Calculated Chivalry

They say that all in love is fair

Yeah, but you don't care

~ Huey Lewis

Chapter 3

To be angry is to revenge the faults of others on ourselves. ~ Alexander Pope

Three matches back to back was long enough, so the referee had ordered an intermission. Honestly, Leon didn't think that most people had expected that there would be a fourth or fifth duel. Particularly since Katarina had been two points down before she knocked out Chris.

The boy wasn't badly hurt, the impact to his knight-armour had driven the remains of the head down low enough that he'd smacked his own head on it when he crashed. Head injuries could be a problem but in this case he just had a minor concussion. Marie had rushed out and used her light magic to treat it, so he'd be alright after a couple of days rest.

Leon wasn't planning on being as dramatic as Katarina was - to be honest, giving her a signal device so that Luxion could fly the Stein to her location was mostly a joke. Mostly. It would also let Luxion spy on Katarina if Leon 'forgot' to take the device back. However, he'd brought his own knight-armour in and was currently camped out watching it.

He remembered that in the books, Jilk had persuaded Jenna to let him in so he could sabotage the book-Leon's knight-armour. Of course, in that story Leon had just beaten Brad, Greg and Chris in succession. He'd looked like a serious threat.

In this case, that wasn't really the case.

And yet, here Jilk came. The green-haired boy at least wasn't sneaking in.

"Does he have a bomb?" Leon asked Luxion quietly.

"I detect no explosive materials," the drone informed him.

Well unless he has a conspirator, that means this is going differently. "Is there something you want?" he called to the other boy. "We're going to duel in a few minutes."

Jilk crossed his arms. "Yes, that's what I'm here to discuss."

"Cold?" Leon asked. "In general, I mean - I'm not accusing you of having cold feet. This coat really makes it much more comfortable than walking around in just a pilot suit."

The other boy looked at him scornfully. "This is a warrior's garb, Bartford."

"...the sad thing is that I think you're serious." I mean, seriously. It was transparently obvious that the pilot suits were intended for fan service. They had no real protective value, they were just there to show off the physique of the wearer.

Jilk brushed his hair back over his shoulders. "I will be honest, I did not think after Greg and Brad's victories that I would be facing you. But as Lady Claes has surprised everyone…"

"Do you want a gold star for pointing out the obvious?"

"Listen, Bartford. I want our match to be the final one."

Leon stretched lazily from where he was sitting. "I didn't think that you were likely to throw the fight."

"Don't be so dense!" Jilk slammed his hand against one of the pillars supporting the high ceiling. "I'm talking about you taking a dive."

...interesting. He's trying to bargain? "Why in the world should I do that?"

"Your family are upstarts. My father had much to say about you. Ousting the Olfreys has won you far more prestige than I think your father ever expected and it'll be the work of generations for you to consolidate your household's position. It's admirable that you've risen so far," Jilk admitted in what was probably intended as a conciliatory tone. "But there are those who resent it. You need allies and you're in a position to earn that."

Leon nodded. "We also need to appear as reliable to the allies we make. For me to let down Lady Redgrave after speaking up for her… it wouldn't look good."

"There's no need to be blatant - I'm sure you're smart enough to put on a show."

They stared at each other, Leon sure that the other boy was judging his measure.

Deducing - correctly - that his target was unconvinced, Jilk continued: "The flipside of your need for allies is that you cannot afford to make more enemies. Particularly at court. It would be easy to persuade the king that his decision to grant the Olfrey lands and title to your mother was an error, especially now that you're joining a faction opposed to the crown prince. If you continue upon this path, my family can easily ruin yours - we've been at the heart of Holfort since it was founded, while you and yours are from the fringes."

Leon took a deep breath, fighting down anger at the threat. "Why are you so eager to see me lose? I understand that Julius and Gerald fighting would be politically damaging, but this seems personal for you. Is it that which concerns you… or are you eager to be the one who wins the deciding duel rather than seeing the prince win the laurels if he can?"

Jilk's chin twitched slightly at the last words. "What does it matter to you?"

"Let's say that it's a measure of how far I can trust you."

"I am eager only to spare my prince the personal and political risk of duelling against his cousin." They both knew that the green-haired boy was lying. "How eager are you to endanger your family, just for the sake of a woman that you barely know? You must realise that she cannot mobilise the Redgraves to protect you, she'll be doing well to avoid her own punishment for these duels."

