Only a Squire's Fantasy
Chapter 1
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In medieval times, a sport arose. Embraced by noble and peasant fans alike though only noble knights could compete. The sport was jousting.
For one of these knights, an over-the-hill former champion, it was the end. But for his peasant squire Amelia, it was merely the beginning.
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"Should we help him?"
"No."
"He's due in the lists in two minutes. Two minutes or forfeit!"
"Lend me those."
The woman sighed as she took the cloth nose stoppers out and handed them to the man beside her.
"Right, left." She said, handing them to him respectively.
"Thanks, Amy."
She nodded, and watched him with her two different colored eyes as he put them in, then run over to the tree. The knight in his old armor was sleeping, it seemed…but he smelled horrible. Not much they could really do for the old coot, actually.
Her curly red hair fell around her shoulders, and she watched in silence as the man knelt next to the knight.
"Dead." He announced, closing the cover on the helmet.
"Eh?" She asked, her eyes slightly widened as he said this.
Someone ran up behind her and patted her shoulder, grinning as his own red hair, a few shades lighter than hers, stuck straight up into the air. He didn't seem to notice the look of shock on her face.
"Three scores to none after two lances." He told them with a grin.
"All Sir Adman needs to do is not fall off his horse, and we've won!" Then he noticed the smell and a hand went to his nose and he looked like gagging, looking her up and down.
"Is that you, Amelia?" He asked, appalled.
"He's dead." The man next to Sir Adman said with a sigh.
"What d'you mean, dead?" The red head asked, a look of both horror and disbelief on his face.
"The spark of his life is smothered in shite. His spirit is gone, but his stench remains, does that answer your question, Wat?"
"No, no, no, no, no! No, he sleeps! Rouse him, Roland!"
Roland just shook his brown haired head and sighed.
"We're minutes from victory, and I haven't eaten in three days!" Wat cried, a look of panic bleeding its way onto his blanched face.
"None of us have, Wat!" Amelia countered.
"We need to fetch a priest." Roland said as he moved away from the knight's corpse.
Wat swallowed, running over to the knight once Roland had moved away from it.
"No, he's not dead!" He yelled, beginning to shake and hit the suit of armor. "Wake up, you! Come on! Wake up, come on!"
He began to kick the suit of armor and Amelia turned to Roland, hearing Wat kick the suit of armor in the back ground.
"You manky git! You shouldn't have gone to sleep! I-"
Amelia turned to see a man on horseback coming towards them.
"Roland." She said, and he turned as well to watch.
"Squire, Sir Adman must report at once or forfeit the match." The man said.
"He's-" Roland began, but looked at Amelia as she interrupted.
"He's on his way." Amelia told the man.
"I haven't eaten in three days!"
Amelia smiled at the man, who looked at her curiously.
"Three days! What did you eat, mate?!"
The man on horseback took one final look at Amelia before he turned the horse and galloped away towards the stadium.
"If you wasn't dead, I would kill you myself!"
Roland looked at Amelia as though she were crazy.
"Are you insane?" He asked her, and Amelia looked at him.
"I'll ride in his place." She said, and Roland blinked.
"There's no way, Amelia!" Roland began, looking at her in disbelief, as she ran over to Wat.
"Strip his armor, I'm riding in his place!" Amelia said.
Wat continued to yell and swear at the man, and Amelia learned some new words as she rushed over to grab him and pull him back.
"Wat, stop kicking him! Calm down, I'm riding in his place. Help me, please." She said as she knelt down and began to take the armor off of Adman.
"What's your name, Amelia?" She heard Roland question her from a few feet away.
She decided not to answer him as Wat continued to help her with the armor.
"I'm asking you, Amelia Siegel, to answer me with your name."
Amelia turned to glare at him as Wat began to help her shrug into a piece of the padding.
"It's not Sir Amelia, or Lady Amelia for that matter! It's not Countess or Duchess or Earl Amelia, it's certainly not Queen Amelia!"
"I'm aware of that." Amelia answered simply.
"You have to be of noble birth to compete!"
"A detail! The landscape is food. Do you want to eat, or don't you?"
"If the nobles-"
"Give it a rest, Roland!"
"And you have to be a man! You're a woman, Amelia, or have you not looked in a mirror lately?"
"Well, I have been living with you buffoons for the past twelve years!" Amelia reminded hotly.
"If the nobles find out who you are, there'll be the devil to pay!" Roland yelled at her.
She could only grin she strapped on the shoulder pads while Wat pulled her hair up so that it would be hidden by the helmet once she put it on.
She could only finish simply with one sentence and that irresistible grin.
"Then pray that they don't."
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Disclaimer: I own Amelia, but I do not own any other characters, or even the current plot line at the moment. Thank you.