The old days

Cador gently pulled on the reigns of the rental horse, bringing it to a stop as they reached they crest of the hill. It had been some time since he had last ridden, but the muscle memory had been burned into him over a dozen lifetimes, and the horse he had been given was well mannered. Sarah was not quite as lucky, and while her horse was very tame, she had had much difficulty getting it to do exactly what it was she wanted. Cador had tried to explain to her, but the terms and comparisons he made were simply too outdated for her, and after several attempts, they had simply set her horse in motion to follow his own.

They sat on their horses, looking out over the valley that was before them, the ruined remains of a castle on the other side of what was once a river before them. They sat in silence for a long moment, taking in the sight, before Sarah reached out and placed her hand on Cador's shoulder, pulling his attention away from the ruins.

"This is it?" she asked. Cador had not heard such pure wonder in someone's voice for a long time. "This was the castle where...?"

Cador nodded and looked back out at the castle. "Yeah," he said. "This is it."

It took them another hour of riding to get down through the valley and actually reach the castle. It had fallen to pieces, and overgrown plants climbed the walls and filled some of the gaps that had been left behind. They dismounted and tied the horses to part of the bridge, near a new sprinkling of a creek that had shown up in the last few years so they could drink. Cador lead the way into the castle, finding the open paths and safe ways to move.

"It's been half a millennium since I was here last," he said as they climbed over a collapsed wall. "In my mind's eye, I can still see it. The hallways and rooms, the strategically placed torches along the walls, the flowing drapery that told the stories of royalty and their families. I can see the nobles and their servants walking around, talking about the current events, whether or not the farms are producing enough, and what to do about the coming winter. I can feel their souls as my fingers run along the walls, like they're still here, waiting to be released..."

Sarah dropped down onto more stable ground behind him and dusted herself off. "Do you miss them?" she asked. "The people and the way things used to be?"

Cador dusted some of the cobwebs out of the entryway. They had made their way to the throne room. He could remember so clearly the day he had been knighted for the first time, in this very room. The steps had survived. He could see the exact spot he had kneeled down. Without a word he walked to it and kneeled down, bowing his head to silently pay respect to his liege. "Yeah," he said, standing up. "Sometimes. Things were different back then. Not simpler. Not harder. Just different."

"Most people say now that life today is a lot easier."

Cador smiled. "In some ways. Maybe a lot of ways. But the things that make life simple bring their own troubles. We didn't have to worry about nations on the other side of the world sending off missiles that could destroy the world sixteen times over. We just had to worry about putting food on the table."

"Some people still have to worry about that."

"Yeah. Yeah they do."