Page 81 of Picking Up the Gauntlet

“Nay, of course it is not my first tournament,” she answered, trying hard to have a French accent. “And I prefer to speak in English while I’m here.”

“He sure is a small one,” her brother said in a low voice to Jonathon. “This should be a breeze.”

Raven wasn’t too worried. While Rook was a good archer, she was far better at it than he. Rook had never beat her in an archery competition, and wouldn’t do so today either.

Thankfully, the final round was in her favor. She beat Rook and was declared the winner of this leg of the competition.

“The winner is Sir Jonathon Nevar of France,” called out the herald.

“Let’s get out of here,” she whispered to Albert, taking off through the crowd before Rook decided to shake her hand and congratulate her.

“What about your prize?” asked Albert from behind her, following on her heels. Each winner of each round of the tournament was awarded with a bag of money.

“I don’t care about it,” she said, rushing to a shed behind the mews where Lark would be waiting for her. “Take watch and make sure no one sees me.” She slipped into the storage shed.

“Ye won!” said Lark, hugging her. “Good job. Was it hard?”

“Nay,” she said, undressing. “It was a breeze, as my brother would say.” She needed to put on her gown and get back to the dais platform before her father became suspicious. “The worst part was when Rook showed up to compete with Jonathon as his squire.”

“What?” asked Lark in surprise. “Why would your brother enter the tournament?”

“I have no idea. However, I can’t let him win. I need to win in order to secure my future.” She tied the bodice of her gown. “All right, let’s go. I’ll have Albert guard the shed until we return to change for the hand-to-hand combat part of the competition.”

“Raven, I’m worried for ye.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Mayhap for now. But what will ye do when ye’re required to joust?”

“Hopefully, I’ll win the next round, too, and won’t have to joust. With two wins under my belt, I’ll win the tournament without even having to put myself in that position.”

“What if you don’t win the sword fight?”

“I will. I have to. If not, my life will be over.”

“Ye mean when ye have to marry a nobleman ye dinna care for?”

“That, and the fact that I will probably actually be killed attempting to joust.”

Chapter 20

Jonathon hurried over to the nobles’ platform, hoping to talk to Raven, telling her his plan. When he got there, the herald was already announcing the knights who would fight in the first round of the hand-to-hand combat using their swords.

“Raven. Lady Raven,” called Jonathon, waving, trying to get closer to the platform.

Raven and Lark had just seated themselves next to her parents when she heard Jonathon calling out to her from the crowd.

“What does he want?” whispered Lark.

“I don’t know, but we need to get rid of him before it’s my turn to compete again.”

“Raven? I think your friend Jonathon is trying to get your attention,” said her mother.

“I see him,” she said, waving back, just to be polite.

“Why don’t you invite him to sit up here with us to watch the competition?” asked Devon.

“An armorer, on the nobles’ platform?” asked her father, overhearing their conversation. “Nay. It’s not allowed.”