Summer, 53 ET | Part IV
General Summary
The Summer Tourney of Shields
43rd Day of Summer | 53ET
There was quite a commotion the following morning as late nights and overeating took its toll on folks inside and outside of the castle. The Companions were in no hurry as none of them were competing but it was still an event to see and be seen at so they eventually presented themselves outside and made their way to the lists. Along the way, they were greeted by Ser Asaph Evodel, a Shields vassal they had met the previously and joined in a short stroll with him.
A cheerful fellow, Ser Asaph managed to mention his unmarried sisters only three times and invited them to his lands for a hunting trip in the fall only once. All in all, he seemed a good man and his sisters were attractive but no one was particularly interested in courting them at the moment. Their minds were elsewhere.
The Final Rounds Of The Tourney
The last two rounds of the tournament were all that was left at this point. The final contenders were an eclectic group. From the Eorldom of Swords, Ser Charol Demolin, a Sworn Knight of Swords, had made it. He had found his way to the last cloverleaf positions through Ser Padral Raem and Ser Asaph Evodel. He was the only member of Swords who made it to the final circle.
Ser Jandil Dagynar, son of the Shields Bannerlord Dagynar of Kastyr Keep had performed very well and now was eager to compete again.
Ser Marh Sevarin, the 2nd born of Freelord Sevarin. He had taken Ser Dameron Valodred out of the lists.
The final jouster caught Ser Emrys Gwalchmai by surprise as he saw the young hedge knight, Ser Codael of Southfork, that had defeated him in the lists. The knight smiled at him nervously and continued on his way. When he mentioned it to Catriona she nodded and pointed out that it must be the favor that he had begged from that young woman in the crowd. And yet the name of the young lady who had gifted the hedge knight with her favor was not forthcoming.
In the Champions Square, the freelance Ser Codael fell to Ser Marh’s lance on the second pass. He was struck hard enough that Sevarin was off his horse and running towards him before he stirred from the ground. The other bout was over after the first pass as Ser Jandil unhorsed Ser Charol in a crashing blow from his lance.
In the final bout, the crowd quieted from its loud and raucous nature to watch and wait for the winner to emerge. After two passes, it was SER JANDIL DAGYNAR who emerged triumphant. The crowd went wild as one of their own Shieldsmen had won the Champions Chair for the glory of his line and liege!
Shields Tournament Champions Feast
43rd Evening of Summer | 53ET
The air was filled with the sound of strings, laughter and the occasional groan from a recovering tourney knight as they made to stand up, sit down or bend in a particularly painful way. The mood was light amongst the feast tables as the Shieldsfolk were delighted at the victory of SER JANDIL DAGYNAR, the son of one of the Eorl’s Bannerlords, and a companionable sort to boot! He was all smiles and goodwill, beaming down from the head table, where all were delighted to see the Maiden MOETHE DAMALDA had graced them all with her beauty and presence.
Sera Catriona was escorted to her table down on the floor though still in the forward ranks enough that she caught Moethe’s tight lips and mood from across the room. Clearly, the young maiden was not excited to be here and was paying little attention to either the Champion or her own Eorl Rovin of Swords.
With a sigh, Catriona settled into her seat and greeted those around her. This time, Emrys and her had been seated at the same table although opposite sides. She faced the younger Loreune Teron, a handmaiden to the Lady Damalda and daughter of a minor Shields vassal. The young woman was a bit overcome by her seating arrangements and it was no doubt the meddling of the Lady Damalda that had placed her amongst such knights—several of whom were unmarried. The perqs of being in the orbit of Eorl’s wife. To Catriona’s left, the Shields vassal, Lord Jens Maglora. The good Ser Emrys Gwalchmai was Lord Maglora’s opposite. To Catriona’s right, as seemed to be the case more often than not, Ser Ondaul Kashyr was smiling at her and across from him was… bloody Dynaine Velonne.
The smile on the Velonne tart’s face was enough to cause teeth to creak although it would have been difficult to determine whether it was Catriona’s or Emrys teeth under such strain.
The first courses flowed out and plates filled as did flagons as, for a moment, the hungry tourney participants tore into the fine food to sate themselves. Ser Emrys seemed to be jumpy, Catriona guessed, as he was twitching from time to time as if shocked. Each of her quizzical looks was met by that pearly, fanged grin of Dynaine. Luckily, she was distracted from further investigation by both Ser Ondaul and Lord Maglora engaging her in conversation. It was the mention of their battle against the mountain-men that caused the first interruption. While the Lord Maglora was genuinely interested, the twinned sighs and pleadings of Dynaine and the maiden Loreune were enough for Catriona to cede the floor to Ser Emrys who was uncharacteristically tense. He attempted to give a rousing summation of the battle but it was flattened by his odd nervousness. Sera Catriona decided to finish it for him and do it full honors but in the midst of her analysis and swordplay remembrances she finally saw that Dynaine was making quite free of her hands constantly touching Emrys.
