Who will ransom you?

A discussion on a post Sir Rhys made on Facebook made me think of this story. I know many have heard it, but, here goes...

A number of years ago in the woods at Pennsic, I was on a banner detail (yes, the same one as in my Sophia story…). The line had pushed fairly close to the banner, and the fighting was pretty heavy. The Mid made a push for a breakthrough, and they succeeded… sort of. One man made it through. He punched through PAST the banner point, and then turned, heading for the banner. You could just see the visions of glory in his eyes as he came running at us… and then the banner guard turned as one, and he was looking at a knot of spears and polearms.
It was comical… he almost backpedaled as he came skidding to a halt, and fell flat on his back at our feet. Looking up at the points of all the weapons in his face, he stammered “Uh…. I yield.”
Everyone was ready to accept that. Being… well, me… I said “Who will ransom you.”
“Uh… what”
“If you yield to us, you are our prisoner. I will expect ransom for your release. So…  who will ransom you?”
“Uh… my lady?”
“Is your lady wealthy?” I asked.
“Not really…”
Turning to the rest of the banner guard, who are all chuckling at this point, I said “Eff it… kill him.”
They jokingly executed the guy, and then all laughing, helped him up and dusted him off. He started on his merry way, and I called out to him. He turned, and I said “Milord, you know what you just got?”
He cocked his head, and shrugged, expecting smack talk.
“You just got a story.”
He paused for a moment, and then grinned. Saluting, he walked away.

I bet that was some story…