Because of the incident with the dragons, the tournament is delayed another day.  As we all await further word in our tents, Gustav enters and says, “His Grace has summoned the Protector of Grozney at court immediately.”

            Briggette sighs and begins to get ready.  “Will you be accompanying her, My Lord?”  When Ulric replies in the affirmative, he heads out to notify Boian, Ana and Wren.  We all make ready and head toward the Great Hall.

            As we enter the chamber, the Duke’s presence, his herald introduces us.  Then Wren steps forth to give his own formal introduction to Briggette.  Finally, Gustav steps up to introduce us all in his usual excellent fashion, putting the others to shame with his eloquence.

            The Duke looks at Briggette, “Let’s discuss this morning’s events.  So, you have a dragon?”

            “I have a companion who is a dragon,” Briggette looks confused.

            “You ride him into battle.  You have a dragon.”

            “I cannot claim to own him.  He is his own sentient being,” Briggette replies.

            “And he’s accompanied you in town before?”

            “Well, yes, of course.”

            “And you didn’t think it pertinent to mention it?”

            “I’m sorry.  I didn’t know there were restrictions on dragons.”  Briggette is beginning to be annoyed by this line of questioning.

            “My advisors are worried about the symbolic implications of you being a dragon rider.”

            In her usual self-assured manner, Briggette replies, “I fail to see the problem.”

            The Duke says to himself under his breath, “an appropriate response from a paladin.”  He turns to Ulric, “Count Heltragen?”

            “Yes, Your Grace?” Ulric replies

            “Your wife is problematic; I’m sure she puts you in these situations quite often.”

            “One gets used to it.”

            He turns back to Briggette, “For the sake of my council, I’m going to ask you to reaffirm your loyalty to my house.”

            Briggette is highly offended, and speaks of how she’s already sworn her loyalty.  To ask her to do so again is insulting.  The Duke seems to have expected this response and proceeds to very diplomatically ask her for the courtesy of acknowledging her pledge once more publicly. As the two bicker back and forth, I am overcome with my own feeling of betrayal for my friend, and I unwisely interrupt, “Your Grace, forgive me for interrupting.  If her word was not good enough before, what makes it good enough today?”

            Before I know what is happening, Boian backhands me, “Forgive my wife, Your Grace.”  I use my shadow jump ability and move about ten feet away from the main group, choosing to remain hidden while I nurse both my ego and my bruise.

            “Will you make such an affirmation tomorrow?” the Duke asks Briggette.  She reluctantly nods.  “Count Heltragen,” he turns to Ulric, “I hope you are not personally offended.  I do not doubt your loyalty or your wife’s.”

            “I have but one request, that I hope your council will consider.  How disloyal could I have been interposing myself between the dragons and you?”  Briggette asks.

            The Duke smiles a weary smile, “You may wish to stop into some taverns on the way back.  Listen to what they might be saying.”

            The Heltragens oblige and find the entire town abuzz with the song of the Paladin stepping in front of the Emerald Death and his cohorts.  People are in awe of her completely, and many are surprised to find that the brave Paladin is female.

            Meanwhile, I remain in the Great Hall, hidden, to find what transpires after.  The Duke asks his herald to bring in the complainers.  He leads in three men in regular clothing with no livery, but he does not announce any of them.  The Duke chastises them for their unfounded accusations, and informs them that those in the West have always been loyal—unlike those from the North.  The men bow deeply and are shown out.  Afterward, the Duke looks around.  “I feel . . . unsettled.  Have the Hall blessed tonight.  By several priests.  Repeatedly.”  As the captain of the guard leaves the room, I could swear that I hear a secondary set of footsteps, so I follow him.

