Chapter 11- Tournament I

            “Guy how should I tell Amethyst?” Jodoro asked as he performed the Way on the beach. The problem had bothered him all night. He didn’t think the situation with Lady Jane was a big deal, but he knew how impulsive and angry Amethyst could be. Today was the first day of the tournament and on the final day, three days hence, the gala would take place. Derry had promoted it as a gala now, it wasn’t a simple dance anymore.

Guy looked at Jodoro and with a slight smile on his face. Guy had improved over the past few months. He was still distant but at least he was getting outside more. “What makes you think I know how to talk to women?” They were the only ones on the beach that morning. Everyone else had taken the day off due to the tournament. The morning sun was peeking over the horizon and gulls called angrily in the dawn light. The peel of bells began, marking the sixth hour.

He had a point there. “Still, you must have some advice. What would you do in my place?”

Guy performed the motions of the Way and stared out into the ocean. “Just tell the truth. Tell her the next time you see her and for the Star Court’s sake don’t piss off the General.”

“Who are you taking to the gala?” Jodoro asked. Guy was probably right. It was best to be direct with these things.

“Do you always change subjects like this? You’d better tell her Jo.” Guy finished the movements and walked into the tide and began floating on his back with his eyes closed. Jodoro always got scared when he did this. The sea was dangerous and capricious, and Guy seemed almost too at peace there, like a man who’d sleep next to the den of a bear or a thief who’d steal a purse in the castle courtyard. Guy opened one eye, “You hesitate too much Jodoro Jaguar.” He shouted. “You over think things. Amethyst will be mad when you tell her, but she will kill you if you don’t.”

“You still didn’t tell me who your taking. We’ll save a place for you at our table.” Jodoro shouted as Guy drifted away. Jodoro began to wash in his tub when he saw Nan, Old Trews, Seta and Seta’s small children bring their wagon onto the beach. They began to set up their yurts next to his and Nan walked over tugging two tall pinto horses behind her.

“What the hell is that boy doing out there?”

“I don’t know.” Jodoro answered as he began to get dressed. He decided to wear brown pants today instead of black. Sometimes you had to live a little. “I think he’s depressed.”

“Is he going to the gala with yall?”

“I don’t know if he has a date. What’s with the horses?”

“Man on the road was selling them. Weren’t cheap but seem to be of good stock. Here they’re for you and your brother.” Nan replied as she passed him the reins.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with them?”

“Ride ‘em, eat ‘em, sell them, whatever the hell you want. They’re yours. Bring your friends by tonight I’m breaking out the cauldron today. It’s time for a ten-year stew.” She said as she walked away. Jodoro looked at the pintos. One was white, gold, and brown. The other was white, merle, and black. Their coats were soft and seemed to glow in the dawn light. They were beautiful creatures, but he had no idea how to ride one, much less care for it. Derry stumbled out of the yurt stomping on his boots. The three dogs came trotting out after him and began to growl at Jodoro.

            “Derry, Nan bought us horses. Which one do you want?”

            Derry looked up and shook his head. “Brown one, will do.” He said as he grabbed it reins and began petting it. His brother liked the mules that pulled their carts, so it did not surprise Jodoro that he was friendly with the horse.

            “What will you name it?”

            “That’s a mighty fine question Jodoro. I’ll think I’ll call him Brown.” Derry said as he followed Jodoro. Jodoro had to find a place to stable them and then go see if he could track down Amethyst. “What will you name that one? He’s a big bloke.”

            Jodoro looked at the horse for a while. It was a large animal. Horse were measured in hands and each hand was four inches. If he had to guess he would say this horse was seventeen hands. Its shoulders came up to his nose. “I’ll have to think about it.” The city was already bustling. The events would begin in a few hours. Jodoro did not have to compete until the archery prelims at ten bells. He had to meet Carl at five in the evening for the two-on-two melee event. Afterward he would help Carl prepare for the joust. “Nan’s making a ten-year stew tonight. You should invite Nova and whoever else you want.”

