Sunday, September 12, 2010

A trickle will do on a dry day

"Knoydart? Yes, you'll be safe there."
"I don't want to be safe. I want to not fight for some time."
"Not fight? A warrior who does not want to fight?"
"Yes, a warrior who does not want to fight for some time."
"How will you find your way? There are no tracks."
"I've been there before."
"What will you do there?"
"I'll know when I get there. Probably do nothing."
"Who will you see?"
"Hopefully, no one."
"Well, no one knows the way there."
"Yes. It's just as well."
"What do you hope to find?"
"Myself, perhaps?"
"A warrior who wants to find himself? This gets stranger and stranger."
"Yes, indeed. I've thought so too."
"Is there a point to this?"
"Very probably not. But it seems worthwhile.... In any case, the moment I know it's wasted time, I will return."
"Return to where?"
"To the side of right. To fight."
"And if it isn't wasted time?"
"Well, what's your question then?"
"I still don't see why Knoydart. If you want to lay down arms......there's still our old home."
"I'm not so sure I want to lay down arms."
"By the time you return, we might not be free anymore."
"Then I will live in the hills. And fight."
"Alone?"
"Yes, if need be"
"Well, why not fight now?"
"It's not the time."
"When is, then?"
"When I am properly commissioned"
"Am I not properly commissioned then? Will you not fight alongside me?"
"I would willingly fight alongside you. But I must seek my commissioning."
"And you will find commissioning in Knoydart - a trackless waste?"
"When I get there, I will know."
"Who will commission you in Knoydart?"
"The one who always commissions me."
"The king?"
"Yes"
"But the king is at Scone..... how will he find you?"
"There will be a way"
"There are none, in Knoydart"
"Yes. He will have to make his own way."
"Can this not be easier?"
"No, it never was. Never could have been."
"Perhaps you're making it harder than it is."
"Perhaps. But the one who commissions me knows where to find me."
"Go then, and may the Lord be with you. If I have to fight....I will. And I will seek you if I still live.....after the battle."
"Yes. Do not fret. God will make a way."

‎............ and the warrior turned. Rode hard.....into trackless Knoydart. Where there are no trails to follow, and none to make....... let the sword sleep.