Enderal I Lords and Mages
Chapter 6 Trial by Combat
8th Era, 479, 12th of Weeping Widow
Continent of Mordurel, Easterlands Region, Summer Estate
Jhaenera Silverstag Point of View
It was on the morrow as the trial by combat would take place. As expected the sodding bastard had demanded a trial by combat and I convinced my sister to make Sir Haegor Blackling her champion. Myna’s first choice had been Sir Mont the young but I feared Daemon to easily slay a boy of sixteen. I did, however, thought it cute that the young ginger knight had volunteered as her champion. The trial took place as the sun rose over the former tourney ground. Peasants and merchants assembled behind the fence surrounding the grounds and the stands with benches was filled by knights and nobles. My family sat on the red comfy chairs in the center, raised slightly more over the rest. Neither Serene or I wore our armor and Myna had owned none to speak of. She was a regular noble lady in that regard.
Daemon wore his full plated black armor, his Kite shield and obsidian Arming sword in hand. Haegor had his axe and a Kite shield of his own. A priest of the Paragon took us through a prayer before a herald started the trial. There was a lot of cheering but most supported Haegor rather than the Reiklander that assaulted Myna. Because of her beauty Myna was commonly referred to as the Kingdoms Delight and the peasants wouldn’t take kindly to a Reiklander traitor striking their princess.
Off course the romanticized version of any fight between knights was that it lasted for a long time. In reality they never lasted for very long. Eventually a man made a mistake or something rather.
Haegor dealt the first blow. His axe struck Daemon’s shield and wouldn’t let up. He landed hit after hit and made it hard for Daemon to deal a blow himself.
“Take him milord!” Daemon’s Squire yelled. “Kill him!”
Every blow Haegor dealt was strong enough to leave marks in the steel shield and Daemon had to shift it with every hit to keep him from letting the axe put a deep chink in his armor, a blow that could be lethal. Haegor didn’t give him an inch and did his best to keep him from recovering. He slammed his shield against his opponents and dealt another blow. At that moment Daemon striked with his shield and went for a strike at his black eyes opponent’s head. The impact wasn’t enough to break the steel but it probably dented it to some extent and staggered Haegor. He fell to a knee, giving Daemon a horrifying opportunity. But Haegor was a man of swift thought and shifted position to kick Daemon’s knee. It gave him enough time to get his shield ready, though, he remained on one knee when Daemon’s sword began to strike. Daemon landed several blows, all blocked though, before he kicked him as he tried to get up, pushing him down into the dirt.
I heard Myna gasp as she sat, not far away. Unlike the tourney, my children was not present. They awaited in the Summer Hall estate. My husband was tending to them.
Haegor rolled aside before Daemon could deal a final blow and got back up and viciously cut, his axe hitting Daemon’s sword and sent it flying from his grip. Daemon stepped back with Haegor approaching for his next attack, but Daemon grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it into his visor to blind Haegor. It caused Haegor to cough as the dirt easily entered through his visor. I gasped in horror when Daemon jabbed his sword deep into his neck and surely to cause me extra pain kicked him as hard as he could as he drew out his sword and forced us to behold how Haegor’s neck wound spewed with blood. He desperately attempted to clutch his wound for some ten seconds before his life drained through his hands.
There was almost no cheers, just some peasants happy to see a noble die. Amongst the stand not a man or woman cheered. It was a complete silence. I worried for how Haegor’s siblings reacted. To my knowledge they should all have been present in the stand. For now the herald announced Daemon as the victorious party and my mother spoke of that the gods had found him innocent and he was a free man.
Daemon removed his helmet and handed it to his squire before he looked at me, a slimy attempt at a friendly smile on his lips. I could barely control the anger and hatred I felt. Why did he have to come here? To my sweet son’s tourney. Thinking about it, perhaps that was the reason. Maybe he came specifically because of Rhaemon. From his disturbed perspective maybe he thought he had the right, but after what he did to me he lost any right.
As we dispersed I was approached by my companions Ormond and Anton. Ormond carefully put a hand on my shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
I took a deep breath. I was far from okay right now.
