The Archer’s Tale

Alvin E. Nix III

The novel begins in the English village of Hookton, where a boy named Thomas is growing up under the parenthood of his father, who is also the village priest. Thomas has great skill with a bow, but he trains secretly because his father does not allow him to use it. On the morning of Easter in 1342, a French party of raiders arrive under the command of Sir Guillaume d'Evecque, a French Knight. In his party of raiders is a warrior dressed all in black, known simply as the Harlequin, who has hired Sir Guillaume to carry out the raid to steal Hookton's treasure, the Lance of St. George. During the raid The Harlequin kills Thomas' father, and the lance is stolen from the village. With his bow …show more content…

During the battle he recognizes the coat of arms of Sir Guillaume d'Evecque, and shoots him in the thigh. He also rescues a young woman named Eleanor from being raped by an English soldier. As he leaves the house, Jekyll sees him and knocks him unconscious, then leaves him to hang from a building.

Thomas is then rescued by Eleanor, who is revealed as Sir Guillaume's illegitimate child. Sir Guillaume appears to Thomas with a missing eye, along with the wound Thomas gave him. Sir Guillaume tells Thomas that it was the Harlequin who gave him the wound. Sir Guillaume, like Thomas, wants to kill the Harlequin, and the make become friends. Thomas is nursed back to health by a Jewish doctor named Mordecai, while Jeanette confronts Jekyll in front of the Prince. Jekyll is banished from the army, and Thomas learns a great deal about his family from Sir Guillaume and a churchman in Caen. His father was a member of the infamous Vexille family, who were the former counts of Astarac and descendants of the Cathar heretics. Thomas also learns that his newfound family may be in possession of the Holy Grail, and the Harlequin had gone to Hookton to find it as well as the Lance of St. George. Despite this new information Thomas decides to return to the English army with Eleanor, who becomes his lover and he becomes a simple archer for the time being.

Meanwhile, Sir Simon Jekyll decides to join the French army for a