Knightless in Seattle

by Jill Jaynes

  Shouts from an unseen crowd rose from somewhere beyond the tents. A tingle of anticipation raced up her spine at the sound.

  She hot-footed it down the path that led to the encampment. As she passed the last cluster of empty tents, someone called out, "Hello there! Wait up."

  Jackie turned and saw a woman hurrying after her, clutching a clipboard to her chest. She was dressed in black jeans and sweater with a white band tied around her head.

  "You must be Jackie." The woman pushed thick-framed glasses higher on her nose before extending her hand to shake Jackie's firmly. "I'm Lila, the game manager." Tendrils of straight brown hair escaped her haphazard bun, but her attitude was all business. "Sorry I didn't see you drive in. I've been watching for you, but got caught up in something." She tilted her head to one side and grinned. "You made quite an impression on Lance."

  Jackie felt heat climb into her cheeks. "I-I did?" What embarrassment did she have to live down now?

  Mischief sparkled in Lila's eyes. "Well, he's certainly never asked any of the other women in here to give him a token to carry into battle, or anywhere else for that matter. Not that they haven't offered." She chuckled. "He's got quite a little following, our Lance, but he keeps everything polite and professional." Her grin broadened. "Yup, there's going to be some broken hearts after today's tournament. Speaking of which, we'd better get a move on."

  Stepping back, she cast an assessing glance down Jackie's body. "So, you're what, a medium?"

  "Um, I guess so."

  "Great. I have just the thing for you. Lance thought you might be up for wearing a costume. A lot more fun that way."

  "Um, sure. Okay." She wiped suddenly damp palms down her jeans. She hadn't really thought about what she was wearing, figuring she would just be standing anonymously in a crowd and cheering on her hero. But Lila was right. She might feel out of place if she were the only one not wearing a costume. "That actually sounds like fun."

  Ten minutes and a world-record wardrobe change in a nearby tent later, Jackie found herself hurrying after Lila, quick-stepping down the dirt path she'd been on earlier, following the sounds of the crowd.

  * * * *

  "Are you sure this is a medium?" She tugged ineffectively at the low-cut bodice of the emerald-green damask gown. It was scooped to bare an uncomfortable amount of bosom, which was currently pushed up by a tightly-cinched black velvet outer corset. "It seems a little small."

  Lila cast an appraising glance over her shoulder. "Nope. Looks perfect. Totally killer with your red hair and green eyes." She shot a conspiratorial grin at Jackie. "Our boy doesn't stand a chance."

  She kept on marching, talking as they went, while Jackie pondered that particular comment. "You'll be a character, but not a main, scripted one. You don't have an actual part; you're more like an extra."

  Just then they rounded the base of the hill and Jackie stopped in her tracks. "Holy crap. What a production!"

  The trail had opened onto a parade ground-sized area. A medieval parade ground to be exact. It looked like a full-on country fair from the fifteenth century.

  At the far end, brightly colored flags fluttered from poles ringing an open-air arena where easily two hundred people in medieval dress sat on wooden risers, cheering enthusiastically.

  In front of the arena, colorful tents dotted the ground. Kids and dogs chased each other across the still-damp grass, and smells of roasting meat and something frying reached her on the light breeze. There were even more people here than she had thought.

  Beside her, Lila grinned, while hugging her clipboard to her chest. "I know, right?" The pride in her voice was obvious. "We've been planning this for a year. There are European martial arts fencing masters from six different states here for an all-out competition as the highlight of our storyline. It's been a hell of a lot of work, but totally worth it. C'mon, I'll show you where your spot is."

  Jackie trotted after Lila, trying to keep pace with her ground-eating stride.

  "You're going to be a lady in waiting to one of the nobles," Lila said over her shoulder. "Basically, the plot of our LARP involves six noble houses and who will become the new ruling house because the King and Queen are stepping down. So there's a lot of scheming and intrigue going on at the moment. You can always tell who is who by the colors they wear. Each house has its own colors--you've probably noticed the flags. Your dress is green and black because those are Lance's colors."

