The two walked out of the woodcarver’s tent and browsed through the neighboring jewelry maker.
“I still don’t see why you’d have to marry him if you don’t like the man,” Nate grumbled.
Kiara sighed heavily and ran her soft fingertips over the stone beads of a colorful necklace. “I gave my word to him and I have an obligation to my father. I’ve told you this before,” she answered regretfully.
As they passed by lovely pieces of jewelry, a certain ring caught Kiara’s eye. Its band was silver with creative carvings along its surface. It was simple, yet beautiful to her, just as Gwen’s dress had been. Kiara carefully picked it up and examined it between her fingers, smiling at all its little designs. Nate watched with keen interest, savoring the sparkle in her eyes.
Kiara, taking a leap of faith, took the ring and slipped it onto her left ring finger, the one that would have been reserved for her wedding ring. And, as if fate would have it, the ring fit her finger perfectly. Kiara bit her lip and stared down at how it looked to have a once naked finger occupied by such a trinket. It felt odd as she flexed her fingers, marveling how it shined in the dim light of the tent. Nate glanced from her to the ring, wondering what could have possibly been going through that beautiful head of hers.
After playing with the ring for a while, seeing how she looked with it on, Kiara looked up to Nate and suddenly felt guilty as if she had been caught doing something shameful. She quickly ripped the ring from her finger, placed it back on the table and moved along. Nate peered down at the ring one last time, then followed her.
“Did you like that ring?” he asked after they had left the tent to walk to another.
Kiara glanced back to him and tried to act oblivious. “What ring?”
“That silver one you just tried on. Did you like it?”
She sighed and pursed her lips. “I suppose… But, Sir Claude has already picked out a ring… It was odd how it fit perfectly, though, isn’t it?” She chuckled a bit to relieve the tension.
Nate nodded in agreement as they walked along. But, before entering a large furniture merchant tent, he saw a gathering forming at the end of this particular merchant row. He stopped just outside the tent and tried to determine what was going on. It appeared to be another competition, but it was not being held in a sanctioned arena and there were no judges. He wondered if a fight had broken out.
Kiara, noticing Nate’s attention being diverted, walked back out from the tent. “What is it?” she asked, looking at the crowd that was steadily growing larger by the minute.
“I don’t know. It looks like some kind of fight is going on. Want to check it out?” he asked, looking down to Kiara.
She only shrugged. “If you want to.”
Without a word, Nate began quickly walking towards the crowd to find out what was going on. When he eventually managed to push through the mob, he found that there was another sword fighting competition taking place. Only, this fight was not a formal competition like the others. The second place winner from the earlier sword contest was hosting it. The man was carelessly bashing away at some poor peasant who thought he could beat the knight. The knight was courteous enough to lend him a suit of armor and fake sword to battle with, but they did not provide the skills necessary to fight.
“What’s going on?” Nate asked a man who was standing beside him.
“Sir Jacob is challenging anyone to fight him and whoever has the skill and strength to beat him, he will buy that man a dinner with his winnings from the sword competition he lost. No one has come close to beating him.”
Nate turned back just in time to see the scraggily peasant get blasted in the chest by the edge of Sir Jacob’s wooden saber. He winced at how painful that must have been as he watched the peasant topple to the ground and have to be dragged out of the ring.
Kiara came up and joined Nate just as a new challenger stepped onto the field, briskly putting on the coat of armor to fight the brute. This peasant was no more muscular or more qualified than the last. He was struck down just as quickly.
“That’s not fair! He’s just being a bully! What’s the point of this?” Kiara asked, feeling suddenly angry on behalf of the peasants.
“Sir Jacob here, has challenged everyone willing to fight. If they win, he’ll spend his entire winnings from the last fight to buy them a dinner for tonight. It must be a very expensive dinner,” Nate paused in thought. “Five pieces of gold can buy a lot.” An intrigued, concentrated look came over him as he observed the knight’s style of fighting.
“Yes, it is a lot, but those peasants don’t have a chance. They probably have never been trained to fight in their whole lives.” Kiara gestured towards the skinny, scrawny man who thought he had a chance at beating the knight.
