@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Stepping back from her princess, Charlotte lowered her hands and let the woman adjust her tiara as needed per comfort. She put her hands together in slight worry, and looked her friend over. "What if he wins - what do you think he will ask for? He will recognize you, I am certain." She ran her fingers through her own hair then, "What if he asks you for your hand, or the gem? He seemed interested in it." Following her out, Charlotte kept by her side until they reached a more public place, then fell a little behind and obediently followed to the princess's seat. It was high on a balcony, overlooking the main arena. Men would fight here, and behold their gaze of the princess. She would be their courage, their trying force. Many would fail. Already, Charlotte could see Dain standing to one side, The duels often started out on horses, and often ended on horses. One would knock the other off, and put a long spear to their neck and that would be that. Sometimes, the swords came out to play. That was the most fun part. The fight was until surrender, or the loser was rendered useless or weak. Never near death. Charlotte waited for the crowd to calm as they greeted the princess, and then the King, and quietly sided by her friend's chair. Apart from Dain and a few other familiar faces, she did not see Nikola.
He, however, was present, and he was lurking a little behind. Being one to experience the tournament for the first time, he was put with the other new knights and ones who did not hold as much fame. It was degrading to a little point, but nothing to be done about it. He would not complain. The tournament started with them, and people paid very little attention. Nikola was not called out until the tenth fight, near the end. The horse was a bother. He would rather have his feet firm on the ground and a good two swords in his hands than this spear and reins. He scowled, tugging them lightly to ease the horse and eyeing his opponent on the other side of the arena. The horn sounded and the two charged at each other. The other young knight raised his spear and as they neared, tried to dislodge Nikola from his saddle. If Nikola had a shield, Nikola would have used it - as every other knight, but Nikola threw that shield away and in place he held a short sword. He used the spear to deflect the blow, and the two ended up riding past each other with no event, the crowd looking on in curiosity. Some murmured, was he insane to drop the shield given to him in exchange for a sword? It seemed so, but as they rode at each other again, Nikola reached out and grabbed the man's spear. Somehow, the saddle slipped off (cut loose at the previous charge by Nikola's sword), and the man tumbled off the horse. Nikola sharply turned his horse around, raised the spear and threw it. The spear hurtled towards the dazed knight on the ground, skewering the ground by the man's head. The crowd gasped.
Nikola tugged the reins a little, trotting up to the knight who had frozen in his spot, and smirked, raising to look at the judge of the tournament. The Judge looked rather surprised. "D-dead," he stated, singing the end of this current match, and announcing the victory to Nikola. The crowd looked uncertainly to the King, who raised his hands and clapped - clearly entertained. The crowd followed suit.
It was only then that Nikola finally made eye contact with her, whom he spotted from his waiting spot. Oh, she played him well. A princess, eh? He smirked right back at her, and rested his gaze on the gem at her neck. With a smug confidence, he left the arena.
The next few rounds in which he participated were also short. Some knights tried to block his sword before he could cut their saddle, and if they did fall on the ground - they tried to get back up quickly. Most failed, the spear flying towards them and skewering the ground beside them with only a hand's width to spare. Only two managed to avoid his sword. One of which, at second charge, Nikola dislodged from the saddle itself by swinging the sword at the horse and startling it somehow enough that it jerked and reared and the man fell off. The other Nikola ended by leaping off his own horse mid charge and tackling the man off the horse and onto the ground, holding the sword to his neck. With every win, he would incline his head to the King in respect, and then smirk at her. Teasingly, it seemed. As if every time he said, Watch me, I will win again.
The final round was up, it seemed, with only six contestants left. Dain was also winning all his duels, and did not seem fazed by Nikola's winning streak. The other four kept looking over, trying to figure out how to beat Nikola, wanting no shame in being trumped by an unknown.
But before the final round could proceed, there was a break, and in that break, many nobles gathered around Victoria and her father, and stood there discussing what they had seen, placing their bets - most on Dain, as usual. One of the nobles, a middle aged man and friend of the family, sided by Victoria and after exchanging pleasantries and formalities, he said, "What do you think of this nameless one? Quite the show. Nothing of the norm. He has no knighthood etiquette, and he fights like the ranger and feral he is. And yet he has won against many of our knights already." He paused, sipping on his wine and putting a cherry into his mouth, "But he faces the elite now. His tricks... I do not think they will carry through." He quizzically looked to Victoria, wondering her opinion.
December 17th, 2016 at 01:53pm