Such pride, it would destroy you, child
Cyane sat with her arms folded and her face pressed, her behind was hurting from the prolonged sitting that she had been doing for a while. Beside her was Leondre with a stoic expression mostly from the fact that he didn't like the tournament. Truthfully, it was going well but he just didn't want to reveal any emotion that would show that he was enjoying it.
Cyane joined the crowd in their cheers when the person that she had been rooting for had hit his opponent with his lance and the man fell with his face to the ground. The loser had ended up sustaining an injury which would later be treated by the physicians assigned to the middle and lower classes.
The man in the ring had raised his lance in the air acknowledging the cheers that he had gotten and that gesture only got him more in return.
He stilled at the sight of another opponent entering the ring and so did the people's cheers. Their lighthearted laughters had suddenly gone mute at the presence of another fighter who was going to face their favorite.
Cyane couldn't handle the tension that had suddenly made its presence amongst the people. To distract her mind, She slowly craned her neck upwards to where the king and the nobles sat. The platform on which they were was finely decorated and the chairs had fine decorations on it too. There were wine goblets present in front of them and a bottle which was round at the bottom was also kept beside them. There were guards stationed at the sides of the platform, they had their swords hung around their waists while they glanced to and fro. Their stoic demeanor would only make one think that they were expecting an attack but one could never tell what would befall them in the next second.
She searched for the girl that she had seen earlier amongst the unclear faces that she was staring at on the balcony. The girl was a noble so she was expected to be seated among her kind, sipping from her goblet while watching the contest unfold right in front of her.
Leondre noticed Cyane's movement and he followed her eyes to see that she was staring at the platform where his Father was, where he should be seated, "What are you looking at?"
"No one" Cyane replied sharply without thinking the question through.
"I didn't ask if it was someone"
Cyane met his gaze to see that he had a smirk on his face, one filled with amusement at the fact that she had given herself away while trying to act coy
"It's nothing"
"Ok" he knew that she was lying but opted not to call her out on it, letting it go this time wouldn't hurt anyone.
She on the other hand wasn't satisfied with the reply he had given, there was more surrounding it or so she felt, "It's really nothing"
"I'm not arguing with you, am I?"
She shook her head and brought her gaze back to the contest. At that moment the crowd suddenly went into an uproar of cheers because their favorite had won the supposed match again. Cyane brought her hands together creating friction between them as she clapped.
Leondre just smirked and bent his face. He was waiting for the moment that Reuel would come up on stage to be challenged by another fighter. He desperately wanted to see his brother in action.
They watched for a long time, the contest had gone from jousting to now sword fighting. He narrowed his eyes at the swords that the men wielded to see if it was thesame kind that he had used the day he fought Reuel. He couldn't make out the designs but he inwardly trusted that Reuel wouldn't issue a broken sword out to the fighters.
The cons of using a broken sword in a match like this was that if the sword broke it would automatically make the other person the winner even without the wielder having done much
The men went against each other and the crowd kept cheering , few times did they withhold their ecstasy when the one that they were pinning for was being tackled to the ground or was at the verge of loosing the match.
When a victor emerged from the fight and the crowd had gone wild another fighter stepped in to finish what the other person had failed to do.
The person that had entered was dressed in fine armor with the crest of his household engraved on it. Leondre knew that crest, he had been seeing it ever since he was a little boy, the crest of the Audet household.
Reuel
Reuel swiftly entered, he had only a sword while his opponent had a shield to go with his own.
The people murmured among themselves, they feared that Reuel was asking for a death wish entering the grounds with only a sword.
Reuel could hear their murmurs clearly like they were speaking right beside him and it caused the side of his lips to tilt upwards. He twirled his sword in the air and lounged at his opponent. The action had caught the man off guard and had caused him to move backwards, Reuel attacked again and doubled the strike this time. The man repeated his previous action.
He wasn't giving any breathing space to his opponent. There was no chance for the supposed man to fight back.
Reuel used his skills that his men, the ones he trained with daily had seen a thousand times, his strikes were efficient and fast. In no time was his opponent down with a sword to his neck, he had no choice but to surrender.
The crowd gasped, they hadn't expected the outcome of the match. Not one of them had envisioned Reuel being the winner and a round of applause was given to him to acknowledge his win.
Cyane went backstage to where the fighters and physicians were, it was a mess there while some had sustained minor injuries few sustained major injuries and the major ones were mostly found among the human fighters.
She had to tender to them but her colleagues already beat her to it.
They blocked her path granting her inaccess to the injured. Her face contorted and her mouth squeezed in irritation, the sheer bigotry was getting to her. It didn't take quite long before she was called to a spot and the man in charge of physicians showed her to her first patient and she was handed everything that she would need to work with.