“Except this one,” she heard him mutter.
Kiara looked up to Nate, who had a wicked, mischievous grin spread across his face. Her eyes went wide with fright.
“Please don’t be thinking that?” Kiara whined, scrunching her shoulders up as she heard the ominous cracking and breaking of the peasant’s metal armor.
“Oh? What am I thinking?” Nate turned to her slyly, the grin unwavering.
“You’re thinking you’re going to go in there and try to beat up that knight to get a dinner fit for a king.”
“Or, for a princess.”
Kiara was taken aback by that comment. Her eyebrows rose, wondering if that was just him being coy or if he was completely serious. Either way, she wasn’t about to let him step foot into that ring.
“No! I forbid it!” she scolded, just as the most recent peasant was pulled out after being knocked unconscious. “He’ll hurt you, or worse!”
“Really? Well, we’ll see.” Nate shrugged off his pack onto the ground and pushed his way through the crowd to stride up in front of the knight. His chest was puffed out bravely and stance strong.
Kiara gasped and tried to grab after his sleeve, but it was no use. “Nathaniel, you come back here this minute or so help me I’ll put you in worse shape than he will!”
Nate only waved his arm carelessly at her, showing that he wasn’t listening to a word she was saying. Kiara grumbled to herself, folded her arms and waited for Nate to get in the cracked suit of pathetic armor.
The knight looked at him and scoffed. “Ha! You think you can beat me, too, peasant?”
Nate didn’t say anything, only bent over and picked up the wooden sword left by the previous competitor. He tested its weight in his hands and swung it around a few times in order to get familiar with it. When the knight’s squire came over to clasp the armor onto Nate, he only shook his head and waved him out of the ring.
“Nate!” Kiara protested, loud enough for him to hear. He eyed her in such a way that silenced her for the rest of the match. She should have known that he knew what he was doing, but she cared about him too much. She hugged herself tightly and watched anxiously, hoping with all that was in her that Nate didn’t get too badly injured.
The knight, seeing that Nate was ready to fight without armor, laughed heartily and took his wide stance. Nate, standing up straight with his sword point stuck in the ground, nodded casually that he was ready. Kiara couldn’t bear to watch this.
Sir Jacob yelled and bounded forward with his own saber raised high above his head like he was going to pound Nate right through the earth. Nate stood perfectly still until the last possible moment, then simply stepped out of the knight’s way. Sir Jacob, unable to stop with his heavy momentum, almost ran into the crowd of spectators. They all scrambled out of the way fast enough to give him room to stop.
And when he did, he was not happy at all. Nate, who hadn’t even lifted his sword in defense or offense yet, remained standing in the middle of the ring, waiting for the next attack. Sir Jacob, now even angrier than he was before, straightened himself up and readied for another charge, this time it was slower.
Sir Jacob moved at a light jog, his sword point in front of him with the thought to skewer Nate through the belly. Na
te stepped aside and simply tapped the edge of his blade against Sir Jacob’s to parry it out.
And, without stabbing his target, Sir Jacob lost control of his sword and it’s tip dug into the dirt in front of him, staggering him to a stop. Nate, with a smirk, took his sword and smacked Sir Jacob on the rear, making the knight fall flat onto his stomach.
The crowd laughed and jeered at the two, as more spectators drew in to watch this hilarious match. Even Kiara began to have faith in Nate’s abilities. When Sir Jacob struggled back onto his feet with a heavy pant, Nate put on a more serious face and stood at the ready, both hands on the hilt, holding the sword up in front of him.
Sir Jacob, now infuriated for being humiliated twice in one day, stood the same way and growled behind his helmet. The knight stepped forward, throwing swing after swing of his sword, its wooden edge coming at Nate from all angles. Every time he came, Nate blocked swiftly and cunningly, never backing up from his blows, but stepping to the side, taking him in circles around the ring.
Everyone marveled at Nate’s superior skill with the sword, including Kiara.