            “Just when I thought this day couldn’t get better,” Derry replied cheerily. They reached a stable and paid for their horses to be boarded and exercised.

            “Do you know where Amethyst would be at this time?” He asked his brother who seemed to be in the know about the on goings of the castle.

            “If I had to guess I’d say she’s with her mother in the Great Hall eating and interviewing suitors.”

            “Suitors?”

            Derry gave him a surprised look and shook his head. “Yeah, suitors bro. You mean to tell me you didn’t know that Lady Ridge has been trotting her little girl in front of every rich eligible bachelor in the kingdom?” Derry stopped in his tracks and look at him with widening eyes. “You didn’t know! You thought?” Derry burst out in laughter which sent the dogs into a yapping frenzy.

            Jodoro felt himself fluctuate between anger, jealousy, and embarrassment. First Sweet Ceta leaves, then Christa links up with this noble, and now Amethyst was about to be courted likely. “Are you up for some shenanigans?”

            Derry’s face lit up like a child during yule time. “You really mean it bro? Its been a long time since we did any shenanigans, too long since our last caper. I thought you forgot about me. I thought you grew up, matured, got serious with all this royal mimicry.”

            “I think there’s always room for another good ruse and I think I have a plan.” The brothers stopped at a café and plotted. Jodoro stopped laying out his plan when he saw Derry looking at him funny. “What’s wrong?”

            “It’s a good plan mind you and I really want to get into some monkeyshine but…Why not just walk up to her and talk to her about it?”

            “Lady Ridge will not take kindly to me interrupting.”

            “Don’t forget you have standing. You are the Jungle Cat to her. The warrior who saved her son. Surely if you asked to speak to Amethyst for a few moments privately she’d allow it. We can save this shenanigan for another time.”

Derry was right it was time to man up. He clapped his brother on the shoulder and left the café. Derry shouted after him, “you forgot the bill. The bill man!” Jodoro smiled as he walked out.

***

“…Lady Amethyst you truly are the most beautiful woman in all the kingdom.” Lord Lauge of Ferras praised as he folded hi hands together on the table. Not surprisingly, Amethyst’s mother, Lady Pearl Ridge, was beaming from ear to ear. This had become their routine for the past week. After training her mother would drag her off to another breakfast introduction with Lord Such-and-Such, Star Court forbid her mother take her seriously and realize she did not want to court anyone or get married anytime soon. She nibbled a biscuit despite the fact she was starving. Her mother emphasized decorum in these times, a lady couldn’t just gorge herself in front of a man. Amethyst believed that if a man didn’t like to see a woman eat he didn’t view that woman as human. She’d rather be anywhere right now including with Seta who was becoming increasing demanding with the logistical aspects of business management. Lately the only refuge she had was her training with Carl and Jodoro or the time she spent in the infirmary learning from Healer Tilda.

 Her mother nudged her bumping her out of her thoughts. “Thanks for the compliment Lord Lauge. I am honored that such an esteemed man has focused his attentions on me.” It was best to play these things straight down the middle. She had to have a talk with her mother. This had to stop. Daddy would back her. To her surprise Jodoro walked through the doors of the Great Hall. He stopped for a moment as a guard shook his hand. What was he doing here? He never ate at the castle. She grew even more surprised when she saw him walking toward her table.

“Excuse me Lady Ridge and sir. Would you mind if I had a word with Amethyst in private for a moment?” He asked.

Lord Lauge looked annoyed but her mother had the true power here. Her mother had great respect for Jodoro especially after the Battle of Bellgaurd but she still thought of him as an uncouth Onaki despite the rest of the family’s insistence otherwise.  Amethyst held her breath as she watched her mother purse her lips for a moment then gave her permission. She shot out of the chair immediately, grabbed Jodoro by the arm and pulled him from the hall. She yelped with surprise when he began to pull her off to the library. He pulled her into a secluded part and before she could think he kissed her passionately on the mouth. Her legs turned liquid and she melted in his strong arms. This is what she wanted. She broke off the kiss. “I think you might have angered Lord Lauge.”