"Win or lose?"

The other boy nodded. "Win or lose, she's lost her bid to be queen. If you focus only on what happens here in the academy then you'll miss the wider picture."

"How admirable," Leon conceded. "And you do make a good point."

"Then we have an agreement?"

Leon rose to his feet. "You're willing to go this far for Julius, even though losing the duels wouldn't cost you a thing since it only means that he's honorbound to break it off with Lady Lafan and none of the rest of you are affected. Such devotion to him is praiseworthy."

Jilk stared at him in surprise, as if he'd not considered that. "Yes," he said slowly. "I am Julius' left hand. I always have been."

A troubled expression upon his face, the other boy departed and Leon looked up at where Luxion's drone body was hiding in the rafters. "Did you get all that recorded?"

"Yes, master. Do you intend to take his bargain?"

The dark-haired boy smiled slowly. "He's right about one thing: focusing on just the academy can mean losing sight of the bigger picture."

Marie exhaled, the use of her light magic was draining despite all her practice. "That's everything I can do. I think Chris will be alright once he wakes up."

"Don't try to alter that," the school physician instructed. "Even with light magic, it's best to let his head have some time to settle before he wakes up."

"But he will be alright?" asked Julius anxiously.

The man shrugged. "Most likely. He's young and healthy. Head injuries can be tricky, but his chances would be good without light magic. With that, he's as assured of recovery as we could possibly hope for."

Greg folded his arms. "Well you're just a font of support for him."

"No one forced him to go out and fight a live duel," the physician told them disapprovingly. "Frankly I don't think any of the ten of you should be out there. You're still children."

"What the hell!" the hot-headed boy started to explode, but Marie took his arm.

"Greg, we don't want to wake Chris," she warned. "Let's go back. Jilk's duel is next."

The redhead grumpily backed off and followed the others out of the room. "Where is Jilk, anyway?" he asked when the door closed. The green-haired boy was the only one of Marie's five captures who hadn't been in Chris' recovery room.

"He said he had some preparations to make," Julius explained. "It's still possible for us to lose overall, and he doesn't want to end up making the same mistakes as Chris."

Brad nodded. "Yeah, who would have thought Lady Claes would be the dark horse of their line-up?"

Marie nodded. What in the world was Katarina Rafa Claes even doing in the duels? Wasn't Angelica Rafa Redgrave supposed to be completely unable to find anyone in the school to fight for her? In the game she'd wound up having to bring in a ringer from outside the academy, disgracing herself - and also losing the duel anyway. Unsurprisingly since her champion had been up against five near end-game capture-targets…

Oh…

Oh no…

Marie had used every trick she had from the game to win over the five boys. To make sure that the game protagonist wouldn't have a chance, she'd set up and exploited scenarios from all through the three years of the game's timeline. She'd pushed through and brought the relationships to the point in one term that should have taken seven, meaning that this duel was taking place two years early. The five boys hadn't levelled up anything like as much as they would have by the duels in the game.

That meant that the boys also had two years less experience. And that could be why Angelica has support. Something must have happened over the next two years that would have made her current champions unavailable. Perhaps they'd died…

No that was too horrible a thought to contemplate, at least when it came to three of them.

Perhap Bartford had died, he wasn't a pretty boy. And maybe Claes had been drummed out of the academy somehow. It was hard to imagine that someone with her villainous features would have been able to hold onto her harem. Most likely Lady Hunt would have run off with her to a private island, leaving Julius' two cousins desolate and uninterested in Redgrave's appeal for aid.

After all, they had only got involved because Claes had involved herself.

"Don't worry, Marie." Julius put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Everything will be alright."

Ah, she shouldn't assume she could always hide her feelings from them. After all, the point of having seduced them was having their attention. "I want to believe that, but now Chris is hurt and…" a few crocodile tears "and it's all my fault."

"No," the crown prince assured her. "It's not your fault. It was Lady Claes who hurt him, and she would never have done it if Angelica hadn't put her up to it!"

Marie felt a corner of her mind wonder if Angelica Rafa Redgrave was as smitten by Katarina Rafa Claes as the rest of the brunette's bisexual harem was. Probably not, otherwise she wouldn't be fighting Marie over Prince Julius.

