soldier of the guard, of Kuttenberg
“I stand watch at the Italian Court and run the quartermaster's errands, waiting on coin.”
Things Heinz had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the Wednesday before Whitsun, at Vespers
Sakra, a man cannot even play a decent game of hazard now. I lost my last groschen last night because my lucky bone die is gone. I know Fritz took it. He says I must find a rider going to Prague to take a letter to his sister Grete first. I am a guard, not a courier!
Nota scribaeDictated while shifting from foot to foot like a man needing the privy.
the feast of Saint Pancras, at None
I am still walking to the privy in the pitch dark. I lent my good brass lamp to Nickel in the winter, and now he claims he is keeping it to make sure I hold my tongue about certain things we found in the woods near Kolin. A man could break his neck out there.
the second day of Easter week, at Terce
The quartermaster sent me running across half of Kuttenberg for new spear shafts. My boots are wearing thin. The old men sit in the barracks drinking while I do the fetching, just because my legs are younger. If the King ever pays us, I am buying ale and making Joerg fetch it.
Fetching keeps your blood warm, lad. We are doing you a kindness.
Nota scribaeHe spoke very fast. The scribe's hand aches.
the Friday after Saint Gregory, at Prime
The priest said we should pray for the dead. Poor Markvart is still in the churchyard near Kolin, rotting in the mud. He taught us how to stand fast, and look where it got him. At least up in heaven there are no mercenaries waiting in the trees.
Candlemas, at Sext
They say the Pope in Rome wants to know every time a man spits or scratches his arse. I have to stand in the freezing cold watching the mint, and now I must tell a clerk about it too. I hope the Holy Father enjoys reading about our damp walls.
Aye, let the Pope come stand my watch in the snow.
Nota scribaeThe insolence of soldiers is a heavy cross to bear.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
Just find a messenger, lad. She thinks I died in the autumn mud.
You lost because you play like a blind man, Heinz, not because of a piece of bone.