“I…” I started but trailed off when I saw one of the Warlocks of Blackspire. The large black armor and the long cloak and a raven wings crest. I froze as I felt him staring at me from ten meters away. I stared into those small black holes he looked out from. For a moment I felt cold and fear crawled up my spine. Then he slowly turned and started walking, and I breathed out in relief.
“My lady?” Anton spoke, breaking me from my trance.
“I…must speak with Lord Blackling, express my sympathy over his son’s death,” I managed.
Daemon Drakefyre Point of View
Sarah hugged me after she helped me off with my black armor. She had told me she was worried I would get killed by the man with the black eyes. I gave her a pet on the back and we went back to camp and started packing up. She dealt with our camp when I packed my armor on my trusted Lightning. I drew my hand through her mane after I finished and gave her an apple.
“Do we have to leave milord?” Sarah asked. “The gods have found you innocent.”
“There will be more tourneys in other places,” I told her plainly. “The gods didn’t find my innocent, I simply killed a man. If he was a friend of Princess Myna he has to be a good man.” He could have been a companion of Jhaenera I supposed, but it was Myna picking the champion since it was her I slapped. Now I knew that was a bad idea. It was a relax, one I had to work out of me. Also Myna had every right to blame me for everything bad that happened to her big sister and laying an unwanted hand on the royal blood was a serious crime. If I had died, it had been my fault.
“What does that mean?” Asked Sarah in confusion.
I sighed and turned and looked down on the girl.
“The most skilled man win’s a trial of combat if he has luck on his side,” I explained. “The gods have no say. It is a tool of nobles and priests.” I knew it was probably hypocritical of me since I was of a noble bloodline.
“If you say so milord,” the slow thought girl supposed.
As we finished packing we got on our horses and started riding.
“Where are we going milord?” She asked, riding Oldman on my side.
“South I think. Lord Daven is always looking for good men to fight Faun Herds crossing the Shimmering River,” I answered. I wasn’t entirely sure that’s where I wanted to go but it was good enough for now. Proper work.
“W-we’re not going through the Barrow Highlands, are we milord?” She asked, frightened.
I looked at her, furrowing my eyebrows.
“Why? What’s it to you?”
“I-I don’t want to.”
“There is nothing scary about the Mynderlys,” I told her.
She looked at me with her big frightened eyes.
“I know. Bu-but…what if the Barrow King takes us?”
I sighed, “Oh you Nightingale’s sake. The Barrow King is a bedtime story. He’s not real.”
“Is too,” she urged me to believe the ridiculous story. “Even if there was some undead king here it was five thousand years ago. Whatever the legend it based on, it’s long gone.” I looked right at her. “I’m sure he existed, but he doesn’t anymore.”
“Th-the Mynderlys was chosen to be the guardians of his tomb and that’s w-why they rule the Barrow Highlands, protecting us all against his return.”
I rolled my eyes. The only time she properly knew which Houses owned some land it was because of some silly children tale, a story told to keep them good and obedient. ‘Be good or the Barrow King will come and take you’, aye a silly thing to me.
“We don’t need to go through them if you looked on a map,” I told her. “We go through lands owned by Godsgrace, Flooding, Mayflower and Stallion. All outside the Barrow Highlands.” I looked at her. “There are always more tournaments.”
She shined up at those words.
Dawn Oakenshield Point of View
I drank from my little cup of Greenleaf Tea as I sat in the warm sun. I was joined by the round table by the Princesses Jhaenera and Myna. The white haired and blonde was drinking tea from small cups as well and we were all dressed in velvet gowns. We watched the knights training for the days tournament. I had met my brother Ormond a little while before I sat down with the princesses.
“A melee, huh,” I said with intrigue.
Jhaenera nodded.
“That’s right,” said Jhaenera.
I was going to ask something but I lost my trail of thought when one of the royal family’s bodyguards walked behind Princess Serene. It wasn’t one of the Red Guards, above them. It was the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, ten knights defending the royal family. Unlike regular Red Guards the Kingsguard could not inherit as long as they served. My eyes trailed after the giant of a man they called the Disfigured Giant. Jhaenera followed my eyes.
