Squire Hayseed

by S E Zbasnik

  “Are you okay to do this?”

  “Don’t have an option,” she whispered back. In a rare moment of brilliance, Hayley turned his helping her rise into a handshake. Her fingers gripped onto his forearm, but in trying to form the illusion she realized how much muscle was below her palm. Abed barely blinked at joining their hands. No doubt he found nothing but bone and skin for Hayley’s arm.

  She couldn’t do this. Most of her skill relied upon wearing the other person down, waiting for an opportunity. Skill? Ha. Most of her luck. Her skills amounted to knowing which rube in the street was the easiest mark. With her leg throbbing, she’d have to end this fast. Or she’d be ended fast. Damn it.

  It was a strange consolation though that she’d be losing to Abed. At least it wasn’t Larissa. How well would Marco have done at this? He’d probably be at the top, standing there quietly while Ser Cal took credit for his squire’s work.

  That drew a silence to Hayley, her head tipping to the ground. She still saw him sometimes. In the dark, when there was a flash of red from an open fire, he’d appear behind her eyes. Or once, she mistook a pile of old farm equipment in a sack as his fallen form. They’d only exchanged a few letters, a few words, but Hayley knew Marco would be with her forever no matter what.

  “Squire!” a voice snarled at her, shattering her dark thoughts. She glanced up to find the staff of bells jangling towards her. Right. Her sword.

  Hayley raised it up, the tip about to bounce into Abed’s, when she felt a stinging in her eyes. Trying to be as smooth as possible, Hayley wiped her glove over the tears, hopefully wicking away the pain as well. The whole time Abed watched, no doubt doing as Ania did, sizing up all the weak points in his opponent. Planning on when to strike and where. Hayley was a sieve when it came to weak points, the challenge was only in the picking.

  Still… She promised Gavin that she’d become a squire, become his squire, and she’d do what it took. Grabbing onto her courage with both hands, Hayley knocked the tip of her sword into Abed’s and met him eye for eye. The jangle of bells broke through the sudden silence. Even with another two fights occurring on the sides, the audience honed right on Hayley and Abed about to come to blows.

  “Begin!” the judge shouted, the bell-staff yanked away.

  Hayley began to dance backwards, ignoring the burning up her thigh. She expected Abed to come for her side, maybe it’d give her a chance to try Ania’s tip. But the boy did something so unexpected, Hayley nearly dropped her weapon.

  Twisting his sword downward, Abed jammed the tip into the dirt and he fell to a knee.

  You couldn’t hear a pin drop for miles. It felt like she was drowning, all sound ripped away in an instant, the air itself thickening to slow her body as the surface glittered far in the distance. Abed’s entire face was burrowed into his thigh, his hands clasped together in prayer.

  “What’s?” Hayley broke the silence first, her head whipping over to the judge who looked gobsmacked. “What’s going on? Abed are you…?” She eased towards him, worried he might be hurt when the jangle of bells and staff suddenly snapped at Hayley.

  “Squire Gavin has won the match,” the judge commanded, her lips pursed like a donkey’s anus. She didn’t seem happy about whatever happened, but she looked pretty damn confused too.

  “I did? I didn’t even? What?” Hayley spun around, trying to find any sense when Abed finally rose off his leg. Instinct caused her to reach for him, her hand wrapping around his arm to try and help him to his feet. As she drew closer to him, she whispered, “What did you do?”

  Tears bubbled in Abed’s deep eyes as he said, “What he would have wanted.”

  Oh god. Hayley gasped, her own tears rising to join his. To hide her sudden burst, she wrapped her hands around Abed, the pair of squires falling into a hug. He sacrificed his own standing for her? Not for her, but for their lost friend. They were in this as one, all of them together. Hayley gasped, realizing she didn’t have to do this alone.

  “Thank you,” she sputtered out, still clinging to him.

  Abed smiled. “You know next year shall be a different tale.”

  Swiping at the tears, Hayley broke into a laugh. “Believe me, I plan on taking you on too.” The crowds had no idea what to make of this, some clapping from the sudden camaraderie shown, others ripping their beads apart and hurling them into the dust. How many enemies did Abed just make?

