Queen's Champion

Aedric prepares to take his place as the Queen's Champion for the Tournament.

26.

Queen’s Champion

 

The royal barracks were abuzz with the new knights and their squires gathering their gear for the move to the tourney field.   Aedric just wanted to get his stuff and get away from Amala.   He certainly understood protectiveness of family, but he had no idea why she seemed to think he was dangerous to her sister.  

 

Yes, it had not been a good start, but he had apologized to her.   As for seeming to share a dream; well that had to be coincidence.

Aedric hoped this day would go more smoothly.   But when he entered the barracks, he was soon recognized and to his dismay he found that his valiant act of the evening before had made him a celebrity.

 

Knights and squires gathered around him to shake his hand and inquire how he was doing.    A number of young women - mostly servants assisting the knights-  all smiled and flirted with him, batting their eyelashes and trying their best to get him to notice them.

 

He was separated from the four he had entered with, and tried to politely but firmly push through the crowd.  

By the time he arrived at his bunk, the Bugbear and Goblin had gathered all of his stuff up.

“All packed up!”  Mutt told him, gesturing to Carn, who stood holding a huge bundle.

“I have a few things in the Palace proper - where they took me last night after I was poisoned.”   He glanced over to Snoe and Amala, who stood a short distance away talking to their brother.   By Amala’s hand motions and pointing in his direction, they were talking about him.

“I’ll go get my stuff and meet you back at the Guild’s booth, alright?”

“Fine by us.  Thorm will be impatient if we don’t get back soon.   We’ll show you where you are supposed to pitch your tent when you join us.”

“That sounds fine.   Thank you, gentlemen, for your help.”

 

His politeness made both of them grin.

“You are welcome, Sir Knight.” Mutt bowed and with a motion to Carn, they hurried out of the barracks.

 

Aedric slipped through the crowd while the two Drow girls were still speaking to Gamel.   Thankfully, the guard recognized him and allowed him into the royal apartments.   The chamber maids were already about, beginning their cleaning duties.   Many of them smiled at him as he passed and he assumed that this was due to his celebrity status.

 

That will change, he thought to himself, as soon as I get unhorsed in the tournament.

His room had not yet been cleaned and it only took him a moment to collect his few things.   He wanted to get over to the Tourney grounds as quickly as possible so he wouldn’t have more awkward encounters with Duke Dullerm’s family.

 

Halfway down the stairwell he heard people coming up from the other direction.   It was Duchess Aurei, walking with one of her daughters, who was carrying a small Drow toddler.   He had no way to avoid them, and he smiled and bowed to them.

“Good Morning, Your Grace.”

Aurei smiled, “Good morning, Sir Aedric.   We were just discussing you.    How are you feeling?”

“I feel fit, Your Grace.   I intend to compete in the Tourney.   I was just returning for a few things I left in my room.”

 

The Drow Duchess turned to the pretty girl beside her, holding the baby, “Sir Aedric, I don’t know if you have met my daughter Sirya, and she is holding my youngest daughter, Aidan.”

“Lady Sirya, I am honored to meet you.”

The girl smiled pleasantly, “As am I, Sir Aedric.   I have heard that you have already proven your worthiness to the Queen.”

 

Aedric shrugged, “I did what any of the knights would have done, had they happened to see it.   I am just very thankful that Her Majesty was unharmed.”

“Yet you were stabbed.”  

“Yes, but I am well now.”

“Praise Yesh for that!”

“Yes, indeed.   Regrettably, Her Majesty named me the Queen’s Champion for the Tournament and I fear I will disappoint her.”

Sirya grinned, “I’m sure you are far better then you are letting on, Sir Aedric.   My father speaks highly of your skills.”

“Really?” He doubted this, but the girl certainly knew how to charm.

“Certainly!   If you are Sir Aeric and Lady Alis’ foster son, you will have received the very best training.”

“I am certain of that, and I will definitely try to demonstrate that this week.”  He replied humbly.

 

There came more footsteps on the stairs and the sound of another woman’s voice, “What are you doing standing in the stairwell?   Who are you talking to?   Oh, hello!”