“Do you think I give a damn?” He responded and kissed her again.

Her heart soared but she broke off again. “I like this new you.” She said as she kissed him until they could not breathe anymore.

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“I have to tell you something. I may have to dance with Lady Jane of Delonica. I don’t want to make you angry, but I had little choice in it.” She stared at him for a moment and looked at the embarrassed yet honest look he wore on his face then burst into laughter.

“I don’t care for I will be with you the rest of the night. I intend to mark what’s mine.” She placed her hand on his chest and felt his heart thumping strongly. She wanted to put her ear there. She wanted to lay her body on top of his and let the soothing sound carry her off to sleep while they camped under the stars.

“You make me happy. Nan is cooking tonight, and everyone is invited. Will you be able to come?”

“Yes, yes, I will come. I will.” She said as she locked lips with him again.

***

Jodoro parted with Amethyst and went back to the yurt to fetch his things. He’d been working on a new quiver system over the past few days and wanted to try it out during the tournament. The problem with his old quiver was it took too long to grab three arrows at once. When Jodoro pulled from the quiver with his right hand, he had to route around in order to get the three arrows in between his fingers. Having space between each arrow would help with this. So he bought some leather and cut out a piece that was long enough for thirty-five arrows to fit along the length with a finger width between them. Then he made pockets for these arrows so that they could slide in and out easily when pulled. The convenient thing was that this long stretch of leather could be rolled up and while slightly bulkier than a normal quiver it wasn’t cumbersome.

By the time Jodoro donned his leather armor and equipped his weapons he found Derry outside of the yurt waiting for him. They headed toward the tournament field which had been set up along the northern road. “You should now that I placed a bet on you and stand to gain a lot if you win this thing.” His brother casually mentioned as the walked along the beach.

“How much?” Derry refused to look him in the eye.

“One hundred gold.”

“One hundred gold! Derry that’s nearly a third of everything you earned from the company.” Jodoro cursed. “What happens if you lose?”

“I won’t lose because you won’t. Besides it’s my money. By the way how did things go with Amethyst?”

“Things went well.” Jodoro smiled as Derry nodded.

They walked up to an ornate table set up on the tourney grounds and were pointed in the direction of the archery prelims. As they approached the field, they could see twenty targets set up in a distance. About a hundred archers or so were there milling about, testing their bows, and checking arrows. The stands were beginning to fill, and vendors were selling food and beverages.

Derry tugged on his elbow and pointed to a group of three people. “Those are the top contenders. Guy with the long black hair is Harold of Delonica. They say he’s the best shooter in the kingdom, but I say ‘bullshit’ he’s never faced my bro or Old Trews. The stout bloke in gray is Big James Carty he’s known as a sniper. I heard tell that he put an arrow through a button at 200 yards but that’s likely a load of horse shit. Then there’s Jane of Delonica. She’s got good speed, but she’s known for her accuracy. She never misses.”

“You’ve done some scouting.” Jodoro said as he checked some of his arrows. He should not have been surprised whenever Derry applied himself, he was extremely thorough.

“Damn right but we both know who the real competition is though.” Derry turned and nodded toward Old Trews. The bearded man was striding toward them with a smile on his face. Old Trews was a tall bent man who rarely talked. He approached, wished them luck, then went about examining his arrows.

