh and what would that be?” Gilbert asked, drinking his wine.
“Well there are certain things the two of us do… things that Wilhelm would be horrified to hear about.” Jutarian said, a smirk appearing on his face.
Gilbert laughs, “Always the ladies’ man. Jutarian, the conqueror of brothels and defiler of whorehouses!”
“Hey, I have never been to a brothel or a whorehouse! I like my women to have class and sophistication.” Jutarian said with a self-righteous smile.
“Indeed. I never thought Johanna would end up with you. How many other women have you had since the grand old wedding?” Gilbert asked, knowing just how to offend Jutarian.
It worked. Jutarian’s face immediately twisted in anger and he clenched his fist. “I love Johanna, and I would never do anything to hurt her.”
Gilbert smirks, his mission accomplished. “Of course not Brother. I would never suggest something like that.”
“Besides you should not have been surprised by our marriage. Our fathers were planning since the two of us were born.” Jutarian stated, in that peculiar way of his, namely making perfectly normal phrases sound asshole-esque.
“Ja, whatever.” Gilbert than looks around him and leans in to get close to Jutarian. “Anways, I have been detecting increased levels of hostility towards me lately. Why?”
“You seem to attempt to undermine me. Besides, Wilhelm and I have not been nearly as close since, YOU entered in..." Jutarian stated with hate in his words.
Gilbert’s eyes narrowed at these words, “Since I entered in? What exactly do you mean by that?”
Jutarian looked almost appalled by Gilbert’s idiocy. He stared back at him and said, “You know exactly what I mean.”
“So you think I just swaggered in, picking Wilhelm up and sweeping him away from you? No, do you want to hear a story?” Gilbert asked, dead serious.
“Sure, I quite enjoy stories.” Jutarian said, once more earning the title of asshole.
“One time when I was 15 a few days before I confessed to Wilhelm, I walked up to one of the tall towers of Saxon Castle. I climbed to the top, crying the whole time. I got up on the window and I sat there for about twenty minutes. I remember saying to myself, ‘You aren’t good enough for him or anyone. You might as well jump, no one will miss you. You should do it, you fucking marchtfritz (Saxon derogative term for homosexual people). You don’t deserve to even be near him.’ All of those things I said to myself sitting on that tower.” Gilbert stops to wipe a tear. “So I was about to jump when I looked around me, sort of like one last look at the land I love. I saw the vast field with the small men tilling the earth and hawks catching prey while wolves howled through the trees. It was so beautiful. I thought maybe life is worth living for this, for all the beauty. So I got down and I decided then and there that I wouldn’t give up. I chose to say no to society and to say yes to my heart.” Gilbert finished with an angry and sad look in his eyes.
Jutarian just sat there, far too shocked to respond to the words being thrown at him.
“So before you judge me, think about what I have gone through.”
“I had no idea…” Jutarian said, sliding down into his chair.
"So do you have anything to say?” Gilbert asked, taking quite a large sip of wine.
“I just don’t understand…”
“Understand what?”
“I’ve never felt that way…” Jutarian sort of mumbled.
“Never hated yourself? Never thought the world would be better off with you dead?” Gilbert asked, emptying his wine.
“Never hated myself. I have felt that I serve no purpose before, but that has been rectified by the fact that I am now the heir to a great kingdom"
“We are not so different you and I. Food for thought Brother.” Gilbert stood up and began exiting the tent.
“Farwell then Sir von Danzig. Also, one last thing. I do like to be referred to in the proper way.” Jutarian said to standing man.
“Oh yes you have a title now don’t you Jutarian?” Gilbert said as he turned around.
“Prince. I am to be referred to as your royal highness. People also bow to royalty.”
Gilbert bows in a theatrical manner, “Good day your royal highness.” Gilbert then turned and gave Jutarian the bird as he left the man’s tent.
All around him the battle raged. Orcs, men, and elves all killing each other. Somehow the ranks had been broken. So now Gilbert had to fight the enemy one-on-one. He blocked an axe that was meant for his head with his shield and then ended the orc's life with his longsword. He moved forward and parried an undead warrior's sword. He moved to the left and swung his sword, biting into the skeleton's skull. Gilbert kicked the creature down and quickly stabbed the elf that was running at him. His friends were being cut down, left and right. The enemy was pushing hard and it looked like Gilbert's troops were about to break.