 

To his amazement, still another Drow girl appeared from behind the others and pushed them out of the way slightly to meet him.   She was extremely lovely, with long flowing silvery white hair and beautiful eyes.   She wore an expensive purple dress that looked to have been made for a Princess.   It highlighted her gorgeous shape.   She extended a graceful hand to him.

“I am Aranthi.   And you are?”

“Uh… Aedric, m’lady.” He stammered, feeling extremely awkward around the regal girl.  Her name was High Elven for ‘Honey Flower’ and he could see why she was so named.

“Ah!   You are the Queen’s Champion!” She smiled prettily, but her eyes flirted with a look that made him blush.

“Well, I am for today.” He replied, hypnotized by her eyes.

“From what I hear, you deserve the title.   Tell me, Sir Aedric;  are you carrying any lady’s favor into the tournament?”

“uh… well, as Queen’s Champion, I don’t think that would be respectful to Her Majesty to carry a token from any lady.   I wouldn’t want to make her jealous.”  He was bewildered to find that he was actually flirting back with her.

 

She smiled, “That of course is proper.   I’m sure there are quite a few ladies who would love to give you their favor.”

 

Aedric couldn’t believe the lovely girl would say such suggestive things around (he assumed) her mother and sisters.   His face reddened, “ I doubt I’m worthy of any lady’s favor.”

 

There came some shuffling from behind Aranthi and he heard Amala’s voice, “Hey sis, did you know he’s actually a Prince?”

 

The comment was meant to stir things up for her amusement and Duchess Aurei and Sirya both frowned upon hearing her words.

Aranthi looked surprised, “Really?   You’re a Prince?!”

“No, I’m afraid she’s mistaken.   I’m only a knight. Now if you will excuse me ladies, I need to get over to the tournament field to set up my tent.”

 

Hoping that it wouldn’t appear rude, he pushed past them and headed down the stairs, locking eyes for a moment with the short-haired Drow girl who smirked at his look.

 

He could hear Duchess Aurei reprimanding her daughter in a whisper as he quickly fled the scene.

 

***

 

He joined the exodus of new knights carrying their supplies over to the tourney camping ground and Aedric was very glad that he was away from the Westmark Drow.  

What a family they were!    He no longer hated them, for that had been removed, much to his relief, by Yesh.   But they did make him feel very uncomfortable and -for some reason- very self-conscious.

 

From what he could remember being told, the Queen’s Champion at events like this was mainly a ceremonial job.   He would be expected to ‘issue a challenge’ to anyone with any ill will toward the Queen.  

Rarely, he’d been told, would someone step forward to take up the challenge, but if they did, he’d be expected to fight the challenger for the Queen’s honor.   The challenger could choose the form of combat too.  

 

Though there had been an assassination attempt made against her, Aedric doubted someone would boldly come forth publicly and proclaim their dissatisfaction with the extremely popular Queen.  After all, the challenge, even if won by the challenger, would not remove the Queen, it would only disgrace her and her champion.

 

So his job as Queen’s Champion would probably just consist of opening the tourney.   At least this is what he hoped.

 

As he walked across the tourney field, he was amazed at how many tents were going up.   There would be probably 100 knights from all over the world participating in the tournament.   He wandered around for a while trying to find where his camping spot would be, but thankfully after a short time he heard his name called.   He turned to find Thorm, accompanied by two younger Dwarves, rushing up to him.

“Where in thunder have ye been?   We’ve got little time to suit ye up for the jousting tournament!”   The Dwarf grabbed him by the arm and hurried him down the field.

“But the Jousting won’t start until later in the afternoon.”

“Aye, but I looked at your jousting armor!   Ha!  Ye would be knocked off your horse by a stout wind in that!   I can’t believe Duke Eleazar would fit his lads out in such pitiful jousting armor!   We took some measurements from your suits of armor, but they don’t replace measuring ye in person.”

“Carn’s got a pile of possible matches at my booth, so it’s off with ye lad!   Ye are representing the Dwarven Armorer’s Guild, and I’ll be hanged if I’ll have ye a-lookin’ like a peasant knight!”

 

They pushed him along, while Thorm introduced his two sons, Beyon and Darv.  “Named them after my dad, and dear old Brother Darv, Yesh rest his soul!” He explained, and the two younger Dwarves nodded politely as they hurried him along.    

