Gracious Spirit Sooths a Harried Heart

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A Gracious Spirit Sooths one Harried Heart

It was Tuesday morning at the Thirtieth Year Celebration. I was working as the copy editor of The Daily Progress, the newsletter of the 10-day event. It had been the morning from a Dantean Hell. The copy machine would not work. It kept jamming due to the humidity and temperature changes of our 'office' located in the corner of a large display barn. The Countess Melissa, The Chief Editor, was frantically running here, there and everywhere and found it difficult to sit for five full minutes and decide what she wanted in that day's issue. It was extremely frustrating for everyone. The day was beautiful outside and I was on the verge of abandoning it all and leaving to watch the current battles on the field.

That was when Her Excellency Amanda walked into the 'office'.

I was busy cursing the copy machine thoroughly when I heard someone come up from behind. I turned, expecting to see the Countess Melissa, already trying to explain why I couldn't get anything done in support of the Wednesday issue. But when I turned around it was Her Excellency Amanda. She looked at me for a minute and then smiled at me with the sweetest smile I have ever seen on a woman. She reached out and took my two hands into her own and held them tightly for a moment, looking deep into my soul the entire time.

"M'Lord Arontius," She said, "The Daily Progress has been an utter delight to me. I know that you are one of the principle reasons that this is so. I thank you for all of your efforts and I know that our paper will continue to be entertaining and a joy to read."

It was more then just a pretty speech though. When Her Excellency Amanda speaks to you, you become Her entire world. It is as if you are the most important thing in Her life at the moment and nothing else exists. It was truly mesmerizing. If she had asked me to fly to the moon and bring back a moon-rock for her, I would have found a way to do, no matter what the cost. That is how profound her words were to me. It was an amazing experience. The more so for the simple fact that she and I had never spoken two words together before that moment and yet she spoke to me as if we were dear friends who had known each other our entire lives.

In August or September of 2002, Their Excellencies Gerhard and Amanda of Lion's Gate will step down and place Their Coronets upon the brows of Their Successors. One of the longest reigns of Coronets in the history of the SCA will come to an end. I personally had thought (and wished and hoped) that They would remain in Their position for all the days of my life. A child's wish, true, but we play a game that is built upon myth and fantasy as much as it is built upon reality, and in my fantasies at any rate those that are good live and reign forever.

When I read the missive on the e-list announcing Their stepping down, I was greatly saddened. They are a large and integral part of the history of The Kingdom of An Tir. At that moment when they remove the Coronets from Their Brows there will not be a dry eye within 100 miles of that site. I can just imagine that when The Brave and Bonny Host is played (which, if you didn't know, was written with Amanda and Gerhard as the principle subjects) that the mists of Celtic Britain really will swirl and the Gods will come forth to welcome Their Excellencies into their ranks. It will be a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I have known of Their Excellencies Gerhard and Amanda my entire SCA lifetime, but when I personally met the Baroness Amanda in that sweltering and dusty office at Thirtieth Year, it became a real turning point for me in my SCA 'career' and introduced me to a true noble spirit. In Her Excellency is an eternal wellspring of gentle and gracious spirit. Just as Baron Sir Richard is my epitome of the true and virtuous Knight within the SCA, the Baroness Amanda became the example to which I compared all women who truly play the game and live the spirit of chivalry and courteous graces.

The story above is the reason this came to be. I hold the memory dear and I love telling it, but when I do tell it I realize how dull and flat it sounds. You had to be within the aura of Her Excellency to truly understand what I mean....

HL Arontius, April AS XXXVI

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