The Vampire & Her Witch

”Liam, Cossot,” Thane commanded as he appeared at Reynold’s side in a movement too fast for most eyes in the training yard to follow. ”Help me get the buckles off. Roseen, fetch Star Chaser and walk him down; Reynold won’t be riding again tonight,” he declared.

Already, Sybyll had dismounted, and she’d begun walking Poppy around the yard, giving the horse the time she needed to cool down properly before the cold winter air combined with the sweat on her sides to produce a nasty shock.

Roseen nodded, accepting Thane’s command before she rushed off to find Star Chaser, who had already started to make his way back toward his missing rider. Thankfully, Reynold’s stallion had a reasonable temperament, and he gave the young handmaiden no trouble when she took up the reins to lead the horse on a walk around the yard.

”He’s breathing,” Thane reassured everyone. ”And his heartbeat is strong,” he added after listening for a moment. ”Mind the buckles around the shoulder,” Thane added as Liam moved from loosening the straps on the cuirass to the ones on Reynold’s arm. ”I heard a pop when he landed,” Thane explained. ”We’ll need to reset the joint.”

”Mmmhhhhhrrrrr,” Reynold groaned, blinking as the world came back into focus. ”Thought I had it that time,” he grumbled, taking a deep breath of the cool night air the instant Roseen removed his helm.

”Well done, lad,” Thane told the fallen knight. ”You lasted eight lances against Sybyll. That’s an accomplishment few could match.”

”Not enough, though,” Reynold muttered, bracing himself to stand.

”Don’t move,” Liam said sharply. His hands froze in place, not wanting to tug on Reynold’s arm any more than he had to, but he glared at the stubborn knight until Reynold stopped trying to move.

”The arm’s out of place,” Liam explained. ”Hold still till we fix it,” he said, looking from Thane to Virve.

”I’ll set the arm,” Thane said, pulling the riding crop from his belt and offering it to Reynold. ”Something to bite down on? There’s no shame in it if you do,” he said calmly.

”Mmm,” Reynold said, nodding weakly before he bit down on the crop.

Thane’s hands moved like a blur, applying pressure to guide the arm back into its socket with the smooth confidence of a man who had done so countless times before.

”RRRRRGGGGGG!!!” Reynold groaned, biting down hard on the crop as tears filled his eyes and the world tilted underneath him again. Moments later, however, the pain dulled, and when he could see again, he found Virve’s smiling, expectant face looking down at him.

”I won’t leave you to suffer,” Virve said. ”Say the word, and I’ll heal you now. But there’s a wager on whether or not you can walk back to the manor yourself or you need to be carried. Stay down, and I’ll buy a round of drinks with my winnings, or stand up if you favor your friend Liam.”

”Pffttt,” Reynold said, sputtering slightly as laughter overtook him. ”If I need help to stand, does it change anything?” Reynold asked, doing his best to hold back the laughter when he realized how much it hurt.

”I told you,” Liam said, giving Virve a smug-looking smile. ”There was no way he’d stop short of Dame Sybyll unhorsing him, and she was certain to do it within twelve lances. But just unhorsing him isn’t enough to stop a man like Reynold, not when he knows the stakes, and he’s made up his mind.”

”Maybe I should take him as my apprentice instead of you then,” Virve said as she helped the fallen knight to his feet. ”At least he does as he’s told and he doesn’t talk back. Now hold still,” Virve said. ”Healing’s not my strongest suit, and I don’t need any distractions. You’re done for the night,” she told him firmly. ”But a good night’s sleep and you’ll be back in the saddle by nightfall.”

True to her word, he had been. The bruises melted away like candle wax while he slept, and his shoulder moved freely without pain. By the time night fell again, there was even a bit of a spring in his step when he returned to the training yard behind the manor.

Thane had warned him that the second night would be harder than the first, and he’d told no lies. Once Dame Sybyll donned her armor, there was no hope of unhorsing her. He’d given up on that notion by his third pass riding against her. But then, that had been the point in the first place; he couldn’t unhorse Dame Sybyll any more than he could unhorse Lord Dirar’s champion.

Still, it stung his pride a bit that he couldn’t even the scales after the previous knight’s decisive loss. The best he could hope for had been to shatter his lance cleanly on her shield, striking a telling blow while only taking a glancing one himself.

He’d succeeded three lances out of seven, but in the end, Sybyll knocked him from his saddle again. This time, however, he fully understood why, and he had the beginnings of an idea of how to counter it.

It wasn’t much, Reynold thought as he prepared to leave his chambers on the day he would fight for his father’s life, but it was enough to let him believe that he had a chance at success, no matter how slim. Now, he only hoped that Erling’s training had been as successful, and that the mysterious sorcerer, Aspakos, could eke out a win as well.

While Reynold left his chambers in search of Erling and some kind of news that would calm the growing sense of apprehension thundering within his chest, a strange carriage thundered down the frost-covered road on its way toward Lothian City from the east.

The dark, unmarked carriage carried a pair of noblewomen, one older and the other younger, both of whom were every bit as anxious as the young lord from Aleese. Perhaps more so, because while one was preparing to reunite with her daughters and the other would be greeting her cousins, neither knew what it would mean to enter a city conquered by the Eldritch, and the past few days had done nothing to reassure them about their inhuman hosts...