Bloodless Knights (3 page)

I
didn’t have to wait long. Jadorion flew around the corner like a hot rock
burned his pocket. He hurried toward me, a shocked haze over his eyes.

“Sir
Tristen!” Jadorion stopped to catch his breath, “Sir Brendan has been
dismounted. We tried to get him up but he won’t!”

“What
dost thou mean, ‘he won’t’?” I shielded the sun from my eyes as I peered up
from the ground at my new squire.

“I
mean, he won’t get up Sir. The doctor is looking at him. They knoweth it ain’t
thee so ye may as well come out. I mean, if ye can.” Jadorion offered me his
hand and gently helped me up. I gingerly followed Jadorion, not knowing what I
was about to see.

A
crowd had gathered in the center of the arena. Brendan’s new armor was piled up
outside a circle of bystanders that included my father. The body of my brother
was still. My mother clung to him; sobbing. Panic swelled inside my already
swollen chest. Suddenly my legs got quicker and I rushed the scene. My father
was the first to see me; the look he gave me was undeniably the worst look I
had ever received in my life.

“That
should be thee!” He yelled, pointing a long, bony finger at my brother. “THEE!”
He turned the appendage at me.

Before
I could react, let alone respond, a watchman from a tall nearby tower screamed
the most bone-chilling thing I had ever heard in my young life: “DRAGON!”

What?
Did I hear correctly? I examined the tower that was adorned with tournament
banners and saw a long spear extending from the caller’s arm pointing toward
the Montour Mountain Range. Against the pale blue sky, what appeared to be a
bird, quickly ascended from the hill. I had never seen a dragon, but I knew I
had also never seen any winged creature move as swift, nor appear as large, as
what was soaring toward us.

“Take
cover!” People pushed each other as they headed for the nearest building or
tent. I watched the cowards run from my brother, including my father. Only my
mother remained. I knew in my heart that Brendan was probably dead, but I
couldn’t leave him on the ground like a forgotten soldier from a lost battle.

“Mother,
go!” I yelled as I reached Brendan. My mother looked to me and then to the sky.
Seeing I was there to help her youngest son, she nodded, and ran for shelter.

I
tried to pull Brendan over my shoulder but I didn’t have the strength to lift
him. He looked really bad; the knight had hit him with a force that hadn’t
seemed possible from such a miniature rider. I looked up and saw a large blur
appear over the arena. It took me a moment to realize that it wasn’t a cloud
offering shade, but a mammoth, greenish-brown monster hovering over the city.

I
grabbed Brendan’s wrists and attempted to drag him. My strength failed me. I
decided to lie on top of Brendan to protect him. Just as I had accepted my fate
to do so, Sir Lugina ran over - still wearing full armor - from under the
grandstand and gruffly called out: “Grab hold.”

Sir
Lugina grasped Brendan’s ankles as I took hold of his wrists. We pulled Sir
Brendan Dow’s lifeless body almost to cover, when a large, scaled face pointed
its eye toward me and hovered too close to my head. The eye appeared full of
yellow and black water and studied my face for what seemed ages. I braced
myself for the fire I had heard was expelled from deep places in a dragon;
however, none came.

I
realized I had closed my eyes. I opened them when I felt a force pull my brothers
hands from mine. The looming beast had wrapped its claws around Brendan and
tore his body from our muscular hands. I reached upward in a vain attempt to
retrieve my baby brother, only to have the dragon raise him higher and fly back
toward the mountain.

Sir
Lugina and I stared in shocked disbelief. Other riders and townsfolk reappeared
from their hiding places. Every eye watched the flying creature get smaller as
he hurried away.

“Dragon’s
bring evil!” King Ladislas appeared from under a rock, or wherever he had
scurried away to like a coward. He straightened his robe and didn’t seem at all
bothered that his youngest son had been taken away by a flying serpent.

“I
think thy majesty meant: evil brings dragons.” Friar Thespis approached from
behind me. “Our city is apparently cursed and thy youngest son has vanished.
God is angry with us.”