After mere moments of attacking and blocking, Sir Jacob became even more winded, his body drenched in sweat while Nate’s pores had hardly squeezed out a drop of perspiration. Close calls thrilled the crowd, but they never alarmed Nate. It was as if he had staged the fight before even entering the ring and he allowed those close shots to come at him for their sake and not Sir Jacob’s.
Finally, either by his own boredom or mercy upon Sir Jacob, Nate bumped the fight up another level. While Sir Jacob stepped forward with an overhead strike, Nate lifted his sword, blocked the shot and hopped to the side, swinging his sword around to slam against Sir Jacob’s fat belly. That was the first hit he received since the unsanctioned tournament began.
The crowd gasped and stared in awe as Sir Jacob grunted at the blow, his whole body armor vibrating with the shear force of Nate’s attack. But, Nate was far from finished.
As Sir Jacob was leaning over, holding his stomach, Nate brought his boot straight up to the knight’s helmet. Sir Jacob went from holding his stomach to holding his head in an attempt to stop the incessant ringing, his sword held loosely in one of his hands. Nate swung the wooden saber around once more and sent it flying directly up between his opponent’s legs, where there was no armor.
Sir Jacob groaned in agony, falling to his knees, dropping his weapon and letting both of his hands flee to his injured manhood. Nate banged his sword against Sir Jacob’s back, sending out a loud crashing sound and the knight fell onto his chest.
The crowd roared with applause and cheers as Nate stabbed his sword into the soil and planted his foot on Sir Jacob’s back, claiming himself the victor, untouched by his opponent.
“Not bad for a peasant, huh?” Nate jested to Sir Jacob, leaning down so that the knight could hear him. Sir Jacob moaned, his tender spot apparently still sore.
Kiara raced out into the ring and threw her arms around Nate’s neck to embrace him with immeasurable gladness that he wasn’t hurt. Caught up in the moment, Nate dropped his sword, stepped off of Sir Jacob, and lifted her clean off the ground and swung her around a few times, her legs dangling and swinging wildly, making her giggle and hold on tighter. They embraced each other like lovers in the crowd’s eye.
When he finally let her down, they pulled back to lock gazes for a moment, both feeling that same electricity that they had earlier. Nate felt he couldn’t restrain himself this time. His lips curled into a smile as he forgot himself and rushed in like a fool.
But, before Nate could land his lips on hers, Sir Jacob grabbed Nate by the shoulder and spun him around angrily. Nate snapped himself out of his daze when he saw the dented helmet of his opponent, and in a reflexive move, held his arm back to shield Kiara as he swiftly pulled out his own dagger, more than ready for another fight if the knight wanted one.
But, the knight only sighed and held up a small pouch that jingled with coins. Sir Jacob untied the leather straps and shook out five gold pieces.
“Five gold pieces for a dinner. Fair?” the knight spoke hoarsely.
Nate stood up straight, and nodded, holding out his hand for the prize as he sheathed his dagger. Sir Jacob let the gold coins fall from his gloved hand into Nate’s and reached up to slide his helmet from his head, revealing a nasty purple bruise that had formed around the knight’s eye.
Kiara wrinkled her nose at the injury and hung onto Nate’s arm, hoping there would be no more hostile confrontations. Sir Jacob only smirked and shook Nate’s hand respectfully. The knight smiled, showing he held no hard feelings against the rogue, then limped off with the assistance of his squire. Nate looked down to his hand and rubbed the coins between his fingers with a satisfied smirk.
“That was very brave of you,” Kiara commented softly as the crowd began to disperse, seeing as the show was over. As Nate turned around, however, the princess balled her hand into a tight fist and struck him on the shoulder.
“What was that for?” Nate rubbed his shoulder with an amused smile as he saw Kiara’s puckered up, angry face. Her punch really didn’t hurt.
“For going into a fight without any armor on, that’s what! You were acting like a fool! What if you got hurt?” Kiara scrunched her eyebrows together and glared at Nate as he only smiled and chuckled a bit.
“I didn’t get hurt, though, did I? The only reason I went out without armor was because it would have slowed me down. I’m used to fighting without armor, remember?”
