Submitted: 20 September 2000

What ever happened to chivalry?

by A Prydaen War Mage

As she sat, she turned the glass with her hands, not drinking, just gazing down upon it. "Good Barkeep, lend me your ears? I am in dire need of someone listening to my woes as petty as they may be." With a smile and a nod, Baresh went about his duties behind the bar.

"I am sure you have heard many, many stories such as mine, but at the time I feel so alone. Once I was married to one I loved dearly, though I do nae dare utter his name due to the fact many despised him. He is gone now, forever from these lands, after his departure I vowed never to be involved with another. I then went back on my word and ran back to the arms of another, someone whom I have known for a long time, and now, he too has dissappeared," a tear began to form in her eye as she quickly turned away to not let it be seen. "I made new friends and the like, but as it turns out, with many of the Gentlemen I would come in contact with, something most displeasing would happen." She paused to take a sip of her drink to help choke back the tears. "After only a couple of days of speaking with, or maybe an occasional hunting trip with a young gentleman, things would change. He would begin to act as if he owned me and the first place he wanted to take me was to the "Blue Room" of the local Inn", she said quietly shaking her head. "Then if I were to find something that would make me utterly happy and it did not include said gentleman, he would then despise me.

Oh, what to do", she continued on, "is this how the Gentlemen of these lands feel about the Ladies, that if you are nice to them you automatically belong to them...." Her voice trailed off as the tears streamed down her face.