A large orc with a double handed hammer ran towards Gilbert as he was commanding his men to hold. He barely blocked the hammer blow, but in the process dented his shield beyond use. Gilbert quickly dropped the shield and dove forward, cutting the orc's hamstring in the process. When the orc fell Gilbert plunged his dirk, which he was now holding in his left hand, into the orc's neck. Gilbert heard the roar of another orc behind him and he barely dodged the spear thrust that was aimed for him. He sprung up and thrust his sword into the orc's rib cage. As he was pushing the orc's corpse to the ground he was hit with a mace in the side.
The pain was intense. Gilbert stumbled to the side, but prepared himself to face his attacker. Standing there was a man, corrupted by the power of the dark. He was holding a mace and was wearing a helmet that covered his face. He laughed at Gilbert and pulled up his helmet. It was a man named Kirk von Kirekgard. Kirk had known Gilbert as a child and he was the bully of Saxon province. Gilbert remembered being called a "frilly marchtfritz" every time he saw Kirk. So now they would finally face each other.
"Hey marchtfritz, it looks like you haven't gotten any less girly. You should be taking someone's manhood up your ass, not fighting on the battlefield!" Kirk yelled at Gilbert.
Gilbert ran at Kirk swung at him. Kirk blocked the sword with his shield and swung at Gilbert. Gilbert jumped to the right and was able to dodge the blow. Gilbert then charged the man, parrying his mace on the way. Gilbert's dirk dug into flesh.
"I do the fucking up the ass." Gilbert growled as he pulled his dirk out to stab Kirk in the neck. However Kirk grabbed Gilbert's hand and kneed him in the stomach. Gilbert let go of the dirk and reeled back.
"Ha, I knew you were a marchtfritz the moment I saw you. Who is lucky man, huh?" Kirk taunted as he punched Gilbert in the jaw.
Gilbert fell back onto the hard earth. His head was spinning and his side was aching with an intense, unbearable pain. Probably quite a lot of internal bleeding. The dust was in his eyes, but he could still see Kirk von Kiekgard approaching him. Kirk grabbed a spear off the ground and then put a foot on Gilbert's chest.
"Can't you hear me asking you a question, marchtfritz?" Kirk asked with venom in his words.
"You don't deserve an answer, beast." Gilbert spat out, getting some more blood on Kirk.
Gilbert suddenly felt a sharp pain and the feeling of a metal object cutting into his stomach and intestines. The world was getting darker but all he could think about was Wilhelm, his beautiful face and his blond hair. He looked at the angry Saxon standing over him. He laughed at Kirk, knowing his powers.
"He is the best man in this world and he will be just fine without me. However, you are going to die now." Gilbert said as he grabbed Kirk's leg and then completely froze him.
Gilbert felt his chest, the blood was seeping out through the wound. He looked at his crimson hands and thought about how cute this would as a fabric color. Yes, he had a strange sense of humor. Gilbert then continued thinking about Wilhelm, would he really be okay without him? Would he try to do the same thing Gilbert was going to do when he was 15? Gilbert thought he wouldn't. "No... Wilhelm is too good for that. He was always a better person than me. I didn't deserve such a good man. Hey, I know what I'll do." Gilbert mumbled.
He then put his hand on the ground and wrote on it using the frost, frost that the heat of the ages would not remove for a hundred years. Satisfied with his work Gilbert fantasized about playing in the river with Wilhelm and kissing his partially chapped lips under the pine trees back home in Saxon. He remembered running through the woods, holding his hand and climbing a tree to sit in Wilhelm's lap in the upper branches. They would sit there for hours, with Wilhelm mumbling sweet things into his ears. Gilbert would only let go of Wilhelm's hand on this trips when absolutely necessary. It almost felt like Wilhelm was laying next to him, holding his hand now. "By Wotan, I certainly love that boy." That was the last thought that Gilbert von Danzig had on the land of Agorath.
Wilhelm ran over to where he saw a glittering frozen creature. Surrounded by the dead of friend and foe alike lay the dead body of Gilbert von Danzig. Upon seeing his lover with a spear through his chest, Wilhelm fell to the ground clutching his shirt with his hands as tears rolled down his face. "No... This isn't real! This isn't fucking real!" Wilhelm yelled.
It was then he saw it. On the ground was a message written in ice. Wilhelm crawled over to it and read it,
Wilhelm, the only man I ever loved,
Riding his horse through fields of wheat he captured my heart,
Running through the trees we danced and kissed,
The man who was too good for me,
but loved me for who I am,
Live long and prosper my love,
Remember me well.
Gilbert
))
