King's Conquest (The Crown of Estoir)

~~The Royal Peasant (4)~~

Arianna peeked through her fingers as she watched Jay collapsed on the ground. The crowd jeered and stamped their feet, roaring their approval at the victor, Lord Rai, son of Baron Thorra—another general of the Royal Guard.

Many booed when Jay was carted off from the arena. She winced at how her friend had been knocked unconscious. It was a miracle he had lasted this long.

Oh, she had hoped that somehow, he would stun them into silence while she would gloat in vindictive pleasure. Imagine a champion who was a commoner. It would have silenced the naysayers, even his brethren.

"He will be alright in a day or two," Lady Emma assured her.

"How do you know?" she groaned into her hands, muffling her voice.

"Lord Rai was the last year's winner. Believe me, when I say this, he was easy on your sentry friend." She clapped along with others as Lord Rai thrust his sword in the air, signalling his triumph.

"Really!" Her eyes widened. If this was Lord Rai's idea of mercy, she hated to think about what he was like on the battlefield.

Arianna had never paid attention to the tournament, where warriors plied their skills over many days for the crowd's amusement. Violence did not appeal to her; hence she had not bothered keeping track of the brave men who participated.

The chants of 'Commander' started to rouse the crowd into a euphoric frenzy. Arianna glanced down from the stand where she sat with Lady Emma. The other ladies sat well away from her. Her sun-kissed skin stood in such a contrast from their pale ones that she felt the eyes of many others from all around.

"The Commander is favourite to win this year. It's a good thing he didn't go on the tour." Lady Emma gushed in excitement. "Oh, what would I give to kiss him. Just once. He is so virile. I wish I were the Maiden of the tournament."

"I thought you were pining for Lord Rai," she said dryly as the Commander raised his hand to acknowledge his supporters.

Lady Emma wrinkled her nose. "His father's estate is not too far away ours. A few miles away, he tried to kiss me and it was rather wet."

She giggled but was interrupted as the round began, and within a few minutes, the Commander had disposed of his opponent. The crowd's enthusiasm rose to a fevering pitch that Arianna swore left her heard of hearing.

It was clear why he was the favourite to win. What set up apart from other courageous fighters was that he showed no emotions. His patience to find the opening before he went for the attack was unmatched.

At one point, he disarmed the other man. He picked up the spare sword and spun the two weapons in each hand before levelling them at his cornered opponent's neck. Her mouth fell open at such effortlessness. As the hours passed, in the final round, the Commander threw his rival on the back as both men wrestled to stay on their feet. It didn't take long for the winner to be crowned.

Arianna shivered when he swept past her in the Royal Pavilion to reach the Maiden of the Tournament, Lady Cressa. It was the tradition that the winner would kiss a chosen lady of the court. She watched as the Commander brought his firm lips down on the soft ones of Lady Cressa and kissed her senseless in front of the ravenous horde. When he released the Maiden, she almost swooned as her companions twittered.

Tearing her eyes away from such a spectacle, she gathered her skirts and dashed from the stands to the healer's tent set up nearby to tend the injured warriors. With no thoughts, she burst through the massive white tent with rudimentary curtains to separate the wounded. She soon found Jay, who lay, bared to the torso with a puffy face.