A/N After much thought, I have come to the decision to stop writing this story. This is everything else that I have written. At some point in the future I may continue this, but don't get your hopes up. I would like to thank those who reviewed, and apologize about leaving this uncompleted.

Tournament

Once at Eric's, Jess changed into her disguise. Her light brown hair was already cut short, so she did not have to worry about that. She put on breeches and a baggy tunic, to hide her body. This hurried change would not stand up to someone who knew her, put she hoped it would confuse everybody else.

With that done, she walked with Eric and Jarrett to the judges table to register for the fencing competition. With both their names on the list, they waited for the start of matches to begin.

The format for the tournament was simple. All the contestants' names would be put in a hat. Then, names were drawn to from matches of twos. All the winners from the first round would be put back in the hat, and names would be drawn for second round matches. This process would continue until there were only two competitors remaining.

When the names were drawn and posted, Eric, Jess, and Simeon immediately starting discussing the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. Simeon was happy with his draw, and from what Jess had heard, so was she. Eric however, was nearly devastated. He had drawn the favourite to win the tournament.

Jess's match was against a bulky sixteen year-old. Although he had two years and over 50 pounds on her, he was slow and clumsy. When the match started she struck quickly and often, keeping him on the defensive. She did not want to give him a chance to use his size advantage. As she pressed her attack, she forced him backwards. When he stumbled, she capitalized and slip her blade inside his, resting the point against he heart.

"I give," he grunted. She drew her blade away from his body. She had not really exerted herself in the fight, and was glad to have an easy win to help build her confidence.

After the first round, Jess met up with Eric and Simeon, Jarret having wandered off to visit a friend in the village. Eric had lost to his opponent, but he said he had put up a good fight. Simeon had defeated his opponent, though not with the ease Jess had.

They walked to the central board, where the draws for the next round would be posted. Jess was once again lucky to get a fairly easy draw. The second round (out of 5 rounds, there were 32 entrants) was considered to be crucial. If you could make the top 8, that was a feat to be proud of.

Jess' opponent in this round was a boy not much larger than her. He was quick, however, so Jess knew she had to be careful not to try and fight him as she had the last boy. Luckily, she soon discovered his weakness. He had an injured right ankle, making it harder to attack in that direction.

She worked this weakness throughout the match. As they both began to tire, she pulled the masterstroke of her plan. Feinting anther stab at his right side, she quickly reversed and swung her sword in a loop towards his abdomen. His frantic parry of her attack left him hopelessly of balance, and wide open for her to step past his defences and rest her weapon against his throat.

Due to this, she had made another opponent utter the words "I give." Simeon had also been the victor in his match. They had both made it to the round of 8. As they gathered by the main boards to see the next round posted, Jess gazed over her competition. Most of the remaining competitors were fairly big, either tall or heavy. She assumed that they must be fairly quick as well, or they would have been defeated by smaller fighters in the earlier rounds. Jess was confident, however, because she knew she could fight boys bigger and stronger than her.

When the third round matches were posted, Jess looked at her opponent. He was short, barely an inch taller than her, but he was well built. She thought that he must be quite strong. This meant she would have to avoid going body to body with him. She decided that to fight him she would let him come to her, and then counterattack.

When the fight started, she decided to test her theory. They circled each other warily, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Jess was more patient, however, and was ready when he struck. She parried his slash and lunged back towards him he leaped back, deflecting her blow away. They then returned to staring each other down.

This pattern repeated itself a few time, he would strike first, and then she would parry and return the attack. Jess did not really enjoy fighting this defensively, but it seemed to be working. She believed that she had gotten the better of the match so far.

Eventually her perseverance to the plan paid off. He lunged at her a bit too hard. When she stepped out of the way, he ended up of balance. She spun in to his side, and as he swung his sword back towards her, she used the leverage she had gained to knock the blade from his grasp. This brought the conclusion of the third fight, a satisfactory conclusion for Jess.

As she walked back to the main meeting area, she learned that Simeon had won his fight, defeating an opponent that could have been his mirror image. They had both advanced to the final four.

Jess was fairly confident, since she knew that she could usually defeat Simeon. In the 4th round, Simeon drew Velven, the boy favoured to win the tournament, the same one that had beaten Eric in the first round. Jess drew a boy named Quinton, who many considered to be a fluke at this point, just like Jess. The observers were speculating that whoever won the Simeon-Velven match would become the champion.

Jess was determined to prove them wrong. Quinton was unfortunate enough to be in her path to the finals. Throwing her defensive strategy out the window, she attacked with a vengeance. Quinton was just barely able to parry her lighting-quick attacks.

She was so caught up in her attacks, she almost missed deflecting one of her opponent's counters. This did not deter her however, and she continued the rapid pace. Luckily for Jess, Quinton was not in as fit as she was. He began to tire first, and his blocks became less and less forceful, with almost no attacks of his own.

Eventually, the inevitable happened. His arms feeling like lead from the pounding that they had taken, his guard simple dropped. Shocked by this, Jess jumped back, expecting a trick. When nothing happened, she simply whacked his sword hard with her own, and watched it drop to the ground.

