guard at the gates, of Troskowitz
“I stand at the gates and freeze. It is a poor living, and rations are half what they were.”
Things Ernest had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the Thursday before Whitsun, at Terce
Jan keeps looking at me across the yard. I told him already, I traded a double ration of cheese for that carving dagger before Lent. It was a fair exchange. Sakra, I will not give it back now just because he changed his mind.
Nota scribaeHe spoke quickly and looked over his shoulder twice while I wrote this.
the Wednesday after Easter week, at Vespers
Mikesh the quartermaster is doing his tallies for the muster. Sakra, I swear he knows everything that goes missing from the wagons. The pillory is no place to spend the spring. A man has to keep his mouth shut and his head down.
Hold your tongue, you fool. Nobody knows a thing unless you talk.
the fourth Friday of Lent, at Prime
Christ almighty, my boots are soaked through again. The mud is knee-deep on the road and there is not a merchant in sight. Just thin pottage for midday and freezing in the dark. I would trade my right arm for a warm fire.
At least you do not sleep under Adleta's leaky thatch. The rain comes right in on my face.
Nota scribaeDictated while shivering so hard his teeth clicked.
the feast of St Gregory, at None
Havel is shouting his mouth off again at the alehouse about the forest skirmish on St Martin's day. Tuma slipped in the mud. It was the mud that killed him, not me. I was drawing my sword as fast as I bloody could.
Candlemas, at Sext
Saw more soldiers on the road today. King Sigismund's men taking whatever they please. We just stand here and watch them go by. Wish I had the coin they carry in their purses, or at least a dry cloak. Sakra.
Let them pass, lad. It is not our fight, and they outnumber us ten to one.
Nota scribaeThe word he used for the King's men was struck out on my authority.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
It was no trade, Ernest. You just kept it. Give it back before I break your nose.
You ate the cheese! A deal is a deal.