Chapter 15
“Raven, there are a bunch of the tents goin’ up outside the castle walls,” Lark reported the next day, looking out the open window of the bedchamber. “Some of those men look pretty handsome from here. Come take a look.”
“That’s nice,” said Raven, not caring at all.
“Dinna ye want to see? Oh, look at that one walkin’ right under our window.” Lark giggled and waved.
“Get away from the window,” snapped Raven, marching over and getting ready to close it. She stopped when she looked over to the practice yard and noticed Jonathon getting atop his horse. “What is Jonathon doing?”
“Where?” asked Lark, stretching her neck, peering out the window.
“He’s over there. In the tiltyard,” she said. “It looks like he’s about to... to joust. With Rook.”
“Really?” asked Lark excitedly. “I want to see how good he is.”
They watched as Rook and Jonathon jousted.
After several passes, Jonathon was evenly tied with Rook, who was the castle’s best when it came to the sport.
It was unbelievable that a common man could go up against a knight and hold his own.
It was just as unbelievable that her father and brother would allow Jonathon to joust, with all these competitors arriving for the tournament.
Rook seemed to be friends with Jonathon now, and any gossip she’d heard earlier about favoring Jonathon seemed to have dissipated.
“He’s pretty good, Raven, wouldna ye say?”
“Aye, he is,” she said, impressed with Jonathon’s skills. “Anyone who can match my brother deserves to be a knight, or at least one of my father’s guards.”
“I’m surprised they’re lettin’ Jonathon joust. After all, that’s only for knights. Everyone was already gossipin’ about him, and this will only make matters worse.”
“Yes,” said Raven. “However, it seems my brother has become good friends with Jonathon and favors him. Rook always had a way with the rest of the nobles, so he has probably convinced them to accept Jonathon as well.”
“Well, I hope his favorin’ a commoner isna goin’ to cause trouble with the rest of the competitors arrivin’ for the tournament.”
“Jonathon is only practicing, not competing,” Raven pointed out. “I’m sure it doesn’t really matter.” As Raven watched Jonathon in awe, she wished more than anything that he was really competing in the tournament, and that he would be the one to win her hand in marriage.
“Are you ready?” called out Jonathon from the other side of the practice field in town later that day.
He sat atop his horse with a lance in hand.
There was a short wooden fence serving as the list which they would use so they wouldn’t collide.
Raven was so excited to finally be jousting for real.
The best part was that she’d finally convinced Jonathon to go up against her.
“I am ready,” she called back, touching her new breastplate Jonathon had constructed.
She also wore the plackart and coverings for her forearms and shins.
She didn’t have the complete set of armor yet, but she didn’t really need it all.
She also refused to wear the heavy man’s helm while she waited for her own to be finished.
“Shouldn’t you be wearing armor, too? Or at least a mail shirt?
” she called out, since he wasn’t protecting his body from potential harm in any way.
“Nay, I’m fine. I won’t get hurt. I’m wearing a padded gambeson, so don’t worry.”
He was wearing one, but she could see that he hadn’t bothered to fasten the ties on the front, so it still exposed part of his chest.
“I don’t know how you can say that. This is a dangerous sport and you need to be protected.
” She’d seen him wearing armor when they’d practiced at the castle just that morning.
Why would he be so flippant about wearing some now?
She knew he had his own armor that he wore when the knights went up against him to test out theirs.
The only reason she could think of was that he didn’t really believe she’d be able to hit him.
Well, she would show him how wrong he was.
“Raven, I’m fine. Now, ready, set, go!” He took off atop his horse, barreling toward her before she could object. She had no choice but to do the same.
She aimed her lance, feeling tense since she was sure he’d knock his into her and she wasn’t sure if it would hurt. After all, when she’d watched him practice, Jonathon broke several lances against her brother.
“Oh, oh, this is scary,” she said softly.
She wasn’t frightened when she practiced swordplay, or even when she worked with other weapons.
This, on the other hand, was something that frightened her to death.
She’d seen what happened to other knights during a joust when they were hurt, and it wasn’t a pretty sight.
Raven only hoped for the best now because she had no idea what to expect.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Jonathon,” she shouted as they got closer.
“You won’t,” he yelled back. “Now aim, and hit me, damn it.”
