Now Micheal was working, even nobles worked in times of hardship he recalled, and this was certainly such a time. There was little food to be had in the kingdom now, with half of the farmers gone, and most of the grain going to the army. Had Micheal tried to live his former privileges he suspected that the people of the town he lived in would have risen up against him and denied him the little food there was to be had, everyone was having to pitch in.
Life was more difficult now, for everyone, but when the armies came marching across the border and into the area, Micheal knew that things were about to get harder yet. Again he was uprooted, and this time he was forced into close quarters, the entire town was crammed into the local lord's castle for protection. Micheal was able to find a place on the battlements where he sat on the few possessions that he had grabbed, mostly only the stuff he had brought from his life as a noble, and watched the town burn. There was a strange feeling of disconnection, everything that he was, everything that he was attached to was with him. The life that he had built for himself in the town was an empty shell for him and he was confident that he could create another so long as he kept what mattered.
It was only when the castle came under siege that Micheal started to worry, now his person was coming under threat and it seemed in legitimate danger. The lord of the castle was gone, as were a majority of the men at arms and knights who served under him, serving their king who had called on them for aid. That left the lady to defend the castle with the few men who were left to her and what men were to be had to fight from the village. It didn't help that she was young and inexperienced, never having even lived through a war before. This did not fill Micheal with confidence for his continued well being.
Micheal had gained an almost permanent place on the battlements and no one bothered him so long as he did not get in the way of the defenders who had little to do anyway. Without someone to take proper command they mostly stood around and only acted when they had to repel ladders. It was a sad sight for Micheal, who's head was full of his father's would be plans in case they were ever sieged during the rebellion. There could be hot oil, archers, machinery that could be set up, but that was only if they were led by someone who knew what they were doing. More then once Micheal wanted to step in and shout at them that they were doing the whole thing wrong but he knew better in his position. It was hard for him but he had to face the fact that he was not Sir Micheal, and they would not listen to a man from the village for advice on warfare. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to help defend the castle, except that he was in it, he still felt some loyalty to the country he had been raised in. His father had valued it after all, enough to want to take it as his own. Micheal might not have liked what his father had done but it did raise the country in his opinion to being something that mattered. If Micheal had thought he would be able to get away he would have tried to leave the country entirely, for one where he would not suffer such a conflict of interest.
Sleep came less and less for Micheal as the siege wore on and food started to run short. It was for this reason that he was up on the wall when the attackers made a late night sneak attack on the battlements, using ropes and ladders. The defenders, on watch for long hours because of their short numbers, were less then alert until Micheal raised the alarm. Once the last of the attackers had been fended off by the soldiers, Micheal realized that he had just chosen sides. It lit a fire inside him that had not been there in the past, before he had assumed they would not listen to him, so he hadn't tried speaking to them. With humility he never would have imagined he had, the family signet ring on his finger for the first time since their coat of arms was removed, Micheal approached and bowed before the captain of the guard.
To be continued...
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