Chapter 7: Sarah Gets the Jitters, part 1

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CHAPTER 7:

SARAH GETS THE JITTERS, PART 1:

Sarah could feel the bile rising up her throat as she stared at the scene below from her bedchamber window.

Outside sprawling across the empty fields, beyond the manor compound, was a city of colorful tents. It had sprung up virtually overnight.

They had begun to arrive a few days ago. At first Sarah had been intrigued by the sight of countless carriages and carts overflowing with people following small armies of knights holding onto intricate banners sitting atop mighty warhorses. The tournament that Sarah had assumed to be some game had turned out to be a massive affair. Every single day droves of peasants, serfs and local villagers had been congregating to the manor like moths to a flame. There was a palpable sense of anticipation in the air breathing new life into the inhabitants of the Barons estate.

 Sarah had tried hard not to get caught up in the excitement but even she had found it impossible to ignore the sheer spectacle of a medieval tournament. Outside people had been erecting colorful tents for days now. Large wooden pavilions and stands had been set up for the spectators beyond the boundary wall. Even from up here in her room Sarah could see the makeshift market that had mushroomed into a busy bazaar with hawkers and stalls selling God only knows what to the burgeoning population of tent city.

 Inside the manor everyone was in overdrive none more so than Lady Catherine herself, within a mere week she had presided over the most amazing transformation. There were new rushes in the great hall, more benches and stools had been added to accommodate yet more people while the tapestries on the walls had been dusted and battered into shape. Every inch of the Manor house had been scrubbed and cleaned until it shone.

Last night Glenda had informed Sarah excitedly about the scores of jesters and minstrels that had already arrived to entertain the guests. Many more were yet to come; Sarah found that hard to believe. The manor was already teeming with people, meal times had descended into outright chaos. And these were just the Barons own soldiers and local guests, Sarah dreaded to think what would happen when all the participating knights came to dinner.

 Tonight was the first time Sarah would actually get to meet the competing knights in person. The head honchos among them had been invited by the Baron for a pre tournament feast in the great hall.

Tonight she would have to sit at the head table with her parents and let everyone else present have a good long look at her.  Sarah hated being made to feel like an object on display but she had agreed to this farce after all and she would have to see it through whether she liked it or not.

Unfortunately she hadn’t taken into account the true ramifications of her impulsive decision.

Contrary to her beliefs a medieval tourney wasn’t like any run of the mill football game. It could last several days and if Benedict was to be believed could very quickly descend into an utter bloodbath. Benedict had told her many horror stories of what could happen in a tourney and Sarah was dreading the prospect of spending her days sitting in some goddamn pavilion, sweating under the hot Sun to cheer on a bunch of idiots hacking each other to death.

She had spotted them training in the lists and walking about outside but up until this point her mother had made doubly sure that Sarah didn’t cross within a hundred meters of any amorous knight. The few times she had actually been allowed to step outside had descended into complete madness.

She had to be accompanied by every single one of her crazy lady’s maids and the chattering magpies had almost driven her out of her mind. They were like toddlers in a candy store drooling over the stocky men strutting about the Manor grounds.

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