Chapter 19: - The Tournament
Rumple sat beside Belle in the stands within the royal box as the contenders stood in the ring awaiting for Belle to start the events and as soon as everyone had taken their seats, Belle stood,
"To start things off I would like to welcome each and everyone one of you to Camelot. We have all awaited this great event that is Camelot's annual tournament. Today's trials shall consist of the joust, archery and the two knights who are successful shall face each other in hand to hand combat which shall determine today's champion. I wish you all the best of luck…. Let the tournament begin" she announced which cued cheers to erupt from the members of the audience as the knights returned to their tents to prepare for the first challenge. The joust.
Arthur and Bae saddled up their horses and watched as the first two contenders took their positions at the end of the track. Both prince's winced as the watched as one contender was knocked from his steed due to the blow from the other knight's lance and they watched as the physician and his assistant took him away on a stretcher due to his broken shoulder.
As Belle sat in the stands and watched with horror and she covered her eyes as each unsuccessful contender was knocked from their horse with each passing round and Rumple entwined his fingers with his wife's,
"Don't worry Belle. Bae and Arthur will be fine. I'm sure of it" he said trying to reassure her but it didn't help much,
"If it were down to me this horrific sport wouldn't exist. 10 knights up to now have been injured and what's worse I allowed our son to enter. What sort of a mother am I?" she asked distort and Rumple brushed his thumb across the surface of her hand soothingly,
"The kind that encourages her son to be the best that he can be….. and besides you know that it's tradition for the future king of Camelot to take part when he turns 16 so if Arthur was going to compete then there was definitely going to be no chance of changing our son's mind" he pointed out and Belle sighed,
"You're right….. I just hope they don't get hurt" she said to herself.
Arthur was up next and he took a deep breath as he mounted his horse. Bae helpfully handed him his lance,
"Good luck Arthur" he said encouragingly and Arthur nodded nervously as he made his horse move into position at the end of the track.
He watched as his opponent took their position and he secretly gulped feeling nervous of losing but also that he might harm the other knight if he were to win.
A hush came over the crowd as they all became aware that their future king was about to take part in his very first event.
The arena had become so quite that you could almost hear Arthur's heartbeat. It was as if the world had suddenly gone into slow motion. Belle could hardly bring herself to watch as both contenders kicked their steeds making them race towards each other. Every one remained silent as they watched but then in a sudden moment it was as if the motion returned to normal pace as Arthur noticed his opponent raise their gauntlet to cover his eyes that were vulnerable to the sunlight that had just erupted from behind the clouds above causing his opponent's vision to become impaired and Arthur instantly drew back his lance and everyone gasped in shock as they watched.
Arthur quickly dismounted his steed and went to see to the other knight who had also dismounted,
"Are you alright?" he asked concerned and the knight removed his helmet and bowed quickly,
"Yes your majesty….. But…. I don't understand. Why did you draw back?... You had a clear advantage" he pointed out confused and Arthur thought before speaking with a smile,
"A good king knows when to draw back" he said and with that the members of the audience clapped and cheers as Arthur and the knight shook hands and Arthur smiled,
"What's your name?" he asked and the knight bowed respectfully,
"Lancelot your majesty." He answered and Arthur smiled,
"Then it is my honour to call this round a draw with you Lancelot" he said and Lancelot smiled as the crowd cheered and clapped.
Belle smiled brightly as she clapped along with the crowd and she smiled at Rumple who also clapped.
Not far away another stone appeared upon the sword in the stone's handle.
Due to the draw between Lancelot and Arthur. Bae had to joust both in order to determine who would go through into the Archery tournament but that was where Belle's motherly instinct kick in. She allowed one joust as she couldn't bear the thought of watching her son joust twice knowing that he could be hurt in either one of them but she managed to allow one because she didn't want to hold him back entirely.
Bae had jousted against Lancelot and had been successful. It took 5 five whole minutes before Rumple managed to stop cheering which amused Belle greatly.
Due to the score board this meant that Arthur, Bae and Lancelot would be up against each other within the archery event.
Belle had read the rules of the joust but if you asked her to explain it then she would simply say 'the man that knocks the other man off his horse faces the next contender until he gets knocked off his own horse' Rumple couldn't help but chuckle at his wife's disgust towards the sport.
The archery event's rules were quite simple. Each Archer was given three arrows that they would fire at their own target and then their scores would be added to a total. The two archers who achieved the highest scores would go through to the final event.
