Chapter 4 - Duel
I woke up this morning buzzing with energy. After our big confrontation last night, I'd gone back to the party, completely wound up and angry. John of course hadn't made a second appearance.
I grimaced, feeling annoyed just thinking about him. The nerve he had, to say no one would want to be with me. But was it true?
No, I couldn't believe that, I wouldn't. My skills had never turned any boy away before, the only people who ever looked down on me were the older generation of women who didn't think girls belonged on the field. I sighed, why did I always let him get to me, make me lose my temper? Not that I wasn't looking forward to our duel today. I couldn't wait to finally put him in his place. And it would be a learning experience, I loved having a new opponent, even if it was the Prince.
I got out of bed to answer a knock at the door, and opened it up to see Millie standing outside.
"Hello Miss Celia, how are you this morning?"
"Fine Millie, today's a big day" I said with a grin.
Her forehead crinkled up as she frowned. "I thought that was yesterday."
"Oh, I'm not talking about my birthday."
"What then my Lady?"
I leaned forward conspiratorially, "I'm fighting the Prince today!" I said excitedly.
Her eyes widened in concern. "Are you sure that's wise Miss?"
"Oh, don't worry Millie, I don't plan to lose" I said smugly.
"That's what worries me Miss" She set fretfully.
"What do you mean?" I asked frowning.
"Only that... well the Prince is a proud lad, he won't take well to losing my Lady, and he'll end up making a spectacle of himself mark my words!" She shifted about nervously and I gently led her into the room and sat her down on my bed. "Is it really necessary Miss? Do you have to fight him?"
"You don't know what he said Millie." I said softly, feeling on the verge of tears.
She took my hands and pulled me down beside her. "What did he do?" She said with wide eyes. I explained our argument yesterday, and when I was done she lifted a handkerchief to dab my wet eyes. I hadn't even realized I was crying.
"Now Miss, you and I both know that isn't true, but you go and do what you have to do. It wasn't right what he said."
I nodded and she squeezed my hand sympathetically.
"I'll leave you to get ready then." She walked to the door and was just about to leave when she turned back.
"Oh, I almost forgot the whole reason I came here in the first place."
She pulled a small box from her apron and handed it me.
"We found it in the small room you got ready in last night when we were cleaning. There was no note, but I assumed it was for you."
I smiled my thanks to her and she left, shutting the door behind her. I opened the delicate paper around the box and opened it with a gasp. Inside was a bracelet. It was made out of three chains of silver braided together with small opals dangling down every few knots. It was beautiful, and no one had even left a note? Who wouldn't take credit for such a lovely gift? I wondered. Maybe it was from David, he would be the type to just leave something around for me to find later. I smiled, I would have to ask him about it, but first I had a duel to get through.
I threw on my most comfortable practice clothes and began some exercises that started out easy and grew into a complex dance. I came out of the last pose breathing hard but feeling refreshed. I walked to the door and hesitated a moment before picking the bracelet up from my bed and admiring it once more before dropping it into my pocket.
I was the first one down to the practice court and took my time selecting a wooden practice sword. After going through a few I found one that felt comfortable and did some practice swings. Satisfied I went outside and sat down with the sword laid across my lap to wait.
John showed up moments later with an impressive sneer on his face and half a dozen of his friends trailing behind. What a shame, I thought, now he'll have an audience to see him lose. I stayed seated on the ground while John gave me a scathing look before going into the shed to select his weapon. The boys ambled up to me and Luke offered me a hand up.
"Hello, Cee, I see you've managed to get our Prince into quite a mood," He said with a chuckle.
"He got there himself, I just showed him the way."
David laughed "Well, either way, we'll be here to help him up off his Royal arse" He said with a wink. The other boys laughed their agreement.
I smiled and shook my head in pity. Even his friends didn't think he would win. Just then John walked out of the shed and strutted confidently over. I rolled my eyes while the boys patted my back and wished me luck as they went to stand on the sidelines. John scowled at them and I muffled a laugh. He directed his glare at me.