Light, soothing touches almost as an afterthought… to Emrys it reminded him hauntingly of taming a horse. The first touches to get the animal used to being touched and necessary before the bridle was fitted. The mental imagery that accompanied that was enough to cause a slight choking fit as his hastily downed wine found its way down the wrong pipe.
Ser Ondaul Kashyr lent his own words to the tale although any attempt at a full telling had largely gone by the wayside. Ser Ondaul managed to finish off the battle with several glowing compliments highlighting Sera Catriona’s actions on the field while glossing over the other knights accompanying her in the van. By then, Catriona and Dynaine were trading barbed glances over the table, the maiden Loreune seemed to have lost her tongue after looking at Emrys too long and the Lord Maglora was starting to cast questioning glances at everyone seated. It was clear from his expression that he realized something was going on even if he was not quite sure… what.
Sera Catriona, in need of an interlude from this growing temper, threw a quick glance at the head table. The look on Eorl Damalda's face revealed that he also had noticed the lack of energy between his daughter and his pick for marriage: the Eorl of Swords. The Eorl of Swords was being polite and yet it was clear to any that knew him he was hiding behind the formality. Even Emrys managed to fend off the many-handed Dynaine long enough to catch the gist of the failing match-making occurring in sight of the entire room. Luckily, it seemed that the majority of feasters were far more interested in their meals and drink than any highbrow maneuvering. But Catriona and Emrys knew that some of the knights back in Swords would be as disappointed as the Eorl of Shields in this development… or lack thereof such.
After attempting to share a quiet observation or two and failing miserably in light of the company, both Catriona and Emrys settled back to enjoy the feast. Emrys had actually managed to get free of the probing by Dynaine and instead had exchanging pleasantries with Loreune which was quite overwhelming. Even Catriona had to smile as Emrys often forgot he was usually the most handsome man in the room and his bachelorhood would soon be raging challenge to most seeking maidens for miles around.
So it was with her own amusement that she listened as the maiden Loreune, possibly in a failed attempt at subtle flirtation, chivvied at Ser Emrys to tell about how he would win the heart of a lady should he ever be so ensnared. The maiden Dynaine joined in the pleading and Ser Emrys had little choice but to offer up something. He coughed softly into his hand at the sudden attention and thought quietly for a moment. A quick breath and he began speaking… the art, he conjectured, of romance was best expressed by the efforts of the great lover-knight, Ser Terlana of olden times, in the Retellings of Terlana’s Labors of Love. The old Rhuani stories were of particular interest to maidens due to the obvious themes behind each of the Labors set by the enchantress, Idomidea, whose heart was sought by the great knight Terlana. But Ser Emrys had studied hard and had been given a monastic education to round him out and it was clear that he had parleyed his love and skill of the written word with no small amount of original philosophizing of his own.
Even Catriona found herself caught up in listening to him as his voice took on a more intimate and confident air. It was not loud but it carried and others nearby stopped to listen to taciturn knight’s baring of his own thoughts about romance. The Labors, he explained, were not just the physical tasks that the Enchantress set before the knight. Emrys warmed up as he began explaining his own thinking regarding the multi-layered meaning of the Labors. The physical was a shell, as were the bodies for the souls, and the tasks were weighty enough that the casual reader (ie. teenage maiden) may mistake them for being complete in their telling.
But those Labors paled, paled in comparison to the trials that Terlana's pride, his martial outlook and his ambitions as a future noble set to inherit great wealth and power in his own right! The Enchantress plied him with the physical challenge as Terlana was, as so many of us men are, confined spiritually by a material prison of our minds design of society's expectations of us. But the true Labors were the spiritual ones that she carefully placed before him, unseen by Terlana and I can tell most of you… Yes the Labors appeared the means by which Terlana won the love of Idomidea but I challenge you on this and say instead: it was the spiritual growth gained unknowingly by Terlana that made him worthy of the Enchantress’ love. To temper his ambition to her Way, to open his eyes to her true beauty of the soul and to become a partner so fine that no Power could sunder such. And so, in my pursuit of such a lady to love, I would seek not only to impress and perform my skills and strengths but also to ensure that even while doing so I am looking at her with eyes that see what she needs: in a man, a knight and yes, a partner in life and love. For I cannot see loving a woman who does not bring out the best in me and, if I may hazard such a notion, it is in seeing her needs and attending to them that I become that better man and a knight worthy of such a love.