She knelt down and rested her behind on her legs, she took few seconds to examine the man and in those seconds was she able to pin point the injury.
She soaked a cloth in water and held it to the spot, the man hissed in pain, "Sorry"
"It's ok"
He hissed again which earned him another sorry from her,"It's ok Miss, this was what I signed up for. Funny thing is" he hissed again when the cloth went higher up his leg, "My mother had asked me not to join but I wanted to, we need the money from the tournament"
"Do you regret it? You know, not listening to your Mother?"
"No, but I understand her, I'm after all the only child that she has. It would be a shame if she lost me"
"You look quite young to be fighting"
"That's just my face, I'm old enough to enroll in the tournament"
"Well if you say so then I can't stop you" She removed the cloth from his leg and proceeded to bandage the affected area, "Just don't die"
"I will try not to, by the way my name is Alair" He held out his hand for her to take and she gently clasped her hand around his.
"Cyane"
"Cyane" He repeated, "That's a lovely name.
Her cheeks turned red but she masked it up, it felt strange receiving compliments from strangers and she knew that as long as she stayed in this job that she needed to get used to it,"Thank you"
She was outside again after spending some time treating six patients, It was already evening and the tournament had gotten bloodier with every match.
A man was brought in, he had a deep cut around his chest. He was a wolf but if the wound was left uninfected would not heal before the next day.
Her colleagues had rushed once the man was brought in and she knew better than to follow them. The rejection coupled with the embarrassment she was going to receive at their hands wasn't something that she was ready to handle. Yes, she had received a lot but it would only take too much before she would break and she needed to stay strong at least if not for anyone but herself.
She passed the camps where the mundane fighters were, the men stood around the camp while some leaned on the pillars talking. From the voices she heard one stood out to her. This man was seated among two men and he told them stories, ones that purely didn't exist.
The men with him had spotted her and Marcus following their gaze to see who it was that had distracted his listeners was surprised to see Cyane.
"Cyane" he called out to her,"Please come"
Cyane weighed the thought in her mind, she was skeptical about moving from her spot to where they sat but she gave in at the end.
She found herself walking towards them, Marcus stretched his hand out towards her and she took it, he raised her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on it.
"Fancy seeing you here, miss"
"I'm working"
"Of course you are, so did you come to see me?"
Cyane smiled shyly, she clearly wasn't expecting the question, "No"
Marcus held his hand to his chest and feigned hurt
"Sorry Marcus" She looked behind him, her gaze scoured through then landed on a bow and arrows that were placed on the table; the bow had been unstrung. Marcus noticing the direction that she currently looked at opted to let her take a closer look.
"Would you like to hold it?"
"No" Cyane replied sharply, she clearly hadn't expected him to ask her to touch the bow, "I would be leaving now"
By the time she had gone back to the tournament grounds, her seat had already been taken leaving her with the only option of standing.
The men on the field were still battling with swords and the tournament had gone from sweet to sour now.
She had spotted Malina out of the crowd and she watched her form briefly, Malina was clearly engrossed in the fighting that took place. She opted to search for Leondre but found him already staring at her and she threw her gaze away.
Being able to spot her from where she was could only mean that he had been patiently waiting for her return hopefully to taunt her about something that she was yet to do.
She stood silently at her spot but inwardly she was mad at herself for not touching the bow like she had wanted to. All she had wanted in that moment was to hold it in her hands and probably even shoot it.
She quietly left the place and went back to where Marcus was. This time he was alone in his camp while the bow and arrows still hadn't left their positions.
"I want to hold it" Her voice had made Marcus stop sharpening his sword. He side glanced at her and nodded for her to come over to him.
"As you wish Miss" He stood up from his chair and gestured for her to walk towards the table which she did.
She took slow and precise steps towards it, once there was no distance between she and the bow she picked it up in her hand, it was still unstrung.
She scrutinized its form watching and memorizing the intricate designs and the bird that was carved on it. She stared at it a minute longer before Marcus snapped her out of her daze
"Are you going to keep watching it? Don't you want to shoot with it?"
His question had her eyes glistening with excitement, she was nervous but at the same time excited to want to shoot an arrow.
She had always admired bows and arrows but had never really shot one but now the opportunity lay in front of her waiting for her to grasp a hold of it
"I want to shoot it"
"Alright, let me set up a target for you"
Marcus left to set the target and Cyane brought her attention back to the bow. She picked the arrows in her hand, from afar they looked light but on her palm they held weight.
"Cyane" She turned to where the voice had come from, Marcus had already set up the target for her, "Come" She followed behind him and he halted his footsteps for her to walk beside him which she did, "I didn't set it too far because I believe that you had never shot one before, So for a starter, the target shouldn't be far"
Cyane didn't say a word only just nodded in agreement to what he had to say.