“Oh
button it, Thespis. God is not angry with us, he’s angry with Sir Lugina and
that is why Tristen will go slay him.” Ladislas shrugged his shoulders as if he
chose the only solution.

“But,
your majesty, Sir Lugina tried to help Lord Tristen bring Sir Brendan to
safety. It was purely an accident. That is the nature of a tournament. Thou
can’t order something so ridiculous.” The Friar’s unsolicited comment was met with
a disdainful look from the king.

“I’m
the king! My orders will be carried out. Tristen, take this knight to the
forest and avenge thy brother. Do as I demand!” Ladislas turned toward the
queen who had quietly appeared from the stable. She reached for his arm only to
be shoved.

“I
will not!” I turned the opposite direction and oddly, my father didn’t bark any
further orders; merely kept walking.

The
king stopped in the middle of the fairground and shouted to all in the area, “I
am offering thirty tarins to each un-oathed man who joins my army. Any man, in
my army or not, who slays the dragon shall be awarded fifty tarins. To all of
thee, I must bid farewell, as obviously these festivities are no longer
‘festivious’. I must gather an army to avenge the kidnapping of my son’s body.
Pass along my offer to every man ye knoweth!” A horse was brought to my father;
he mounted it and rode toward the castle.

I
shook my head in disbelief. King Ladislas was offering gold coins to encourage
men to join his army? He didn’t lack money but apparently he did know that
others did. It was shocking indeed to hear him want to give away his money.
Maybe he
had
listened when I told him we were losing villagers and armed
men. What an odd day indeed. Odder still, Sir Lugina continued following me as
I wandered. I walked toward the woods, simply to see if the knight would
continue following me. He did.

When
we were a few hundred paces from the stadium near a thick grove of fragrant
pine trees, I stopped walking. I turned toward Sir Lugina and stared at him.
“Why art thou following me? Ye should be running as fast and as far as ye can.
After all, ye just slayed my brother…that should have been me, granted…but thou
heard the king’s orders; I’m supposed to slay thee.”

Sir
Lugina didn’t speak. He removed his helm and startled me with a face I
recognized but didn’t believe was under the mask. “Thou will not do that, will
thou?” Vivian Lattsgale’s rosy lips whispered.

#
# #

“Please,
Lord Tristen, don’t tell anyone about this.” Even with her hair pinned up,
Vivian was stunning. I could not believe this beautiful woman was now my enemy.

“Well,
Lady Vivian, thou put down a beating on me and slew my brother, so obviously I
don’t want anyone to knoweth that the Dow knights got thrashed by a girl.
However, it’s going to cost thee.”

“What
dost thou want?” She placed her delicate hand on her armored hip and tilted her
head toward me.

Many
requests traveled through my mind but I only voiced two. “First, ye must
pretend to be dead so I may tell my father I have slain thee. Second, ye must
attend to my home and be my servant until I release thee.” I expected a slight
argument from her, but she simply nodded.

“Very
well,” she said. “We must fight then; I don’t want the watchmen to think I just
gave in if they see us. I want to ‘die’ valiantly.” She drew a dagger from a
leather scabbard hanging at her side.

I
didn’t move. “Art thou joking? Nobody can see us!” The tone in my voice gave
away my surprise.

“No,
my Lord, I’m not joking. Thou never knows who’s watching in a kingdom; spies
everywhere! Thou just lost thy brother and thou art the only one who tried to
save him. The fact ye let him ride for thee and take thy beating is not my
concern. Thou seem to be a man of character and I believe I can trust thee.
However, if I’m going to be slain, it has to look convincing.” Vivian held up
the dagger and charged at me.

“I
did
not
let Brendan ride for me!” I quickly drew my dagger but felt
silly feigning a knife fight with a fully armored knight. The silliness abruptly
vanished when Vivian pounced on me, pulling me viciously to the ground and
whispering “Of course thou didn’t! Kick me hard and when I’m on the ground,
pretend to slit my throat.”

Vivian’s
helmet tumbled to the ground as she rolled slightly to the side, allowing me to
move my leg. I tried to merely pretend to kick her but still made contact with
her chest plate. She expertly threw the knife to her side, making it look like
it was knocked away. I sat over her and pretended to cut her throat. She laid still
but said, “Go get thy horse, and hurry before anyone comes over.”

