You know, my readers and reviewers are awesome people. Thank you to all who not only read, but also review. Tremendous thanks for all those that put not just the story but me on alert. It is truly appreciated. Tigyr.
Knights of the NCIS Table Chapter 9
Of the four that crossed, one was King Jed, one was the knight known as Leonard, and Ziva proudly handed her flag to her friend. The fourth knight was a complete surprise to everyone. The knight that handed in the fourth flag was none other than—
***
Donny wriggles in his uncle's lap. Tim sets him down and the little boy rushes to the kitchen where he pulls out two bottles of water. Donny runs back to where Tim is, hands him the waters and then pulls himself back onto Tim's lap.
"Good thinking Donny."
"You're getting to the good part; I don't want to be interrupted."
Tim gives his nephew a hug as he hides a smile. They both take a good long sip of their drinks and then Tim gets back into the story.
***
Actually, Anton isn't sure he knows who the fourth knight is. The crest on the flag looks familiar, yet he can't quite place it. The knight in question keeps his helm on, obscuring his face from view.
***
"What's obsc-- obscr --?"
"What's obscuring mean? It means to keep hidden or to shield."
"Ohh, okay. It's not Thym is it? We're keeping him in the moat right?"
"Yep he's still in the moat."
***
The joust is the final test in gaining Abby's hand. Anton smiles as he watches his sister interact with all the knights that are in the hall. His sister's friendly demeanor makes her a popular figure even with the dourest of knights. She always has a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. The fact that she's beautiful hasn't escaped him either.
***
"Unnccllee Tiiiimmm! You're dragging out the story!"
****
The jousting started with all four knights mounted on their favorite warhorse. As King Jed and Leonard were the first two knights to hand in their flags, they are the first to ride. The men are fairly evenly matched in height and build. Both lances were the same length and weight. It wasn't until the third pass that King Jed managed to maneuver his horse so that Leonard's lance broke against Jed's shield. By unspoken agreement both men then drew their long swords. On the first pass, Leon was upset from his horse and King Jed immediately dismounted to continue their contest on foot. Forty minutes pass during the fight. Finally Jed manages to disarm his opponent leaving Leonard to fight barehanded.
Jed tosses his sword to his squire, Zavad who catches it and places it with Jed's other equipment. The two knights square off in hand to hand combat. Leonard does his best, throwing punches and kicks, but Jed is more agile than the other man. He quickly has the black knight pinned under him.
The fight between Ziva and the fourth knight is just as exciting. While Ziva is the one to cause the mystery knight's lance to break, she is also the one thrown from her horse. In the sword fight, Ziva is the clear winner while the mystery knight goes toe to toe with her in the hand to hand combat. It's just bad luck on Ziva's part that she ends up tripping and getting a fist to her jaw effectively knocking her out.
That leaves the mystery knight to face off against King Jed. Anton tells the participants that they will have one hour to prepare before the final battle. He then goes off to check on Ziva and finds that Jamie, King Jed's wizard is there taking care of her wounds.
"Hello Anton, I was wondering how our mutual friend is doing."
Anton smiles as he says, "Thym is in the moat, he helped create the water and fire pits that they went through earlier. He says he likes swimming in there. He's the reason that it's so wide. We created it with him in mind."
"Who is Thym? You never did explain him to me." Ziva's softly spoken complaint makes both men turn around. Anton asks her how she's feeling and she lightly touches her jaw line.
"Like I was punched with an iron fist." She smiles wryly as she sits up. She extends her hand to Jamie as she introduces herself.
"I am Ziva, a friend to Anton and Abby for many years."
Jamie blushes slightly as he shakes her hand. "I – I'm Jamie. I, I'm the mage for King Jed and his castle."
"Nice to meet you Jamie, now who is Thym?"