Why couldn't Mary Fou Hunt have not kidnapped Claes already? They could have their sapphic pleasures off where they didn't bother anyone, and at worst Marie would only have to worry about Bartford.

At least that mob wouldn't be half as much bother. Five to one odds would take care of him easily. Wouldn't it?

Marie leant on Julius. "Please be careful."

"I may not have to fight at all. Jilk is very good and Bartford can't even use a normal knight-armour. Given he has to modify one, he's probably going to have an uphill struggle."

That was true, Marie thought. And Chris had been holding back. Understandable that he wouldn't want to hit a girl - even if Claes was more of a monkey! Jilk would almost certainly win, and if he didn't… Well, she didn't know how high-spec Gerald Rafa Stuart was. It would be better, much better, if Jilk won. Anything else would be a gamble, and Marie hated gambling.

For the fourth time today, a pair of knight-armours faced each other on the arena floor. No one seemed bored with it yet. In fact, there was a new energy in the stands - Katarina's victory meant that this looked like less of a one-sided clash.

Was it possible that Redgrave's champions might actually triumph?

Probably not. But… probably was not definitely. No one had expected Katarina Rafa Claes to emerge triumphant against the finest swordsman of their generation. But she had - and given the odds that had been given against that, a handful of people were suddenly extremely happy they'd laid out a little money on a long-shot.

Leon's knight-armour loomed over Jilk's. Just sufficiently taller and bulkier to be intimidating. Red and black making it look villainous compared to the green of its adversary.

"Are you ready?" the prince's foster-brother called out.

Unshipping a rifle, Leon raised the weapon in salutation to his opponent, and then bowed to the stands where Angelica was seated among her few supporters.

"You may begin!" the referee called.

Leon took to the sky immediately, firing rapidly towards Jilk. The other boy broke into an evasive maneuver, using his shield to block shots that came close. "Did you get everything in place?" Leon murmured to Luxion.

"Of course, master."

"Right." He saw Jilk raise his own rifle. "Wait until he's done shooting, then we can start this."

Unlike Leon's, the other boy's rifle was tube-fed, not drawing off a box magazine. The shots were slower and Leon was easily able to dodge them, even as he stowed his rifle and retrieved the knight-armour's axe. As tempting as it was, he hadn't loaded a shovel. Katarina's use of a hoe had exhausted the humour of that concept.

"Hit it," Leon ordered as Jilk dropped his rifle and came to meet Leon with his sword drawn.

The two knight-armours clashed in mid-air. "Listen, Bartford. I want our match to be the final one."

Jilk's voice came from his knight-armour, loud enough to be audible from the stands. But inside his cockpit, the devices Luxion had planted to repeat the words should muffle it to the point that the other boy would have no idea.

The crowd cheering, the sound of the earlier gunfire. It was plausible that the two boys would have trouble hearing right now. Not enough that they wouldn't normally be able to hear, but enough that people might believe the two of them were speaking louder than intended. It was only natural to raise one's voice to match that of others, which could easily lead to being louder than you realised.

"I didn't think that you were likely to throw the fight."

Leon ignored his own recorded voice and lashed out with his axe, sparks flying from the edge of Jilk's shield as he blocked with it.

The swordsman lashed out again at him and Leon side-stepped.

"Don't be so dense! I'm talking about you taking a dive."

Leon shook his head as he grabbed hold of Jilk's extended arm, heaving him off balance and sending the other knight-armour sprawling.

"Why in the world should I do that?"

Deliberately, Leon allowed the other boy to stand - letting it appear that he was holding back to hear Jilk out.

Slamming down a smoke bomb, Jilk disappeared from view. Leon moved his knight-armour back, replacing his axe with the rifle and swapping out the spent magazine with a fresh one.

"Your family are upstarts. My father had much to say about you. Ousting the Olfreys has won you far more prestige than I think your father ever expected and it'll be the work of generations for you to consolidate your household's position. It's admirable that you've risen so far. But there are those who resent it. You need allies and you're in a position to earn that."

Jilk's knight-armour roared out of the smoke, huddled behind his shield as he closed in on Leon - who darted aside, trying to swing around far enough to get a clear shot past the shield.

"We also need to appear as reliable to the allies we make. For me to let down Lady Redgrave after speaking up for her… it wouldn't look good."

