Knight's Bridge - A Standalone Novella

Every once in a while an image, or single scene, bubbles into my head and won’t leave, Sometimes I have to give in and try to write out where this annoyance is going.

I had an idea for a serious short story about a disheartened and wounded knight escaping from a lost battle around a major bridge. The wide river acts as the divide between the civilized south and the frontier lands to the north. The tale is told from his POV in the first person. He encounters three fleeing refugees, a woman and her two small children, and reluctantly guides them to relative safety. When I finished, I wasn’t completely satisfied. It was the typical open-ended story with no resolution as to what happens next to the characters who are still in peril and after much thought I decided to carry on and find out.

The next section was narrated from the POV of the brutal warlord who has been charged with finding a route to lead a large force to cross the river and assault the bridge from the rear. His methods are ruthless. The woman’s refuge lies squarely in his path.

The third chapter follows the tale of a young squire in the king’s army following his knight and riding to his first battle. It is told from his POV. The army is heading toward the bridge.

The final episode is told from the woman’s POV and draws all of the character’s threads together. What was originally supposed to be a short story turned into a novella length tale constructed out of three short stories.

Satisfied by the final result I even liked the cover very much, although the style of sword is suspect. Knight’s Bridge is only available today as an ebook.