Episode 48: Johan Lord Summerson, the last of his line

They buried Johan where he fell: Arthur conducted the funeral and gave the eulogy. "Johan was born nine months after the death of his father in battle and was immediately recognized as the twenty-third Lord Summerson. He followed family tradition by training hard and joining the Royal Guard to serve his King. He loved that job, but he never forgot his duty to produce an heir; unfortunately, none of his loves ever turned to lasting romance and marriage. At the end of his combat postings with the Guard, he requested and was granted membership in the Silver Order. He was the sixth Lord Summerson to do so, a record in the Order. Now he has died at age forty, his endless summer spent; he has fallen and lies dead in an eternal winter that does not lead to spring.

"In accordance with the dictates of the Order, here we have placed him upon his shield and covered him with the land that he died defending. May it protect him in death as he protected it in life." Arthur took up Johan's sword and drove it into the ground in place of a headstone. "His sword shall remain so long as no-one has need of its power. Thus has it been and always will be for those who pledge their lives to service."

He stepped back and blew a single mournful note on his horn, a sound that resounded to the heavens. And Heaven replied: A single beam of golden light lanced down out of the blue sky, bathing the burial mound in its holiness. When the light lifted, it left behind the following words engraved in stone:

          Here sleeps Lord Johan,
          The last son of summer,
          Where his blood spilled
          In defense of the Land.