A Boy's Ride

A fourteen-year-old youth rejects a clerical destiny and sets out alone, skilled with arms and secretly armored, riding through northern woods with his hound. When arrow-fire drives him into a nearby lord's castle, confusion arises because he closely resembles the lord's son, and he tends his wounded dog while servants debate omens. The narrative follows his adventures amid feudal courts, disguises, and skirmishes, and sketches the broader turmoil of a harsh monarchy at odds with the Church, baronial distrust, and the dangers faced by families and retainers. Scenes alternate between action in the forest and castle life, combining youthful ambition with medieval political tension.