  She grinned as Jackie caught up. "Your Lance is really the key to a big power move by his house. There's a lot riding on him winning the overall competition. You might just be the extra inspiration he needs."

  As they crossed the field to the arena, Lila nodded at the huge, billowing purple-and-black-striped tent standing just outside the circle of flags.

  "That's the knight's tent. They go there before their turn at the competition to prepare for their round. All the equipment is kept in there, so be careful if you go near it, since it gets busy and there's a lot of weapons."

  "Lila, thank God I found you!"

  Jackie recognized the familiar tone of panic. A teenage girl, also dressed all in black, skidded to a stop before Lila. Her brown eyes were wide in a pale face framed by a mop of black curls.

  "Jason needs you and he says now."

  Lila sighed. "Guess I'd better go find out what he wants this time." She put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I told you, Roxie, don't let Jason scare you. His bark is worse than his bite." She looked over her shoulder and gave Jackie a pained smile. "Jason is in charge of plot. I swear that man can't tie his own shoes without making a production out of it."

  Jackie grinned back. "Don't worry, I totally understand. Just point me to where I'm supposed to go. I'm sure I can find it."

  Armed with the description and location of the noblewoman she was supposed to belong to as a lady in waiting, Jackie headed towards the entrance of the arena.

  Passing the purple-striped Knight's tent, she ran her fingers along the softly billowing fabric. Her fingers caught unexpectedly on the unseen edge of a panel, pulling it open. A hand shot out from a slit and grabbed her wrist.

  "Do you consent to physical role play?" The low voice came from the other side of the panel.

  What was she supposed to say to that? "Um, sure. Okay."

  The next thing she knew, she was pulled into the darkened interior and brought up hard against a muscled body at her back, held in place with one of her captor's arms around her neck and the other around her middle, effectively pinning her own arms to her sides. The grip wasn't overly tight or painful in any way, but she couldn't move, that was for sure.

  "Who are you and what business do you have in the knight's tent?"

  Jackie swallowed hard. Boy, these guys really took this knightly battle stuff seriously. "Um, hi? I'm really sorry about all this." Boy, was she ever. "Didn't mean to disturb you or anything, I was just going to find a seat in the stands."

  "Jackie?" The hands that had held her helplessly pinned now spun her around until she was brought chest-to-chest with a particular tall, blond, knight-in-shining-chain mail. Well, almost chest-to-chest. He did have a foot on her in height, after all.

  "You came."

  Lance took a step back to get a better look at Jackie. He ran his hands up and down her arms, and gave a low whistle. He couldn't help himself.

  "Nice costume." He made an effort to raise his gaze from her deliciously mounded breasts to her face. "You look great."

  And felt even better. He couldn't get enough of touching her. "Sorry about all that. I didn't know it was you. Thought someone was trying to sneak into the tent." He drew her back into his arms. What was it about this girl that pulled him like a super-charged magnet? "There's a lot of funny business going on in the game right now and I'm a little jumpy."

  "So I've heard," Jackie murmured against his chest. "You're going to have to show me that move one of these days. I'd never be afraid to walk down a dark alley again."

  "Any time." Lance swall
owed hard at the feel of her pressed tantalizingly against him. Reaching for a little of the focus and self-discipline that had built him a name and a chain of successful European martial arts studios on the eastern seaboard, he reminded himself he had a match to get ready for.

  "But who will protect you from me?" He grinned and leaned down, intending to drop a chaste kiss on the top of her head. She turned her face up to his at the last second and met his lips squarely with her own.

  Fireworks exploded behind Lance's eyelids at the first touch of her soft, lush mouth. The little teasing flame of attraction that had flared to life yesterday with the first touch of her hand burst into full-fledged inferno-mode, scorching him with a bolt of lust.

  Jackie opened her lips beneath his, and he thrust his tongue inside to tangle with hers. His control was further shaken by the little moan she gave as she looped her arms around his neck and pressed tightly against him.