Lancelot was definitely skilled with a lance and a sword but unfortunately he was not as practised within archery. The event ended with Arthur and Bae reaching a tie so they would face each other in the final trial. Belle held Rumple's hand nervously and Rumple chuckled,
"You wouldn't be worried by any chance would you my darling?" he asked in a teasing tone and Belle didn't take her eyes off the arena floor where Arthur and Bae were getting ready,
"Me?... Worried? No. Why do you ask?" she asked and Rumple chuckled and lifted their joined hands gently,
"Because you're very close to cutting off the circulation in my hand dear" he said teasing and Belle looked before loosening her grasp and smiled gently,
"Sorry Rumple…. I'm just a little nervous. My ruler instincts are saying 'This tournament is tradition and it's your duty to show respect to ancient traditions'" she explained and Rumple smiled softly,
"And your motherly instincts?" he asked gently and she looked at him with a slight frown,
"My motherly instincts are screaming for me to jump out this box and save my baby boy" she said rather quickly before continuing,
"Actually that's not a bad idea" she said to herself before going to stand but Rumple smiled and kept hold of her hand and looked at her,
"Belle" he said with a gentle warning tone and she pouted before sitting back down,
"Fine….. I won't interfere" she said and Rumple smiled and pressed a kiss to the surface of her hand and she smiled softly.
Arthur and Bae took their places in the centre of the arena and Arthur looked at Bae,
"You nervous?" he asked and Bae nodded,
"A little…. I never imagined that we would end up in a real sword fight" he said and Arthur nodded,
"I know what you mean but….. I've already called a draw in one event and I fear that if I do so again then my subjects will see their future king as a weak one" he explained and Bae looked at him,
"Why did you call it a draw?" he asked with genuine curiosity and Arthur looked towards Belle who sat next to Rumple in the royal box,
"I hope you don't mind Bae… But, over the years that I have come to know your mother well… I've come to see her as a mother too" he explained and Bae smiled as he continued,
"Mama Belle taught me that everyone whether they be king or subject, deserves a fair chance… that's why I called it a draw" he explained and Bae nodded in understanding,
"I see…" he said as he thought to himself and the bell rang announcing the beginning of the trial and Arthur and Bae turned towards each other and readied their swords.
Belle managed to find the courage to watch. She knew the trial was simply to disarm their opponent but she was still nervous.
Bae looked around at the cheering crowd before looking back at Arthur and could easily see the trace of fear behind his eyes. The fear of his people not seeing him as a good future king and Bae looked down at the sword in his hand before making up his mind and he simply let go of his sword, letting it fall to the ground and everyone in the crowd gasped in shock as did Belle and Rumple.
Bae looked at the crowd and announced,
"I withdraw honourable from this tournament. I believe that Prince Arthur has proved himself to be a brave and honest future leader… and now I must do the same for my own kingdom" he explained and Rumple smiled proudly,
"That's our boy" he whispered to Belle who smiled just as proudly.
Arthur smiled and placed a hand on Bae's shoulder,
"Thank you Brother" he said and Bae nodded before smiling teasingly,
"Now why don't you go and return that handkerchief to that girl in the audience you haven't been able to stop looking at" he said teasing and the tips of Arthur's ears turned red before rubbing the back of his neck with his hand nervously with a slight chuckled before turning and heading towards the audience stall in which Gwen was cheering along with the rest of the crowd.
Bae smiled and turned to head back into his tent but bumped right into a blond haired lady and looked at her guilty,
"Oh I'm so sorry my lady" he said but the lady smiled with a slight blush,
"Oh no….. It was my fault…. I just wanted to congratulate you. It was very nobel what you did for Prince Arthur" she said gently and looked down with a slight blush,
"I'm Princess Emma of the Enchanted Forest" she said politely and Bae smiled and gently took her hand before placing a kiss upon its surface,
"It's an honour to meet you Princess. I am Prince Bae of Misthaven" he said and they both smiled at each other.
Rumple watched the interaction between his son and the young princess and frowned,
"I'll be right back" he said as his fatherly instincts kicked in and he went to stand but Belle held his hand gently and said with a teasing warning tone,
"Rumple….. Don't interfere" she said and couldn't help but giggle when her husband sat back down with a slight pout and she simply placed a kiss on his cheek.
Hi Everyone. Sorry this chapter took so long. I found it quite difficult because they only time I've seen an actual tournament was when I was five years old when I visited the Camelot theme park. :) I loved that theme park :( I hate that it had to close.
I hope you all enjoyed a bit of mummy and daddy reactions from Rumple and Belle haha :D it was quite funny to write. Please review and let me know what you think.
Kind Regards,
TheAuthor1996