In the far southeastern corner of the field, a small skirmish was pressing off the legal boundaries into a nearby hamlet. The marshal were ignoring it.
“Don’t they see it,” Francis thought, growing incensed. “What sort of bribery is at play?” Scowling, Francis trotted towards the engagement to have a better look.
Excerpt – The Crystal Crux Series : Betrayal

Francis Whitehall is at the melee in Germany and having just defeated the purple peacock, looking to gain for riches, he spies this curious site of possible wrongdoing and is drawn towards it.
Once again, the reader sees the honor and virtue in the Griffin. He can’t turn his back to corruption. He challenges it.

One exhausted knight dressed in black armor was fending off eight rogues in motley attire. Padded tunics, leather breeches and dented metal helmets. Two had fallen and laid bleeding on the ground.
‘That one is doing well for himself,’ Francis thought, ‘but tiring. It’s only a question of time before he joins the ranks of angels.’
Still, the Griffin wasn’t prepared to swoop in and get involved.
Excerpt – The Crystal Crux Series : Betrayal

The reader also sees that in his quest to combat unlawfulness; Francis Whitehall is wise and doesn’t go charging in without understanding the landscape better.

But then the blinders fell off. The crest on the knight in black armor was a shooting star with a blue and silver tail. “Pero!” Francis declared.
Francis quickly replayed the oath he had pledged and then without further hesitation charged forward. At full gallop, he threw a thousand pounds of horseflesh into the scrum.
Excerpt – The Crystal Crux Series : Betrayal

It was an impromptu pledge Francis had made to this young Spanish caballero he had never met before today, but in Francis’ value system, it held as much weight as any other oath.
Pero de Alava required assistance and Francis Whitehall had pledged to give it.
Francis charged in to help.

And for those who have read the entire series, you know that this is one of the chief conflicts in Pero’s psyche later on in life.
What oaths does one have to uphold?
Which pledges mean the most or carry the most weight?
Do we have to honor them all?
What happens if our promises start contradicting other promises?

I’ll let readers go read the fight that ensures here and jump ahead.

“Who were they?” Francis huffed, still clutching his sword, prepared to hoof it and finish the job. He was confident he could catch them.
“Ah,” Pero waved, “never mind those fools. They learned their lesson. I’m still breathing and that is all that matters. They know now, I am not so easy to kill.” Pero patted the dry ground, creating a dust cloud. “Come fellow, take a seat beside me.”
Just thinking about sitting was enough to get Francis to relax. This was his third combat of the day, and this one was genuine. Several men paid the ultimate price. There would, of course, be an investigation, questions asked; queries made. Nothing would come of it. Nothing ever did.
Excerpt – The Crystal Crux Series : Betrayal

Francis and Pero defeated the “assassins” and sat down beside one another against a water trough as several young women from the hamlet came to attend them.
The reader learns later on in the tale that these “assassins” were actually men sent by one of his bastard siblings, to kill him. Pero had been reckless in coming out in the melee field without informing his retinue, but he was young and headstrong and thought he could handle it on his own.
The reader also learns from Areion, the flying qilin, that it was destined for Francis and Pero to meet on this day and in this place because some pillars of destined events hold up the structure of the universe despite the intentions and inventions of mankind.

After a short while of talking and getting acquainted, Pero’s injuries prove to be worse than first believed and Francis has to get the Spaniard on his horse, Molly, and take him to an aide station.

“Tell me, Francis, do you owe fealty to another or are you your own lord?”
Francis was not fast to answer. “The lord I serve has fallen on difficult times and no longer has the means to suffice my needs.”
“And you do not recant from such failure on his part?”
“I am not dissatisfied. The Wolfe is a virtuous man, a Templar, and obeys the tenets the Lord in heaven demands of him. I made my pledge to him. Only God Himself can amend the conditions of that arrangement, therefore I do not recant.”
Excerpt – The Crystal Crux Series : Betrayal

And this was the argument Francis Whitehall was having with his wife earlier in the day before the melee began, the same issue he prayed about before coming out into the field.
Francis left his struggles with the world in the Lord’s hands and now he was here saving a headstrong young Spaniard who is about to change his life forever.

That’s all I got for today.
I am not one to shy away from flashbacks and for seven chapters I flashbacked to the day when Pero de Alava and Francis Whitehall met.
Next installment, we just back to the storyline in 1198 where Pero and Francis are about to meet with the messenger from Parthenope believing a chance for peace can be restored after Pero broke the heir of the kingdom’s jaw at a banquet.
Will there be peace?
See you next time.
Until then, stay inspired and keep reading!

Betrayal – Purple Peacock

Betrayal – A Nuance of Note

Betrayal : Fool On A Mule

Betrayal : Iya basta!