Kingdom of Heaven
Chapter Two
It was a bleary spring day. The sky suggested snow, but I knew that it was spring in disguise. Foggier than most springs and bleak as usual, I worked at the blacksmith's shop. I hated it- life went on as if nothing had happened. Anne was only a mere memory, a thing of the past, nothing more than a nonentity.
The brisk morning air didn't affect me. I was warm from the fire by my side. My eyes were bloodshot from too many tears. Too many tears. I didn't have anything more to cry about. She is gone. Forever. I told myself. Yet, I could never accept it. In my mind, she was still alive inside of me. As long as I stayed alive, Anne would never die. She was a part of me. The day she left me, a part of me deteriorated, too.
The villagers look to me with frightened faces. They whisper, but I can still hear their mockery. There is the suicide's husband! He still loves her while she has gone to Hell! I ignore them easily, for they did not know my wife. How can you talk about someone you did not know at all? Despite my anger, I understand her. Her life ended when our son died. But the villagers… they would say it was God's will.
To be damned with them.
Is there really a God who kills innocents?
My wife was very beautiful. She had sweet, loving eyes that would calm even the worst of storms. And she loved me. Can a woman with such a pure love in her heart be guilty of any crime? Bless her soul. Do they not see that she was overtaken by grief?
My ears picked up the sound of galloping horses. A group of wild horses, perhaps. Then, I hear a voice cry, "The Crusaders are coming!"
What would they possibly want? More people to fight in the Crusade? Our small village seldom had visitors. Out of all the towns in France, why would they be looking for able-bodied men in our village?
The sound of horses got louder, a constant thumping on the earth. I glanced up. On my left, there was a band of soldiers; all weary from war, bodies bulky of muscle from having fought with a sword for too long. The leader of the group, the eldest, examined my face. I wondered why. Another soldier, lean and lanky, began,
"Our horses need new horseshoes. Would you be kind enough, good blacksmith, to give them to the horses?"
I nodded. I hammered the newest shoes to their hooves. Meanwhile, the two knights spoke to each other. None of my concern. What business did I have with knights, anyway? I was but a humble blacksmith. My home was in France. This is where I would stay. I wasn't noble enough to be a knight. If they should ask for my allegiance to God in quest for the Holy Land, I knew that I would refuse.