  He pulled her even closer. He could hardly believe his own response. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since yesterday." He ran his hands down the length of her spine. "All wet and bedraggled, pushing that dead-as-a-doornail car in the rain."

  "Yeah, I know. That was my plan all along." She looked up at him, laughter dancing in her eyes. "How could you resist a damsel in distress, you being a knight and all?"

  God, this woman was like water in the desert. Her skin, her soft curves, that knowing sparkle in her eye. Maybe it was just that he hadn't had anyone special in his life for such a long time. He put a lot of time into his work, but he knew deep down he intentionally kept himself too busy to think about how lonely he was.

  "You seem like the kind of girl that should keep a knight in shining armor on contract, if you ask me," he said, and bent his head to kiss her again.

  A spear of daylight stabbed through the open tent flap. "Hi, I'm looking for-- Oh! Sorry about that." The boy's voice cracked on "sorry".

  "Oh!" Jackie jerked back out of his arms. Her blush was obvious even in the dim light.

  Lance sucked in a deep breath and counted to three as he forced reality back into focus around him.

  The freckle-faced boy cleared his throat and focused pointedly on the toe of his soft leather boot as he traced arcs in the dirt floor. "I was, uh, just looking for your shield to, you know, shine it up for you."

  Lance frowned. He had actually been expecting the arrival of his squire to start getting things ready for his next event. Although the kid was dressed in the green and black of his house, Lance didn't recognize him. "Who are you and where's Matthew?"

  "Um, I think he had to go home for some emergency or something. I'm Sam." He slid his gaze around the interior of the tent and licked his lips. "The game manager sent me."

  "Oh, maybe that was what Lila was dealing with when I got here," said Jackie from behind him. "She said she got pulled away by something and missed seeing me arrive."

  The kid seemed a little off to Lance, but maybe he was just being paranoid. The problem was that his final event was going to start in about fifteen minutes and he needed a squire to help him with his gear. He made his decision.

  "All right, thanks Sam. Why don't you start gathering my equipment together. We don't have much time."

  After a few more instructions from Lance, the boy made a hurried escape into the darker interior of the tent. He sure seemed nervous to Jackie. But considering the stacks of wickedly pointed weapons of various shapes and sizes, piles of shields and metal body armor, she didn't really blame him. Definitely gave her the creeps.

  Lance turned back and pulled her close. "Thanks for coming. It means a lot."

  "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." She fought the smile that pulled at her lips, keeping her face serious. "You have my glove."

  "Next to my heart," he said, as brought his hands up to cradle her face.

  There was nothing accidental about the way he kissed her this time. He was slow and thorough, letting her know that for this moment she was the absolute center of his attention.

  The kiss ended altogether too soon, leaving her with trembling knees and a pounding heart.

  He lifted her chin with one finger. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but you've got to go. That is, I've got to go. Get ready for my competition." He pressed a last, fierce kiss to her lips. "Everything hangs on this final event and it starts in about ten minutes. But I promise after that, I'm all yours."

  Jackie stepped back on shaking legs, hoping it wasn't too obvious how rattled she was. She offered a bright smile. "Go out there and kick some knightly butt then."

  "Thanks. I will," he said with a grin. "You should probably go back out the way you came in. I'll catch up with you after the tournament."

  "Sure thing." Jackie backed towards the side of the tent where she had come in. "No worries. I know where to go. You just focus on, you know, winning and all." She gave a little wave of her fingers. "I'll see you out there."

  With a last smile Lance turned away and faded into the darker recesses of the tent as he busied himself with whatever knights did to get ready for combat.

  She gingerly felt her way along the tent wall, hoping she wouldn't stumble over any of the pointed weapons.

  There it was. Bright daylight nearly blinded her as she found and opened the slit. She blinked several times to give her eyes a chance to adjust. As she did so, a movement to her right caught her attention.

  Was that Lance's squire hunkered down on the floor? He seemed to be looking for something, maybe something Lance was going to really need in a few minutes. God knew it was dark enough in here to lose a horse.

  She cleared her throat. "Do you need some help?" She pulled the opening wider, washing several feet of floor in the glare of daylight. "Did you drop something?"