“Lord Commander Alistair Payneheart,” she said in a low voice. “He’s loyal to the crown and unbeatable.”
I recognized that name, and his looks, as the man that led the Kingsguard. I felt nervous just looking at him.
“I…I apologize for our late arrival, again,” I said, changing subject.
Jhaenera smiled.
“Don’t worry about it, Dawn. Riding a third the way across the Easterlands isn’t an exact nature when it comes to precise estimates of time.”
I sipped from my hot tea and looked at the young and old men sparring. I couldn’t help but notice how Princess Myna kept her eyes on one young man her age. I exchanged a glance with Jhaenera and she filled me in. Was it Mont the Younger?
“Mont Montelyn. She’s had an eye for him for a while,” said Jhaenera.
Indeed I was right in my guess. Myna heard the whispers and looked at us with blushing features.
“I-I have n-not!” She protested.
“Off course not,” I said jokingly. “People usually blush when that’s the case.”
Myna looked down at her cup of tea and, almost violently, sipped from it and focused on it with all her might. As she focused on her cup Jhaenera and I watched as the young ginger fought another. His opponent was taller but seemed about as young, a few years older probably. I didn’t know who I was looking at until I saw the sigil. It was a light grey field with red and orange fire and a white shield in the center, on it was a greenskin. One of those barbaric Orc kin’s from the far away Savage Lands. I could immediately determine that the man was an Orkwood, a small house in its second generation. Like many Houses from two generations past the Orkwoods could say that Queen Lionella raised them into lordlings.
Sir Mont proved quick on his feet and side-stepped the Orkwood man’s move half the time, and blocked the rest. Then he striked swiftly and knocked his wooden sword from his hand and gave him a good knock in the forehead. The man yielded.
“Your…friend, is an impressive duelist,” Jhaenera complemented her sister.
Myna moaned from her cup of tea.
I noticed Mont spotted something on the ground and bent down to pick it up. As he started walking over to us I saw he held a flower in his right hand. I definitely understood why Myna was beguiled by the young man, his long flowing ginger locks of hair and his fair complexion.
“Your highness,” Mont said, bowing.
“Hail Sir Mont,” Jhaenera greeted him, eyeing her sister.
His eyes shifted to Myna, causing her to look up from her cup with reddened cheeks.
“Forgive my intrusion Princess Myna,” he said gracefully, showing her the flower. I saw it was a lily of black and purple. They exchanged a look with the shy princess and he gently placed the flower in her blonde hair. “This purple and black lily is a rare beauty and it made me think of you, your highness.”
Poor shy Myna’s face was turning bright red.
“Th-thank you Mo-Sir Mont,” she stuttered, quickly adding his knightly title.
He smiled, bowed, and returned to training for the days melee. I prevented myself from smirking at the cuteness that played out before me. Jhaenera did the same. In my peripheral vision I saw Lord Aryghastus Ward locking arm with the man known as the Wild Storm. Lord Mance Storm was a man with broad shoulders, tall and muscular and Lord Ward had a height that was below average, which made the Wild Storm appear even larger. I wasn’t sure if the Disfigured Giant was the tallest of the the men or he was. Either way the two was without a doubt the tallest men in the kingdom.
I could definitely see the Wild Storm win the melee. Lord Ward was a great fighter but I couldn’t imagine him beating the Wild Storm. Nobody beat him one-on-one. My eyes stared at the green Surcoat over his plated armor. The cloth hanging in front and behind had purple lightning on top of the field of green. The Heraldry of House Storm.
“I hope Sir Mont doesn’t ran into the Wild Storm in the melee,” I mused.
“It’s rare that anybody dies in a melee,” stated Jhaenera factually, her eyes going between me and her sister. “No knight is dumb enough to slay another on the tourney celebrating my son’s thirteenth birthday.”
Our conversing caught Myna’s attention and she stared at us with a worried expression.
“L-lord Storm wouldn’t h-hurt him, would he?” Her voice was dripping with concern.
Jhaenera put her hand on her sister’s left hand gently.
