soldier of the third watch, of Trosky
“I stand the third watch and try to keep the younger lads from killing each other. A soldier's duty is to his post, however heavy the burden.”
Things Tobias had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the Tuesday after Saint George, at Compline
The men are at each other's throats over pennies. Maurice and Frantishek argue from Prime until Vespers over a ruined pair of boots and a tin pitcher. I sigh, for the noise never stops, and if the watch commander hears this discord, we will all see the flogging post.
Nota scribaeThe man rubbed his face wearily as he spoke.
the eve of Saint George, at Vespers
Quartermaster Drslav has tallied our lost gear for tomorrow's muster. The cost is heavy, and our Easter wages will be docked. Julian took Jarda's brass lamp over an old whetstone debt. We are a house divided, fighting for scraps while the Hungarians roam the lands.
Mid-Lent Sunday, at Sext
David burns with the fever in the dark of the barracks. I must walk the battlements until midday and cannot leave my duty. I beg someone to slip in and check on him before None, and again at Vespers. He must not choke in his sleep, nor be found by the captain.
I will bring him some water after my shift. Rest easy.
Nota scribaeDictated in a hushed voice near the gatehouse.
the first Tuesday of Lent, at Prime
Frantishek sits at the alehouse, but I will not share a bench with him. The mud of Kolin is still on my soul. We left poor Peshek to the mercy of the camp fever and the Cumans because Frantishek would not wait. I yielded to him, and the Lord sees our shame.
The old man was dying, Tobias. If we stayed, the Cuman outriders would have slaughtered us all.
We abandoned our own in the mud. There is no honor in surviving that way.
Candlemas, at Terce
They read the Pope's decree in the chapel this morning. We must write our days down for the Day of Judgment. I have little to say but that the winter march cost us dearly. We lost Bynyek to the swollen ford, and my heart is heavy with the weight of those we left behind.
The wagon slipped its chocks. No man could have saved Bynyek from that wheel.
I still see him in the river. I cannot close my eyes without seeing it.
Nota scribaeHe stared at the floor the entire time he spoke.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
The boots were mine, Tobias, and the whoreson knows it.
I walked barefoot from Kolin, I'll not freeze now just to please you.