Crossed Swords: A Tale of Maid Cordelia

Ch 9: The Joust is Over

Lord Planya's armor gleamed in the setting sun, and his azure-colored pennants flapped in the rising wind. His lances were tipped with gold, and their grips were plated with gold and welded to the wooden pikes with bronze rivets. I cannot compete with his weaponry, thought Cordelia, though I have no choice but to fight against him. He saved my life by the swiftness of his arrow, and I am his, to fall before or to vanquish. Her eyes strayed to Mlava's and seemed to beg for advice, but Mlava stared straight into the field, as though surveying Cordelia's chances. Did she dare seek out the gaze of Dame Esa or Lord Ebro, pleading for help with her eyes? They seemed unaware of her anxiety as they spoke together on the judging stand. I am only exaggerating the effect he has on me, thought Cordelia. He is merely another knight amongst knights. I should not fear him, for, unlike Lord Veva, he has made no attempt to woo me with false promises or glittering jewels. Only, the sheen of his armor glitters, and blinds my eyes.

On the parapet the page rose, shouldered his trumpet, and announced the final joust. "The Maid Cordelia gains by two," he said, "and stands to be victorious if she can unseat her third challenger, Planya of the House of Tennant, who is undefeated in the joust. Jousters, prepare yourselves and your mounts." For a third time the trumpet blared, and Cordelia dug her spurs into Vechya's sides.

Moving swiftly with the wind, Cordelia tried to steady the field of battle within the narrow strip of her visor. She held her lance low and close by her side until the last moment, measuring how long it would take her to raise and strike; against this, she took estimate of how far before Vechya attained the full speed of his gallop. As though on wings, she closed in on Lord Planya's burnished charger, till she could see the cleft in his shoulder plate where he held fast the corner of his lance. It flashed a bright yellow as the sun hit the armor plate, and her eyes blinked for a moment and strayed from his form. Before she could take aim and strike, Vechya reared up, Lord Planya was gone from her field of sight, and she had reached the far end of the track. I have failed to unseat him, she thought to herself. I have failed to unseat him. A harsh voice rang in her ears. It was the page standing by his parapet. "The candidates have failed to make contact. The round continues," he announced. To confirm the miss, he said, "No points are awarded." Cordelia pulled to the left on Vechya's reins and directed him back toward the starting gate. She patted his neck. You did well, she whispered in his ear. But we must try again.

Cordelia gazed intently across the field. The sun was lower now than it had been when she had won the running of the gauntlet. How long ago that victory seemed, how distant and different from this as a trial! And yet, not so different, because victory in the joust also required a clear head and a future goal held to, steadfastly, in the mind. If I am to unseat him, Cordelia thought, I must distort his center of balance and throw him off-guard, before he does the same to me. That means speed, she reasoned, but it also means concentration. I must find a way to make him lose his focus while I keep mine.

Again the trumpet blared, and again she drove Vechya with complete abandon. He seemed to blaze across the track. This time she glared greedily at nothing except Planya of the Wolves, but instead of watching the rise and fall of his shoulder plate, she stared at his lance. He has the same narrow field of vision as I have, she thought. He can see only what I wish him to see, and can be just as dazzled as I was. She kept her weapon close to her side, as before, but this time, at the last minute, instead of raising the lance to strike its target, she swung the tip to the left, over Vechya's shoulder, and jostled it, bouncing it against Lord Planya's lance. Then she heaved to on Vechya's reins, so he would veer sharply without warning. Once he had changed course, she swept by Lord Planya, whose lance, though aimed directly at her, did not even graze her armor. The two opponents went back to their corners, chastened.