Kiara’s expression softened and she glanced off, realizing he was right. She folded her arms stubbornly and sighed. Nate held out his hand and rolled open his fingers to show her his prize. She looked down to it, and then up to him and shrugged, not sure what he meant by the gesture. His eyes were compassionate and glistened in the evening sun.
“What?” Kiara asked, trying to maintain her disgruntled expression.
“Do you want the ring?”
Kiara was speechless. Was he serious? Of course he was serious. Those eyes couldn’t joke even if they tried. Kiara glanced between the coins and Nate’s face, still unsure of what to say to a question like that. She hugged herself tighter and stared at the coins, then took a deep breath before turning back to him with her answer.
“I don’t think it would fit any other finger.”
Nate and Kiara stared at each other, knowing exactly what she meant. Getting Kiara that ring would be exceedingly inappropriate. Nate stiffened his jaw and nodded, walking past Kiara to pick up his pack that he had left on the ground. While he poured the gold coins into his pouch, Kiara was scolding herself for not saying how she really felt.
An hour or two of shopping later, Nate used two gold coins to buy Kiara the best meal she had had since she was kidnapped. He ordered for a gourmet meal of a roasted turkey leg, mashed potatoes, a mixture of garden vegetables and a beverage of non-fermented fruit juice. Kiara was more than happy to share that meal with Nate and insisted upon it a few times, but he simply refused and ate a pork sandwich instead.
As the sun was just about reaching the end of its stay in the sky, Kiara and Nate found an unoccupied public table near the merchant rows to sit at while they ate. Kiara, sitting across the table from Nate, made a pig of herself and ate everything with such ferocity that would make people think she hadn’t eaten in a week. Nate, on the other hand, ate slowly and wasted much of his time watching the princess.
They didn’t speak while they ate, but only occasionally glanced up to each other or around them at the numerous wealthy families and tournament contestants setting up their tents for the night. Many camped out by the river or stayed at the few inns in town. Kiara only broke the silence when a simple fact occurred to her.
“I’m so sorry, Nate. I just realized that we weren’t supposed to stay long,” Kiara groaned, leaning her elbow on the table to hold her head.
Nate only chuckled and shook his head. “It’s alright. We needed to relax a bit before continuing… Are y
ou enjoying yourself?”
“Yes, but why didn’t you remind me? We should have left after lunch after you told me you felt uncomfortable here.”
“Well, I knew you were having a fun time and I didn’t want to spoil it for you. We can leave tonight. Don’t worry. When the sun goes down, we’ll slip out of the valley.” Nate motioned his hand towards the tree line, and then took another bite of his sandwich.
Kiara looked up to him and placed her chin in her palm. “Aren’t you still uncomfortable though? We can leave right now. Most of the merchants are closing up anyway, so there’s no reason to stay anymore.”
“I’m kind of getting used to it. It’s getting easier the longer that I’m here. Do you want to leave right away or stay a while?”
She tilted her head and tried to read those mysterious blue eyes that stared back at her. “I think we should leave as soon as you’re ready. It will take a while to get out and we need to set up a fire and all before it gets too dark.”
“Excuse me,” an unfamiliar voice came from besides to their table. The silent intruder caught Kiara off guard, but Nate only looked up cautiously at their guest. Next to the table, stood a tall, strong man with a friendly face, green eyes and jet-black hair, dressed in a blue knight’s uniform. He was a middle-aged man that gave an impression of wisdom from years of experience. He seemed kind and very obliging with a warm smile and pleasing countenance.
“Yes?” Nate addressed, straightening up his posture in a way to show that he was just as much of a man as this knight was.
“Pardon me for interrupting your dinner, but my name is Sir Ethan.”
“You’re the knight who won the jousting competition earlier, aren’t you?” Kiara rudely interrupted, unable to contain her excitement.
Sir Ethan smiled and nodded. “Yes, I am… And I’m also one of the many spectators that viewed your fight against Sir Jacob. I was astonished that a man such of your class could have easily defeated a knight without so much as breaking a sweat. I’m very impressed.”
“Thank you, sir.” Nate bowed his head in gratitude and was about to turn back to his dinner, when Sir Ethan continued.
The Princess and Her Rogue Page 35