“All right.” She tried to steady the wobbly lance and aim for his chest. It was a real trick to hold up the weight while moving.
It was also difficult to even move or breathe wearing this armor.
Controlling a horse under her at the same time was taking all her concentration.
“Here it goes,” she said, reaching out with the lance as he got closer, bracing herself to be hit at the same time.
Surprisingly, his lance only glanced the side of her armor, and she didn’t think she even hit him at all. But when she turned to look, she saw Jonathon had lost his balance, and was struggling to stay atop his horse.
“Did I do that?” she asked in surprise, stopping the horse and turning back. Avery watched from the side.
“That was good, Raven,” Jonathon told her. “Just try to aim for my chest,” he told her. “You are just a little off.”
“All right, but if you at least had a shield, I wouldn’t feel so bad about hitting that,” she answered, trying it once more.
This time, she felt as if the tip of her lance actually touched him, but it didn’t seem like it hit him hard.
She didn’t feel his lance on her at all.
When she looked back, he was pulling himself back up atop the horse, looking like he’d almost fallen off.
“Good, good,” he called out. “You almost unseated me. I wasn’t expecting that. Once more and I think you’ll have it.”
“Really? That quickly?” she asked, thinking something was odd here. “I didn’t even feel you hit me, Jonathon. You’re not holding back, are you?”
“Mayhap just a little, but I won’t this time.”
“All right. Good. Neither will I.” As she readied the lance, she saw Avery and Jonathon smiling at each other.
It was then that she realized they were playing with her.
She had seen Jonathon joust. He was damned good.
He must only be pretending to be hit by her, because she knew for a fact she didn’t hit him with enough force to almost knock him off his horse twice now. What the hell was he doing?
Angry with the men for fooling her in this manner, she decided this time she would be the one laughing in the end. She was going to hit him with all her might. Hell, she might just break the lance while she was at it. Either way, this time he would know for sure that she hit him.
As they rode toward each other with their lances held high, her anger got the best of her. This time, she put all her weight into the jab, making sure she smashed him dead center on his chest.
“Ooomph,” she heard at the same time his lance hit her in the chest too.
The tip of her lance shattered. She received a harder blow from Jonathon than she’d expected.
She fell back in the saddle, dropping the pole.
It wasn’t easy to keep riding since it was hard to right herself wearing the armor.
Raven lost her balance and couldn’t recover. Unfortunately, she fell to the ground.
“Damn it!” she shouted, pushing up to her knees and brushing herself off. When she looked back at Jonathon, he was lying on the ground too, not moving. “You can get up now and stop pretending. I know what you’re doing and I don’t like it.”
“Jonathon! Are you all right?” Avery ran over to his brother.
“Oh, stop the acting,” she spat, still angry with the men.
“He didn’t even bother to wear armor or tie his gambeson closed because he didn’t think I’d ever hit him.
His phony act of falling off the horse is not believable either.
” When she heard him moan again, and Avery called out for their mother, Raven suddenly realized that mayhap Jonathon wasn’t acting after all.
She might have really hurt him. “Jonathon? Jonathon!” she cried, running to him, stopping short when she saw the pain on his face.
“What’s the matter?” asked his mother, coming from the house with Estrilda. “Oh, no! He’s hurt. Crispin, Jonathon is hurt!” She ran over to her son.
“Jonathon, talk to me,” cried Raven, falling to her knees. Tears streamed from her eyes.
“You’re better than I thought you’d be,” he answered, feigning a smile and then wincing in pain. “I think I should have worn protection after all. These wooden splinters are going to be hell to remove.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she apologized. “When I realized you were only making me think I was doing a good job when I wasn’t, I became angry. After all, I saw how accomplished you are at the joust when you practiced with my brother this morning.”
“Oh, damn. You were watching?”
“Yes, I was. That is why I know you are only doing this to make me want to stop jousting.”
“You unhorsed me, if you didn’t notice. That part was real. Help me up, Avery,” said Jonathon.
“Nay. You might have bruised a rib. Don’t move,” warned his mother.
“The only thing bruised is his pride,” chuckled Avery, helping Jonathon to his feet.
“Jonathon? What the hell is going on?” asked Crispin, hurrying from the house with Heathcliff and Gerold right behind him.