 

Aedric had never seen Dwarves moving so fast, but then again, their business interests were at stake.   They rushed into the Armorer’s Guild booth that he had visited the day before.   He didn’t see Snoe - or anyone- at the forges, but they did not seem concerned.   Instead they rushed him into the very tent where he had had his poor encounter with Snoe.  

 

In the center of the tent was a pile of heavy plate armor of various types, while assorted gauntlets and leg pieces were laid out on a long table in the middle.

 

Thorm pushed him up on a stool and immediately his two sons produced measuring tapes and began to buzz around him measuring parts of his body as they growled for him to stand still and keep his arms out straight. 

They would call out a measurement to Thorm, and this would lead to the elder Dwarf mumbling to himself as he rummaged through the various suits.

“Well?”  Darv finally asked his father.

“Patience, boy.   He’s about the height of the Duke, but he’s got Wood Elf in him, so he’s a wee bit thicker!”

“How’d you know that?”  He asked Thorm.

“I spoke to the Duchess this morning - I always want to know about the knights servin’ under my banner.   I know your Grandfather quite well, lad!”

“You do?”

“Aye, King Travin is one of our best customers for our arrowheads.   He also buys quite a bit of our gauntlets and shields.”

“I’ve never met him.”  Aedric said, suddenly feeling somber at the thought of family members who he had never been allowed to see.   His mother’s father, a King of the Sylvan Elves and yet his father had kept him and his mother from ever visiting them.

“I’m sorry to hear that, lad.   We’re goin’ on a tradin’ visit after the tournament week; ye ought to come with us and meet him.”

 

He nodded, though he wasn’t sure just what he would do.   The Dwarf seemed to understand his mood and moved onward with the conversation.

“You see, we’ve been a-workin’ on a type of plate armor that is more systemized and adjustable, rather than just fitted for one person.   For somethin’ like jousting, there’d be additional plates and pieces that could be fitted and locked in to strengthen the existing armor.”

 

Thorm held up one of the armor pieces, “Take this piece here: it has to be fitted for a knight, but if we could design one that would be adjustable in length and width, we could mass produce them.”

“So am I going to wear a prototype of this armor?”

“No; at least not this week.   But we have been a-workin’ on different alloys and designs that deflect the force of a blow with more efficiency.   Ye will be wearing some of that type.  ‘Tis very strong, but light; it’s an alloy of Adamantium and Mithril.   ‘Tis as light as Aluminum, but stronger than most Adamantium ore.”

 

“’Tis very difficult to craft as the melting point is so high, ye have to have a magical fire to mix the alloy.   But thankfully we were a-thinkin’ of Elf sized men when we cast the prototypes.  So ye will have the strongest and lightest armor that any knight could wear that wasn’t magical.   Ye know the prohibition against all sorts of magic during the tourney, don’t ye?”

 

“Yes, it is supposed to even up everyone.   There’ll be a score of mages serving as judges that will cast detect magic spells over each contestant before each match, to prevent cheaters.”

“Aye, so we worked on creating a suit of armor that mimicked magical protection, but without any enchantment.”

Thorm grinned, “We achieved that goal, lad, that I can assure ye.”

 

“I still need to get my tent put up and find me a squire.”

“’Tis all taken care of!”

“Even a squire?”

“Everything, lad!   Don’t ye worry about it.   Now let’s try these pieces on ye, and then I’ll take ye to your tent and let ye see for yourself.”

Aedric didn’t ask any more questions and let the three Dwarves do their work in peace.   Thankfully, they were very quick and Thorm’s eye was perfect.   Soon he was standing before an expensive full-length mirror marveling at the extreme light weight of a gleaming silver suit of Plate Armor that fit him remarkably well.

 

They didn’t ask him if he cared for it or not (and fortunately he did), but they seemed very aware of keeping a time schedule.   Soon he was being led by the old Dwarf up the tourney field, still wearing the silver armor.

 

Many knights looked fascinated at how quickly and easily he moved in the full plate armor suit, but he just ignored their stares and forced himself to focus on preparing for the joust.

Reviews

[Elina]

"The royal barracks was abuzz..." I think you were wanting "were," rather than "was."

[Eddie Davis]

Quite right, thank you, Elina.