“Don’t worry. It’s isn’t a battle to the death remember. Mother throws a tourney for almost very birthday we and Selene’s ever had. How many men have you seen die?” Jhaenera’s voice was soft and caring.
Myna looked very concerned and even scared for Mont’s safety. I wondered if it was love she felt for him? It was such a sadly rare thing in the world of noble women like us.
“Mont told me that he’s father is worried about him, Lord Storm that is,” Myna said in a weak voice. She than looked at me. “Is it true that the Wild Storm wants to marry his son to Lady Mede?”
I understood what she worried about, or rather what Lord Montelyn worried about. It wasn’t surprising really. Every lord wanted to marry a son to Lady Rycella Mede and inherit the vast Mede lands. The twelve year old girl had become the head of her House after her brothers and father’s deaths. The Storms land laid north of the Montelyn fabricate some claim and conquer the Montelyns if he joined with House Mede.
“He and many others,” I answered.
“Mother is planning to marry Rhaemon to Rycella,” Jhaenera stated.
Well, that confirmed what I had heard whispered about it. The boy was thirteen so it was proper to marry, and a marriage with Rycella would bring integrate House Mede with House Silverstag.
“Between Silverstag and little Storm, Lady Rycella will pick the Silverstag,” I calmed the worried Princess.
Her eyed went to Sir Mont who had started exchanging blows with the Orkwood man again. I finished my tea and leaned back.
With a smirk on her face Jhaenera said, “Is he courting you?”
“M-mother gave permission,” Myna quickly defended.
“Ah, not what I asked but a good answer,” Jhaenera stated, shrugging with a snicker.
Myna sighed and finished her tea, then turned to a maid nearby.
“Fetch some ale, now!” She demanded.
Yeah, I guessed the princess could use something strong right about now.
“Come on now, I am just kidding.” Jhaenera assured and placed an arm around her and kissed her forehead to make her feel better and a little apology. “How is he?”
“Do we have to talk about this?” Myna pleaded.
“Give us one detail,” I pleaded. “Please?”
Myna sighed.
“Fine. Eh…he, he’s good with poetry. He writes me lots and, and it’s so beautiful.”
I knew she loved poetry and wrote some herself occasionally. In my peripheral vision Sir Mont won his tilt with the Orkwood man. I shifted my head to glance in the men’s direction. I guess Myna saw an opportunity to change the subject from her.
“What is that heraldry? The Pink rose on a blue field.”
I looked through the men until I found the heraldry she spoke of. It was painted on a wooden round shield with steel rimmed around the edges. The knight who bore the shield was a man of average height with an open faced Helm and plated armor. Myna had started looking at me for a reply.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged casually.
“You know like everything,” Myna proclaimed.
“I know a lot,” I replied, feeling proud. “Not everything. I have a lot of things whispered to me, but not everything. Besides, I cannot remember the heraldry of every landed and Wandering Knight in the Easterlands.”
“Oh, okay. I’m sorry.”
“It’s the Rosestyck,” Jhaenera cut in. “I saw mother award a dozen knights last month for dealing with a bunch of highwaymen. Lord Rosestyck was one of them.”
“Really?” Myna blushed a little. “Should I have known that?”
She shook her head.
“You don’t need to remember the heraldry of every landed knight sworn to us. We have almost ten thousand sworn to us,” Jhaenera explained. While a lot of lords held large amounts of land their family had the most populated lands in the Easterlands with eight towns and cities within their direct control. “If I am not mistaken that is Count Roy Rosestyck’s son.” Count was the title given to landed knights, to distinguish them from their noble liege lords.
“Jhaenera, how much do the winner of the melee win?” I decided to asked with an inquisitive tone.
“Three gold coins to the winner and two silver coin to the ten last competitors bested. The rest get nothing, safe random or equipment from those they best,” Jhaenera answered. “Your brother is going to compete right? For your House I mean.”
I nodded in confirmation, feeling a breeze through my midnight black hair.