            The man goes to his office and sits down at his desk to look through some papers.  After he is there about ten minutes, I notice his shutter move ever so slightly.  I shadow jump down to the ground directly below the window, and I hear a thump as someone or something lands beside me.  I immediately attack, and I feel something like a wing brush my shoulder.  “Explain yourself and I might let you live!”  In response, I feel a buffet of wings lifting into the air.  I pull out my crossbow and take two shots, and on the second, she falls from the sky about a hundred yards down the street.  I pop as far as I can with shadow jump, then sprint to her body, where I proceed to chop off her head.  As she plummeted, she became visible, revealing that she is a succubus.

            After what seems a lifetime, one of the city guard approaches.  He brings other guards who all spread something on her body which corrodes it, and stake the remains to the ground, while the first accompanies me back to the Duke.  The Captain of the Guard meets me at the door, and we have a brief exchange before I am ushered back in to see the Duke.  I first apologize for my earlier behavior, then offer the prize of the succubus’ head.  The first priest to arrive is one of Heimdall.  He takes the head from me to place on a spike on the castle gates.  The Duke offers me a token of his gratitude, allowing me to pick from a chest of several beautiful pieces of jewelry.  I choose a beautiful silver and amethyst hair comb and chopstick set to go with my purple dress.  He further offers, as a token of his vassal’s service, that he shall allow my Lord Heltragen to ride in the first joust tomorrow . . . versus a representative of House Hoffmann. I smile, “I’m sure he’ll be pleased, Your Grace.”

            “I’m sure he will,” he replies with a smile, and I take my leave to seek my family.

            Meanwhile, they have gone to the Golden Dragon Inn, knowing they may attract a sizeable crowd.  Arany, in his human form, walks up to the bar and lays his hand on the bar.  However, instead of a human hand, he is displaying his beautiful golden dragon claw.  The bartender looks up at him and says, “Yes, my Lord, everything shall be on the house tonight for you and yours.”  Arany smiles and returns to the table.

            After a while, a very beautiful woman walks in.  She doesn’t appear to walk as a commoner, and she has her hair braided in the way of the Silver Rivers Baronies.  She takes a seat at an adjacent table, and begins to overtly look at Ulric.  She stays for about an hour, then gets up with no further overtures.  I arrive shortly thereafter, and I tell Ulric the news about tilting with Hoffmann in the morning.  We drink and carouse, and generally have a good time.  We all retreat merrily to our tents and enjoy the night before rising early to prepare for the tournament.

            The tournament is set to begin at noon.  Around 9:45, Gustav pops in to say that Sir Conner is here to see him.  He tells Ulric that his superiors have sent him to check on Ulric and Briggette.  He seems to have expected that our group may be in some trouble or perhaps are being hounded by unpleasant forces.  The men talk for a while, and Ulric invites him to join us when we travel to the spine.

            Meanwhile, Briggette has gone to the church to prepare, and then out of town with Arany to prepare to make their grand entrance. 

            Around 11:00, there is a massive knighting ceremony where the Duke knights several people who have earned the honor.  Following that, a few barons are called forth who swear their fealty to the Duke.  He calls forth to the crowd, “And now, the Protector of Grozney of the Church of St. Cuthbert.”  At this, all of Briggette’s men enter, flying her flags and in perfect formation.  Once they are all arrayed in formation, Finn blows his horn, and the area fills with a dense fog.  Then, Arany swoops up above the area, dives above the crowd, almost within reach of the tallest ones there.  He arcs up, and wings over, landing hard right in front of the Duke.  He lifts his head straight up and breaths an arc of fire into the air.  Then, he kneels to allow Briggette to dismount.

            She strides up to the Duke, kneels, and says the oath as it is prescribed, adding at the end, “As the Protector of Grozney, it is my sworn oath to protect all followers of Cuthbert against any who may oppose them.”

            “Rise, Lord Protector,” he says as he takes her hand to help her up.

As she steps down, a voice in the crowd says, “Not a very Cuthbertine entrance.”

One of the assembled knights yells out, “Not planning to joust on that, are you?”  There is some laughter in the crowd, and Briggette just smiles as she walks to stand next to Ulric, who is not wearing his armor.