"Let's get this over with, I don't have all day to humour your pretty notions of a duel."
I raised my eyebrow at him and smirked without giving him a reply. Pulling my hair into a tight knot I took my place. He might get under my skin, but not here, not when I was fighting. I took a deep breath and the whole world disappeared leaving only me and John. I felt a complete sense of calm wash over me as he stood there lazily.
We bowed, keeping our eyes on each other the whole time. He came up and swung at me hard. I instantly brought up my sword and stepped out of the way causing him to stumble with surprise. He'd never seen me on the field before either. I smiled grimly while he regained his balance and faced me looking flustered. I let him continue the offence while I coolly blocked his every move. He came after me furiously but his temper caused his swings to be more wild and clumsy with every pass and I blocked them easily. He faked left, I anticipated his move. He swung at my hips, I parried and danced to the side.
"This isn't dance class you know." He huffed out between swings. He was tired, swinging at me non-stop without strategy.
Fine, I thought, and swung my sword at his chest. He barely got his sword up in time, but I immediately pressed the attack. I lunged at his legs and he managed to block me in time, but fumbled and winced when his fingers got in the way. I forced him to walk back in order to block my moves and his eyes widened in shock. He was getting nervous now and making even more amateur mistakes. Idiot, who taught him how to fight anyway? He would never be a good swordsman if he let his emotions make him mess up.
There, an opening.
I pushed my sword up between his arms and cut sideways knocking the sword from his hands.
Check and mate.
His jaw dropped open as he stared at me, then down at his sword in disbelief. I felt a pang of guilt at the pained look in his eyes but he deserved it, or at least that was what I kept telling myself. I looked over at the boys, some of them were cheering and laughing while others forlornly handed some coins over. They'd made bets on who would win? David looked up after collecting some money from Luke and winked at me.
Now I really felt bad, his own friends had bet against him. I turned abruptly and started walking away before any of them could come over and congratulate me, it didn't feel like much of a victory.
I had just made it past the shed when I heard someone running to catch up to me. It was John, his face red with anger.
"How did you do it." He demanded.
I shrugged and turned away not feeling like gloating. Something must be wrong with me. He grabbed my shoulder and forced me to turn around.
"Luck." He spat at me. "You got lucky," He repeated loudly. I winced, here was that scene Millie had warned me about. Frantically I looked around to see his friends walking up and some others turn in our direction.
"John, don't do this" I said quietly, pleading with my eyes for him to let it go. He wouldn't though, and we both knew it.
"Don't tell me what to do Celia" He screamed. People were definitely staring now, and moving closer.
I clenched my hands in frustration "Look John" I hissed quietly "I won fair and square."
He didn't take the hint to keep his voice down.
"You most definitely did not, it was luck, and I demand a rematch!"
Oh, no, he didn't really say that did he? Not in front of all these people. A crowd had formed by now. What should I do? I couldn't turn him down, not that he would let me anyway.
"Fine." I whispered.
"Tonight." He said, finally calming down now that I'd accepted. I nodded and walked away, the crowd parted to let me through. I could hear them all talking excitedly about our duel and shook my head, what was I going to do?
I paced back and forth down the hallway, I was mad, why did he have to go and cause a scene like that? Why couldn't he just swallow his pride and admit he was wrong, he knew what he'd said to me last night was wrong. I'd seen it in his eye's that he regretted it so why couldn't he man up and say it? And now I had to fix it somehow. I was furious with myself; why didn't I listen to Millie? Why did I let him get to me? Why had I cared what he'd thought anyway?
And then I felt bad, why did I have to push him into this? I knew how he was. I should have known... but I didn't know he would feel so bad about losing, didn't think he'd let me see it if he did.
I punched my hands at the wall breathing heavily.
"Miss Celia... Are you alright?"
Millie. I turned to her and as soon as she saw my pained look she rushed to my side and gently led me into my room.
She sat me down on the bed, the same way we'd been this morning
"What is it... did you... lose?"
