Usanth's conversion
The old man sat down among the soldiers and slowly removed a pouch that sat on the belt around his waist. Carefully he reached in and groped inside before he withdrew his fist. Holding it in front of him for all the men to see, the old man unclenched his hand and sat in the middle of his palm was a single acorn.
“So I will tell you the tale of Isa and Iobhar”.
Obviously crippled, the old man wore a black strip of cloth, covering his eyes but the attention of the soldiers was squarely on his voice.
“Born many years past, Isa was a beautiful and fair natured young woman. She lived in a small village within Loratil and…”
One of the men cut across the old man’s words, “What she look like? Beautiful means nothin if she ain’t got a huge pair on her.” The other soldiers laughed at his question and added similar remarks of their own.
Unperturbed the old man continued his story. “Isa was betrothed to the tanner’s son, a handsome young man called Iobhar, well respected and loved by the village just as much as her. All agreed that the love between them was a great as any could be and they all looked forward to the day that the two would be wed.”
“Ha! I know which part of the wedding day I wanna hear about.” Laughter echoed around the circle of men until a single voice spoke out.
“So help me, if you can’t be quiet and let the old man tell his tale I’ll cut your tongue out myself”. The soldiers quickly lapsed into silence while the blind man stared unerringly towards the one who had spoken. With a small nod of his head the old man continued.
“Soon a man named Taliesin, a wandering minstrel arrived in the village, a small stop before he continued his journey towards the halls of Hawthorne. While sitting outside the small inn, he happened to spot Isa as she sat playing with the children of the village. Immediately Taliesin felt himself besotted by the young maid and before long had found out her identity from the innkeeper.”
“Overcome with lust for the young woman, Taliesin remained within the village for several months, all the while too scared to talk to Isa, apart from the few times that she sought conversation with him. However, a deep seated envy had grown within his heart and with the onset of the harshest winter seen in those parts, Taliesin made a move to gain Isa for himself.”
The old man reached in front of himself, groping the ground in search of a wine skin. Without hesitation one of the soldiers passed his own along to the old man, who nodded appreciatively before taking long drink. Handing the skin back he laughed, “I find I’m less able to last without a drink these days. Anyway, where was I?”
“That bastard’s about to do something to Iobhar”, offered one of the soldiers.
“Ah, that’s right. The winter was the harshest that the villagers could remember seeing and during one of the calmer days Taliesin invited Iobhar to hunt with him out in the forest. Iobhar gladly accepted the offer but never realized Taliesin’s true intent.”
“For two hours the men tracked through the snow until Taliesin decided he was far enough away to attempt his wicked plan. With Iobhar’s back turned, Taliesin drew his knife and prepared to plunge it straight through Iobhar’s heart. However as he tried to make the strike his will failed him and he found that he could not kill him. A coward though he was, the thought of Isa gave him new resolve and reaching down he grasped a fallen branch and instead used this to smite Iobhar a terrible blow across his skull, and the young man fell unconscious to the ground. Picking up Iobhar’s bow and pack, Taliesin returned to the village, leaving the young man to die.”
“Once he had returned, Taliesin lied to the villagers and said that Iobhar had been taken by a bear. Seeing through the lie, Isa snatched the pack away from Taliesin and ran towards the forest, intent on finding her beloved. She wandered for hours as a terrible snowstorm ripped through the forest. Despite the cold and blinding snow, Isa was able to find Iobhar but it was already too late. As she sat in the snow, holding Iobhar tightly to her chest, the cry of wolves floated on the wind. Refusing to leave him for the wolves, Isa began to drag the young man back through the forest and appeared to the astonishment of the village.”
“As the villagers rushed to her side, the last of her strength failed and she died, her beloved Iobhar craddled in her arms.”
“Seeing the fate of Isa and Iobhar, Taliesin plucked out his own eyes stating ‘I have seen the true form of beauty and love and to gaze on less than that will only bring me pain’. The villagers turned on Taliesin, having guessed his role in the lover's deaths but he pleaded with them to allow him the chance to atone. From that day on he would dedicate his life to telling their tale.” As one the soldiers cried out in disbelief and anger. “Shoulda skinned the murdering bastard!” “I know what I would’ve cut off”.
“Isa and Iobhar were buried together in the middle of the village and a single acorn was planted with them so that together in death they would give rise to new life.”
The soldier who had quieted the others clapped his hands together. “That was a good story old man, you’ve earned your gold tonight”.
“Story? No my good knight, Isa is more than a story. There are many who still revere her and those like me who continue to preserve the past through words and song. Truly she is known as Lady Isa, one of the Warrior Saints.”
“A warrior saint? How is it that a peasant girl could give any reason to be revered and who would choose such a path?” Once again the old man looked unerringly towards the single soldier. “Strength, determination, honour and love, that is what she represents to those that she chooses.” The old man smiled, crooked and broken teeth flickered in the fire light. “M’lord, humour an old man. Clench your hand, open it and show me what you see.”
Looking bemused Usanth did as the old man asked and upon opening his fist, solitary acorn sat in his his palm. He looked towards the old man, a mixture of fear and surprise on his face.
“It would seem she has chosen M’lord.”
