Chapter 2.

Emma has an idea, but can she get Ruby on board?

Ruby! Ruby, come here, now! Emma tried to call her friend as quietly as possible but she was definitely freaking out.

The skinny brunette ran in right away fearing that her friend was in danger. She found Emma knelt beside their master shaking the man to and fro with no reaction on his part.

Ruby immediately came down beside Sir Jefferson and looked at Emma alarmed.

No no no no no, she whispered as she joined Emma in shaking their master.

Ruby's shaking soon turned into shoving, which turned into out right slapping. At this point she was shouting with no reservation in her actions or control of her voice.

Ruby was furious. She started frantically searching the mans pockets and ruffling through his bedding for whatever coins he may have had left. She came up with 13 gold coins, which were not nearly close to the amount he owed them. How dare this cheap bastard choose to die on them now after all he put them through.

Ruby's hands flew back to Jefferson's face with a hard slap that resignated through the tent, followed by several more across his body.

Thank

You bastard! She shouted. You disgusting bastard! How could you do this to us! How could you! She was punching him with no reserve at this point and her voice was getting louder too.

Ruby, alright! Ruby let it go, Emma whispered, hoping to snap her friend out of it, with no luck.

She finally resorted to grabbing the other girls hands mid swing and held her tight as she heaved with anger.

Emma understood where her friend was coming from but beating the dead guy to a pulp would not do them any good.

She hated this man too. He had taken them both from their families with unfulfilled promises. Ruby was contracted out to his family to help pay off a loan her grandmother was given by Jefferson's father King Midas , and after years of working for his son, Ruby was no closer to helping her grandma pay off the debt because she rarely received her fair wages.

For Emma, a promise of apprenticeship made her leave the only family she knew. He promised her father that Emma would learn how to ride like him and someday train to be a Knight herself. But instead he treated them more like slaves, doing his bidding while he squandered his and their earnings.

Emma felt her body fill with dread. What where

Emma shuddered at the very idea. She tried to think of a way out of this mess, they had to come up with a way to get Jefferson to compete in this damn tournament. Even the most amateur knights who place last get a whopping 150 gold coins from the crown for "gallantry", so long as they were not thrown off their horses. That 150 gold coin prize would be magical for them since the girls hadn't eaten a decent meal in over 3 days.

"Maybe... the Mad Hatter can still compete..." Emma mused out loud.

Ruby scuffed at that. She knew her friend was optimistic but she didn't think the girl was this silly.

"Yea, if one of the dozens of slaps I gave him didn't serve as a wake me up, I doubt he is in any condition to hold a lance Emma."

"No," Emma states pensively, "I know HE can't compete ruby", she says pointing to their former master, but maybe he still can?

The brunette raised an eyebrow at Emma signaling that she was not following. Emma continued on, getting a little bolder with her musing now,

Look... no one else knows that he is dead besides the two of us right...

because clearly if the girl who spent the night with him had known, she would have woken us up right away. So my thought is, that it probably happened after their little activities.

So since you, me and HIM- she states, again pointing to the deceased man, are the only ones who know that he kicked the bucket... maybe she trailed off... maybe we can find someone to take his place just this once and compete for us for a small fee.

As ruby continued to look at Emma like she was crazy, the blonde kept going.

All we need to do is find someone who fits his stupid armor so no one will even be able to see their face. They don't even have to win Rubs, they just have to stay on the horse long enough for the other Knight to get tired, and they win 3rd place! Which gets us the bigger share of 150 coins Ruby!

Ruby finally catches on to her friends scheme,

And which tall skinny jacksss who can ride a horse as good as Jefferson will agree to this hair brained scheme, Emma.

We just, we have to find someone who is as invested in getting that prize money as we are Ruby,

"No one but us is invested enough to risk deceiving the CROWN,Emma"

Emma sits silently for a minute. She knows that Ruby is right, but she also knows that they need this money, with it they could at least have a chance of starting over.

Then... maybe I'll, do it. she whispers it so softly that Ruby barely makes it out,

What?

The brunette asked rhetorically, i'm sorry, Duchess Emma! Because it sounds like you said that you want to risk you life to compete in a tournament created BY nobles, which only nobles can compete IN, pretending to BE SOMEONE ELSE!

"How silly of me, I've been forgetting your title this whole time"

The girl stage whispers the important parts since her friend seems to have lost her senses temporarily.

The flames in Emma's eyes are brighter now,

"Look. All the times Jefferson "forgot" to pay us, all the hard labor he put us through and all the damn times we had to watch him take advantage of one girl after another, - well this is our way of getting back a SMALL portion of what one NOBLE owes us"

"You know I'm just as good, if not better on a horse than Jefferson was,any day.

Plus, like you said, it will be impossible for us to get anyone to agree to this right now, so it has to be one of us who does it."

"I mean... if YOU want to try and find..." Emma trails off, knowing that she didn't have to finish that statement,

"Oh hell no!" Ruby stepped in, cutting her friend off.

At that very moment, a tournament attendant was heard in the distance

TWO, due at the list in TWO.

"Look. We have to do this now or never ruby, Emma pushes her friend. She can tell ruby wants to go along, but the other girl is trying to protect them.

"Pluck my Pixie Wings! If this is how I die Emma, I will haunt you for it," Ruby concedes with a roll of her eyes

Emma beams. She can't believe she is doing this. This is not the way she imagined competing in a jousting tournament as a child, but it would have to do for now. She would finally get to feel like a knight, if only by pretend for one day. She would compete and get them that third place winning so that they didn't end up in a brothel somewhere!

JUST STAY ON ON THE HORSE EMMA. She excited chanted to herself

JUST STAY ON THE HORSE

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