“How
can I trust ye will stay here?” I leaned close to her, pretending to examine
her for breath. I stared into her grass-green eyes and when she spoke I
believed her: “I’m not going anywhere.”

I
stood, picked up her helmet from the ground and pulled it over her head. I
kicked dirt at her for good measure to gratify the “nobody” who was watching
and hurried toward the Lists to find Flash.  It was approaching mid-afternoon.
I knew if I didn’t appear at evening prayers my father would send out my own
army to find me.

Joy
filled my heart when I approached the fairgrounds and saw my squire and my
horse. Jadorion was brushing Flash’s coat as the horse happily munched on oats.
Jadorion looked toward me with a puzzled inquiry then dropped the brush and ran
my direction. Many others were milling around the grounds, some expressions
said people still didn’t understand what had happened at the tournament. I
didn’t want to cause a scene but everyone’s eyes seemed to follow Jadorion as
he ran. Others focused their attention to me; smiling, or glaring, depending on
what they knew about the situation.

“Sir!
Are ye alright? Ye took such a beating from the joust then with that giant
dragon coming toward ye, ya must’ve been scared right outta yourn wits!”
Jadorion’s eyes were wide as he recounted the day’s events. I reached under the
breast plate of my arm, grabbed the bunched edges of my tunic, and pulled it
tight. I held up my right hand, shaking my head to stop his banter. I sternly
looked him square in his round, childish face.

“Jad,
calm down. I am fine and everything else is going to be fine too. I need to
take Flash for a while. There’s a problem I need to take care of. I need thee
to go to my home and light the fireplace; I will be returning there tonight.
Also, clean the barn and be sure there is fresh hay for Flash. The bunk room
shall be cleaned as well. I need that all done right now. Then ye are free to
retire for the evening. I will see thee bright and early for prayers. Dost thou
understand?” Jadorion nodded his head and took off running toward my home. I
felt slight guilt taking Flash from his much-loved brushing, but I knew if I
didn’t return to Vivian before someone found her that my plan would probably
not work.

Flash
carried me to Vivian as fast as I knew he could. She was still lying amidst the
yellow pansies, exactly as I left her. When I told her it was just me, she
thanked God and then told me to throw her over the back of my horse. As I
reached for her, I was surprised that a tiny woman as herself weighed so much;
even wearing full armor I didn’t think she should have been as heavy as she
was. I heaved her atop the horse and looked at her face. Her ivory skin glowed
in the sun. My hand felt an urge to touch her smooth cheek, but my brain told
it to stay put.

“Will
ye grant one request for me?” Vivian’s eyes snapped open causing me to jump
back. “Please take me to my camp. I would like to tell my crew that I’m okay
and that they can go home. They’re probably worried sick.”

“No,
m’lady. It’s too risky. If someone sees thee, then it will all be over and the
king will have thee hanged. I just can’t let that happen.” I made sure Vivian
was secured to the back of Flash, then got atop his back and rode the opposite
direction I came. There was no way I was going to let my father hang this
woman.

“Sir,
please. I’ve agreed to all thou hast asked me and haven’t complained. I knowest
ye owe me naught, but I must tell my people that I’m alright or they will worry
and hunt for me.” Vivian’s voice went many octaves up and down as the horse
galloped. It reminded me of the hiccups that rattled me as a young man. I felt
a tug on my heart and realizing that she was probably uncomfortable and was
giving up a lot to me over an accident; I agreed to take her to her camp but
warned her I would keep a close eye on her and would kill her if I had to. I
didn’t think I meant the last part of it, but I said it forcefully enough to
let her think I did.

After
Vivian told me the directions to her pavilion, we made way toward the castle
and found a small tent with six roped horses and a large supply cart, loaded
and covered with an ivory-colored tarp. I wondered just exactly what type of
crew Vivian had with her. My stomach knotted at the thought of five more women
just like her in the room. If the tent was indeed filled with maidens, I didn’t
know whether to feel scared or lucky.