Fall Into My Arms (Short Hiatus)

14. Jousting

Katherine

That morning, several hundred souls had gathered in the tournament field for entertainment in jousting. The sound of many trumpets that morning gave the ears of the princess much irritation. Besides the trumpets, the last thing the girl wanted to hear were the sounds of many voices shouting like wild hogs wanting a piece of mud.

"There is none such as a good jousting tournament to help the morale of this kingdom," stated the king to his daughter. "The last time we held an event such as this was right before The Great Plague entered our land. Though your mother never cared much for the sport and always discouraged it." His words were followed by a few coughs and a whiff of one heavy breath.

"Perhaps this kingdom would hold greater morale if you were a better leader."

Amongst an uproarious crowd, the king showed no desire to argue with the princess. Such an argument would be a good waste of energy. No, he had other things he wanted to discuss with her and ignored the upsetting comment. 

"I have good news. Darrian the prince of Oakwood will likely arrive earlier than expected. I have been told he may arrive here on Thursday morning. This gives you additional time to spend time with him and grow comfortable with the idea of marrying him. I am truly excited to see what happens."

Before Katherine could respond, she witnessed one of the knights with all of his might use his lance to throw the other knight onto the ground. The poor knight lost much of his armor. Everyone in the crowd gasped at this great and unexpected sight. The king could not help but smile and clap.

"I am sure the breath of the prince tastes like dog vomit. I cannot wait to share a lifetime of kissing."

"Katherine," the king sighed. "Must you compare everything you hate to dog vomit? Can you not see this as a great opportunity for you? Has God not commanded us to be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth?"

Yes, she knew full well it was certainly a command from God, but surely there was no command stating she must marry the prince of Oakwood. With this in mind, she had no interest in responding to her father. She had much more on her mind. Had Davian arrived at the beach? She could not bear to think of what he must be feeling thinking she would never show her face that morning. Was it possible she would never see the boy again? With little interest in the tournament, she placed her sight on the ground. The king did not mind that his daughter had no response to the later question for he had joined the crowd in an exciting moment that required great applause.

"Easy girl, easy," commanded one of the knights nearby who appeared to be struggling with their horse. "You are a horse, not an ass. No reason to make this harder than it should be."

In an instant, Katherine's head lifted up from the ground. That voice was without doubt a recognizable voice. It could not be. Could it? Yes, it was indeed the voice of Davian. For whatever reason, the boy thought it a good idea to participate in the jousting tournament. Soon before long, Davian and the other knight had come racing towards one another. This could not go well, for it seemed Davian struggled to properly use a lance. It was clear, the boy was doing everything possible to aim for the opponent's shield. Wham! Surely enough, Davian was whiffed to the ground.

"I would like to joust against that losing knight," stated Katherine without thought.

"I beg pardon?" asked the king.

"I want to joust against the losing knight. Right now." Yes, she was surprising herself.

"My daughter, you know this is against jousting rules. You cannot decide to enter a tournament that is already in progress. Perhaps another time."

"I think not." Another surprise came when Katherine turned to the crowd. "How many of you fine people would love to see me the princess enter the tournament and joust against the new fallen knight?! Can a knight truly defeat a girl, let alone the princess? Let the princess joust!"

"Let the princess joust!" responded the crowd in great chanting. "Let the princess joust!"

"Fine!" shouted the king. "Fine. Go ahead and joust. Why must you be stubborn?"

As the crowd chanted for the princess, Katherine wasted not a second in suiting up. Once this happened, Davian came alongside the female knight. The crowd continued to cheer whilst the two horses continued walking amongst each other in a circle. This walking could not last long as it would end once they came full circle. Katherine had things to say and they needed to be said quickly.

"Damn, your mad head Davian. What are you doing in this jousting tournament? Are you trying to get yourself killed? That knight nearly knocked you cold."

"A little birdy told me you would not be at the beach this morning. I figured that maybe I could find you in the garden, but I once I discovered there was a jousting tournament, I could not resist. Something inside of me felt that need to compete against other knights. A thrill you could say. A thrill that has one feeling like a noble knight."

The girl could not stop herself from laughing. "I know not of any knights that are noble. And you are a fool thinking you could do this. You lack skill in using a lance. Have you forgotten what I taught you? You must understand who your enemy is. You must know how the enemy will act before they act. And I know that I am certainly not your enemy, but this applies."

Within a moment, Katherine and Daniel were on opposite sides ready to face off against one another. Starting to feel the soreness all over his body, he dreaded the fact that he was facing off against Kassandra for it was likely she would be much more skilled compared to the knight that knocked him down.

"Know my enemy," whispered Daniel. "Know how they will act before they act."

With the crowd growing in excitement, Daniel positioned his arm and attempted to hold the long and heavy lance in the correct form. Once this was done, he breathed a few breaths with a quickly beating heart. He could not lose to a girl. If he lost to a girl, it would destroy him. It would destroy his image. Nobody would ever see him as someone great or perhaps noble. Soon enough, a loud trumpet blew and the horses ran off.

While this moment was quick, it seemed an eternity in the boy's eyes. It also seemed that his horse was faster compared to her horse. Whack! The shield he carried had been shattered and somehow his body managed to stay on the horse. The girl he knew as Kassandra hardly did much. Perhaps she was being too soft on him? Before long they were once facing off against each other for a second time.

"She will probably try to be easy on me. She will never suspect anything if I use all of my might."

With the trumpet blowing a second time, another round had begun. Daniel was sure to slow down his horse a little. With quick thought and little time, the boy used all his might to spin the lance to create a great force that would surely knock his competitor off the horse.

Whack! An unguarded stomach received a tremendous hit leaving Daniel to lose breath and fall off.

It did not take much effort for Daniel to regain breath with much of the audience wildly praising a new winner. Katherine made an effort to help the failed warrior off the ground.

"I am sure you thought I would be easy on you a second time, but I was only easy on you to trick you into thinking I would do it again a second time. I knew how you would act before you acted. If you can, meet me later this evening at the beach. I would like to read that book with you before the sun sets."

This concludes the thirteenth chapter! An exciting new chapter will arrive next Saturday! Please remember to comment and vote.

Do you hope Davian arrives early?

How do you feel about Katherine and Daniel jousting against each other?