  The boy leaped up with a startled yelp. The way he thrust his hands behind him all but shouted that he'd been doing something he shouldn't.

  Jackie narrowed her eyes at him, tempted to just jump him and grab whatever he was hiding behind his back. "Everything okay?"

  "Yeah, sure," he squeaked. "Just making sure to load up all the daggers and stuff he's gonna need out there." He cleared his throat and shot a look in Lance's direction. "I'd better get back at it. See ya."

  With that he turned halfway round and sidled past her, clutching to his chest whatever he'd been hiding behind him.

  "Okay, then. Guess my work here is done." Jackie grasped the edges of the slit, braced herself for a second, and pushed through the opening into the light and noise.

  And collided with the body that was occupying the same space.

  "Oh, there you are."

  Jackie blinked in confusion before recognizing Lila's assistant.

  "Lila sent me back to take you to your seat. I've been looking for you for five minutes. Man, she would kill me if I lost you."

  "No worries, Roxie," Jackie smiled. Poor girl, she had a lot to learn about handling stress. "Glad you found me. I don't think I have much time before Lance is on, or out, or whatever."

  "That's for sure. The tournament is starting in just a couple of minutes. We gotta go."

  Roxie set a quick pace, leading Jackie up the closest set of wooden steps and tugging her along the planks of the crowded stands circling the arena. At the far end the King and Queen were seated on a raised platform draped in purple and gold striped satin. They were flanked on either side by about a dozen apparently favored nobles, each dressed in the distinctive colors of their factions.

  Roxie halted in front of a group of obviously important personages decked out in the tell-tale green and black of Lance's house.

  Seated in the middle of the first row was a regal brunette, dressed in a form-fitting green brocade and velvet gown with a plunging neckline. Strings of pearls threaded through her high-piled hair and wrapped lovingly around her neck. Clearly she was nobility.

  Nobility who quite pointedly ignored them, lowly peasants that they were.

  Roxie cleared her throat. "Pardon me, my lady."r />
  The brunette slowly turned her head, as if she was looking for someone in the arena. Finally she faced Roxie. "Yes? What is it?"

  Roxie's sigh was almost inaudible. She dropped her eyes and hunched her shoulders. Clearly this wasn't her first encounter with the brunette. "May I present your handmaiden Jacqueline, my lady? Jacqueline, this is Lady Nima."

  Just before she turned to leave, she caught Jackie's eye. Good luck, she mouthed silently.

  "Ah, yes, Jacqueline." Lady Nima flicked a condescending gaze over Jackie, from head to foot. "I've heard about you. You've come to cheer on our dear Lancelot."

  She gestured with an exquisite fan to the empty seat on her left. "Sit. It is rude to block people's view."

  Jackie sat, while wondering how she was supposed to respond. She certainly didn't care much for this Lady Nima character. That must be it, she's just playing the character. Nobody is really that rude. Were they?

  "You are rather late in the game, you know." Lady Nima returned to surveying the crowd. "I have attended every bout Lancelot has fought in the last three years." Her lips curled in a self-satisfied smile. "I am his good luck charm, after all".

  She shot Jackie a sideways glance. "Your hair is a mess. You should have made more of an effort to be presentable."

  Jackie felt her mouth drop open. She snapped it closed, reminding herself again that Lady Nima's offensive manners were probably all part of the role play.

  "Yes, my lady," she murmured. There. That sounded like an appropriate response for a peasant-class nobody to make to her medieval betters.

  Besides, there wasn't much she could do about her hair at this point. Lila had arranged it loosely, with only a circlet to hold it in any kind of order. Unfortunately the damp air had its usual effect of transforming her carefully straightened long hair into a mass of curls. She could feel them springing around her face.

  And who knew what her few minutes alone with Lance had done to it? She gave an inner shrug of acceptance. It was what it was.

  Horns blared from the direction of the royal platform, drawing everyone's attention. A barrel-chested man dressed in the same purple and gold as the royal pair stepped to the front of the platform.