Those assembled break up and begin to make their way to the tourney grounds.  The duke himself announces the first match, “The Count Hoffman will ride against the Count Zurwald Heltragen.”  Briggette pulls out a green ribbon and bestows the favor on Ulric, who has mounted Jasper and remains unarmored.  Just before the first flag drops, his armor appears and encloses him.  Ulric charges and strikes true against Hoffmann, but does not unseat him.  Hoffmann hits as well, and breaks his lance with the impact. 

The flag drops for the second pass, and the two counts charge once more.  While Hoffmann’s blow glances off of Ulric’s armor, Ulric’s blow hits true and direct.  Hoffmann lulls in the saddle and almost sits back up before sliding off to the dirt amidst mad cheers from the crowd. 

            Hoffmann gets up and remounts his horse.  He leans over to Ulric as they pass, “Good tilt!  When you face him, make sure the Toliarian knows he is in Grozney.”  Ulric grins and agrees, and then rides the crowd a few times.

Aethelred jousts against a knight we don’t know, and wins.  For the last joust of the day, Briggette will tilt against an unknown country knight.  For the first pass, both of the knights shatter their lances, but Briggette holds true on Chancellor while the other knight manages to fall off of his horse—including his saddle.  Again, the crowd is uproarious.  The field is reduced by half, leaving only sixty-four people to joust in the second round.

In the first tilt, Ulric faces the second son of one of the northern barons, and unseats him in the first pass, knocking the man unconscious.  In Aethelred’s second match, he unseats his opponent in the third pass, moving on to the next round.  The Paladin of the White Rose rides against Count Rotheschilde and unseats him.  Briggette faces Count Vinova for her second match, and thrills the crowd as a shard from his lance pierces her flesh and draws blood.  The second pass ends with her unseating him.  Thus, the second round ends with thirty-two remaining competitors.

That evening, around 8:00, Gustav comes into the tent, “Ulric, there’s a problem.  You’ve been summoned by the Duke.”  The man sighs audibly.

Ulric and Briggette make ready, and head toward the castle.  When he arrives, the Duke has four men and a woman dressed in wolf skins held in his chamber.  “Do these men belong to you?”

Ulric looks them over and replies, “Technically, I think they belong to my son, but I am responsible for them.”

“My son is the O’Neal,” Briggette offers by way of explanation.

“Well, that explains the nonsense, then,” the Duke says.

“What did they do?” Ulric asks.

One of the men steps forward and explains that they were hungry and decided to hunt—amongst a shepherd’s flock.  Ulric instructs them in the ways of this area, and pays more than three times the normal price for the fallen animals to the farmer.  Everyone returns to their respective tents and encampments to sleep and prepare for tomorrow’s activities.

The next day, Ulric jousts in round three with one of the men from the Silver River Baronies.  He yells down the field, “It will be a great pleasure drinking on your dime tonight!”  Ulric smiles and waves his lance.  Though the man gets a good hit, Ulric hits better, throwing him to the ground.  The knight takes it well, however, and tells Ulric, “Well, I suppose you’ll be drinking on mine.”

“I don’t make it a habit to make anyone from the Baronies richer,” Ulric smiles.  Later, he has Gustav send him a bottle of our apple cider.

Next up, Briggette faces one of the best looking men we’ve ever seen.  Most of the women in the stands swoon at the mere sight of him.  He calls out to Briggette, “Ah, lovely lady!  You should divorce your husband and marry me; our children would be beautiful!”

“My children are already beautiful,” she replies, and with that, they tilt.  Both blows are solid and strong, but as he turns to realign for the next pass, he pitches his balance too far and falls from his horse.  Aethelred is also so successful in his bid, and the third round ends with sixteen competitors remaining.

The fourth round begins with Aethelred facing the Paladin of the White order.  Both hit solidly on the first pass, but both manage to remain in their saddles with lances intact.  On the second pass, the Paladin’s blow glances off of Aethelred’s armor, but Aethelred manages to break his lance.  They turn for the final pass, and each break a lance on the other, but both remain saddled.  This makes Aethelred the victor, to pass on to the next round in the tournament.