“That’s right. He told me when I met him earlier after I arrived with father.”795Please respect copyright.PENANA2gfHKcPhKP
Jhaenera Point of View
Sometime later in the day it was time for the melee and my friend Dawn joined her father and the other nobles on the benches on the stand and Myna and I joined her family in the cushy thrones and with very fluffy red pillows to put our bums down on. The sun stood high in the sky and cloth hung over our hands prevented it from annoying us or obscuring our view. Across from us hundreds of peasants and merchants gathered on the outside the wooden fence. The herald started yelling about the melee and those participating. This melee, was without horse and lance and rules forbade all kinds of magic. It was a large event with thirty-seven knights participating. Lordlings, sworn knights and Wandering Knights alike. I remembered Sir Poe the Witty from a few days past. One of the wandering knights-to my surprise-was an elf.
I put my preverbal coin on the Wild Storm. I always tried to think the best of my companions and both living Blackling brothers; and their sister, would stand in the melee, as did Ormond but I could not see them face the Wild Storm and win. Lord Ward was also an impressive swordsman, as was Lord Leopold Lionheart; better known as Leopold The Lion. Some of the Wandering Knights seemed impressive as well. among the lordlings I recognized shields carrying the heraldry of Houses Orkwood, the same young man that had a tilt with Sir Mont, Ravyne’s light green with a brown bear and the yellow and pink divided field with a yellow edge and four black castles of Pennyrose. The second son of Lord Pennyrose fought this day, a young skinny boy of sixteen. I imagined that poor Peter The Mild-as they called him-Pennyrose would be one of the first to fall. He didn’t look the part of a swordsman. I also remembered that Dawn had said that whispers claimed he preferred reading over bashing with shield and sword.
The herald gave the word and the so called free-for-all began.
I focused on the Wild Storm since he was one of the men closest to our stand. He moved on a wandering knight that was brave enough to face him head on. He striked at him with his Longsword Sistersbane and knocked the wandering knight’s helm with his Kite shield and a slash on his gauntlet made him drop his Arming sword. Thus the man yielded and the herald’s aides wrote down that the Lord Storm had beaten him. aides wrote down every victory so that the victorious knight could take the defeated man’s armor or the ransom he offered to get it back, although, it wasn’t always possible for a wandering knight to ransom his equipment.
Wild Storm locked his Drakesbreath Longsword with a landed knight. I didn’t recognize his shield’s heraldry. The large lord was quick to cut and slash the knight into yielding. He apparently found a chink in the knight’s armor because he cut into his armpit and drew some blood.
I heard Myna squeak and cover her mouth with her hands. My eyes shifted from her to look for Sir Mont Montelyn. I found him facing a landed knight with a mace and his shield was taking a severe beating. He was down on one knee and it looked rather dire and I felt terribly sorry for my sister. All she could do was sit and watch. I was pretty sure I could name the man with the mace, though, as Sir Gaevin Trantpenny. From a knightly House sworn to Lord Blackling. After a moment Sir Mont managed to get a second of extra relief and pushed his whole body with shield first into the landed knight and shoved him to the ground. He got up and delivered a kick to his head; causing the man to yield.
As I expected Sir Pennyrose was already battered and out. So was Count Rosestyck’s son and a handful of wandering knights and several landed knights. The peasants cheered loudly on their favorites, on the man they had bet coin on.
I hadn’t spotted Lord Pennyrose yet so out of curiosity I threw my eyes over the nobles sitting to our left and right. Though I didn’t see the old lord I saw his wife of two years back, a young girl did not know her name but she hailed from House Sweetwater which and had been a lady-in-waiting to Myna before her marriage to Lord Pennyrose.
My attention left the melee when a serving girl handed out goblets of apple ale to me and my family. No doubt she had been called up by one of us. Either way I accepted the goblet and turned my attention back to the melee. I tried to see who of renown was still in it. lord Ward was out, as was Sir Orkwood, Destrian and Claire Blackling was out; leaving only Aegon out of the three siblings. Left in the melee was the Wild Storm, Leopold the Lion, Sir Mont, Aegon, Sir Gaevin Trantpenny, five other landed knights and three wandering knights. The Wild Storm brought his Longsword down so hard he cracked one of the latter’s round shield in two. The black Drakesbreath caused a crack in the man’s sword. Seeing his shield destroyed and his sword soon to follow he yielded. I knew that Drakesbreath was stronger than steel but it surprised me it would crack it. Perhaps that was when wielded by the Wild Storm rather than the rule. At the same time a wandering knight had brought down Sir Mont and no doubt given him some bruises. He was a man of raven hair and a goatee. He had a Reiklander look to him, but I could be wrong.
