The Siege on Castle Hill

from the peasants

While the fabled fearsome Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill,
You can bet that the besieging horde will all be standing still,
As they’d never dare to take a step beneath his watchful eye,
Lest he sound his horn and signal guards to let their arrows fly—
And for every last marauder who survives that arrowed hail,
A hundred spears shall keep him from our narrow uphill trail;
So they camp beyond his reach and not a drop of blood shall spill,
While the fabled fearsome Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill!

from the wall guards

While the great and stoic Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill,
We shall take up arms and stake our lives in service to his will;
We will stand our ground and hold these walls, though death should be our fate,
And claim the honor born of those who perish at the gate;
For though the hordes outnumber us by more than ten to one,
If we last until the light of day, we know we will have won,
For by dawn the Duke awakens and the hordes shall flee downhill,
While the great and stoic Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill!

from the lords & other nobles

While that staunch and stalwart Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill,
We can stay within our banquet halls and drink and eat our fill!
Let us raise our cups in cheers for the abundant wealth we gain
Despite the growing mass of hordes besieging our domain!
As the last remaining stronghold and a beacon to the damned,
We have an endless stream of refugees just pleading to be crammed
Within the safety of our walls and would do aught to foot their bill,
While that staunch and stalwart Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill!

from the spinsters

While the ever gallant Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill,
You must take this time, dear daughter, to go bathe and wash until
The smell of gin that plagues our streets has left your hair and skin,
Then go and wear your finest gown and wait beside the inn.
You’ve but one chance at dusk to catch the gallant Knight Duke’s eye,
When he descends from his tower keep to rest and passes by;
For from his tower all he sees are the hordes that he must kill,
While the ever gallant Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill!

from the barkeep

When the tired and weary Knight Duke isn’t guarding Castle Hill,
He drinks alone inside my bar and scribbles with his quill.
He told me once he longed to have a tavern of his own
So he sits at night and thinks of names by which it might be known,
While all around him drunken guards but dine with maids in scores,
Their raucous laughter drowning out the cries outside the doors…
‘But what is to be done?’ he says and asks for a refill,
When the tired and weary Knight Duke isn’t guarding Castle Hill.

from the horde

While that crafty, slit-eyed Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill,
We are forced to hunt beyond their walls to seek the hunter’s thrill,
For the days are long and dragging as we wait for fall of night,
When the dark should give us cover from that slit-eyed Knight Duke’s sight,
Every other fortress would have fallen come the snow,
Yet when this siege did first begin, none living now would know;
Curse the thought we’ll never purge those cannibals uphill,
While that crafty, slit-eyed Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill!

from the scavengers

While the fortune-favored Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill,
We can traipse along the valleys, making gains from his goodwill;
For what to one man might be rubbish, to another might be gold,
And to one a pile of corpses, to another goods unsold,
So we take what others leave behind, as few would ever bother,
In hopes one day we’ll rise in rank just like the Duke’s grandfather!
And we needn’t fear a soul as we go combing through this swill,
While the fortune-favored Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill!

from the House of Axe

While our son and heir the Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill,
He should look to sire a child to whom he’ll someday pass his skill,
For what better station could he hold than Knight Duke in this land,
Where, if he should so wish it, he could have the princess’s hand?
But, alas, he will not marry and still dreams to leave his post,
He fails to see what lies ahead, the things that matter most,
For he does not know our struggles nor the things we suffer still,
While our son and heir the Knight Duke guards the walls of Castle Hill!

from the Knight Duke

The man they know as Knight Duke, Guardian of Castle Hill,
Is nothing but a story they have tacked upon my frill;
My father was a great one, as his father once was too,
But I am nothing like them and not trained in what I do.
We’ve neither food nor arrows left to last another round,
So soon the hordes shall breach our gates and burn us to the ground;
And when the walls start crumbling, will there be one who thinks I’m still
The man they know as Knight Duke—Guardian of Castle Hill?

Apollo Clark Co is an archer and volunteer firefighter from Tarlac City, Philippines.