I groaned and dropped my face in my hands "No, I won, and you were right, he--he said it was luck, and then he demanded a rematch. In front of everyone."
She pulled me to her and stroked my hair softly.
"Now, now Lady, no sense being upset over what's done."
"I should have listened to you Millie, what should I do?" I said quietly.
"You do whatever you have to do Miss." She said firmly.
I was pacing again. It was getting dark out, and I'd stayed in my room all day trying to calm myself and not answering the door for anyone. But after all that time I was just as tense as I'd been before. I took a deep breath and walked outside heading to the practice courts, but I wasn't the only one.
This couldn't be good.
The closer I got to the field the louder it got. I walked around the shed and froze.
It was even worse than I thought.
It looked like half the castle had turned out for this. There were all the court ladies flirting with all the boys, some older knights and their wives, all the stable hands and a handful of other castle staff, everyone not on duty at the moment it looked like. I shakily walked into the shed. John was already in there. He looked pale and only nodded at me as he walked out, all his earlier confidence gone. I took a deep breath and picked up a sword at random. I had made my decision, and finally having done so walked bravely out with determination to face John.
The crowd quieted down immediately once we stood facing each other. With a bow we began. I took up the offence this time driving him back a few feet before switching to defence. We circled each other exchanging blows and I made sure to set up my moves so that he would be able to block them without giving me an opening. This was a tense battle, I had to calculate every move carefully, keep it going long enough, remain calm and cool, and make sure no one caught on.
We had been going for a while, neither gaining the advantage but John was nervous again, making mistakes that I tried to cover up, this was a show more than anything. Frustrated, he stepped up so that our swords were locked together. I could see that he wasn't standing properly, while I was well braced. I could easily step aside and he would fumble, giving me the victory.
He seemed to realize this too and tried to correct his stance, which I let him do while I transferred my weight to the other leg. This was it, could I go through with it? With a deep breath I slackened my hold just slightly-- and he pushed forward causing me to stumble back. He had his sword placed just above my heart.
Game over.
I dropped my sword to the ground acknowledging defeat and made sure my face looked blank while the crowd cheered and began to surge forward. John stood still staring at me and panting hard before he was surrounded, while I slipped away unnoticed.
I walked into the shed and let out a deep breath. Millie would have been proud, but I grimaced knowing that John would never let me hear the end of this. Still, it had been necessary. My thoughts were interrupted when the doors opened and clicked shut again, the bolt sliding into place. What now? John came forward looking confused, how had he gotten away from the crowd?
"You let me win." It wasn't a question.
I made sure my expression was carefully blank again "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Save it, we both know I made a mistake, but you covered it up and let me win"
"I did no such thing," I replied, feigning anger. I turned away hoping he would believe me and drop it when he stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
"Why did you do it?" He whispered. I turned back around to see him looking down at the ground, and now I was angry for real.
"Because you didn't give me a choice!" I snapped.
He looked up confused, and a little hurt. "What do you mea--"
"You couldn't just accept that you lost, you had to go make a big scene, say it was luck that I won, force me into a rematch in front of everyone!"
He winced at my harsh tone and took a step back, which just made me angrier.
"The whole bloody castle turned out for this after your spectacle, so what was I supposed to do? Beat you in front of everyone, the people you're going to be ruling one day. And what would they think if you lost? They wouldn't have any respect for you, so I had to do it. Had to make sure you won without anyone being able to tell."
His eyes were wide, and the angished look so obvious in his eyes told me I should stop, but the words kept pouring out.
"I tried making you keep it down, asked you not to do this, but you didn't listen, so I had to clean up the mess, and you still have to ask why? You're old enough to be King, John, people expect you to set an example, did you not hear them out there? You had to win, but don't for a second think it was because you're a better swordsman than me!"
He was still standing in the same place, unable to look me in the eye and looking utterly defeated. It was a pathetic sight and I felt bad again for being the one to cause it, but it was too much, I'd gone through enough today. I stormed out from the back, both emotionally and physically drained.