Court

Today I went back to one Court where I felt I was placed among the nobles, not the king but still a person that inspires men to lay down their lives, men who’ll follow me into battle with their eyes closed, laying their faith in me. It looked different, smelt different, although I am not sure that if it was the place that seemed changed to me or was it some part of me that had been changed during the long absence of mine from the one place I loved, or was it that I had, god forbid forgotten the smells, the sight, the very touch of my favourite place on this Earth? I walked into the Court with my head held high, with my eyes riveted to the front, my steps somewhat faltering because of the absence of my old trusted sword broken in battle not long ago, the battle that had forced me to take a sabbatical from this Court. Striding, I could sense the eyes of people on me, scrutinizing stares that conveyed to me that I was unknown here. New faces, expressionless but with eyes that spoke volumes, I could see gazing around, in vain I tried to find old and familiar faces, ones that I could not spot, ones that would have been killed or gone away. With a small wave I strode forward into the court, taking a seat behind the Court’s nobles. I wanted to observe the young men and women who had replaced the wise old men I had left behind. It had been too long and time had slipped by me so fast. Silence had descended with the very first steps I had taken into this Court, but now it was now broken with whisperings and muttering, obviously to my account. Looking around I could see the contests among the nobles, with swords drawn, they strove to better themselves amongst their peers. I could see the amount of talent that seemed to ooze out of these youngsters, whereas the experienced swordsman in me reasoned that they needed work. After some time, one of the youngsters, after vanquishing everyone in sight, strode towards me and said, “I wish to challenge you, O stranger, who has so unwittingly come to this sacred Court of ours.” “O nobleman, great is your power while wielding your sword. I unfortunately, do not have my sword here with me, having broken it in combat.” “Fear not O stranger, we’ll find you a suitable sword!” So ultimately, armed with a borrowed sword I strode forward into the ring, aware again of the stares I got. With a cry the nobleman charged and I, a son of great fathers, also swung my sword high away my head and brought it down with great speed, only to have the ball fly out of the tennis court, accompanied with a call to arms, “ Bhaiya! Ball le kar aao!”.