AN. Big hugs to everyone who's come on this journey with us! Glad you're enjoying it. Now let's see how Edward is handling this surprise.
This was the most bizarre day of Edward's life. First he had been woken at six in the morning by a phone call from Bella telling him to met her at an address that had turned out to be a clearing in a forest. There was tons of people there, setting up tents, carrying large boxes and chests, and they were dressed so weird. There was some in bright robes, others in long flowing dresses, and, best of all, plenty of people in armor, knight in shining armor type armor. The next thing Edward knew he was playing a slave emptying a chamber pot full of what his fellow peons assured him was just lemonade while watching Bella play a queen, a kickass queen. He had pinched himself several times to make sure he hadn't been dreaming.
Now the negotiations had broken down between Bella, erm Queen Kalina, and the half naked douche who was far too handsy for Edward's liking. Dingy Dong had shouted something and suddenly there were swinging swords and people throwing little bean bags while screaming nonsense words. There was yelling and what sounded like wooden swords clashing against each other coming from outside. It must have been some kind of ambush. He had no idea what they were fighting for and it all seemed very ridiculous to him.
Edward could do little more than stare in shock from his position crouching under a camping table. He was most certainly not cowing under it.
Having never done any research on live action role playing, Edward had always assumed it was like when he and his brother had played knights as kids, only with full grown adults who had nothing better to do on a weekend. It wasn't as though they were going to get laid.
Edward was forced to be impressed now that he was here. They certainly took this seriously. They had big tents, armor, makeup, weapons, and rules. Mike and Eric had been quick to explain all this to him earlier, but it didn't really sink in until people started talking about battles and kingdoms with a straight face. As he watched each side fight, he realized this was more than just a game to them. Whatever it was they were fighting for they believed it. He found himself just a little jealous. He wanted something to fight for.
Still, the fact remained that he was an outsider and had no idea what was going on here. He needed to find Bella, fast, before someone captured him and he really got in trouble. Scanning through the sea of legs in front of him, he managed to find Bella in the back corner of the tent. Her back was to the canvas and in front of her was the idiot Chief, Dingle Berry or something. Edward hadn't liked the way he had looked at Bella.
The two rulers were locked in a fight. Edward watched in awe as Bella, who seemed so peaceful and meek at work, swung her short sword at the burley, half naked man. The blow was intercepted by Dingle Balls' own sword, but Bella had gained a couple of inches of ground. He could only stare for a few minutes at this woman who he thought had known. He realized that he hardly knew her at all.
This also brought the realization he was cowering under a camping table and that wouldn't do at all. His ticket out of here was Bella, and that meant that he wasn't to let her out of his sights in this mess. He also didn't like that douche one bit but he had no idea why.
Steeling his resolve, Edward began looking for a way through the fighting. He soon discovered that was useless. Instead he was going to have to go through it. Just before he was about to run he gripped the handle of a discarded sword. He realized belatedly that peons were probably not supposed to have weapons, but he also didn't care. He was not going into that mess without it.
Quickly counting to three, he stood up and raced to the other side of the tent. He dodged flying beanbags and swinging foam swords. He almost wanted to roll his eyes. What were these people thinking? This was insane. You were supposed to give all this stuff up when you became an adult. Still, he had to admit these people were having fun.
After almost being hit over the head by a pretend broadsword and then getting grape juice splashed across his front, Edward made it to the other side of the tent and was only inches away from Bella. She was being forced back slowly and Edward didn't like that. He did like the excited smirk in on her face, however. That was sexy.
With a sudden burst of courage singing through his veins, Edward raised the fake sword and hit the back of the chief's head. Jacob gave a startled cry and fell to his knees. "What the fuck? Not cool man."
Bella sighed, clearly annoyed, and Edward felt his heart stop. He had been trying to impress her. What did it take with this girl? "I'm sorry, Chief Djin'yan, for my slave's clear breach of protocol. In return I will give you a five a minute head start since we were clearly about to overrun your forces."
"Normally I would argue, but I cannot with such a gracious offer." Jacob pulled his upset group from the tent and Edward felt a sense a pride. He had gotten them to leave. Not bad for a day's work.
It was crushed when he felt a dull whack against the side of his head. "What the fu…"
"Silence, peon!" Bella had hit him her dagger and Edward stared once again in shock. "What the hell were you thinking? I could have captured him and now I've had to let him go."
"Um, yeah, he was pushing you back, Bel-" Edward stopped under her murderous glare. "Queen. I did you a favor."
"It was a ploy, you blockhead. The deaths of main characters have to be scripted. Where did you even get a sword? Give me that."
"Hey, I saved you."
"You hit someone in the back of the head. That's against the rules. You could have hurt him."
"It's wrapped in foam. It's not going to hurt anyone. Besides you gotta admit, I had some good moves."
He tested his luck and winked at her. She tried to keep a straight face but the corners of her lips turned up. "Oh, silence, peon."
"Um, Your Majesty?" Jasper's head poked through the tent flap. "They've turned around and are attacking us from the rear."
Bella barked out a few orders and rushed to join Jasper. At the last minute she turned to face Edward who shrugged, as if to say, "Aw come on, what can it hurt?"
She shook her head and held out the hilt of the sword she had taken from him. "Come on, peon, I always need an extra arm."
Edward grinned, grabbed the blade, and raced out into the melee beside her.
AN. Oh, dear, poor peonward. What do we think?
Many thanks to Barburella!
