Page 2 (1/1)

Doug had turned to look at William as he waited for the referee’s call to battle I squinted as I watched hi Willia out his shield, Doug strode to the center of the battlefield where the referee stood Haltingly, Willia as he took his place I frowned What was up with that? He’d see the first bout Maybe the defeat in the second bout had shaken hiain, swords poised as they awaited the signal to begin The an pounding each other It was so surreal to watch these grown h an actual war In fact, I’d been born in the middle of a war zone and survived for years in a city under siege

I shuddered, forcing the horrible ain, but hisand hit only the air, and his shield was cocked at an aard angle, alht The crowd cheered louder and sto distance and his sword ca let loose a loud string of curses that could be heard over the din of the crowd The referee blehistle and called for thehts lowered their weapons and raised their visors

"Foul, Black and Silver, for attacking a previously injured portion of the opponent’s body in an unchivalrous ! One more such penalty will disqualify you And you--Red and Gold You are hereby warned about your unchivalrous language Have a care, sir"

Willia at Williary or plotting His lips thinned as he turned to the crowd and raised his sword to drum up more noise The crowd happily co could be detected under all that ar was up to Earlier, he said so the key to winning a duel Until a few o, William hadn’t displayed any weaknesses

The croas clearly bothering Willia approached me and asked for my favor, then roused the crowd to cheer Had that been a calculated ’s part? It sure as heck hadn’t been senti didn’t work like that He’d had a reason for askingsuch a production of it

Doug pushed forward the nal by the ref He landed two direct hits in quick succession Williale attempt to block The crowd roared With one h I’d originally felt it would be good for my purposes if he won today, I suddenly wished he wouldn’t

Willia raised his sword again, but this tinal to the crowd to cheer louder They did so in earnest by storeater fervor I, however, was focused on Williae under a layer of steel, but with his shield sagging and his sword jutting at a strange angle, he clearly looked uncoed,faster than he had before Willia off ould have been the final blow The croas on its feet now, including ain and Willia at his side, his hel turned to the crowd, raising his hand as if to get the crowd to shout louder A shudder passed through Willia between theed al rando that had worn Doug down during the first bout Now Willia fended hiain…at the juncture of his breastplate and helotten his last hit

And yeah, I was probably happier about it than I should have been Everyone was cheering so loudly that no one heard the ref’s whistle until both contenders raised their visors It took a fewThe ref was not declaring William the winner

"Due to another yellow card violation--a strike against the neck piece--I hereby declare the Knight of Black and Silver disqualified Red and Gold, you are the winner of this duel"

The group of people behindeach other in tight voices I turned around to look at the William carefully, her pretty face creased in a frown Alex was coether, conversing Others were in a si’s friends, of course, were ecstatic, and Caitlyn and Ann, who sat on either side ofraised his visor to reveal the grim smile on his face He appeared suprelas!" Inexplicably, my stomach bunched in a knot I couldn’t help but feel bad for Williaht with quick and powerful hits

Within , and Willia site where the sleeping tents were set up As a group, we had caht before in preparation for the weekend’s events Beyond watching the duels, we non-fighters also had work to do After lunch, there would be a yearly planningof every spring

Twofor a practice duel I let out a deep breath Might as well get this over with Perhaps he wouldn’t take it too hard on the tail end of his "great victory"

My two closest friends in our clan, Caitlyn and Ann, walked with me Ann chatted amiably about the duel while Caitlyn called and waved to people along the way, soreet someone

I, on the other hand, was quiet, already ue

"Are you happy that your man won?" Ann asked suddenly