"So may I show you, let's start by stringing the bow" He took the bow from her her and strung it. Then he gestured to an arrow on the table and she got it for him. He held the arrow on his right hand then the bow on his left. He placed the tip of the arrow on the bow and it rested on his left hand that held the bow then he drew the bottom of the arrow back and released. The arrow hit the target but missed the center by a little mark.
Cyane was amazed at what she had seen, she was lost for words just merely watching him shoot the arrow and he handed her the bow which she held in her hand. Her excitement suddenly got washed away by anxiety. Her palms began sweating when she had barely even lifted a finger.
"Don't fret" Marcus was suddenly behind her, "You won't get hurt, even if you miss it there's nothing wrong"
She nodded lightly and from behind her he handed her an arrow which she took. She dried her palms on her dress and set into position to shoot. Marcus moved away from her back to stand two steps from her, he needed to change his position to avoid getting hit by her elbow. He could sense the unease that had risen in her and if left standing behind her could earn him a hit though even though it wouldn't be on purpose.
"Cyane, it's ok" He reassured her again.
She drew the arrow back and was ready to let go of it, her grip was tight around it and then she let go. The arrow missed the target and got stuck to a tree.
"That's ok, you can try again"
He gave her another arrow and she positioned it on the bow, she pulled back the arrow and stopped then she pulled back the arrow again, her grip on it was tight and her eyes were set on the target.
"With the way your hands are shaking you are going to miss it again"
She halted her actions bringing the bow and arrow down, "Leo?"
"Leondre" Marcus hadn't expected him to be there so seeing him was worth questioning, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just looking around" His eyes took in his surroundings, the tents, the lances, the swords, arrows, bows and spears. Everything there screamed of the tournament.
"Did you finally decide to join the tournament?"
Leondre scoffed, "No"
"Well, It's nice to see you here" He held out his hand for Leondre to take which he did.
"The pleasure is all mine"
When Leondre looked at Cyane again, he noticed that she had eased down a bit compared to the time that she stood with the arrow ready to hit the bull's eye. She flicked off perspiration that had formed on her forehead due to the surge of adrenaline,"Mind if I?" He politely asked Marcus if he could help out Cyane. Asking for permission wasn't what he did on a normal day but he didn't want to blow his cover so he opted to be the nice guy.
"Yes of course"
He walked towards Cyane and stood behind her, with his voice in a low tone he spoke,"Hold it up again"
She did as he said and held up the bow parallel to the ground with the arrow positioned on it, "Now steady your hands and move your legs slightly apart"
She did as he asked while wondering why he was asking her to change her position when Marcus hadn't told her to do it earlier "Why do I need to push my legs apart, Marcus didn't tell me..."
"If you do that, it would help you shoot better"
"But Marcus.."
Leondre chuckled, "Why would he tell you about that when you were giving him a free show"
She gasped, "What?"
"Aim"
She refused to oblige and turned to face him, Marcus was no where to be seen at that moment, "That's a lie, he wouldn't.."
"What? Ogle you while you shoot, I don't know what the monks must have taught you in the monastery but you need to be careful with the kind of people you go with, you never know what may bite you when you are not looking or in this case watch you covetously" Cyane's face fell, she hadn't expected Marcus to do something like that, "Now aim"
She turned around and did as he had instructed earlier, she pulled the arrow back then released it, it hit the target but not the bulls eye. Cyane was thrilled, at least she had done something even though that wasn't what she was supposed to be doing at the moment. She was meant to be with her colleagues as the tournament was still ongoing which only meant that she was definitely at the wrong place.
"That wasn't bad"
"Not bad? That was good" Cyane didn't want to let him bring down her spirits after her win. She may not have hit the bulls eye but she clearly had done something. He gestured for her to give him the bow and she obliged but in so doing the bow got unstrung, "Sorry about that" She began trying to hook it back to its normal position. Her hands fiddled with the bow, she was having a hard stringing it back and Leondre kept staring at what she was doing.
"Cyane please stop, you are making me cry"
Cyane halted her actions and handed the bow for him to string. He took it from her and in one try he swiftly strung the bow. Cyane looked away, she felt embarrassed but didn't want to dwell on it further, he was a man and she was a woman so their strengths had to differ.
She took a step back from him and he held out his hand towards her
"What?" She was confused because of his outstretched hand
"Arrow"
"Oh" she rushed to the table and got him one, he positioned the arrow on the bow and aimed before his ears picked up footsteps that were approaching. Marcus had finally decided to come out, he pulled the arrow back further then released it, the arrow plunged straight into the bulls eye.
"Wow" Cyane clasped both hands to her mouth
"Wow" Marcus spoke from behind, "That was good"
"I know" Leondre replied.
"Why don't you consider joining the tournament, who knows you could end up being the victor?"
