Tale of Four

Tristan awoke the next day and looked down at his fist, focusing on the small cut on one of his knuckles. He had expected soemthing to happen to him, either from Mabel or Elias or one of the many Lords in attendance. Huddled over himself, he peeked towards the door, hearing someone approaching. With a knock, Edmund peeked through and smiled.

”Morning. Are you ready for the finals?” Edmund said with a smile. Tristan looked at him and chuckled. Getting up, he wrapped a hand around Emdund, able to see his smile was for another reason besides the tournament.

”How was your date last night?” His cheeks flushed up from the questioning and pushing Tristan away, he shook his head and groaned.

”We didn’t do anything. Only danced and talked.” Edmund narrowed his gaze, ”What about you and the princess. Everyone was watching you and your dance the other day. No one believes you about only being friends, the way you both forgot the rest of the room existed.” Tristan rolled his eyes.

”Enough. I was being honest, though. Did things go well for you? I saw you asking her to dance, but that was it.” Emdund nodded before flicking his head to have Tristan follow him. Slowly, they made their way towards the tourney grounds.

”It was actually. We danced for a little while, but she got tired. After a small rest, I invited her on a walk. Although I wanted to explore a little further than the grounds, she said her father would be mad if he found out.” Edmund sighed and rubbed the back of his head, ”It’s a shame because mother told me about a good spot just outside them.”

”Well, at least it went well,” Tristan said, happy for him, making Edmund nod, the nervousness that had been weighing on him gone.

”What about you?” Tristan turned to him and raised an eyebrow, ”What I mean is, why did you dance with Mabel. I could see after a while that you two forgot why you did it at first, but when you started, there wasn’t anything romantic between you.”

”Didn’t I say. We’re friends?” Edmund groaned.

”If you don’t want to say it, fine.” Tristan smiled at his friends.

”Elias ordered us. To show everyone that I am on their side. Although I hate it, I can’t refuse. Luckily, Mabel isn’t like him and is quite enjoyable to be around.” Edmund took a peek at Tristan and opened his mouth to speak, but stopped after a moment’s thought and sighed.

”She is a Princess, Tristan. And her father is terrfying.”

”I don’t know where your mind is going, Edmund, but it’s not like that.”

”No, you were one of the people invited to her and Elias’ party after all.” Shooting a look at Edmund, wondering how he knew, Edmund burst into laughter, finally unable to hold it in, ”The story of you breaking a guy’s nose spread last night. A lot of people didn’t know your name, but everyone does know the guy who did the Fools Dance with the Princess.”

Slowly, grabbing his head, Tristan rubbed his temples, letting out a low groan, ”Do they say why I did it?”

Edmund frowned, ”Some say for the Princess, but the main story is...” He paused, ”You did it because you got offended that a pet was called a pet.” Edmund looked away, seeing the veins bulge on Tristan’s neck as he clenched his fists.

”I thought I made it clear that Annabell wasn’t one.”

”They aren’t us, Tristan. They will never understand what our summons are.” Edmund quietly said, ”To anyone outside the family, they will see our summons and think it just a part of our power, nothing more. They don’t know the truth. Moreover, this is the one way they can insult the family without a threat. After all, it’s easy to claim ignorance.” Hearing Tristan’s deep breath, Edmund smiled, ”It’s not all bad. There are those who heard the true story and are spreading what you said after breaking his nose. So it’s not all bad.”

”I shouldn’t have done it.”

”No, but you did.” Edmund happily said, ”I’m surprised you had it in you.”

”I am too. But I know Annabell. If he said it because he was ignorant, I don’t think I would have been as mad, but he knew what he was saying. He was insulting Annabell. Before I knew it, I had punched him, and if she said nothing, I don’t know if I would have stopped at breaking his nose.” There was a small silence as they closed in on the jousting grounds. Walking towards their seats, Edmund sighed and grabbed his shoulder.

”Maybe you should have given him a few more bruises, but it doesn’t matter.” From behind, they heard a light laughter and turned to see Mabel staring at the two, covering her face, trying to stop laughing, getting a fierce glare from her mother.

A fan slammed down atop Mabel’s head, and Karina turned away when Mabel looked at her with a betrayed look, covering her head. ”Mother... that’s not fair.”

”You promised me to act with dignity today. Your father has let you act out too much lately. Take your aunt’s example and use a fan if you wish to laugh. Make it quiet and hidden, don’t show so much teeth, and snort like that.” Karina shot out the commands, pushing Mabel back as she meekly nodded, her laughter dying with it.

”Tristan.” Having calmed down, she finally spoke to them, ”You know he cried.” Mabel said, getting ready to laugh, remembering it, but stopping when she felt a pair of eyes on her back.

”I didn’t think it would actually break.” Mabel shrugged at his reply.

”It’s fine. They won’t do anything about it. In fact, you helped me out a little, embarrassing him and that guy before. They only wished to make your life hard becuase they have some stupid ideas to court me.” Pretending to spit, she scowled in disgust, ”Crying after breaking his nose and trying to court me. How pathetic.”

Karian moved again with a swift hit to punish Mabel for her fake spit. Rolling her eyes, they stopped talking, hearing trumpets play, as Lord Sunflare took to the field, opposite him, a random knight.

”To begin the final, I announce Lord Issac Sunflare. His opponent is Ser Darius Baxter.” The announcer took off, clearing from the jousting grounds. Both men took their lances and stared at one another. Aloud, the drum banged, signalling the start, and within moments, the final jousts began.

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”My Lady.” Sandra looked behind her with a thin smile, seeing a young woman with brown hair come up behind her and grab her hair. Playing with it, creating a braid, she looked towards the Cosmaton stand, ”You see him over there.”

Sandra followed her gaze and saw Tristan remembering the young boy who always had a bird with him, ”He’s the one who defended me?”

”Yes.”

”Why did he?” Sandra asked, wondering whether the answer would be the same if it came from someone else.

”His bird said it best. The man was a hypocrite.” Stopping her actions from Sandra’s raised hand, the lady reluctantly stepped back, letting go of the soft green hair.

”Okay.” Sandra leaned back after a moment’s thought, staring towards Tristan with a wide smile.

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Tristan watched the joust with a bored expression. Despite the skill from each rider, he couldn’t help but feel bored after the third one, each joust being the same thing he had already seen. He had no love for the sport, not really caring who won.

Finally, trumpets played again after Lord Clover’s victory. Once he did his victory lap, two horses took to the end of the field, both wearing the Sigil of House Cosmaton. On the left, Elias put on his helmet without a wave to the crowd, his armour black and gold, lacking any ornamental features, created purely for practicality. Cillian, on the right, gave the crowd a small smile and bowed to Anton and then Elias before putting on his helmet, his armour much like Elias’s in colour but with a few ornaments attached.

Staring at one another, the grounds went quiet. Only the heavy breathing of the horses cut through it, carried by the wind. Seconds felt like minutes, and just as the tow tightened the hold on their eings the drum blasted. The two charged at one another, the lances held high.