p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""You're drunk," observed a voice full of disdain that was all too familiar to the knight./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The young man, who was indeed quite drunk - and had nevertheless managed the ascent to one of the castle's towers without tumbling back down the stairs - made no effort to turn around for the speaker. After all, he knew exactly to whom that voice belonged. "And you're dead!" he replied, trying not to let on how startled he was./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The other one laughed, which in no way had a pleasant ring to it. "Then that ought to be the only reason why you didn't leap over the parapet in fear, strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"Son/strong."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Don't call me that, you're not my father!" Although he was drunk, the younger man got the words out clearly and comprehensibly. And at quite a volume, for he was angry./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""As if you'd ever have the guts to admit that to anyone, strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"Son/strong!" The man seemed to enjoy addressing him in this manner./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""It's nobody's business, either," the knight retorted in a gruff voice, though he made no move to turn around./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"He did not want to discover whether this voice was a hallucination caused by the excessive consumption of wine or whether it was really true that on Samhain the world of the living and that of the dead came so close that ghosts could wreak their havoc. Until now he had not wanted to believe anything like that, had dismissed it as Saxon superstition, but he had to admit that he certainly would credit his stepfather with visiting him from beyond the grave - haunting him on this night - in order to terrify him. After all, he had done nothing else while he was alive. So why should he stop just on account of his death?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Don't you reckon it would interest the sheriff to know that you are not the son of Sir Edmund of Gisburne?" The other one laughed once more in his unpleasant manner./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Sir Guy would have preferred to give him a fitting answer, however, he suffered the same fate as he had in the presence of this man in the past. He simply could not manage to utter a single word./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""But maybe I'm wrong about that," the other one then went on. "After all, he seems to enjoy yelling the name around the castle." Again, the gruesome laughter rang out. "Giiisbuuurne!" he imitated de Rainault with amazing accuracy, and Guy shuddered. He hated it when the sheriff used his name in this contemptuous manner, but there was nothing he could do about it. All he was able to do was to attempt not to let it show how much he resented it. And how much it pained him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""He would get used to another name, as well." Perhaps he was able to distract Sir Edmund from this subject./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""You have always been a coward and would do anything to avoid an argument". It was again contempt that could be heard in the other person's voice./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The young knight had already started to turn around wanting to hit the other one - although he was not immediately aware of this - for if there was anything he hated even more than the sheriff's use of his name, it was being called a coward. But at that moment, his drunken state suddenly made itself noticeable, and instead of turning to face the other man, he stumbled and just managed to catch himself on the wall before he plummeted. Startled, he took a few deep breaths as he got himself back under control, and the urge to hit his stepfather was gone. Instead, he preferred to direct his gaze into the distance, for it had again occurred to him that he had no desire at all to know if there was anyone standing behind him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Nevertheless, he could not let this accusation go unanswered. "You are the coward in this case, strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"Father/strong. You were the one who took advantage of a helpless child. And then you stopped doing it when I was old enough to be a threat to you." As soon as he had uttered those words, the old familiar pain set in. No matter how many years had passed since Sir Edmund had abused him, the pain had never diminished. For this reason, he usually avoided recalling that time. But on this night - the first of the winter - apparently nothing was usual. "You are the devil!" he added./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""I am not the one who has tainted his immortal soul with any such sin," the other man lectured him with the very statement with which he had tormented Guy for years. What child would not fear eternal damnation? And he had had to listen to this almost daily from his so-called father. For many years. Without any way to confide in anyone and get advice. Or to be comforted./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""I no longer believe that your sojourn to the Holy Land will protect you from the effects of all your misdeeds that you later committed. After your death, you will burn in hell!" The young man seemed to have forgotten that the elder one had died a few months ago./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The other one snorted in amusement. "Clinging to illusions is something your mother taught you. But it didn't do her any good either."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"The young knight did not want to give a thought to his mother. He hated the man he had believed to be his father as a young child - until he had revealed to a seven-year-old that he was a bastard and therefore worth nothing - but he had felt abandoned by his mother. After all, he had believed she loved him and provided him with protection, but none of that had turned out to be the truth. No one had sheltered him, he was on his own, and no one loved a bastard like him. Nothing would change about that for the rest of his life. And the woman who had given birth to him and who had not been able to be faithful to her husband was to blame for this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"However, it was at that moment that he suddenly recalled that he had been standing at Sir Edmund's grave. He then remembered that the man was dead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""She's free of you now," he tried to hurt the other one as well in his turn by saying this to him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""She will never be free of me," the other man promptly countered. "Just as you will never be!" This time his laughter was truly cruel./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Sir Guy was not able to object to this statement. At that moment, he only wished he had brought some of the wine he had downed at dinner, but when he had stumbled up here, he had been concerned with other matters. He had focused on not tumbling back down the stairs. But he had also been preoccupied by the inexplicable urge to watch the starry sky. This was what had brought him up here./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""I don't know why I bother with you at all. You've been a failure in the past, and that obviously hasn't changed. Why don't you jump now, you'd be doing everyone a favor." These words struck Guy like a stab in the back, and they also hurt just as much as if a weapon had entered his body. But it was more than this pain, for this voice had tormented him for years, it had ruled him, and he now had to realize that he did not have the strength to resist the compulsion it exerted on him. Without wanting to, he moved towards the parapet. Once there, he looked down on the bailey, which, however, was to a great extent shrouded in darkness, for only a few torches were burning there. These, however, were sufficient to reveal to him the ground lying far below, which seemed to beckon him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""Once again too cowardly to finish this now?" Of course, his hesitation had not escaped the other person./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Perhaps the knight would have actually hurled himself from the tower if his knees had not suddenly given way, causing him to sink to the ground. Apparently it had taken time for the wine he had doused himself with to exert its full effect, but now it prevented him from continuing to stay on his feet. He was hunched over on the floor, his forehead pressed against the cold wall, trying to hold in whatever was in his stomach. He was so focused on not throwing up that he completely forgot what had just transpired./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"But Sir Edmund obviously had no intention of letting the young man forget his presence. "You can't even take a little wine. You're pathetic. I don't know why I bother with you at all." He snorted contemptuously./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"'Then why don't you just get out of here,' Guy thought, but he could not bring those words past his lips. Suddenly he was as if his body did not belong to him and he was convinced that it would not obey him. But he had no intention of disproving his assumption either, for in fact he did not want to move at this point./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"And yet he was aware that he could not get rid of the other person in this manner, and for this reason he had to pull himself together one more time. Slowly and laboriously he straightened up a bit, though he remained sitting on the floor - and above all he did not want to turn around - and gathered strength to be able to say something after all./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""I renounce you, Sir Edmund of Gisburne. I renounce you as my father. I deny your ability to harm me. I renounce you." He uttered these words in the manner of a prayer - or a spell - hoping with all his heart that they would actually accomplish what he wanted them to do. He had to get rid of this evil spirit, this devil that not even death could stop from tormenting him. Should he not succeed in getting rid of him, then his life would indeed be worth nothing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;""I renounce you!" he uttered one last time before collapsing into unconsciousness./span/p