Author Games: A Knight's Valor

Group Two: Cynesige Tolbert, Trustin Mee, Colette Bennett

Cynesige Tolbert had been hoping to sleep in. The day before had left him sore and bruised, and his only wish was to spend the entirety of the day in bed, being fed by the pretty maid girls and softened by his pillows.

Instead, a knock on his door roused him at barely noon, and the man sighed into his pillow. His friends were touched in the head if they thought he was going to wake for them.

"Come in! Renauda, if you're trying to get me to train-"

"The queen requests your presence, Sir Cynesige."

Renauda was not at the door - instead, a dark-haired page was staring at him with a mixture of fright and confusion. Cynesige let out a sheepish grin and sat up, acutely aware of his lack of proper dress and disheveled hair.

"Please, thank her, and tell Queen Melinda I will be ready in ten minutes."

~

Trust awoke with a pounding head and aching body, not to mention a guilty conscience. She hadn't been able to get a wink of sleep last night, for the memory of the melee and how she had knocked her friend Aloïsa down still gnawed at her heart. The victory seemed almost wrong in Trust's opinion - even though she had been praised for good sportsmanship for helping Aloïsa to her feet - and now she wished that she could turn back time and allow Aloïsa to emerge victorious rather than herself.

After all, she thought in worry as she got out of bed and paddled barefoot to her closet to get changed. She had been so nice to me at the feast. I really should've let her win. Argh, Trust, you idiot! It took of her willpower to refrain from banging her head on the closet door. She probably hates you now.

A long, weary sigh escaped Trustin's lips as she flung open the heavy mahogany doors, surveying the rows and rows of clothing hanging in immaculate lines. There was no point worrying about it now. Hopefully, if fate willed it, she would get a chance to apologise to Aloïsa today.

~

Colette grimaced as she got to her feet and walked across her room. Finn had hit her leg harder than she'd originally thought yesterday, and a dark bruise had formed on her right knee. Upon reaching her bed, she opened the small box she'd brought with her and pulled out a piece of paper and quill. She curled up on the bed, and placed the thin book she'd been reading earlier on her lap.

She put the paper on top and began writing a letter to her sister. She paused after the first line, unsure of what to tell her. There wasn't much she could tell. At last she shook her head, blonde hair falling across her face and put down the first thing that came to mind. Vivian was used to her rambling anyway.

The quill in her hand flew across the paper, leaving small splatters of ink on her hand as she wrote. The only sound in the room was of the scratching of the quill on paper and her own breathing. It was calming to Colette, and she forgot about the aches on her ribs and knee as she spun a tale about feasts and fighting for her sister.

~

"Do you understand, Sir Cynesige?" Queen Melinda kept her eyes matching the hazel ones that graced her chosen knight, who bowed low.

"Of course, my queen. When is this happening?"

"Now. Declan!" she called, a wave of her hand summoning the dark-haired page. "Lead Sir Cynesige out to the tower and prepare him. The maidens Mary and Elizabeth will fetch the girls."

Declan groveled and motioned to Cynesige, the blond knight following him out into the blazing sunlight. The tower was ages away, it seemed, but Cynesige didn't mind much.

"You're a page, eh? Must be training for knighthood, then, good sir."

"Yes, sire."

"And I suppose you enjoy the palace?"