His opponent was doing a good job of not giving Leon a clear shot, but he was probably unaware that the crowd had fallen silent - almost everyone was craning forwards to listen to what was being said. Out of the corner of his eye, Leon could see Julius red-faced with rage.

"There's no need to be blatant - I'm sure you're smart enough to put on a show."

Leon fired one shot as Jilk got close enough to take out his sword, then wound up blocking the next sword stroke with the rifle butt. The weapon went spinning away. "If I had no honour!" Leon shouted, taking advantage of the break in Jilk's recorded words. He snatched out his axe again, slapping one of his knight-armour's hands against the flat of the sword to keep it from striking his armour before he was armed again.

"The flipside of your need for allies is that you cannot afford to make more enemies. Particularly at court. It would be easy to persuade the king that his decision to grant the Olfrey lands and title to your mother was an error, especially now that you're joining a faction opposed to the crown prince. If you continue upon this path, my family can easily ruin yours - we've been at the heart of Holfort since it was founded while you and yours are from the fringes."

"Cut it," Leon ordered Luxion in a whisper.

Jilk, still oblivious, lunged again with his sword but Leon caught it on the shaft of his axe, then snagged the blade in the slot between the axe's shaft and the blade. He twisted sharply and the sword was torn from Jilk's grasp.

Before his opponent could respond, Leon pushed in and got the elbow of the arm holding his axe in behind the other boy's shield. One twist and then the arm holding the shield was a wreck.

"Marmoria, you raise one hand towards my family and I'll be back in the capital with this suit and my skyship and all my allies - and you and your family will have nowhere to hide. Because if I have nothing to lose, then what does it cost me to tear every last one of you apart?"

Jilk froze, perhaps because of Leon's threats or perhaps he was realising that the sound level in his cockpit had changed suddenly. Or hearing the crowd jeering at him.

Leon backhanded the head right off the knight armour and then swept into a kick that hurled it higher into the sky. He chased it through it's arc upwards hacking with his axe. By the time Jilk's knight armour hit the ground again not one of the four limbs was operational.

"Will Leon's family be in danger now?" Olivia asked nervously as Jilk was carried away from the arena. Leon's crimson and black knight-armour watched his opponent be carried away, then turned on his heel and stalked out of the other exit. It was obvious the boy was still furious.

Angelica shook her head. "No, after making such threats in public, they wouldn't dare."

"She's right," Mary assured Olivia. "In fact, if anything bad happens to the Bartfords now, Viscount Marmoria will have no choice but to give them his full support or people would suspect he was behind it. I can't believe Jilk would be so stupid as to threaten Leon in public like that."

Olivia relaxed slightly. "This means that there's one more match?"

"Yes." Angelica took a deep breath. "I appreciate Gerald being willing to stand up for me, but…"

"They're cousins - would they really hurt each other?"

"I don't know." The braided girl shook her head again. "I don't know," she repeated. "I hope neither of them is hurt. Gerald's my champion, I want him to win… but Julius…"

Angelica hunched over and Olivia impulsively put her arm around her, comfortingly. "It'll be alright," she promised.

"Why did I do this?" the girl next to her moaned. "Why did he…? How can I face my father or the queen now? They'll be so angry with me!"

Nicol cleared his throat. "I think I would rather be in your shoes than Julius' once they learn of this."

"Shush, they're about to begin," Sophia warned them.

Down below, the two cousins each drew swords and started to probe each other's defences. Neither seemed eager to escalate the situation. The one to make the first mistake would likely lose, so being overly aggressive could cost either of them the match.

"I'm truly surprised that you'd take Angelica's side over mine," Julius noted, voice barely audible from the stands. "I always thought that the Stuarts would stand by me."

Gerald parried the prince's thrust. "And I'm surprised you'd be so petty as to have your lackeys tear up Bartford's room. I would say that we're both disappointed in each other."

The crown prince switched his approach to a series of high attacks. "I never ordered anyone to do that."

He was forced to break off as the white knight-armour started to wheel, forcing Julius to guard his more vulnerable left side. "You condemned Redgrave for attacks on Lafan she never condoned, it's only just that you should take the blame for actions done in your name."

The words must have stung. "That woman, what lies has she told you?"

Gerald laughed lightly. Mockingly. "Unlike you, cousin, I actually investigated the matters. It was hardly difficult to find out that those attacking your paramour were most disappointed that their attempt to curry favour with Lady Redgrave aroused only her contempt."

