King Arthur and Her Knights: Enthroned #1, Enchanted #2, Embittered #3 (45 page)

“I will face Maleagant again. Beating him is not the issue, driving him off is another matter,” Britt said.

“Of this I am aware,” Merlin said. “Thankfully Maleagant’s army might be raised, but it is not too close to Camelgrance. If we can frighten Maleagant enough to make him flee to his army I don’t think he would dare return, not if we convince him that he cannot defeat us.”

“And how do you propose to do that?” Sir Kay asked.

Merlin grinned wickedly. “Through trickery.”

“I still don’t see why I couldn’t ride Llamrei,” Britt complained as she rode her borrowed charger across the open span between Camelgrance and the surrounding forest.

“Llamrei is not a charger. She is trained to flee at the first sign of danger and bring her rider to safety,” Sir Kay said.

“So that’s why you prefer I ride her when we’re around Camelot. She won’t attack like Roen, she’ll just carry me off,” Britt said, looking down at Sir Kay, who was walking shoulder to shoulder with her horse.

Sir Kay grunted and did not respond.

“I’m impressed you managed to bully Merlin into letting you come instead of him,” Britt said.

“He is needed to make the second part of the plan work, and he would raise Maleagant’s  suspicions as he reeks of magic,” Sir Kay said.

“I’m not saying I disagree with you, just that I was surprised it worked,” Britt said.

“Merlin knows he would not be as much help to you as I in this case. He knows little of armor and even less of fighting. He would not make a proper squire.”

“Kay you are
not
here to act as my squire, you are here to speak so I don’t have to,” Britt protested.

Sir Kay shrugged. “If that is what you think, My Lord. Prepare yourself, for we draw close.”

Britt checked to make sure her helm was in place as she and Sir Kay stopped between Camelgrance and Maleagant’s camp.

A knight from Maleagant’s forces stood at the edge of the camp while men madly scrambled behind him. “Who goes there?” he called.

“Tis the White Knight, the champion of Camelgrance. He wishes to know why you have not departed,” Sir Kay said.

Britt twisted in the saddle to look at Camelgrance. Based on the amount of noise radiating from the castle, the soldiers standing guard had sent word to Leodegrance.

“Where is he?” a raspy voice roared.

Maleagant stormed out of his camp, wearing his armor but not a helm. “You!” Maleagant snapped, thrusting a finger in Britt’s direction.

“The White Knight wishes to say that he was told you promised to leave should a champion beat you, Duke Maleagant,” Sir Kay said, his voice steady and reflecting no emotion. “As he trounced you, he desires to know why you are still here.”

“I was not beaten,” Maleagant said, his nostrils flaring.

“Being that the White Knight knocked you to the ground and held you helpless, he wishes to know what your definition of beaten is as it does not match common expectations,” Sir Kay said.

From behind the veil of her helm Britt stared at Sir Kay. “Kay, what are you doing?” she hissed.

The ground rumbled as Camelgrance’s portcullis was raised. King Leodegrance and a squad of his soldiers left the castle.

“Champion!” King Leodegrance called, his face pinched in the gleefulness of his expression. “Thank Heaven you have returned.”

“When I gave my ultimatum I meant that I must be defeated in a joust, not a mere
swordfight
.”

Britt’s blood turned cold.
What
?

“The White Knight wishes to know if knocking you off your horse will actually count this time, or if he needs to strip all weapons from your person and tie you up in order for you to admit defeat,” Sir Kay said.

“Kay!” Britt hissed, barely audible over Maleagant’s roar. Maybe she would have been better off if Merlin had come instead of Sir Kay after all.

“Prepare yourself, for I will run you through,” Maleagant promised when he finished shouting. He turned and stalked back into his camp. “Where are my horse and my lance?” he demanded.

“It is to be a joust this time then? Splendid, is a fence necessary or will you two be able to run at each other?” King Leodegrance asked, rubbing his hands together.

“The White Knight will need a lance. As it is the
least
you can do, can I assume you will supply one?” Sir Kay asked Leodegrance.

“Absolutely, you there, fetch a lance for our great champion,” King Leodegrance said to a soldier.

As the soldier went back into Camelgrance Guinevere charged out of it on the back of her riding horse. She blushed when she espied Britt. “Champion,” she called.

Britt turned her back to the girl. “Kay, what are you doing? It’s not like you to run your mouth like this and you have just gotten us into a mess of trouble. I
can’t
beat Maleagant in a joust. What are you thinking?” Britt said, her voice lowered.

“But you can, My Lord,” Kay said. “You haven’t the passion for jousting as you do for the sword, but you’ve gotten quite good at it.”

“How can you say that? I’ve never even unseated you!”

“Forgive my pride, My Lord, but as it stands I am the best knight at jousting in all of Camelot. It would take much for you to defeat me. Trust my judgment, My Lord. You can beat Maleagant.”

Britt turned to glance back at the Maleagant’s camp. “Do you really believe that?”

“I do. If you do not lose heart, My Lord, you will certainly win.”

Britt sighed. “Merlin is going to kill you when we get back to him.”

“Of that I am well aware.”

“Does this lance suit you, champion?” King Leodegrance’s soldier asked, trotting up to the pair, carrying a long, tapered weapon.

Britt recognized it as a jousting lance, so the end was blunted and cupped to prevent a knight from impaling his opponent.

Sir Kay went over it and nodded. “It will do, thank you,” he said, handing the weapon up to Britt.

