Subsistent Lies

I had to admit as I was in front of the King next to Calib I thought that I would surely get caught, especially when the Ambassador of Vespar sat there studying us. When we had came back to our side of the field Calib took off his helmet and dismounted. The fighting hadn’t even started and he was already sweating. I was sweating too, but I had every right to be; I was risking my neck by disguising myself as a knight. “As you all know tag team battles are fought in two segments. The first segment will consist of jousting and the second segment will consist of swordplay and wrestling. Each opponent will compete in only one of the two segments. However, who shall ever win the jousting segment may compete in the swordplay and wrestling should their partner lose. Now let the match commence!” The King yelled taking his seat again and grabbing a goblet of wine to toast the match.

A squire handed me a lance and shield as I rode Epona to the field. The lance was a bit heavy so I tucked it under my arm and gripped it as far up as I could. As I prepared to position myself Calib grabbed the reins and lead Epona back. “Colin! Have you lost your mind!? That is Gabriel Giovanni out there! I say we forfeit, there will be other tourneys. Besides there is no way we can beat Darius and Blaine they probably want our heads just as much as Gabriel!” I pulled Epona’s reins out of his grasp and sat there staring at him from under the helmet shocked.

I couldn’t believe what Calib was saying, he was a man of honor or so I thought. He was talking about forfeiting without at least trying. I could understand he was up against the King’s best, but he could at least try and lose with honor; and this Gabriel Giovanni what was so scary about him that Calib didn’t want to be seen by him. I shook my head. “Oye Colin, you and your honor! You’re just like Gabby, you two deserve each other!” Calib yelled. I just sat there. “Fine Colin, we won’t forfeit we will just lose the match so we won’t have to reveal are faces. Give me that lance and shield, you can do the swordplay and wrestling.”

I tossed the lance and shield towards him smiling. He thought by competing in what he wasn’t good at and by making his brother do the same that they would lose. There was a reason Calib had signed up for swordplay and wrestling and Colin had signed for jousting, but unfortunately for him I wasn’t Colin and because of that we weren’t going to lose this match because one of my talents laid in swordplay.

Calib took the lance and shield and handed it to a squire while he mounted his horse. After retrieving the lance and shield, he positioned himself at the end of the field. At the trumpet Calib and his horse bounded forward with his lance aimed at Darius Harte’s shield. Right when lances and shield were to collide Calib pulled his lance off Darius’s shield just the slightest and fell off his horse with the tiniest hit from Darius’s lance. I shook my head at the disgrace, but apparently I was the only one who saw it because the crowd broke into cheer. I dismounted my horse as Calib came limping back with helmet off and the squire leading his horse by the reins. I glared at him from underneath the helmet. Coward! Fake! A disgrace! You could of at least lasted longer! Calib stopped beside me to whisper in my ear. “The quicker you lose the quicker we can leave before Gabriel finds out who we are.” Then he limped off with the opposite foot.

I couldn’t believe Colin had Calib for a brother. It was no wonder the whole court despised the Gulliver name; with Calib as a member of the family. I went to Epona and unsaddled her; if I was going to have a chance I needed both hands free and Epona feeling comfortable. I handed her bridle, reins, and saddle to the squire. Remounting my horse with the squire’s help, I grabbed the shield he handed me, and went to the end of the field. As I sat there waiting for Blaine Jacqui’is to mount I started to feel the weight of the armor bear down on me. Oye Gabby if I didn’t know any better I would say you were a man. From the neck down that is. Zaria’s voice popped in my head. Dismounting I took off all of the armor except for the helmet, then remounted without the aid of the squire. “Colin! What are you doing!?” Calib yelled.