Ulric next faces Sir Loman, a knight from the Southern part of the duchy.  In the first pass, Ulric easily unhorses the man, conducting him to the ground with a tremendous force. 

Briggette follows, this time facing a competitor from Toliary.  He greets her, “Servant of the Lawgiver, good luck to you!  I hope there will be no trouble when I unseat you.”

“Good luck to you, Sir Knight.”

“I don’t need luck, but should you unseat me, it will have been good service to your lord,” he says. 

Briggette notices that his horse is enormous, as big as the ones bred in Zurwald.  In addition, he is wearing a set of full plate armor.  On the first pass, both break their lances, but remain mounted.  The second pass, neither break their lance.  The third pass, Briggette plants a solid blow squarely in the center of his breastplate and knocks him from his horse, all without breaking the lance.  He lands face first in the dirt, and quickly pushes himself up.  “Sir Paladin, most impressive,” he says as he gets to his feet, “and painful.”  He pulls a pouch from his waist, “I’m sure this will take care of my debt to you.”  He hands her the pouch, which Briggette puts away without opening.  He turns and calls off to the side of the field, “Squire!”  He begins to walk off, “I need a drink!  I’ve been unseated by a woman!”  He continues to grumble all the way out of earshot.

The remaining competitors tilt with no incidents of note, leaving a total of eight knights in for round five.  Lucien was eliminated in this round.

Briggette goes first, battling a house knight from House Bradjic.  Instead of mounting his horse, the knight steps to the side, and a few minutes later, a Chapeau comes out to speak to him.  He finally mounts up, and rides at a trot toward Briggette.  “Lord Protector,” he greets her, “it does not seem right to lay hands on you.”

“You won’t lay hands on me,” she grins, “just a lance, perhaps.”

“My problem is not with your gender, but with your post.  What if I were to accidentally kill you?”  He is truly concerned.

“Then I would be raised,” Briggette replies.

He turns toward Ulric, “Count Heltragen, should there be an accident, may I be assured there will be no trouble between you and my lord?”

Ulric seems confused, “Of course not, this is a joust.”  The knight seems worried and confused still, but returns to the starting line and picks up his lance from his squire.

On the first pass, he shatters his lance on Briggette, and to everyone’s surprise, she completely misses him.  On the second, however, her blow is fierce, and he is knocked to the ground.  He kips up, “Lord Protector.”

“Sir Knight,” Briggette replies, “I told you it would be fine.”  As he walks away she gives him the blessing of St. Cuthbert.  She donates his 2,000 silver piece ransom to the orphanage at the church.

The next meeting is between Ulric and Sir Yew from Nevers.  He wears blue enameled armor with a dolphin engraved on the breastplate, and his cloak is a bright green field with a blue dolphin.  He yells down field, “I understand you’re the one who gave a spanking to the Neverese army a few years ago?”

“I have that honor,” Ulric replies.

“Good!” the knight calls, “the general was a dumbass.  If I had been in charge, things would have been different!”

“You’re right!  You probably would have been sent packing long before he was!”  With that, Ulric has the bear on his shield pop out and let loose a mighty roar just in time for the flag to drop for their first pass.  Ulric lands a mighty blow and shatters his lance.  Sir Yew almost hangs on, but falls from his horse.  However, he gets his leg caught in his stirrup, and is drug the remaining length of the list.  Ulric does not turn around, but asks his squire, “is he down yet?”

“Well, technically,” the boy replies.

Ulric turns just in time to see the horse come to a halt and the man be cut from the stirrup.  “Give my regards to the Neverese stirrup makers!”  He tosses the remains of his lance to the squire and the crowd erupts.

Thus ends round five, leaving four competitors for the next:  Ulric, Briggette, Aethelred and the Toliarian champion, also known as The Hrodger.  “So, since this is a meritocracy,” Ulric asks Briggette, “does that mean that if he wins, he becomes Lord Protector?”  She simply rolls her eyes in response.

