Desperate fighting there had been, indeed, to judge from appearances, and Alphonso’s gentle spirit was stirred within him as he caught the sound of deep groans mingling with the loud voices of the soldiers.  He had inherited the gentle spirit of his mother, and the generosity which always takes the part of the weak and oppressed.  It mattered not that these men had been taken with swords drawn against his royal father; they were prisoners now, they had lost their all; and if rebels from the English standpoint, had been striving to free their country from what appeared to them as the unjust inroads of a foreign foe.

Alphonso, himself sinking into an early grave, and fully aware of his own state, saw life somewhat differently from his soldier sire, and felt little sympathy for that lust of conquest which was to the great Edward as the elixir of life.  The lad’s thoughts were more of that eternal crown laid up in the bright land where the sword comes not, and where the trump of war may never be heard.  The glory of an earthly diadem was as nothing to him, and he had all that deep love for his fellow men which often characterizes those who know that their time on earth is short.

Stepping forward, therefore, with the air of quiet authority which he knew so well how to assume, he enforced silence by a gesture; and as the soldiers respectfully fell back before him, he walked through the groups of prisoners, speaking friendly words to them in their own tongue, and finally gave strict command to the captain of the guardroom to remove the fetters from those who were wounded, and see that they had all due tendance and care, whilst the rest were to be guarded with as little rigour as possible, and shut up together, where they would have at least the consolation of companionship in their misfortune.

The captain gave respectful heed to these words, and was by no means loath to carry out his instructions.  He was a humane man himself, though inured to the horrors of war, and he, in common with all who came into contact with the young prince, felt towards him a great love and reverence; for there was something unearthly at times in the radiant beauty of the young Alphonso’s face, and the growing conviction that he was not long for this world increased the loving loyalty shown to him by all.

“Your Grace’s behests shall be obeyed,” answered the man readily; “I myself will see that the wounded receive due and fitting care.  They are brave fellows, be they rebels or no, and verily I believe there is not a man of them but would have laid down his life a hundred times to save that of the two young leaders who led them on to the last desperate sally.  Such gallant feats of arms I have seldom beheld, and it was sore trouble to capture without killing them, so fiercely did they fight.  But I bid the men take them alive, if possible, as they seemed too gallant and noble to fall in that vain struggle.  Methinks, could they be tamed to serve the king as valiantly as they fought for that forlorn hope, they might be well worth the saving.  I am always loath to see a brave life flung away, be it of friend or foe.”