I didn’t answer as the trumpet sounded and I kicked Epona forward. Before I knew it Blaine was coming towards me sword held high. Unsheathing my sword I looked for a place to hit him that would throw him off his horse. The only success I found was in harming his horse. Since I adored animals I went to the next best thing, I was just hoping his horse wasn’t trained to just keep running no matter what. I shifted Epona right in Blaine’s path, his horse reared, but he didn’t fall off. Damn! Blaine came down with his horse sword descending on my head. Panicking I dropped my shield and used both my hands to block his sword with mine. His strength overwhelmed me, but luckily I managed to stay on Epona and push him off. Riding a circle around him I cursed myself for dropping my shield. Halting I contemplated what to do next when I spotted my shield not far from me. Epona began to grow restless and turning I saw Blaine riding towards me sword held high. Sheathing my sword I kicked Epona forward toward the shield. As I got closer to the shield I leaned off to the side holding on to Epona’s neck making sure not to hurt her. The crowd went silent as my body touched the ground, I retrieved my shield, and regained my seat on Epona without falling. Behind me I heard the fast approaching hoof beats of Blaine and his horse. Turning Epona around to face him I threw the shield at him catching him square in the face. The crowd booed me as he fell and his horse sauntered off the field. I sauntered Epona to him, dismounted, and retrieved my shield while Epona walked off to the edge of the field to await further commands.

Blaine laid on the field staring up at me. I had a feeling he was glaring at me and when he removed his helmet I was proven right. His face was the same arrogant face that had told me his title didn’t come easily. “You will pay for that Gulliver. No amateur will best me.”

I threw my shield aside, unsheathed my sword, swung it around, and beckoned him towards me. Blaine stood, retrieved his sword that he had dropped, and charged me. Giving a mock yawn I sidestepped him. The crowd booed as Blaine ran past me without doing much damage. Turning around his face was more livid with rage. I beckoned him towards me again, but he didn’t make the first move; shrugging I charged him and our swords met. Since he was stronger and I had no armor to add weight or Epona to keep balance he easily pushed me off. I landed on my back and my sword flew way out my reach; the crowd cheered. The wind was knocked out of me, but I quickly regained it when Blaine stood over me sword aimed at my throat. “I told you no amateur would best me. Any last words before I humiliate you?”

Nodding, I lifted my foot, kicked the sword sideways out of his hand, and moved my head sideways. It landed a few feet to my side after making a nasty mark on my neck. For a brief moment Blaine was stunned giving me a head start to his sword. Blaine must of realized what I was doing because he made a dash for the sword too. I had a little lead, but he was quickly closing the distance. He took the lead and just as he was about to grab it I flipped, grabbed the sword off the ground, rolled, and stood back up sword pointed at Blaine’s face. “I win.” I said gruffly trying to sound like a man.

The crowd had grown quiet. Reluctantly Blaine raised his hands in defeat and backed away. Just as the crowd was about to boo and throw fruit, I heard clapping from the stands. Turning I saw the King rise clapping his hands. “Well done, young Gulliver well done.” The crowd cheered satisfied that their King approved of my victory, or shall I say the young Gulliver‘s victory. I was preparing to curtsy when I remembered men didn’t curtsy they bowed. As I bowed King Arthur raised his hand for silence. “Since Blaine has lost this segment and his partner won the last, Darius has the option to redeem his partners honor and take all the money for this match for himself and his partner!” Arthur announced.

I held my neck trying to stop the trickling blood the tip of the sword had created as I caught my breath. I turned to look in Darius’s direction. No, please don’t. Let the egotistic count wallow in his shame. I’m tired, I want to go home, I need to get this wound bandaged, I want this helmet off! My cries went unanswered as the crowd went silent and the benevolent Darius Harte came limping onto the field sword in hand. Darius was infamous throughout the kingdoms for his bravery and skills, his limp was the proof in that. Why would he risk his honor to redeem the honor of someone like Blaine? Darius stood in front of me a bit wobbly on his feet sword ready for battle awaiting the sound of the trumpet. Should I let him win out of pity? My answer to my question came when the trumpet sounded and Darius took a swing at me head without waiting for me to get my sword ready. I ducked just in time and rolled backwards. It was clear Darius didn’t want me to take pity he wanted the best match I could give him and that was exactly what I was going to give him, that is if he didn’t chop my head off first. They probably want our heads just as much as Gabriel. Maybe it was because I was tired and feeling lightheaded from the loss of blood or maybe Calib had been right when he said Darius wanted his and Colin’s head, but whatever the reason it took me longer to best Darius than it had Blaine. My moment of victory came when Darius had stepped on his foot the wrong way making his knee give way from underneath him. Taking that opportunity to end the match I knocked his sword out of his hand and angled mine at his neck. Darius put his hands up in defeat and the match was over. There was a moment of silence as I stood there drawing my sword away, catching my breath, and searching for some sort of recognition from the crowd. I got what I was looking for when I located Zaria, Isabella, and mami; they stood and started clapping and cheering. Soon afterwards the rest of the crowd joined in.