  After scanning the rabid foaming audience, Hayley’s eyes landed on at her fellow squire. Her fellow man-at-arms. He didn’t have to worry about the angry fans coming for him. She’d watch his back.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  For two more days Hayley was allowed to heal and practice. Abed’s gift let her reach the point she was able to jog short distances and turn at her knee. Too much could risk enraging her wound, which would then lead to Gavin ordering her to sit for two to three hours with a rag soaked in witch hazel wrapped around her thigh.

  When not honing her skills in a small wooded section too close to a river for anyone to camp, Hayley was sitting in the stands with Ania doing what she probably should have done from the start. Ania taught her how to recognize poor and really good form. Or at least she’d point out the ones in the upper squire ranks that Ania had on her beaded board. Hayley tried to pry out of the girl who she had winning the lowest class, the one she was in, but Ania wouldn’t say anything.

  To Hayley’s surprise, when she was gathering up a mass of fried dumplings to share with Ania, Tish, and a few other squires, she spotted her bead upon a man’s square. Green with a yellow SG painted on its side, it hung right in the middle of the line. That fool honestly thought she’d get to the end and win everything. While sitting in the stands with her cap pulled low, she began to spot more and wondered what was going on.

  Tish told her that even with Abed’s sacrifice, and a lot of people grumbling about the upset, word was getting out that she was at that big castle battle. That Hayley was the squire who snuck into the castle and saved everyone. Apparently, that was enough to bring out a growing contingent of the audience in her corner.

  “Get well known enough and they might all start copying your hat,” Tish laughed, which only caused Hayley to tug it tighter to her head. She though the girl was babbling in tongues until they all sat together watching one of Gavin’s matches.

  While her knight clashed swords in the middle of the arena, sweat beading up his exposed chest as the two men faced off shirtless, an entire array of stands wore verdant green livery. Embroidered on the front was a snake with a star in its mouth. The snake and star design changed based upon who stitched the tunic, some skilled, some looking like a child with a piece of rope for a model did it. But all of them were stomping their feet and waving their hands for Gavin.

  Even when the knight soundly defeated his opponent and gave a hearty back pat to the man as if they were only sparring in the yard, the crowd roared for him. Adored him. Loved him. Hayley had no idea how he didn’t puff his chest out at such attention. Her knight, who everyone picked to win everything, didn’t even glance up at the stands save a quick flit of his eyes towards a middling box. Once they landed upon a blonde woman under a wide-brimmed hat, he’d touch the tip of his bottom lip with his thumb and bow his head.

  Ania wondered what that was about, but Hayley wouldn’t say. She’d promised, and she really, really prayed that Gavin would pull off his plan. Because if she had to try and hide the truth for much longer she was gonna explode.

  The one perk to her being so busy and surrounded by the other squires meant she didn’t run into Finn at all. Maybe he’d try to say something, maybe he even thought he could explain. Hayley didn’t care, nor did she have time for it. If she did see him, she’d tell him to go shove his fat forehead into a bucket.

  As the tourney wore on, the number of combatants fell to only a handful. Tish lost in a close joust to another older squire, which was what sent Hayley leaping down to the arena out of the stands. The clowns in charge of corralling
fans spotted the livery and let her dash off to try and console her friend. While Tish tugged on the straps, heaving off the first of the borrowed plate, Hayley stumbled up beside the partially hidden encampment under the stands.

  Tish vanished deeper into the shadows while Hayley blinked against a blinding sun. “Hey,” she called out, realizing she had nothing to say.

  “I should have known,” Tish groaned, placing her helmet upon the stand and turning to find Hayley picking at her fingers. Known what? That Hayley would come talk to her? Was that a bad thing? Should she not have? “Thomas always was better in the saddle.”

  “You nearly had him,” Hayley tried, before shrinking back. She honestly only knew what Ania told her about when it came to jousting. To her, it looked like two people ramming horses at each other in order to break shit. Apparently, there was some skill and finesse in the shattering of poles. Or so everyone claimed. Maybe it really was just pure chaos they all pretended was skill.