Anton knows that Ziva is like a dog with a bone once she has a thought in her mind. He smiles and has the other two follow him out to a secluded area that no one else knows about. Thym is swimming in the moat, surfacing every now and then for a breath of air. Anton whistles and Thym halts his swimming. He clambers out of the moat and sits on the ground waiting for his friend to approach.
Thym waits for the others to get close before shaking the excess water from his scales. Anton affectionately growls at him while Ziva and Jamie just look on in wonder.
"Thym I'm sure that you remember Jamie, and this young person is Ziva. She grew up with me and Abby when we were all kids."
Thym blows a gentle warming breath over the threesome drying their clothes then nods at Ziva and Jamie.
"Anton how on earth did you tame a dragon?" Ziva is in awe as she stares at Thym's blue scales.
"I didn't tame him; he's a friend of mine. He came to see King Jed about a year ago, we fixed the problem he was having and became buds."
"Buds?" The other two look from Anton to Thym in confusion.
"It means buddies or friends, pals if you will. Anton was kind enough to travel with me for several months, and I am proud to consider him my friend."
***
"Just like you and Daddy are best friends in real life huh?"
"Yep, just like your daddy and I are best friends for real."
*****
Two unseen listeners smile at each other. Tony and Sarah had arrived home during the first part of this story, but decided not to interrupt the pair in the living room. They chose to take the baby monitor to another room while they listened to Tim weave his tale.
*****
Anton leaves Ziva and Jamie in Thym's company while he goes back to check on the two remaining competitors. King Jed is flexing his arms and legs, stretching muscles before they could get cold and sore again. The mystery knight is doing the same thing. Once again Anton is certain he knows who this knight is, but for the life of him cannot remember.
The time comes for the final joust between the two knights. Both are mounted once again, and Anton feels a bit of unease. The mystery knight is smaller than Jed, or so it appears. As the two knights kick their horses into the run, Anton sees a move made by the mystery knight that reminds him of someone he knew years ago. A slender youth, training with one of the truly great knights. Franks was the best swordsman in the land and had trained not only Anton but King Jed himself.
This mystery knight was Franks' protégé. A roar from the crowd brings Anton's gaze back to the list where the mystery knight was getting up after being unhorsed. The knight drew his sword just as King Jed charged. King Jed's blade met the steel of the mystery knight and the two knights fought hard for another hour. Finally exhaustion or sore muscles cause the mystery knight to drop his sword.
King Jed steps back, allows the mystery knight to draw a few breaths before engaging the knight in hand to hand. Not even a full five minutes pass before the mystery knight is pinned to the ground. King Jed smiles as he extends his hand to the defeated knight. The knight accepts the hand up and finally takes off HER helm.
Anton almost falls out of his seat as he sees the blue black hair of the woman in front of him. It was Sarah, not just Franks protégé but King Jed's adopted daughter. Jed is laughing with his daughter as they see not only Anton's expression but that of the crowd.
***
"Wow, didn't see that one coming." Tony's comment is met by a giggle from Sarah as she looks at his stunned expression.
***
Anton steps down and announces King Jed the winner of the competition and of Abby's hand. Abby flies down the steps and hurtles into Jed's open arms. Anton looks at Sarah and finds himself speechless. He finally congratulates her on making it to the final round.
Ziva and Jamie come around the corner and Jamie is smiling at something that Ziva has told him. Out of the corner of his eye, Anton sees Thym starting to fly off into the distance. He waves and gets a wing dipped in response.
***
"I didn't know that Mommy could be a good fighter too! That was cool!" Donny hugs his Uncle Tim and upstairs two parents smile at the pleasure in their son's voice.
*****
"It was kinda cool that Mommy was a good fighter too. I know I appreciate her skills, even if they are with words and pen." Tony's smiling as he looks at his wife who narrows her eyes at him in mock annoyance.
"Surely I have more skill than that? Or have you forgotten just how we created not just Donny but this little one that's inside me."
Tony gulps and shakes his head no as his wife proceeds to demonstrate just what other skills she does have.
End -- of Ziva's tale anyway.