"Perhaps I could but I have no such interest in it, the money too is not something that I seek for"
"Oh" Marcus could see that Leondre wasn't going to change his mind about entering the tournament no matter how many people were present at that moment to praise his skills "Well, it is after all your choice"
"It is, and Marcus" Marcus raised his eyebrows, "How about you stop staring at women like that, if you want some cunt then you go visit the brothel"
Marcus' eyes widened, he had been caught, never had it occurred to him that someone would catch him ogling Cyane from behind, "I'm sorry about that, I forgot that she was with you"
"I will let it slide this time" Leondre held out his hand for Marcus to take which he did, "Good luck at the tournament"
Leondre made his way out of the camp with Cyane following closely behind him, "You should be careful of the places that you go to, Monk"
"Like I said, I didn't think he was like that"
"Of course you didn't, I bet you grew up around people who were good and innocent at heart but out here, it isn't like that. You need to be watchful of what you do and at all times, do you understand?"
"I do"
"By the way, you weren't supposed to be there, you are meant to be with other physicians"
"I wanted to shoot an arrow" He arched an eyebrow at her and she nodded, "Yes, I have always wanted to do that"
"What do you need it for?"
"Maybe to protect myself from the people that you talked about?"
He smiled.
When they got back to the tournament grounds, both their seats had been taken and they were left standing which they didn't bother about since they could still see what was happening in front of them.
The current match that was to take place was a sword one and sword matches were always much bloodier than the rest of the other categories but so far they hadn't recorded a mortality yet.
Cyane stood still and watched, a fighter walked into the ring with a sword and a bow. From afar she recognized him, it was Alair, her first patient of the day.
Alair walked in with his shield in front of him but his heart kept pounding in his chest for some reason he couldn't comprehend, he was scared but he didn't want to back down from the fight. He had fought earlier although he had gotten injured but he still emerged the winner of the match. He had no doubt that he would win this one even though he was yet to see his opponent.
He remembered his Mother's words to him when he had told her about enrolling into the tournament, the look she had given him was one of fear. Fear that he could get badly injured.
"You are too young to enter this tournament, you only became an adult few months ago"
"That's the perfect age for me to enroll, Mother"
She shook her head, "Can you fight?"
"Yes, I have been training with my friends"
"Training with your friends isn't enough, you would be going against men and these men are well trained. I'm sorry my dear but I can't let any harm befall you, it's a no from me"
"Ok Mother, I understand"
He remembered going to enlist his name the next day forsaking his Mother's refusal. On the day his name came out amongst others he was overjoyed. He knew deep down that the if he won the tournament that there lives would change for the better and that was what he was going to do. He had taken out time like his friends had told him to study his opponents weaknesses. It was something he was good at which had also helped him.
It didn't take long before the awaited opponent entered the ring too, the man's boots moved swiftly on the hard ground. His black hair reached the nape of his shoulder and he was dressed in a black outfit.
Leondre watched the man, he looked familiar to him and he tried to point out where he had seen him before it suddenly clicked, that night at the tavern he was the man who spoke with the Defense Lord. Leondre had suspected that the man was probably going to enroll in the tournament and he was right because there the man was waiting for the signal to attack.
Alair lounged at the man once the signal was given but the man dodged, he struck again and again only to have his attacks countered. He decided to go into defense mode to see if the man would strike which worked and he countered it with his own sword. He had the man where he wanted him and all that was left was for him to find the weakness of his opponent.
Alair striked at the man again not giving him a breathing space and when it seemed as though he had gotten the man where he wanted him he kicked him to the ground and held the sword to the man's neck.
He was elated, his smooth victory against the stranger was getting to his head, if he won this match then that would mean that he got a spot in the finals.
He had been searching for his opponent's weakness without knowing that he had just revealed his.
The time he was wasting
To the man who lay at the mercy of his sword, that was a sign of weakness.
The man on the floor flipped him around and Alair fell on his back, his shield and sword fell few metres away from him and a sword was now on his neck. The man's breath slowly fanned his neck and Alair looked into his
opponent's eyes. He could make out no emotion from those eyes but he was angry at himself for having let his guard down.
He felt fear at that moment so he prayed silently to the heavens that he would get to see his Mother's face again and hug her. He began regretting signing up for the tournament, his Mother had warned him but she couldn't blame him for wanting a better life for them. He closed his eyes anticipating death but it never came and the breath on his neck was gone, he slowly opened his eyes and relief filled him.
He gazed up at the man putting his sword away and he smiled.
A smile to the heavens for another chance to live but he was a moment too fast. The man ran the sword through his neck and the crowd gasped at the action. Alair held his neck as crimson fluid spilled from it.
With his eyes up to the heavens and his hands away from his neck, the last thing he saw was his Mother's face before all went dark.