Chapter One #3
“Stephan will have their hides if they do anything foolish today,” she replied. “He and your father have endeavored to make this a successful day.”
Summer shrugged, rising from her crouched position and moving across the battlement to the opposite side. Genisa followed and from their perch upon the wall, they could see beyond the fortress into the green countryside beyond.
“Look,” Summer pointed into the distance. “Stephan is riding out to greet another party.”
Genisa shielded her blue eyes from the brilliant sun. “I cannot see the standards from here. They’re too far out.”
Summer smiled faintly. “That should be the last of the guests. The tourney is scheduled to b-begin in two hours.” Forgetting about the incoming party, her smile blossomed into a radiant gesture. “I have never seen a tourney, Nise. I can hardly stand the excitement!”
Genisa grinned. “It’s a wonderful spectacle of arrogance and humiliation. I have seen Stephan compete in at least six.”
“And he won every b-bout?”
“Every bout, as you well know. Stephan does not lose.” Genisa grasped her sister-in-law by the hand, pulling her toward the portion of the battlement that straddled the portcullis.
“We can see the incoming party better from here. If this is indeed the last group, then we must ready ourselves for the afternoon of competition.”
“And f-food,” Summer said eagerly. “I have b-been smelling roast beef all morn.”
“Me, too,” Genisa giggled, waving one of the tunic-clad men-at-arms away from the spot she wished to gaze from.
The tournament field in the near distance was revealed, several of the guests having already established small tents about the perimeter, and the two women found their attention occupied by the colorful display of shelters.
“Look at all of the tents, Summer. There must be hundreds.”
Summer cocked a well-shaped eyebrow as she totaled the sea of tents. “I count eighteen. B-but we certainly may have one hundred before the day is through.”
Unaware that she had been subtly corrected, Genisa continued to stare out over the bright turf as the flags of various houses were secured to the lodges.
One hundred or eighteen was all the same to her; unlike her intelligent sister-in-law, Genisa could not read or write or calculate numbers.
The fine arts of needlework and music and painting were all she had ever been required to learn.
Suddenly, her bright expression faded. When Summer glanced at her sister-in-law to say something to the woman, she noted the change in countenance.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“There’s the Kerry tent,” she replied, indicating the fanciful shelter of yellow and white. “Good Heavens, I wish they hadn’t been invited. I do not know why Stephan insisted on inviting Breck Kerry and his stupid brother.”
Summer gazed at the brilliantly colored tarp, its towering standard snapping loudly in the breeze. “Isn’t he the knight who b-broke Stephan’s wrist last year?” she asked.
Genisa nodded grimly. “He’s an unscrupulous knight.
Stephan says his tactics are foul and questionable, but his peers tolerate him because his father was a great knight for King Richard the Lion Heart.
” Pensively, she sighed and leaned forward on the parapet.
“I wish he hadn’t come. I shall worry terribly about Stephan now. ”
Summer’s gaze drifted over the other tents surrounding the tournament field, an area coming alive with guests and knights and ladies in fine clothing.
“Stephan and F-father invited all of the knights on the circuit, men Stephan and Ian have competed against for several years. It would be unfair to invite some and not others for this celebration.”
“I know, I know,” Genisa sighed unhappily. “Still, I wish he had somehow managed to exclude Breck. I do not want him here.”
Summer smiled, attempting to alleviate Genisa’s fears. “Not to worry, darling,” she said soothingly. “Stephan is the b-best knight on the circuit, is he not?”
Genisa shrugged carelessly, her chin in her hand as she leaned forward on the stone ledge.
“So he says,” she muttered. “I have only heard him mention a few others, men who give him steady competition. There is one knight I have heard him mention above all others, a man who… look there!” As usual, Genisa had difficulty maintaining her concentration for any length of time and she stabbed her finger into the air, pointing to the road that moved through the town and snaked towards the mighty fortress.
“Look at all of the knights in that party. Five in all.”
Summer studied the approaching party, beginning their ascent up the wide pebbled road towards Chaldon.
She could see the five knights in immaculate armor, riding chargers that were heavy with battle armor.
A collection of men-at-arms accompanied them, as well as a wagon, a few servants, and a tiny man riding a mule.
Strangely, there were no women to attend the party and Summer found her interest strangely peaked by the all-male retinue.
“There aren’t any ladies with them,” she said to Genisa. “And look at the standard; black and silver and white. Good Lord, what sort of b-beast is that on the banner? I have never seen such an animal b-before.”
Genisa shook her head, her blue eyes narrowed at the approaching group. “Stephan is riding escort,” she murmured, attempting to decipher the beast emblazoned across the massive standard. “I have seen the banner before. But, for the life of me, I cannot remember who it belongs to.”
“Someone great?”
Faintly, Genisa nodded. “Someone great, I am sure. But I am not sure….”
Her words were abruptly cleaved by a howling roar.
Genisa and Summer screamed loudly with surprise and fear, turning in the direction of the harrowing cry.
The battlements were practically devoid of soldiers; however, closing in on the ladies with malevolent intent were two armored bodies with the mask of a dead pig where a helmed head should have been.
As the ladies gaped with shock, the pig-masked assailants roared again, fingers clawing at the air. Not surprisingly, Summer and Genisa decided the battlement was no longer the ideal place to linger and they wisely scattered. Lance and Ian had made their appearance and the game was afoot.