  “I guess.” Tish slicked her hand back through her hair before scattering all the sweat behind. In this heat and trapped inside the helmet, every squire came out of armor as a water-skin of sweat. “Always next year, right?”

  “So they say,” Hayley said.

  “Though, if all goes according to plan, I should be a knight myself by then.” Even morose, Tish was trying to cheer herself up as she placed back her knight’s armor. It didn’t fit as well on the squires who were learning and giving a smaller performance to the mighty hero’s grand one. But it did keep them all from shattering a rib or two.

  “How does one…?” Hayley began when a flustered Ania came rushing towards her.

  The girl's arms were both waving high over her head as if she had to get Hayley’s attention that very second before both were buried in a rock avalanche or something. Hayley’s vision scanned every direction she could imagine death coming from before turning straight to Ania.

  “What is it?” she spat out, reaching out to grab her friend’s arms and slow her.

  “You…” Ania sputtered, trying to suck in a breath. Unable to wait for that to come back, she began to sign fast, “Problem. The board’s fully broke.”

  “What?” Hayley spoke aloud, “What do you mean broke?” That drew Tish’s eye over, the girl confused how Hayley got any of that without Ania speaking a word.

  Blushing, Ania stood up and said, “Not broke, upended. There was a surprise loss, an injury, and…you’re in the final. Hayley, you’re going to fight in the final!”

  “That can’t be…” Hayley slumped back into the shadows, her face hidden from the edge of the stands above. “But I had, I only fought twice. Sort of twice. Once really. How can I be in the final?”

  “It…” Ania waved her hands around like they were burnt, “would take too long to explain. But you’re in it. Just you and one other squire. You defeat her and you’re the champion of your class!”

  Holy shit. One more fight and she’d pull it off. She’d bring in all the points Gavin needed to give himself room to waltz to being the Grand Winner. She’d get her own winnings and be able to buy a fancy sword. She’d…

  Every joyful thought came screeching to a halt as Hayley whipped her head to Ania. “Who am I fighting?” The ‘her’ rang like a gong in her ears, Hayley’s brain shaking the name she feared like bells from hell. No. It couldn’t be. Surely she…

  Stepping out of the judge’s tent with a fat smile on her face, Larissa paused before her adoring fans. Oh she had them too, quite a lot in fact. The sudden change in the squire boards must have begun to disseminate through the people watching as they all turned away from the clowns to watch their squire princess give a pretty wave.

  “Squire Frederick,” Ania said with dread in her voice.

  Larissa. If Hayley wanted to win this, she’d have to fight Larissa. The girl who chased her around the arena, who would have bashed her skull in if given the chance was the only thing between her and salvation. Reparation. Whatever she needed to do to make up for costing Gavin his future.

  “Shit,” Hayley spat at the cruel god pulling all the strings.

  This was it. Her entire reason for being reached its dramatic crescendo in the next twenty or so minutes. She would either fly or fall, no other option. Climb back into the ring against Larissa; one more fight and Hayley could finally prove herself worth something.

  “Caught a few of her bouts,” Ania chattered from behind Hayley as the squire cinched on the leather jerkin. “She prefers to overwhelm her target, one beat after another until…”

  “I know,” Hayley interrupted. For the past hour as the crowds grew from a smattering to a multitude in the stands, Hayley watched over the shifting grounds. In honor of the upcoming final squire battles, they’d raked the dirt back into place and increased the size of the ring. It was nearly double what she fought in before, which would only give Larissa a greater advantage to throttle her to paste.

  “Squire?”

  Her bleached eyes turned from the sun-whitened grounds to the cool shadows under the stands. Gavin raised his head higher, his eyes staring over the entire proceedings as if it was normal. As if it was just another day in the yard. God, she wished that could be so. What was she thinking joining the tourney? Larissa was gonna smear her over the ground and…

  Gavin picked up the pristine white tunic upon the table. The seams were rough and puckered, but it didn’t matter. Hayley accepted the smock, her head popping out of the top as she slipped it on. It matted her hair worse than usual while the hems of the tunic fell to just below her new tattoo. Sighing, Hayley tried to mold her hair into one of those neck knots all the well-trained squires and lady knights wore.