She walked over to the next court to see the end of the match between her friend and Velven. When she had pushed her way to the front of the crowd, she saw Velven smoothly swinging his blade in a series of arcs, with Simeon just barely able to keep up. When he abruptly stopped, and jammed his blade straight for his body, Simeon was barely able to deflect it away. Unperturbed by his defence, Velven changed the course of the weapon, and stopped right against Simeon's ear.

"I give." Simeon muttered. But always sportsmanlike, he added, "Good fight."

Not sharing in his respect for opponents, Velven replied with an insult. "Maybe for me, but I didn't think you had a good fight at all."

Simeon was visibly stunned by the rebuke, and stalked off the court. He was met by Jess, who quickly told him of her own triumph. Jess was full of anger for the arrogant Velven, and seeing this, Simeon decided to give as much advice as he could.

"I know you're angry, but don't attack him recklessly. He's too good. Just fight your fight and try and where him down. Despite what he said, I took longer to defeat than your opponent did.

During the hour-long break before the finals, Jess, Eric, Simeon, and Jarrett strolled through the market, with Simeon steadily feeding Jess advice. When they arrived back at the competition courts for the match, she thought herself as prepared as ever. She stretched and warmed up, blocking out the comments and jeers all around her. It seemed no one, save her friends, thought she could win the match.

They met at the center of the court, and crossed blades. When the judge said go, Velven reacted as taught, at jumped back, keeping his blade in a guard position. Jess, deciding to try and surprise him, lunged forward, moving with him. The jab that she launched was completely unexpected, but Velven was fast enough to recover and block the blow, countering rapidly. Ready for this, she step back, parrying his attacks.

He was fast,Jess admitted to herself, but she was determined not to lose confidence. The match dragged on, neither fighter getting the upper hand. They were both exhausted, and there attacks and parries, were coming at a very slow speed. Jess was aware that this favoured her opponent, since he was bigger and stronger. So she worked around that, jumping in and out to attack, hoping to wear him down. He had to make a mistake, everyone did. And she hoped that she would not make one first.

They were into the 25th minute of the match by the time that mistake was made. Jess made it. Luckily for her, it was minor. Attempting to press his advantage, he rushed forward, swinging his sword as hard as he could. When she blocked the strike, the force knocked her right onto her back.

He stepped over her to try and push his blade past her defences and make her give. But she was ready this time. She rolled sideways, and came to her feat with her blade resting against his stomach. He was shocked.

"Do you give?" she asked. When he didn't reply, she pushed the flat of her sword harder into his midsection.

"I give," he muttered shamefully.

Not being able to resist a taunt, Jess replied, "Well, that was a good fight for me. As for you…" she tailed off, and walked away. She celebrated with her friends and brother for a few minutes, before walking across the square to the platform where the awards were to be handed out.

Uncovered

The awards for the competitions were being handed out by an important merchant from the town. Jess had met him before, with her father, and was worried that he might recognize her. Although her almond-brown eyes were not really distinctive, and her disguise covered everything but her face, she still fretted over it.

She needed not have worried. He handed her the prize with barely a glance. The item she had won was a beautiful dagger, from the Raven Armoury. There was also a black leather sheath, one that would hang on her belt.

She was just leaving the presentation platform when she saw something that scared her. Her brother, Kenan, was striding through the crowd, as the villagers parted to let him pass. He seemed to be observing the fair and greeting the residents of what would one day be his fief.

Jess ducked off the platform, and started to move away from him. She thought that she had escaped, but he must have caught a glimpse of her face as she turned her back on him. When he made his way towards her, Jess kept on walking, hoping that he would get sidetracked, and perhaps think that he was imagining things.

She quickly told Jarret to ride back to the castle, not wishing to get him into any trouble, and turned away from her friends, for the same reason. As she walked back to where she had tied her horse, he caught up to her. Knowing her ruse had been uncovered, she obeyed him without question when he told her to mount up and follow him back to the castle.

As soon as they left the village, away from the prying eyes and ears of others, he let her have it. "What in Mithros' name do you think you were doing! Pretending to be a commoner, and a boy at that! And if you think I'm mad, just wait until father hears about this!"

"Please," begged Jess, "you don't have to tell him."

"And let you go around disgracing yourself and your family? He'll put a stop to this!" With that said, he proceeded to give her the silent treatment the rest of the way to the castle, her pleas to not tell her parent falling on deaf ears.

When they arrived at the castle, they passed their mounts to the servants. Not even letting her change out of her dirty clothes, he marched her right to her father's study, where her parents and older siblings had gathered.

She stood there in silence, bracing herself for the ensuing rant, as Kenan described what had happened to her parents, telling them that she had entered into the tournament at the fair, neglecting to mention that she had won.

When his son finished speaking, Lord Eamon picked up the slack. "I can't believe that you would choose to disregard your honour and the honour of our family. I'm going to do what I should have done three years ago. You leave for the convent on Monday, no ifs ands or buts! You are to stay in your room until then."

Not dignifying this with a reply, Jess spun around and left the room, slamming the door behind her. She was not going to the convent, that was for sure. Traditionally, in her family, girls attended the convent for two years, when they were 15 and 16. Being sent when she was only 13 was not fair! She would never go to the convent, never! Storming into the room, she thought about her options to avoid that sentence.