The Kingdom of Talador

Chapter Forty-Seven

William Novett

William sat himself down in a chair in the tent and wiped sweat off of his forehead. "You're on, Parker." He said with a chuckle, dropping his helmet down onto the floor. Owen stepped over to the Prince and immediately wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "I'm alright, thanks Owen." Will said with a nod to his head.

Owen smiled towards William and backed off.

Parker chuckled and picked up his own helmet, intentionally designed to look like the Prince. "How'd you do against Seán?" He questioned.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Seán groaned from his own seat on the other end of the tent, a smile on his lips.

William glanced over towards Seán with a smile. "He did great." Will said - and it was true. Seán was a difficult opponent. There was a reason he was a knight. "I just did... better."

"I said I don't wanna talk about it!" Seán said with a laugh, pulling out his sword again from his waist - although jokingly.

Parker pushed himself up onto his feet and grinned towards both Seán and Will. "Nothing has happened so far," He said with a shrug. "I ought to believe that's a good sign."

"Hopefully." Will said, nodding his head. "Don't let your guard down, either way. Better safe than sorry." William said.

"Of course." Parker responded, pulling the helmet down over his head. He turned to look down at William. "But once we catch the assassin, you're taking me to the tavern." Parker said, knocking the Prince's leg. "I deserve to get drunk for this."

William snorted and leaned back in the chair. "Alright." He said, shaking his head slightly. "I'll buy - but just for you." William said, pointing his finger towards Parker. "The rest of the knights can buy their own."

"Ye bastard." Seán said, placing his own helmet on his lap. "I ride all the way up t'get you in Monalin and y'can't even buy me a drink?"

Will threw his hand in the air. "My father pays you." He exclaimed with a laugh and a smile. "Buy your own fucking drink."

Seán and Parker both laughed. Parker stepped forward and clapped his hand on Will's shoulder. "I'll be back in fifteen. Your next fight is in twenty minutes. Might as well use this time to relax." Parker said, tilting his head slightly. "I fight in about thirty five minutes, so make your next fight snappy."

William snorted at Parker's demand and grinned. "Yes, my lord." He said jokingly, waving his hand. "Have fun mingling. I'll see you soon, Sir Parker."

Seán and William watched as Parker stepped out of the tent. Will turned his attention over to Seán and let out a slow breath. "You did good, Seán. Honest." Will said with a smile. He knew that defeat was never an easy thing, though his knights took it well. William used to be able to take defeat well - until he got good. Cockily good.

"Shove it, Yer Arseness." Seán said with a smile. "Talk t'me when there's an archery tournament."

Ah. That... well, that might not be as easy for William against Seán. "Deal." William said with a laugh. He leaned himself back and waved over Owen to start pulling off his gear. He knew that he likely shouldn't be taking off his gear when there was an assassin out for him, however he was hot. Guards were already watching the tent like crazy - he wasn't concerned.

Until he heard shouting. Screaming. Yelling.

William jumped up onto his feet and immediately began to make his way towards the tent entrance. Seán, however, stepped in front of William and held him back. "No." Seán said firmly, his eyes narrowing. "Stay hidden." He said, stepping out of the tent.

Will listened - just long enough to step over to the table to grab his own helmet. Then, he followed out right after Seán.

Unfortunately, the guards had the same idea as Seán. They blocked William and began to push him back into the tent. Will was furious. "The hell is going on?!" William shouted, raising up his hands to push past them again.

One of the guards spoke. "The assassin was shot and is currently being held down. It's not safe for you to head out - not until we're certain there isn't another."

William scowled. "There's only one." He said with anger. Then, despite being held back by the guards, William pushed his way through. The guards reached for Will, but Will was faster. He stepped through the tent and immediately began to scan the area, taking in whatever the hell was happening.

It was quite difficult to figure out, since frantic nobles and peasants were running every other direction. To be honest, it was easier to figure out what was happening by looking at what wasn't moving.

Parker.

William had his eyes glued on Parker long enough to take in the situation. His feet moved forward for Parker faster than his brain could process. Seán tore out an arrow from Parker that happened to sneak through and hit the sliver of exposed skin by his eyes under the visor.

"Parker," Will could hear Seán speak the man's name softly as he approached. Normally, when a man was hit or injured, the knights did whatever they could to help the pain. To keep their attention and to keep them awake as long as they could to see a doctor.

...But the head?

Will slowly raised up his own visor as he stared down at Parker's still body. It wasn't a pretty sight - but all of the knights, including William, had been exposed to extremely gruesome things.

Sean reached his hand out and snapped the arrow near the base. He closed Parker's visor, likely to give the man a bit more honor by hiding the fatal wound.

At this point, William couldn't care less if there was another assassin or not. The Prince raised his hand up and pulled off his own helmet, staring down at Parker. He took a few more steps forward and knelt down next to Parker, across from Seán.

Unsurprisingly, the guards were a bit more cautious than William was of himself. Two guards made their way over to the Prince and held up shields, likely to block him from being shot by any other hidden assassins. To stop what happened to Parker from happening to him.

"My Lord, we need to move to a more covered area." A guard spoke that was currently holding up a shield.

William stiffened while staring down at Parker's body. Will reached over and unclasped his own gauntlet, dropping it onto the ground. He then leaned down to unclasp Parker's gauntlet, taking the man's bare hand in his own. He was still warm - though William knew he would be growing colder and colder in time.

"My Lord." The guard spoke again.

The last thing that William wanted to do was leave his knight. William hated to leave a man behind under any situation in the slightest. He didn't want to leave Parker behind, either. However, Parker died for William. If Will died because of this, Parker's death would have been for nothing.

Yet, William still didn't want to leave.

"M'Lord." Seán spoke this time. Will snapped his head up to look at Seán - who seemed to be holding it together just as well as William. Will knew that they both would break later. However, they would be calm now. They had to be calm now.

Yet, squatting here and holding Parker's hand, William could practically hear his father speaking in his ear. Words that he heard over and over and over again.

Lead with your head, not with your heart.

Therefore, William suppressed his emotions. He let go of Parker's hand after giving one final squeeze and stood up. Wordlessly, he began to move towards the castle and the guards followed right next to him.