Bowing I dropped my sword and whistled for Epona. Mounting I took the time to steady myself before I passed out. Boy would mami faint if she discovered it’s me and not Colin underneath this helmet. The crowd hushed and I turned to look at the King who was now standing. “Match over. Congrats to Colin and Calib on their victory, it was a well fought match and because of that I would like to dub them knights along with their prize money. Please come up Gulliver Brothers of Archepald.”

Oh no! Gabby your stupid, stupid, stupid! I turned to look at Calib, but he was nowhere to be found. I kicked Epona forward and we made a bolt to get out the field, but the Kings guards blocked our exit. Turning I approached King Arthur my head hung low. Dismounting I kneeled on one knee before the King. “You Gulliver Brothers are something else. You would think you two have committed some high crime in defeating my best knights.” There was a snort of annoyance at this from behind me. I looked sideways and saw that Blaine and Darius were behind me positioned on either side. “Never in my life have I known anyone to run after winning a match and not coming to retrieve their prize, especially when the outcome of the match was unsuspected and in their favor.” Another snort of annoyance from behind me. “Your brother has vanished and you try to do the same. I guess it does not matter now. All that matters is that one of the winners is here and that the other winner will get what is coming to him when I see him again. Now please remove your helmet so that I may know which brother it is I will be dubbing into knighthood this day.”

I didn’t make a move. “Did you not hear your King?” I heard Blaine’s self-righteous voice ask, as he and Darius put a hand on each of my shoulders. “Well?” Blaine asked when I did not make a move to budge.

I just knelt there contemplating what I could do to get myself out of this. I would surely be in big trouble if my identity was revealed; I would be lucky to have mami deal out my punishment. In this time and age it was almost considered high treason for a woman to imitate a man. As I was thinking my helmet was taken off and my long black curls tumbled down. Darius and Blaine let go of me and stepped away, the Queen fainted into her daughters laps as I’m sure mami did, and the King just stood there transfixed to his spot almost as if he was considering how to handle the situation. Walking down the stands he drew his sword. I dropped to both knees groveling. “My liege, please allow me to explain before you execute me. I….I…”

I stuttered to find words, but nothing would come out. I bent my face low into the ground and shut my eyes as I heard the King stop in front of me. “Never in my rule has something like this ever happened. A woman who fights like a man, who disguises herself as a man and bests my best knights, who steps out of the role set before her by God at birth. I see no other punishment but to…” I held my breath as I waited the stroke that would end my young life. “Dub thee the greatest swordswoman in all of Anevia.” King Arthur finished placing his sword on one side of my shoulder and then the other.

I opened my eyes and let my breath out daring to take a peek at the King to see if this was some kind of joke. He smiled down at me, sheathed his sword, and extended his hand. I took his hand and allowed him to help me stand. The crowd cheered. “Thank you my liege.” I said curtsying.

“The pleasure is all mine my lady, but in return for sparing your life I expect thee to attend my ball and bring whomever you wish to accompany thee.”

“It will be my honor your highness.”

“Please come watch the rest of the tourney with me. I’ll introduce you to the Ambassador of Vespar, my family, and get that nasty cut looked at.” The King said leading me off the field and into the stands.