The Knight of Chivalry

Chapter 31

The following day Simon returned to the tourney field and got ready in his tent. He would be fighting his next match that morning but not for two hours or so. Once he was ready he went and watched the other matches first. Today’s competitors proved the better riders as many of the matches lasted longer than the previous days and the hits were a lot more skilful. Some of those who had won yesterday were knocked out by other riders who hadn’t rode yet or the better ones from the previous days. Sadly ginger went out this way but he held his own and made it go to the forth lance before he fell from his horse. Soon enough Simon turn to ride came and so he went and got his horse ready. He would be facing a rider who he saw yesterday and was very impressed by him and he knew to best him would be a challenge.

            He took the lance from the marshal and looked over his opponent and then took a deep breath and made the horse charge. They met halfway across the field and each lowered their lance in time to get good hits on each other but neither fell from their horse. They each got a second lance and went again at each other and again the result proved the same. Simon had a better measure of his opponent now and he knew he would have to try a riskier strategy to unhorse the man. So with his third lance he put this tactic into play and instead of aiming for the shield or chest went for the head but this left him a little more open to his opponents lance and required a lot more skill and accuracy to pull off. He managed it though and this jerked back his opponent making him fall backwards off of his horse and though Simon took a hearty hit on his chest he managed to stay on his horse and so win his match. The crowd cheered for him and celebrated his skill at jousting and he bowed his head to them before getting off his horse and leading him off the field.

            That afternoon he watch the prince, the bear and the silent knight ride and they all proved to be good horseman as they beat their opponents and so proceed to the next round of the tournament. Prince Edward also rode that day and proved himself a good jouster as he got through beating his opponent with his second lance. Another notable knight was Sir Charles Draken who was the king’s champion and who easily bested his opponent in a single lance.

            Once the jousting was done with they all met up at a tavern close to the field and discussed the day’s events and congratulated each other for getting through this round. They talked about the good riders and how they might fair against them in tomorrow’s joust and hoped that they would not face against each other. Once they had drunken a few ales and had a good meal they left the tavern and went to get another good night’s sleep.

            Again Simon had drawn a mourning bout so he got ready and as he would be in the third match went and readied his horse as well. He could hear the crowd from where he waited and they cheered loudly as the first match was announced. That lasted for around five minutes and then the next pair were up. That match lasted a lot longer before it was concluded and then it was Simon’s turn. He got on his horse and rode onto the field.

            “Sir Simon will be fighting against Sir Andrew Talon” the announcer declared as Simon got his lance from the marshal. Sir Andrew would be a tough opponent, he was one of the king’s guard and had rode superbly yesterday afternoon. He wore extremely nice armour, a lot more finely crafted than Simon’s set and had a fine destrier to ride on.  He held his lance very confidently and he controlled the horse with grace and ease. Simon took a deep breath and started his own horse to charge, he lowered his lance and it clashed against Andrew’s shield as he was hit in the chest by Andrew’s lance, but he stayed on his horse. The crowd cheered at the hit and at him staying up right. He got a second lance and readied himself for the second run. This time he lowered his lance a little bit later and was rewarded with a solid hit against Andrew’s chest plate as he just managed to deflect Andrew’s lance with his shield. Andrew stayed on his horse though and was getting his next lance so Simon did the same. They charged against each other another two times and each time they hit each other’s shields but didn’t this didn’t unseat either of them. On the firth lance though Simon was hit in the chest with a lot of force and he fell from his horse though he also hit Andrew again on his chest it was not enough to unhorse him. He got up and shook Andrew’s hand and then saw to his horse. He was happy he got to the third round as he knew jousting wasn’t his forte as he had only being doing it for a couple years at this point.

            The bear made fun at him over dinner but the other’s said he rode very well against a tough opponent and he went out honourably. That afternoon the bear was taken out on the second lance against a knight from the southern realms but the prince won his match and so did the silent knight. They celebrated that knight and Simon got his own back upon the bear for his performance.

            The next day saw the prince and the silent knight ride twice as they won their morning matches to get through to the next round. The first ride they both had fairly tough opponents which had come from the first days riding but they proved the better and won after a few lances. The afternoon round saw the prince pitted against Sir Andrew who knocked him out like he did Simon but the prince managed to keep it going for six lances and on the forth it looked like he might have got Andrew off with a great hit but somehow Andrew managed to keep on his horse. The silent knight squared off against the southern knight who got the bear out, the match lasted until the fourth lance where the silent knight got lucky as the southern knights horse skittered a little bit and this made his rider not as stable and with the knight getting a good hit on his chest fall from his saddle. This meant the silent knight would proceed to the next round where only eight riders remained. Simon looked forward to see this on the next day.