guard at the merchant's yard, of Kuttenberg
“I watch the gate at Polner's yard. You stand here long enough, you learn to keep your mouth shut and your eyes open. If you have business, go in. If not, move along.”
Things John had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the Tuesday after St John Lateran, at Vespers
The willow bark tea does nothing anymore. An apothecary from the high town passed the gate today, but I lacked the coin for his poultices. I keep my right hand tucked in my belt so the master does not see me fumble my scabbard.
Nota scribaeDictated at the gate. The man kept his hand hidden under his cloak the whole time.
the third day of Easter week, at None
Young Sebastian looks like a ghost. He eats nothing but thin porridge to save his thirty groschen for that girl Rosa in Kolin. I slipped him a heel of bread from my own ration before he faints on duty. The lad has dedication, I will give him that.
the eve of St George, at Prime
Joerg is whining again. Denis the clerk wrote his name in a ledger after a tavern brawl, and now the boy thinks he will be marched off with the town levy tomorrow. I reckon a season marching with a pike would teach him some discipline.
Denis is a spiteful tyrant! He ruins lives with a stroke of his quill, and you sit there laughing.
Nota scribaeThe dictating took until Terce because of an argument in the yard.
the feast of St Gregory, at Compline
Thomas has torn the barracks apart looking for a carved Saint Barbara his brother Lambert left him. Joerg told him to quiet down, and I told Joerg to shut his mouth. A dead man's memory is worth a little noise in the dark.
Lambert carved it by the fire. It is all I have left of him since the earth took him.
Candlemas, at Terce
Two winters since the sweating fever took old Ralph. The world is a better place without him in it. The ale tastes better without him roaring in the yard, though I still feel his mace in my bones when the weather turns cold.
Aye. The devil has him now, and Kuttenberg is the quieter for it.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
Is it the old break acting up again? The one Ralph gave you?
Keep your voice down, Thomas. The master has ears everywhere.