After a short wait an elderly man with a gray beard and long wild hair that was dreadlocked in places took the center of the field. This had to be Amelius Graston the master archer of Ardinum’s Military Academy. He taught Harold and Big James how to shoot and hundreds of others. He was the “Hero of Littlehorn Bridge”, the master of the longbow, the inventor of the pinch draw, the wearer of the silver arrow award and by reputation a notorious hater of everyone and anything Onaki. “Greetings everyone and welcome to the Bellgaurd tournament’s archery prelims. In today’s round these archers will be split into twenty groups and given ten shots at the target. The top performers from each group will advance to the next round of the tournament. Please feel free to be generous with our vendors and don’t forget that there are copies of my book The Philosophy of Archery available for your purchase all throughout this week. Now let use begin the sorting.” With that the master archer took his place of honor in the front row of that stands. Shortly after aides walked through the crowded archers and gave each one a chit with a number on it.

Jodoro went to target five. There were about five archers there and as he took his place at the end of the line, he heard the other archers whispering “Onaki” to each other. Amelius Graston raised his arms and the first round of archers released their arrows at the target. When this group was done shooting, attendants rushed to each target to calculate the scores. This went on until his turn. As he drew for his first arrow he felt the wind blow against his right cheek and adjusted his aim. He released the arrow and then fired his remaining four shots in quick succession. He was a feel archer and did not need to aim after the first shot. His muscles memorized the proper position and fired automatically. This typically worked as long as there were no drastic changes in the environmental conditions.

The attendants huddled up with Amelius Graston for a while until the man got up with a piece of paper and announced the results.

“Ladies and Gentlemen the archers that will advance to the next round are: Lady Jane of Delonica, Big James Carty of Ardinum City, Harold of Delonica, Casey of Delonica, Paul of Hernit, Gil of Ardinum City, Michael of Hearthold, Lord Cain DeRold of Hearthold.” The master archer read through a few names and called Jodoro’s and Old Trews last. Jodoro bid his competitors farewell and began walking to a food vendor. Derry, Old Trews, and Carl joined him and offered congratulations.

“I don’t think I like competing in these things.” Jodoro stated as the grabbed some honey roasted turkey and wild rice. “I don’t see the point. Shooting from a stable position without the enemy coming after you is not a skill to be proud of.”

“Yeah and being good at one doesn’t make you better at another.” Old Trews added in a rare moment of openness.

“Bullocks to all that. The point of this is money.” Derry said through a mouth of food. “Place some bets, make some coin, impress the ladies.”

“I have to agree with Derry here. Don’t forget you have a personal bet with Lady Jane. You don’t want to lose your bow, do you?”

“No, it would be hard getting a new one in Ardinum. I heard there’s been some criticism of the King lately.” Jodoro probed.

“Yeah people are worried about another Farki invasion. Dundar feels we should take the initiative and reclaim some of the forts on the south of the Nowell River.” Carl said as he drank from his cup.

“It would offer a buffer but might create a logistical nightmare if those troops were forced to retreat. It’s tough fighting with a river at your back.”

***

            The melee came and went without any major issues. Jodoro and Carl blew through their opponents with ease. They did some scouting on the groups they would face tomorrow and agreed that Cain DeRold and Julip of Hearthold would be their stiffest competition. Cain fought well with longsword and shield and Julip was a fierce fighter that used his massive size and axe skillfully. Their speed was on par with Carl’s and while they could not match Jodoro’s speed they had more group combat experience.

            Carl advanced in the joust, but it was a near thing. A lance glanced off his helm, but he held his seat. All the Bellgaurdians cheered when he advanced and Jodoro spotted some people who looked like recruiters talking to him.

            “I’m so glad you got a horse now. Soon we’ll be taking rides together. You’ve got to see the eastern hills.” Amethyst said.

            “Would you like to see it before we head to the beach?” Jodoro asked. She looked happy and irresistible. The evening light seemed to make her glow even more. Cherry blossoms littered stone walkway as they made their way done main street. Derry ordered a hundred lanterns be made and they glowed softly as they hung from the tree branches. A boy selling flowers was on the corner and Jodoro bought a peony for her. She brushed her hair aside and tucked it behind her ear.

            “Of course. Did you name it?”

            “No, not good at the naming things. You should…I want you to name it.” They walked in to find the horse in a back-stall munching on oats.

