spearman at the wet camps, of Suchdol
“They call me Merry because I am not. I stand in the mud and wait for the lords to tell me who to kill.”
Things Richard the Merry had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the eve of Whitsun, at Vespers
The rain has not stopped since Tuesday. Little Bynyek will not stop singing about a girl from Kuttenberg. I am chewing the inside of my cheek to blood so I do not put my spear through his head.
Nota scribaeDictated while wringing out a padded jack. The man did not smile once.
the second day of May, at None
Robert is still talking. He tells anyone in the alehouse who will listen that the flank fell because of me last month. If he says it to an officer I will break his jaw before the whip finds my back. He knows bloody well what he did.
You were out of position, Merry, and you left him exposed. Do not go blaming me for your slow feet.
Look me in the eye and say you did not break the line in a panic, you whoreson. Say it to my face.
the Tuesday after Easter, at Sext
Easter mass in the rain. The fat priest told us the Lord watches every sparrow fall. He did not watch the man we left in the mud last week. I want Old William to tell me how that happened, but the old man just drank his beer and looked at the floor.
The boy is dead, Merry. Digging it up will not bring him back to the fire.
the third week of Lent, at Prime
Mending this padded jack again. The stitching is more thread than linen now. The lords want us looking sharp for the Hungarians, but they do not pay for new cloth, so we look like beggars with blades.
Nota scribaeThe speaker spat into the mud after saying the word lords.
Candlemas, at Compline
Stood watch until my feet went completely numb. Vashek the Quiet stood the watch with me and did not say a single bloody word for three solid hours. God preserve a good man who knows how to keep silent.
Aye.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
She was a beautiful girl, Merry, and you would sing too if you ever had a drop of joy in you.
He will sleep soon. The beer is nearly gone.