When Maleagant appeared again, fully armored and mounted, Sir Kay asked, “The White Knight wishes to know if you too plan to use a jousting lance, or if you intend to take a much needed advantage and use an actual lance.”

Maleagant growled and presented the blunted tip of his jousting lance.

“Very well,” Sir Kay said before walking off.

Britt nudged her charger and followed him.

“You’re taking this better than I thought you would,” Sir Kay said when they were far enough away that their words would be muted to the crowd gathering at the gates of Camelgrance.

“The only thing that is keeping me here is your judgment. I have absolute belief in you. So if you say I can do this…,” Britt trailed off and shivered in her armor.

“Am I one who normally lets you gamble with your life?”

“No.”

“Then I promise you. You will win,” Sir Kay said, stopping when they were far enough away from Maleagant for a proper joust. “Sit deep in your saddle, and push from your stirrups,” he said, unhooking a plain shield from Britt’s charger and passing it up to her.

“Ok,” Britt said, her heart pounded in her throat as she slid her left arm through the shield straps.  She swiveled her horse to face Maleagant, wishing she could wipe off the sweat that was starting to bead on her face.

Maleagant was on his red roan horse again, and he seemed especially sinister dressed in his armor embellished with blood red swirls and decorations.

“Don’t panic,” Kay said, backing away as one of Leodegrance’s men raised a flag.

When the soldier swung it down Britt and Maleagant cued their horses forward, rushing towards each other in a canter.

Britt pressed her butt deep into the saddle to anchor herself as she rocked with her horse’s rolling gait. She steeled herself so she wouldn’t flinch, and too quickly Maleagant was upon her.

Britt steadied her joust with her right hand, carefully aiming for Maleagant’s shield. She hit it, but Maleagant also hit her.

Numbness followed by a flash of pain hit Britt when Maleagant pushed, trying to toss her from the saddle. Gritting her teeth, Britt managed to keep her seat. So did  Maleagant. It was a draw.

Britt raised her lance and trotted back to Kay, flexing her arm to get feeling back into it.

Kay stared at her when Britt stopped her charger in front of him.

“He isn’t as strong as you,” Britt said. “Getting hit by you in a serious charge hurts enough to make my eyes water and my arm useless for an hour.”

Sir Kay nodded as Britt guided her horse back into place. “You didn’t push,” he said.

“What?” Britt said, tugging her shield back into place, ignoring the tingling in her arm.

“You did not push him with your strength, it was all the force of your mount,” Sir Kay said.

“I was guarded and more concerned about staying in the saddle,” Britt admitted.

“Staying on isn’t going to win this joust. He’s bigger and has more stamina than you, he’ll wear you down. You must use all your strength to unseat him,” Sir Kay said as again Leodegrance’s soldier raised the flag.

“Right,” Britt said moments before the flag dropped and her horse exploded forward in a canter.

Britt braced herself as her mount charged across the field, again holding her lance aloft as she carefully aimed for Maleagant’s shield.

The impact was worse this time. Instead of numbness Britt’s side burned as if she had been hit by a sledgehammer. Maleagant didn’t seem to feel Britt’s lance, but Britt was almost popped from her saddle. She hit the back of her jousting saddle, its raised rim biting into her lower back.

Britt coughed, feeling significantly more pained as she turned her horse and trotted back to Kay, ignoring Maleagant’s sneering laughter.

Sir Kay had his arms folded as he studied Britt.

Even though he couldn’t see her eyes Britt looked away, embarrassed by the knowledge she still hadn’t done as Sir Kay said to.

She couldn’t help it. She was weighed down by the knowledge of what a loss would mean.

“Britt.”

Britt looked to her foster brother. “Yes?”

“That man down there in the armor,” Sir Kay said, pointing with a thick finger.

“Yes?”

“That’s Lancelot.”

“What?”

“You are not riding to trounce a tyrant. You’re riding to toss Lancelot from his horse like you have always wanted.”

Britt started to protest. “I never wanted to throw Lancelot.”

Sir Kay interrupted, “Britt, that is Lancelot,” he said before he walked off.

Britt thoughtfully turned her charger, staring at Maleagant at the far end of the field. The soldier raised and lowered his flag, and Britt’s mount leaped into a canter.

Britt leaned forward slightly, squeezing her legs and urging the horse to go faster. It complied, and Britt thundered down the field at a crazy speed. She was on Maleagant in an instant, and this time it was different.

When Britt felt her lance hit Maleagant’s shield, she pushed. She pushed her feet down in the stirrups to give herself something to strain against as well as the saddle and used that force to lean into Maleagant. The superior velocity of Britt’s charger made it more difficult to aim, but it also gave her a great deal of more force when she hit Maleagant.

Every muscle in Britt’s body burned as she pushed in spite of the painful blow Maleagant landed on her shield.

A split second and it was over.

Maleagant was knocked from his saddle and went sprawling over the side of his horse, falling to the ground with a clang.

Britt couldn’t feel her left arm anymore, and she had to prop the lance up on her saddle as her right arm trembled from the exertion.

Kay walked back to Britt as men hurried to Maleagant’s side. Cheers exploded from Camelgrance, and Guinevere cried and clasped a hand to her chest.

Maleagant’s men rolled Maleagant onto his back, removing his helm for him. Slowly they sat him up. The fallen knight briefly held his head before he narrowed his eyes and snarled at Britt, “Who are you, champion? I demand to know.”