Myna was squeezing the arms of her comfy throne had as Sir Mont’s squire and another knight helped him off the field. He had bested three men, though, and that was pretty impressive for a young knight. It didn’t help her worry though.
Within a minute the number of men standing was ten. Nine of them would be rewarded two silver coins, the tenth three coins of gold. Three hundred coins. It was a high and impressive sum. None of these wandering knights had seen a gold coin for a long time I presumed.
Leopold the Lion beat a wandering knight that had swung a battleaxe and the elven knight striked Sir Poe the Witty’s Helm and staggered him. He dealt another blow to his shoulder and left serious dents in the armor, and it looked painful. Sir Trantpenny beat the only other landed knight still on the field. It was a man I could not speak of which lord he served.
Now it was my friend Aegon against the elf, Sir Trantpenny against the man with the appearance of a Reiklander and a three-way between a man called Sir Uther the Quick, Leopold the Lion and the Wild Storm who off course was larger and taller than anyone else that had participated in the melee. Sir Uther the Quick wielded two Arming swords and striked at Leopold with great speed, but the lord’s shield blocked his strikes and the Wild Storm brought down his sword and impacted Sir Uther’s right hand and I swore I could hear the bones in his hand turning to flour. Needless to say he fell to his knees and screamed. There was no need for him to declare he yielded and the two lords were honorable men and left him be to face each other fully. Unfortunately Aegon seemed to have met his match. The elf was swift on his feet and danced around Aegon and struck him with his foreign sword. A Khopesh of Obsidian. When his hits struck home Aegon’s armor protected him from any injuries. The olive skinned elf switched tactic and went for Aegon’s helm and hit hard and quick when it landed. Since he didn’t have a helm himself his swift feet was the only thing that kept Aegon from dealing a finishing blow. Though, it appeared Aegon drew blood and scarred his cheek between the blows. Than a blow struck home and Aegon fell forward after a hard hit in his back. The blade must’ve penetrated the back plate.
As I had watched the two men dance my husband leaned in.
“I think the elf has this one.”
“No. The Wild Storm will win,” I disagreed with certainty.
Sir Trantpenny had lost his tilt with the Reiklander-looking knight and Leopold the Lion had lost to the Wild Storm. I almost wish I had bet coin on him.
“What is Sir Javen. If I’m right he’s the man they call the Dishonorable,” my Carstein-born husband answered.
Left was the elf, Sir Javen and Lord Storm. The all faced each other. The commoners cheered loudly. Most of them cheered for the Wild Storm, but a few for Sir Javen. I heard none cheering the elf. Speaking of which, he moved first. He sprinted towards the Wild Storm and quickly closed the distance. It looked like he would swing Sistersbane and the elf dodged accordingly, however, to my shock and awe he brought his shield to bear and slammed it into the elf, knocking him to the ground hard. He did not move and appeared unconscious. That left Sir Javen. He put up a valiant fight but after a dozen blows from the Wild Storm he was on his knees and had lost his shield. The Wild Storm than stopped and stared at him. Sir Javen yielded and left the lord of House Storm as the victorious party. To my count he defeated eleven opponents.
I approached the pavilion with the colors of House Pennyrose. Blue and pink and yellow. Their banner sat on top of it and a strong gush of wind straightened it. Divided blue and pink edged by yellow and four black castles, one for each castle they owned. The majority of Houses couldn’t brag about that. I was followed by a member of the Kingsguards. Our bodyguard order comprised of the best knights in the kingdom, all sworn off their House allegiances and family ties and all rights to inherit. I had decided to meet the new Lady Pennyrose.