Parrying a succession of cuts, Julius managed to weave in a riposte that turned the flow of the fight back in his favour. He pushed Gerald back. "Marie is no mere paramour, Gerald. Though it should not surprise me that you don't recognise love when you see it. After all, who ever loved you?"

His rejoinder was an abrupt stop-thrust that scored the plating across the chest of the crown prince's knight-armour, at the cost of a similarly incidental scrape to the shoulder of Gerald's. "You're wrong, Julius. I do recognise love - and I also recognise when love is unrequited. At least my fiancee cares for me, in her own way. Lady Redgrave doesn't even have that comfort."

Olivia felt Angelica begin to shake in her arms, tears flowing down her face.

"That woman never loved me, she just wanted to be queen!" Julius shouted. His sword strokes grew more forceful, pushing Gerald back.

The elder cousin (by a scant few months) parried methodically, giving ground to absorb the fury. "She loved the man she was told that you were - and if you'd had the courage to show her the truth, she might have come to love the man you want to be." And then Gerald's sword twisted, a parry turning into a disarming move that sent Julius' sword flying. "But you never dared to trust her, cousin."

Julius said nothing and the crowd quietened. Olivia could hear Angelica trying to stifle her sobs, feeling her shake.

Gerald raised his sword, aiming it at the throat of the opposing knight-armour. After a moment to make his point, he raised the sword in salute. "Pick up your sword, cousin. I'm no Jilk, I won't stab a man in the back."

Julius backed up his knight-armour and crouched to lift the sword once more. The referee, who had been walking out to decide the match, elected to withdraw again. If the two princes didn't consider the matter settled then who was a mere teacher to say otherwise.

"I never asked to be the crown prince."

Gerald grunted and then replied: "None of us asked to be born as we are, Julius. I could list quite a number of complaints about my circumstances. Most people could about their own - if only because they weren't born into the wealth and privilege that we were."

"Oh of course. You, the perfect prince, have so much to complain about. No one's forcing you to carry this kingdom!"

"At least you grew up with a mother."

It took a moment for Olivia to understand those flat, angry words. She knew little of the interlinking relationships of the noble houses, but even she had heard of Princess Ygraine - the king's sister, who had wed Duke Uther Rafa Stuart and died young after giving him four sons.

Julius held his sword ready but didn't resume the duel. "I wasn't going to bring her up."

"Fortunate for you." Gerald began to circle Julius, his sword up. "Your suffering is not unique or special, cousin. But I'd have a damn sight more pity for you if you showed a shred of concern for anyone else."

"I don't want your pity!" Julius lunged and the duel was on again, swords clashing ferociously and the two apparently too engrossed in their swordplay to hurl further epithets against each other as they took to the air, taking full advantage of their knight-armour's ability to fly.

"Why didn't he just take the win?!" Sophia exclaimed.

"That's never been enough for Gerald," her brother muttered from behind Olivia.

There was a cracking sound and the white knight-armour dropped to the ground. One arm hung limp and from the way it settled to the ground, Olivia suspected that it would not be flying again without serious repairs.

Julius' flew above Gerald. "Anything else to preach to me about, cousin?"

The fallen knight-armour adopted a jaunty stance. "When I mentioned unrequited love, I also meant your feelings for Lafan."

The crown prince descended with an enraged howl, crashing against the duke's brother. The two knight armours slid backwards and then tumbled together until they smashed into the wall right beneath Olivia and the others. A cloud of dust shrouded the pair from view.

Angelica pulled free of Olivia and leant over the rail, trying to see what was going on below. The referee started running across the arena towards the crash site.

Finally, the dust began to settle and Olivia saw that the white knight-armour was knelt, pinning the prince's to the ground. Both cockpits were open and Gerald Rafa Stuart stood upon the thigh armour of his fallen foe, holding his cousin up.

Julius, sporting a black eye, spat something inaudible up at his cousin. A gobbet of blood flecked Gerald's white piloting suit.

With a disdainful look, the blond released his grip and the crown prince of Holfort was dropped sprawling on the sand, his chest heaving but not even trying to rise. The victor of the duel turned around and looked upwards at Lady Angelica.

"On behalf of your champions, my lady." He covered his heart with one hand. "I give you victory."