Ser Emrys had risen during his extemporization as he had warmed to the topic and his voice had carried such conviction and depth that it had drawn in the surrounding tables as audience as well. He found himself looking out at a multitude of faces; the men with earnest grimaces as they sought to remember some of his lesson and the women, of all ages, gazing at him in an elation not unlike that of a miner at finding gold amongst the dross. He looked down and saw that any chance of dissuading Dynaine had become moot as her eyes bored into him. He sighed and hoped that, in getting carried away, he had at least maintained the methods of rhetoric taught to him so many years ago. As he slid back into his seat, Sera Catriona raised her glass in a silent toast that swiftly became more raucous as applause thundered around him!
Sera Catriona took another slug of her wine as her plate filled yet again with the roast beef and sauce that the Shields kitchens had perfected to her delight while serving here. The meal was her very favorite and she winked at the serving girl as yet another helping cascaded onto her plate. She could feel the heavy sauce and meats settle within her but could not help herself. She lifted up her fork and knife yet again and began work that would surely upset her stomach before morning. And it was all worth it, she mused. As her plate emptied, she realized that conversation had carried on around her without interruption and found a pleasant quiet place for a moment amongst the increasingly rowdy feastgoers.
Sera Catriona used that moment’s peace to survey the head table and see how things had moved along since the rough start witnessed earlier. A few minutes later, she felt the roast beef turn in her stomach. Her Eorl, Rovin of Swords, had a look on his face that was recognizable to any who had grown up in companionable age to him. A stubborn, willful look that communicated that, though utterly reluctant, the young man would do his duty. It was a determination that would have been admirable except that Eorl Rovin could never actually accomplish the onerous task he set out to do without dragging through the motions such that anyone with eyes could see it was a chore for him. And sure enough, she watched as he half-heartedly listened to the punchline of Ser Jandil and turned his head smiling only to grimace as he faced away from the young Champion.
And Ser Jandil may have been fine with a lance and blade but it would seem a complete boor at the feast table. His jokes were simple and uninspired, usually involving the lowest of assumptions about the smallfolk who worked his family’s lands and polite yet insulting allowances for their ‘base minds’. Catriona could see that even Moethe, a far more polished court actor than Rovin, was struggling to remain upright in the face of the now-drunken knight’s attempts at entertaining her.
Ser Emrys, while having thoroughly enjoyed the third course as did everyone at the table, still could not shake the attention he was receiving from the feminine feastgoers nearby. Dynaine and Loreune were almost afterthoughts at this point although the young Velonne maiden still bore a determined look that made Ser Emrys instinctively reach for a shield that was not there. It was almost rhythmic how he would make polite forms toward one young lady only to be interrupted ever so effortlessly by yet another female. And it was not just the maidens! A few of the more mature matrons had managed to snag him for a time or two before he was able to extricate himself.
And so, well into the third hour, he thought he had wrested a little peace for himself when he heard the collective audience nearby call on him for a song. He just laughed and finished off his wine. Enough with fighting it, he reasoned, and stood upon the bench to draw the attention of all around him. He looked about the feast hall and drew deep to bring his best to all onlookers! His voice rang out, as clear and clarion as hunting horn, as he lifted off into the first lines of an older yet well-wrought ballad of highs and lows.
Across the table, Catriona had been trying to figure out whether she needed to add another hole to her belt after all that food when Emrys’ voice carried out over the whole room. She stopped, in awe for a moment, and then a warm laugh as she knew he had always had the talent but rarely the opportunity or desire. It seemed that, tonight for all its missteps elsewhere, was going well for Emrys and she was both proud of him and cheered by the thought.
When Emrys’ final notes hung over the room and the entire audience drew in a breath held too long, the young knight knew that he had done well. It was a pride of showing those here, whether Shields or elsewise, that a Swordslord showed both the martial and mental talents of a true nobility. That lesson had clearly been well-laid tonight by his efforts and perhaps even by others. But even his more stoic Rhuani temperament flushed with satisfaction at his performances that night.
Character(s) interacted with
Ser Asaph Evodel--A young knight most eager to introduce strapping, bachelor knights to his two younger sisters.
Lord Jens Maglora--A lord-knight a few years older than the companions who was witness to but witless as to the going-ons at the feast table.
Ser Jandil Dagynar--Champion of the Tournament and 1st born son of the Bannerlord Dagynar.
Maiden Dynaine Velonne--A most determined adversary of both Sera Catriona and Ser Emrys.
Maiden Loreune Teron--A handmaiden of the Eorl's wife placed most auspiciously for the meeting of a possible husband. Unfortunately, it was the inspiration and 'true depth' of young Ser Emrys that captured her this night and made a mess of the whole plan.
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