When Leon Lovejoy was a very young man, he set off on a quest to find the Holy Grail. He took with him his most loyal and skilled knights, proclaiming a swift return.
While he was gone his father received word of the plague. The old king sent every knight left in the kingdom to guard against this disaster. He sent them down every road, a fair distance from Rosewood. They did not let anyone in or out, regardless of class or reason. The gypsies in Rosewood were forced to stay. The ill and healthy alike were kept out. And no one was permitted to go to leave for collegiate studies.
Leon Lovejoy returned many years later, alone. His army had suffered horrendously under the plague. The knights were dying faster than they could be buried. Once the plague was among them, no town would let them through. Many starved. For what noble knight would eat while his king went hungry? Traveling around towns and searching for food extended their quest greatly. They had not packed enough supplies for a quest of this length. As things wore out, they could not replace them. For what good is coin without a town in which to spend it? Many died of exposure. More still died of infections, often by way of their feet. And when this long misery was nearly at an end, Leon's last knight died of a cold.
Rosewood for the most part had fared in Leon's absence. No plague had entered the kingdom. But keeping a kingdom safe from plague has its price. No one who guarded it survived. Food and supplies were sent regularly to the knights, but only from a distance. They used a series of flags to signal that a supplies had been dropped off and the servant was a safe distance away. It was with these flags that they were able to communicate the illness without contaminating the populous. As the knights dropped dead by the roads which they guarded, they performed a grim duty. They served as a warning to passers by not to go further. For who would not think that a plagued knight on the road meant more plague ahead?
And thus Leon was not greeted as a prince home from a noble quest. He was greeted by skeletons in rusting armor. And when he arrived at the castle gate, the weary prince was not given a warm bath and hot meal first thing as one might expect. He was ushered to his father's bedside. His father quite old indeed had been hanging on for his only child. He had his son crowned king before him. Then the frail man sent his servants from the room, that he might share his last moments alone with his son.
Once a suitable period of mourning had passed, King Leon had a weighty problem to tackle. He had no knights. Not one. He decided to allow anyone in his kingdom who wished to, to train for knighthood. Once reaching a high level of ability, that person shall be granted knighthood. In the past training on one's own in this way would only earn the title of Page. Or if found to be very worthy, Squire. But without a knight to serve these titles are meaningless.
Without a knight to train under, this could take a lifetime. And one man was getting close. Though it's unlikely that King Leon will be glad to knight him.
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