Briggette will face off with Aethelred first.  They hit one another solidly on the first pass, each obliterating their lance on the other.  The second pass is furious, but Briggette manages to knock Aethelred off the horse.  Ulric yells from the sidelines, “I guess you get to keep your job, after all!”

While Ulric and the Hrodger wait for the lists to be reset, the men talk.  They agree to do their best, but to try not to kill one another.  On the first pass, they each hit solidly, with Ulric shattering his lance while the Hrodger’s remains intact.  For the second, Ulric knocks him off his horse, but he deftly lands on his feet.  He congratulates Ulric and says that it’s a nice change to be beaten.  Ulric graciously replies that it was nice to finally be challenged.

Finally, after a thirty minute delay, the Duke asks if the two Heltragens would like to ride today or if they would like to wait until tomorrow.  Both agree to fighting now.

As they wait, Ulric turns to Briggette and says, “this is when the green dragons are going to attack.  This is when I would attack.”  At her confusion, he says, “I don’t have my lance; I have to use this shit.”

She looks at him incredulously, “are you trying to fluster me?”

“I don’t know.  Are you still used to riding a horse?  I mean, will all those aerial acrobatics?” When he sees Wren’s shock, he turns to him, “no offense, Wren.” 

Wren replies, “I would just never imply that my wife couldn’t ride, Sir.”

“Probably because she never would,” Ulric japes.

Wren drops his voice, “who’s that on the dais with the Duke?”

They look to see an elf in mithral full plate.  His flag is royal, carrying the seal of the regent on the bottom.  Ulric says, “it’ll be one for the bards, for sure.”

Briggette replies, “either way, we drink tonight.”

“Well,” he replies, “if I had to be put on my back by somebody . . . .” with that, he closes his helm and rides off to greet the regent.  Briggette joins him, and they greet His Highness.  The Duke informs them, lest anyone is considering striking their colors, that His Highness is the greatest bard on the island.  They ride to their starting places, and are ready to begin. 

The flag is dropped.  The two begin the charge, level their lances, and strike with incredible force.  Ulric’s lance breaks, but Briggette’s does not. 

Once the crowd sees that they are going to tilt against each other seriously, wagers are being set in every corner of the arena.  They turn at the end of the list and turn to face each other again.  Once again, the hits are strong enough to be felt for miles around.  Each of their lances break, but Briggette is knocked from her saddle.  She manages to land on her feet, however.  The crowd goes insane, and money changes hands. 

Ulric turns and rides back to her, pulls off his helm and lifts her hand to turn toward the crowd.  “I can see myself sleeping alone very soon,” he whispers to Briggette, “Gustav made me do it.  He told me to hit you really hard like I wasn’t married to you.”

“Just smile and wave,” she says, “just smile and wave.”  She takes her helm off as well, and has a bright smile on her face as she greets the crowd.

Ulric holds out the green ribbon Briggette handed him at round one, “You told me to win this tournament for you.”  She shakes her head, but takes the ribbon and secures it around her braid.  “Well, do you want to give these people a show?”

“I suppose that’s what they came for.”  He leans over and plants a giant kiss on her, pulling her sincerely into his arms and putting all his love into the kiss.  The crowd, which had just calmed down, erupts again, and all the world falls in love with Heltragen.

The two head over to speak to the Duke, who congratulates them and thanks them for a thrilling end to the tournament.  He invites them to dinner the following evening, and presents Ulric with a silver-tipped lance with a lance laid across the colors of Grozney.  Ulric is granted the right to fly the colors of the Champion of Grozney until the next official tournament in five years.  He also gives Ulric a gold necklace with a large ruby, and says it will help him to fight nobly for Grozney.  Additionally, the Duke invites him to sit next to himself on the dais with the honored spectators.  He bids us farewell, and we all empty the arena.