            Amethyst reached out and brushed her hand down its neck. “Its beautiful it must have cost more than my palfrey Bella. It should have a noble name. How about Cow?” She laughed at her own joke and Jodoro stole a kiss from her.

            “All right see you tomorrow Cow.”

***

            Nan Bowerbird stirred the copper cauldron fourteen times every fourteen minutes. It was important to get these things right. She remembered laughing at her grandmother when she taught her the recipe and receiving a smack on the head for it. “Create the ritual, girl” she would say. “It for naught without the ritual.” Old Trews came up beside her and peered into the pot.

            “Did ya get the Whitecloud Mushrooms?” She asked him as if she didn’t already know the answer. Trews was the most reliable man she ever met, and he rarely talked too boot. How could a woman not form a lovebond with a man like that? Trews pulled out a bag of mushrooms then hesitated.

            “There are non-Onaki eating too.” The implication was there. Should she warn them? Would they fight the journey?

            “My Gran never changed the recipe, and neither will I. Tis only a short journey. They will make it. They need guidance now more than ever.” She snatched the mushrooms from him and put a handful in the cauldron. She could feel her Gran’s rough hand over hers as she stirred the cauldron for the fourteenth time. Create the ritual, follow the ritual.

***

            Christa scraped her bowl clean and looked around the fire. Everyone had done the same and were drinking wine. She knew something was wrong when she saw Nova collapse a moment later. Just when she was about to yell for help a darkness overtook her mind. Suddenly she was falling through a vast void. Lights and multicolored orbs streamed by her. She held her arms out and tried to escape but it was useless. She closed her eyes and screamed for what felt like minutes.

            “Child! Child! Stop screaming.” A deep voice commanded. When Christa opened her eyes, she was in a vast white room with no visible walls. An impatient looking man in a white robe sat behind a ragged desk. His huge body wobbled in his chair. “Damn budget cuts.” She ran as far as she could away from the man only to see him reappear at the same desk. “Child do you have an appointment?” The man asked as he rubbed his temples.

            “No! What is this place. How do I get home?” She yelled at the man.

            “If you do not have an appointment place take a number.” The man pointed to a roll of paper numbers and gestured at her. As she took a number, a seat materialized underneath her. “A representative will see you shortly.” He then pulled out a book and began to read.

 Just when Christa was about to call out to him. A woman in a similar white robe appeared beside her. “Number 4?”

Christa looked at her number and nodded. “When will I get to go home?”

“Shortly my dear, please follow me.” She turned to the man at the desk. “Jeb you can just usher them through in the future. This is a ‘code Whitecloud.’” The woman grabbed Christa by the wrist and before Christa could breathe, she was sitting on a bench in the most breathtaking garden she’d ever seen. The sky was gold and azure and the lush greenery seemed to vibrate with life. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but we have limited time before you go back.” The woman put her hand to Christa’s forehead. “Lady Christa Bell of Bellgaurd, in the Kingdom of Ardinum, on the continent of Querta, on the planet Helio-3. Oh! I know just what you need.” In a blink they vanished again and were now in a vast city the like of which she had never seen before. There were towering buildings of seamless stone and metal that extended out from all sides. A strange street ran through the middle of them and bridges crisscrossed the sky. “Come.” The lady commanded. “We must be quick. He eats here every day.” She pulled her over to a large window.

She looked inside and saw people eating. Right in front of the window, seated with a woman was a red-headed teenager. “Ezra!!” she screamed repeatedly and began knocking on the window. Her brother just ate and smiled at the woman across from him.

“He can’t hear you dear. Nobody here can. This is where people go who embrace the Star Father. The Star Father wanted you to see him. Let your troubled mind rest.” The woman put her hand to her head and Christa woke up to find herself back on the beach, by a fire, by a yurt. Her friends were there with puzzled looks while Nan clapped her hands and laughed.