The Kingsguards were easily recognized by their purple cloak, different then the Royal Guards red, and their white plated armor and golden details vines across. In their scabbard they had longswords with a golden pommel and cross-guard. Their name was an obvious one, they were the kings guards, or the queen in this case, and only obeyed my mother and in extend me and my sisters. There had been some argument in decades past that they should be called the Queensguard, but the name was tradition and my grandmother Queen Lionella had refused to change the name.
Two House guard stood guard outside the pavilion. The bowed to me and one of them informed the Pennyroses inside that I was coming. He came out again and bowed, gesturing for me to enter. I felt it rude to simply march on it, even though I could without issue. Inside I met Sir Peter Pennyrose and Lady Pennyrose. She curtsied and the skinny Sir Peter kneeled. My eyes glanced to her belly for a single second, curious if she was pregnant as the rumor went. I couldn’t tell though.
“Your highness,” the young fiery red head greeted. “Hail.”
“Hail, both of you,” I greeted.
“I am Lady Jeyne Pennyrose, formerly of Sweetwater. You saw Peter fighting in the melee earlier,” she introduced herself and the skinny man. Perhaps she believed I had forgotten her. The young sixteen year old was dressed in velvet. His armor had been removed by his squire.
“How are you fairing Sir Peter?” I asked warmly.
“I, fine your highness. A few bruises,” he answered sheepishly.
“You fought very well,” Lady Jeyne told him softly. It was a bit strange that Sir Peter’s stepmother was a year younger than him I thought.
“She’s right. For your first melee you did well. Not everyone can say they bested anyone at all. The knight you bested cannot boast of besting anyone,” I added my two coppers. “Lord Pennyrose should be proud.”
Sir Peter sheepishly bowed and spoke, “Th-thank you. I am honored you think so.”
I smiled and my eyes shifted to Lady Jeyne. She was fifteen and married when she was thirteen. I had been lucky enough to marry a man my age, but she married a man more than three times her age. Naturally I would have done the same if it was required of me, but luckily it wasn’t.
After the melee had ended Myna had immediately gone to see if Sir Mont was okay, which he was. Some bruises and scars only. All payments had been dealt with, almost. Aegon had accused the elf, who I now knew was named Li-Soo, of using magic to enhanced his blade with fire to break through his back armor. The armor had enough evidence on the matter in the cut. A Mage that had been serving my House had confirmed that Aegon was true in his accusation. Therefor the elf lost the two silver coins he had won and both his horses was seized.
“I know there’s a healer that can take care of those bruises and scars in an hour or so,” I suggested.
“Thank you, but we have a healer back in Rosenfort Castle,” Lady Jeyne replied. She looked at her stepson who had a sheepish smile on his face. “He would like his father to see that he fought at his best and took a beating before yielding. He wants to earn Frost. That’s the Pennyrose family sword.”
“I can understand that,” I sympathized. “I’m going to leave you to your own devices.”
“Good day your highness,” Lady Jeyne said, and curtsied. “It is always an honor to speak with you.”
Sir Peter nodded to her. “Same your highness.”
I decided to find Myna and check up on her. I hadn’t gotten far when Dawn paced over to me with a smile on her face.
“Hi, so…anything interesting?”
I just arched a questioning eyebrow.
“With the Pennyroses?”
She nodded, “Aye. I noticed you entering their pavilion and hoped you could confirm an old whisper.”
I gestured for the Kingsguard following to remain a few paces away.
“Like?”
She leaned in closer and we stopped.
“I have had it whispered that Lord Pennyrose is disappointed with his sons both. Peter prefers reading and writing and the eldest ran off to join the Mace Circle, even prefers it there. So he marries again, that being Jeyne Sweetwater, to raise some new sons to lead House Pennyrose after him.”
“Hmm.” There was something that might fit in with that. I put an arm around my friends shoulders. “Sir Peter is trying to prove himself to get the family sword.”
Her eyes shined up in excitement.
“Which would make since since he would give the sword to his heir and if it isn’t him he might want to prove himself the right choice,” Dawn theorized.
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