*~ Disclaimer ~* I do not own any of the characters, language, plots, or locations from A Knight's Tale.
Someone else holds all rights to A Knight's Tale and this story is only created for pleasure, not profit.
The Tournament and the Challenge
They were getting ready for the jousting when William turned to him in some excitement. "Geoff, 'tis my lady." Geoff looked over and was immediately exasperated. Honestly, didn't the man know when to quit? Sure he had proved himself in the sword ring, in fact, he had gone beyond what Geoff had expected and he had excelled. But there are some points where you simply had to draw the line.
"Oh geez, William, you aim too high." The woman was obviously high-born and though William may have the heart to joust, surely he didn't know the pains involved with upper-class women.
"Oh, if there's another way to aim I don't know it." Christ, that was an understatement. Really, it only took a few hours before Geoff realized that William's head didn't fall below the clouds in the sky. It was a wonder that Roland was able to put up with a dreamer like William.
Speaking of which… "Concentrate." Geoff had to agree with Roland here; though romance was fun and quite enjoyable, really, this was certainly not the time.
"What shall I say to her?" William asked, as though he hadn't even heard the other man. Well, at least he was acknowledging that Geoff was a master of words. With a bit of pride, Geoff decided to humor his new friend. He whispered the right words in William's ear and sent him on his way to try to charm the lady. Geoff watched as he rode over to speak to her, and it seemed at first as though William was doing well, since the woman leaned back with a grin on her face. But soon after that, the man next to her spoke, and Geoff could tell that William was being ridiculed. And in front of his "foxy lady" no less. That must have put a dent into his pride. Geoff watched as William rode back over in a fury. He would have to keep an eye on the man next to the "foxy lady" and see what he could do to assert William's honor.
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After a very moving speech, Geoff beamed at the crowd. "Thank you! Thank you, I'll be here all week!" Yes, this was a true success, and hopefully would help inflate William's ego, if he followed what exactly he was being praised for.
"Well, that was different." Roland looked as though he was face to face with some child who had spouted something ridiculous in front of his parents.
Geoff mentally scoffed at the portly man's lack of imagination. "Well it's time we celebrated our differences." Surely it wasn't so bad.
"Just, maybe not in public." Well, to each their own; the crowd seemed to approve of it anyway, and he was nothing if not a crowd-pleaser.
Now Wat came up to speak in his own threatening voice, "You…" It seemed the redhead wasn't too impressed with the speech either.
"Yes, Master Faulherst, I'm well aware there's a 'fonging' on the way." Whatever "fong" meant, he hadn't quite figured out what that particular phrase of dialect entailed. Although Geoff was quite sure that it had to do with a beating, perhaps there was something specific that went with the term as well. Fascinating for a man of Geoff's literary interests.
"Yeah, oh yeah…" Geoff ignored Wat and went up to William.
"Now I've got their attention, you go and win their hearts." Not much of a pep talk, but the man did have a joust to attend to. Geoff watched with interest as William rode off to take on Colville.
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Geoff was very relieved; it seemed that his knight had some skills after all. "…Very good."
"Was she watching? Geoff?" Whoa, talk about a one-track mind. Geoff smiled inwardly; well, to those in love, there's only one important thing in the world. Geoff decided to humor the man once again.
"What?"
"Did she see me?"
"Yeah, she saw you."
"Did she see me take the hit?"
"Yeah, she saw you take the hit."
"Well, was she concerned?"
"It was dreadful, her eyes welled up, it was awful." Geoff snickered to himself. A lady like that with tears in her eyes over a hit? Quite unlikely. It made William happy, however, and he looked pleased and manly. Geoff watched the rest of the match quietly, approving when William allowed a draw. It suited his image as the fair, honest knight with honor, courage, and mercy. Perhaps he could write something on it, Geoff considered. William was turning out to be quite the character.
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Geoff walked over to the group with the noblewoman's lady-in-waiting in tow, "My liege." My, my, it seemed William was spacing again, or trying to prepare for the match, or whatever. Well, this introduction couldn't wait. "Sir Ulrich. Christiana." A short glance at Roland told Geoff that William was not the only one who was prone to infatuation at first sight. Roland could not take his eyes off the fair maid of the "foxy lady."
"My lady bids you wear this token."
"Well, of course." 'Of course, of course, mustn't refuse a token, mustn't we,' Geoff thought a bit sarcastically. William looked only too delighted to accept the light scarf.
"She also said to tell you, her name… is Jocelyn." Geoff appreciated the well-timed pause that Christiana delivered. It was nice to know that others also had a flair for the dramatic, as well as him.
"Jocelyn…" It seemed William was going to space out again.
"Au revoir." Geoff bid the fair lady farewell.
"Au revoir." A very polite and beautiful young lady indeed. At least Roland had good taste. Geoff looked at him to find that he was still looking in the direction that Christiana had left.
