Chapter 1: The storm is coming
"Here in Westminster Abbey, the burial sights are reserved for monarchs of England such as Henry VIII, Elizabeth the Ist, king Charles, and every other monarch after George the III, but among these royal graves lies buried here one who is of noble birth, had royal blood in his veins being a descendent of William the Conqueror, but he never was a king or even a prince.
But his deeds are know far and wide all over the world and his achievements where of such grandeur that on his grave the following sentence was written:
"Illic qua plures problems per rus ruris ut is eram prognatus quod ut is died solus forsit left eram quod is died quoque nunc "
Which translates to:
"There where many problems with the country when he was born and when he died the only problem left was the fact that he died too soon"
For here lies a man who's name in our history has been associated with Arthur, Richard and one who has been admired by great military leaders like Napoleon, Wellington , Erwin Rommel .
For here lies Marshall of England sir Thomas Bruce Wayne known to his friends and foes as Leather wing the invincible "
Excerpt from the book :
War and society: a yearbook of military history edited by Brian Bond and Ian Roy. 2 volumes. London: Croom Helm, 1975-1977;
It was the year of our lord 1604 and on the day of 18 May, and the city of London was in jubilation for today a treaty of peace between Spain and England ,people have taken to the streets singing song drinking merrily and dancing in the squares, after almost twenty years of continuous conflict with Spain King James had brought peace to the country.
The mood and festivities are so great that the king himself has ignored a report by his eastern emissaries to the Turkish court that at the court of Ahmed I a new man has been appointed grand vizier.
But far away on a ship anchored inside London harbor being ready to set sail towards the attack the merchant ships from the Spanish colonies in the New World there is a man, who takes head to this new information, and at the lifts his head into the sky, with a worried look in his eyes so great that not even his mask can hide it.
Alfredo his loyal servant goes to his master seeing
-My lord is something troubling you?
-Is my inner feelings so easy to red Alfredo?
-Only to me, who has known you for many years
Before answering his question Leatherwing closed his eyes and his mind wandered back to a memory of his past, only a few short months ago Elizabeth the 1st was alive and still the queen of England on the night before her death Elizabeth wandered the hallways of the palace and there she stopped at a window which was looking towards the east and stared outside the window for almost 3 hours until the young Leatherwing who was her page got enough courage to go and talk to his mistress.
Madam I know it is not my place to peer into your private thoughts but I know when you are troubled, and although it is not proper for me to advise you your majesty but you should get some rest, for whatever troubles you, you a queen requires rest so she may run the country, the young Leatherwing said and did a bow as was the English custom when addressing someone higher in rank.
It is neither your place nor is it proper to advise the Queen young Lord Wayne but still your words are wise, and I shall head them later but for your boldness I shall reward you with answers.
I do not sleep for time ago my two of dearest friends have recently died Catherine Howard, Countess of Nottingham and Catherine, Lady Knollys and I fell that soon I shall join them in heaven, but it is not death of my body that frightens me but the death of my soul.
Your soul ma'am?
Yes my soul witch is kept in existence by our faith in god, for far in the east there is a danger to all of Christendom regardless if they are protestants, Catholics, Lutherans or any other belief, far to the east lies the Ottoman Empire , which from it's rotten half-moon might descent and cut the cross, of our faith .
But the Turks are being kept at the Danube river ma'am.
Only because we have better generals than they have, generals who have kept the turks at bay since the great Battle of Lepanto nearly three tents of years ago but our generals our now old and sow are the ones of the Turks and I fear that leadership of the army will eventually fall into the hands of one who at Lepanto was the commandant of one fifth of the Turkish fleet , who I fear could put all of Europe in danger
Who is this man you speak of my lady, and why is he sow fearsome to make you worry about him ?
His name I shall not pronounce for, said the queen as she inhaled and exhailed a breath of hair in contempt.
For I can pronounce any Turkish words as easily as I can speak the language of seagulls, joked the queen at which the young Leatherwing gave a small chuckle,
But I shall tell you his deed.
I know because I was there young one , I was there at Lepanto, you shall not find it mentioned , in any historic book because it is said that women bring bad luck on a ship, but I was there, and I saw it all
When the battle was going in the favor of the forces of Europe, the commandant I speak who up until this point we believed to have ran from the battle before it began appeared behind us with the ships under his command.
He decimated our formation and turned what should have been a crushing victory for Christ into a Pyrrhic victory for Mohamed, some say that if he would have been in command of the entire Turkish navy, our force would have been completely destroyed.
You may now understand why I fear the day when this man becomes leader of the Muslim army.
]
But enough about this, let us talk about you young master Wayne.
I understand that you intend to set out to the seas, to become the new Sir Francis Drake or I am mistaken?
Yes your majesty, as soon as I the ship is finished I intend to set sail sow that I may capture enough gold to buy back my family's estate which whas confiscated from us by my father's enemy long ago.
If that is the case said the queen, I could simply give back your lands with a royal decree.
At this response, Bruce bowed once more at politely said:
Your majesty if far to generous, but I must decline because I would rather earn the land back than to receive your majesty's charity.
At this statement, Bruce was prepared for the wrath of the queen, but her reaction surprised him because at his statement she simply said:
A bold objective I salute you lord Bruce Wayne, for I feel you shall accomplish your goal and I wish you the best of luck
But in order to survive on the see you will have to ride the currents as a bat rides on his leather wings, your ship will have to bet as fast in the water and as clever as a bird flies and as a fox is deceitful.
Nevertheless you shall prevail for you are indeed your father's son.
With that Elizabeth curtsied and went to bed, and Bruce raised himself from the bow which he kept himself up until now and went also to bed, with a smile up to his ears wide, for he knew that the queen bestowed upon him her confidence in him, which is a great honor.
The next day the queen died
Thomas remembering the words of the queen took the name Leatherwing and christened his ship "The Flying Fox" once it was completed
Fast forwarding back to the present from the land of memories Leatherwing opened his eyes turned to his servant and said:
Just thinking how no one can see the great storm witch is coming.
At this statement Alfredo was baffled and said:
What storm my lord the sky is blue, the sun is shindig the wind is blowing gently, and peace is in Europe, there is calmness in the air alike of which there has never been before.
Exactly said, Leatherwing there is always a great calm before the storm arrives,
And with this statement which left Alfred bouth with a sense of shock and that of someone who had just been revealed the truth silent.
Leatherwing looked towards the east, and although as Alfredo said it : the sky , the air, the seas all where calm and but he saw beyond that calmness for, Leatherwing could see the storm of destruction brewing in the form of army's, and navy of the Ottoman's in the east and Europe itself will be one day it's target
"The storm is coming" he said and with that he went to the helm to prepare the ship to cast out anchor and head towards the sea.