Not another Fairy Tale

Letting Off Steam

This is the second part of chapter one.

As he entered the courtyard most of the knights were already sparing. He looked over across the courtyard and saw his good friend Felix sharpening his sword. He was always a good opponent, and one he was yet to beat. Every other knight in the kingdom he went up against he had beaten easily, but there was something about Felix that was different. He seemed to anticipate his every move before he had a chance to make it.

Rupert sometimes wondered if his friend had some sort of power in telling the future. His reflexes were inhumanly fast, and he had moves that no other knight could accomplish, like jumping ten feet in the air and landing right behind him and blindsiding him, and he didn’t buy into that “He’s the prince crap, so I have to let him win.” Rupert liked it better that way, because one day he was going to beat him and when he did he knew it would be a genuine win.

He approached his friend with one objective in mind. His sword was ready, and he was willing. Felix looked up to see Rupert standing just a foot away with his sword drawn.

“I see that you’re up for a fight,” Felix said with a smirk.

“Can you take me on?” Rupert asked as he drew his sword. Felix picked up his and stepped out further into the yard.

“So you didn’t get enough of a thrashing the last time we fought, awe?”

“You wish,” Rupert said with a sneer and the fight was on, and Rupert was determined to win.

He took his stance and all the other practicing knights stopped their sparing and watched intensely as Rupert and Felix fought. More than a dozen young men were cheering, some for Felix and some for Rupert. As far as skill went, they were on equal terms, but Felix had something more. Perhaps it was the passion for a good fight. Rupert liked the attention, the cheers from the other knights egged him on to win, but it was the one thing that distracted him from his game.

The fight lasted what seemed like forever and it looked like Rupert was winning, but as always Felix pulled a move he wasn’t expecting and the sword flew right out of his hand and onto the ground as did he. Felix had his sword at Rupert’s neck and just laughed at his friend’s defeat.

“It looks like I win again,” Felix said and withdrew his sword. He reached out his hand to help Rupert get to his feet.

“It was a good fight,” Rupert said and shook his hand.

The two friends walked off together far away from the crowd. Felix led Rupert to one of the weapons’ tents. He always gave his swords a good cleaning after a fight, even a minor one such as this.

“So again you couldn’t beat me,” Felix said as he worked on his sword.

“It was close,” Rupert said but Felix only sneered at his words.

“No it wasn’t,” Felix said as his put is now polished sword in its sheath. “I just let you think you were winning. You see, I know you’re real weakness.”

“And what is that?” Rupert asked. He was a bit offended by his friend’s words.

“You’re predictable,” Felix said extending his forefinger and stabbing him in the chest with it.

“Rupert, you play safe in every fight we have. That may work with the rest of the boys, but not me.

You want to be best then you have to take the chance… of losing, and I don’t mean the fight… I mean your life. You don’t trust yourself and that is why you will always lose.”

“Only to you,” Rupert said but Felix only shook his head in disapproval. “Okay, what are you shaking your head about now?”

“You’re naiveté,” Felix said and let out a hearty laugh. Rupert looked annoyed. Felix would always do that. He would act like he knew something when in truth he knew nothing. “You’re going to have to let that go if you hope to survive in the real world.”

“I’ll do just fine without any lectures from you,” Rupert said, getting a little steamed. He walked to the entrance of the tent and peeked out. There was no one in sight. All the other knights were still in the yard training.

“So, you’re still determined to go through with it?” Felix asked. Rupert looked surprised that his friend would say such a thing.

“You’re not backing out, are you?” Rupert asked but Felix only smirked but kept silent for the longest time which made Rupert nervous. “You’re still going to go through with this?”

“Sure, why not,” Felix said and took on the task of removing some of his armor.

“Good, then the plan goes into motion tonight,” Rupert said still weary that someone might be listening. He lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “Tell your man to come through the south side. No guards will be there tonight. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Don’t worry, my man will know what to do, and we’ll make it look real,” Felix said and changed into a comfortable tunic. “Just be ready.”

“I will,” Rupert said as Felix left the tent. He thought long and hard about what he was about to do, but he realized he had no choice. There was no backing out now.