"Oh, Jocelyn," William murmured. Geoff gave Roland a nudge, so hopefully he could stop William from making doe-eyes at the air.
"Concentrate." Mission accomplished, sort of. At least now William wasn't completely out of his mind, for the moment. And now getting ready to ride against the rude knight who had spurned him before.
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Geoff was mad, to say the least. This Count Ademar was no honorable knight and certainly had no humility or care to speak of. Nevertheless, Geoff shoved Wat back from rushing at the bastard after the count had insulted William. It would not do to have William's squires behaving poorly in front of the nobility. "Well done, my lord, well done."
"You bastard!…" Wat was spitting furious at whatever the man had said to offend.
"Go and see to Ulrich. Go and see to Ulrich!" And thank god the name must've have gotten through Wat's thick skull because he turned back while Geoff clapped unenthusiastically. "Well done, my lord. Noble victory." It was infuriating, but for the moment there were more important things to attend to rather than gain vengeance on Ademar. That could be done later, at a different tournament perhaps. Still, to praise the Count, even quietly, left a bitter taste in his mouth.
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After their little spat with the little female blacksmith, William tossed the remainder of the golden horse at Roland with some exasperation. "Get what you can out of that, the rest of us will pack camp."
"Why we leaving so soon?" A surprisingly respectable question, Wat. What was William thinking?
"Tournament at Lagny-Sur-Marne starts in a week. We leave now, we can walk most of the way and save the horse."
And the lessons so far this tournament had not all sunk in yet; leaving now was not acceptable. To be a knight, William would have to do more than that and Geoff told him so. "No. You have to go to banquet tonight. You have to dance. You have to make an appearance." Nobility, unfortunately, was more than beating the hell out of the other opponents. He would have to make William stay.
But William was stubborn. "Oh, and have Ademar laugh at me again? No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes." This was rather fun, actually.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes." Like a lover's spat, heh.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
Geoff and William stopped at the sound of Roland notably clearing his throat. Well, look who had arrived! The lovely Christiana. "My lady would know the color of your lord's tunic tonight."
Roland looked pleasantly dazed that Christiana was speaking to him, but then somewhat confused. "His tunic?"
"Yes, so that she can dress to match him." Obviously, Geoff thought with a grin, what else would she want to know for, Roland? This might be perfect to con William into acting his part…
"We regret to inform your lady that we won't actually be attending…"
As expected, William jumped in, "Herald, do not answer questions you don't know the answer to."
"Absolutely, my lord." Well it looked like all the man needed was a little incentive. But it was so much fun to tease him. Geoff hid his grin as he turned away. He listened to how this would play out.
"Uh, Squire, answer her. What color is my tunic tonight?"
Roland was thinking hard and his hesitation showed through at first. "Uhh… green. Trimmed in a kind of… pale green. With, uh, wooden toggles."
Poor Roland, Christiana did not look terribly impressed with him, Geoff thought. "I will tell my lady," she curtseyed and left.
"Oh, this is a disaster!" What was William talking about now? Surely it wouldn't be so bad; the nobles seemed to like it and all, though Geoff would agree that dances were not entirely to his tastes. At least he would be with his lady-love, right?
"Oh, I think the tunic will look quite nice. Give us your dagger, Wat." The man moved over to the tent and Geoff noticed the fabric with an inward laugh.
"That's not a disaster Roland." Geoff stood, looking at him. William had the funniest expression on his face, right then. "I don't know how to dance." Geoff's eyes widened. That was it? He was inclined to laugh, but as he looked at William fidgeting, he couldn't help but think how… adorable… he looked right there. Geoff wrenched his mind around the thought, well, he could laugh later. Right now, they will need his expertise… if that was the right word for it.
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Somehow, they had made it through their first tournament act, and now it would seem that after teaching William how to dance, the blacksmith, Kate, had also taken a liking to him. That wasn't very difficult to understand; it seemed that the man was destined to attract others. But the real question was if she would match up to what she seemed to think she could accomplish. Her new armor did seem flimsy at a quick glance, but Geoff didn't care much for the details and simply focused on his writing until he heard, "Do you at least have the courage to test it?"
Well now, it seemed the spunky blacksmith had found William's weakness for courage and pride. He had to watch this. They set William up with a big log aimed directly for him. Geoff glanced at Kate, who seemed convinced in the abilities of her armor. Well, with determination like that, it was hard to argue, but as he saw Will struck backward by the log, he couldn't help but feel somewhat concerned for his well-being.
"Are you all right, Will?" Roland was worried as well, it seemed. Geoff didn't see any dents in the armor itself, but William looked so simply dumbfounded that he wasn't sure what to think.
"I didn't feel a thing!" Geoff took in the wide grin on William's face and relaxed. Once proven, Geoff had to admit that the new armor did suit William a lot better. One could say it looked absolutely smashing on him… But anyway, it looked as though they had picked up a personal blacksmith for a while.
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