  Her fingers slipped in the second twist, causing the mass of straw-colored hair to unwind and flop to her shoulders. With a slow smile, Gavin dropped her worn-out blue cap into her fingers.

  Hayley worried the edge, staring at all the holes her life caused. “I didn’t think I should, lots of people are out there watching. Don’t I need to be, ya know, presentable?”

  “You need to fight at your best, and this is not the time to throw yourself off by removing your usual headgear.” Her knight smiled from on high, reassuring Hayley the same way the sun cresting over a snowy field would.

  She bobbed her head at the thought, quickly stuffing her mass of hair under the washed out cap and securing it all in place.

  “However, if you do take up jousting, then I’d suggest not wearing that under the helmet,” Gavin added as an aside. He’d been the only steady one, taking this news with an acceptance Hayley wished she could touch. Frederick wandered past an hour back, congratulating both Hayley and Gavin on the accomplishment and inviting his friend to place a large wager on the outcome.

  Hayley didn’t know how to feel about her knight refusing. On one hand, she could tell herself that he was concerned about his coin, every last glint of it dedicated to his secret wife. On the other, that had to mean he knew she wouldn’t pull this off. He knew she’d fail spectacularly, and in that process reveal him to be an awful teacher no matter how much effort he put into her.

  On one of her little toes, she was glad there was no coin riding on her performance. At least when she did screw up it meant she wouldn’t cost them anything.

  “I’ve got a grout on you,” Ania leaned over, whispering in Hayley’s exposed ear.

  Great. So much for that thought.

  “And Finn’s put down two,” Ania continued. “No idea where he got two grouts from.”

  “He did?” She tried to turn to Ania for confirmation, or perhaps understanding, but the leader of the Tourney waltzed to the middle of the grounds — her stick of bells jangling on high.

  It was time. Hayley checked her sword once again to make certain it was at her hip. What would happen if she forgot it? Would she be allowed to run and get it or have to fight bare-fisted? It didn’t matter either way, it was there where she strapped it on after the announcement came.

  Hayley moved to take a
step into the unknown when Gavin landed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Deep breaths,” he ordered, Hayley’s lungs obeying. “Forget the rest of the world.” Easy for him to say, he wasn’t fighting in front of half the kingdom. The entire row of curtained and carpeted boxes was stuffed to the nines with gilded nobility.

  “And Squire,” Gavin patted her once on the back, then released her into the wild, “you will do your best.”

  Stumbling forward, she turned back to give a limp smile to her only supporters. Gavin crossed his arms serenely while Ania pumped her hand back and forth in a great wave. She was so ecstatic she nearly pitched off the barrel to the ground. That drew a smile to Hayley’s gut, just before she turned and fell into the void.

  A thousand voices talking at once was deafening, but a thousand tongues stilled, two thousand eyes glaring into your every move was like being flayed alive. With each step, Hayley felt more of her skin rip from her bones, the unending eyes and frozen jaws snatching another strip until she paused beside the Tourney Master. Even wearing a leather jerkin, bracers, trousers, and the smock, Hayley was naked.

  From the other side came Larissa. Her green eyes didn’t once skitter to the multitude above them. No, she only had her sights set on the iron ring, no doubt imagining Hayley broken and bloody on the ground. With a bounce in her step, Larissa sidled up on the right side of the Tourney Master.

  After a great shake of her bells for attention, the Master began. “Ladies, Gentlemen, Dukes, Duchesses, Earls, and esteemed members of the court. I am pleased, in connection with the three Order of Knights, to present to you our first squire champion fight.”

  The crowd clapped appreciatively. Hayley’d been flinching in fear that it’d have the power of a dragon's wings ripping apart the air, but their spectators were subdued. They wanted to get on with it but weren’t going to shout at the Tourney Master either. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad.