Robin Hood BBC ::His Twin Swords
He watched the girl peek inside the next room through a crack on the large wooden double doors in one of the Palace's annexed halls. She gave him a big smile yanking on the door just enough for them to slip through. "We are in luck," she said motioning for him to go first, "It is empty."
Allan slipped in the hall carefully. However, once he was in, he suddenly found it very hard to move. To his left were large arch windows streaming sunlight in the hall. The sunlight hit the rows and rows of weapons neatly arranged on the right wall. Colourful banners hung from the columns proudly. And right in the center of the room was a column of tables and benches underneath several chandeliers. He knew where she had lead him. Nottingham castle had a room just like this though not this clean and tidy and definitely not this impressive. "This is the armoury," he noted.
"We call it the Knight's Hall, actually," Evangeline corrected in a hushed tone motioning at the coats of arms on the banners. She took a seat on the bench just watching him take in the hall. "This is where the Knights of Aquitaine gather round and plan the border defenses, settle squabbles amongst themselves, discuss formations--" she trailed on in a monotonous tone.
"So why do I feel like we're sneaking about?" he asked.
"Because I am not allowed in here," she answered simply.
"Not being funny, but you're one of the Queen's private guards," he pointed out.
"Yes, the Queen's guard," she replied, "not the lands'. There is a difference. Remember? We are not suppose to be known. I am a courtier, here." Evangeline stood up with a wry expression on her face. "So little ginger cat, we are here to find you a point," she said crossing her arms with a big smile on her face.
Allan placed his hands on his hips again and threw her a confused look. He could swear that as much as the girl spoke fluent English, some things were still lost in translation. "In the armoury?!" he asked.
"Where else are you going to find a proper weapon?" she replied, taking a broadsword from the row and giving it a few test slashes. The girl shrugged, returning the sword back on its holder before facing him expectantly. "Well? If you are going to just stand there, you are not going to find anything to try. And if you do not try anything, you will not know if you like it," she said matter of factly.
"Not that I don't appreciate all this generosity with the clothes and the food and all, but I have a weapon," Allan reminded her, "I'm not rubbish with the bow--"
"That is Monsieur Locksley's weapon of choice, not yours--"
"And I have a sword," Allan stated proudly, "And I'm not being funny when I say I'm not rubbish there either."
The outlaw watched the courtier reach in her right sleeve and brandish a long dagger. She then placed the blade flat on both her hands and offered it to him. Allan picked it up and waved it wantonly about. "Is this mine now? I'm flattered," he joked.
The girl shook her head lightly chuckling. "Do you see anything peculiar with my dagger?" she asked.
"It's a long dagger, Eva--" He replied handing it back hilt- first. But as the sunlight bounced off the blade, he saw what she was talking about. Her blade near the small cross guard wasn't as smooth and even as the rest. His eyes narrowed as he held it for inspection. "Hey! It's ridged right there, like a hunter's knife, " he said returning the dagger, "Looks like your swordsmith friend Gabe cheated you on the blade."
"It is deliberate," she revealed, sheathing the long dagger back under her sleeves. "My uncle and my cousin raised me. They were trackers and hunters and they were very good with blades. I used to have a problem when they left me alone in the house so they took me with them. The very first thing I learned how to do was use a hunter's knife, then daggers, then eventually swords. But they never let me kill the animals especially the large ones. My uncle does that. Which, in hindsight, is why I'm absolute rubbish with the bow," she said. "Now, I usually travel alone so I have to fend and hunt for myself. Those are the times I bring a sword along. Otherwise, everything is concealed because firstly, a sword gets in the way when stealing something and secondly--why would a courtier have a sword?" she continued, grinning as she explained herself.
"So you're saying you had everything custom made to suit you," he replied, "Nice to be rich ain't it?"
"I am saying that every person has a weapon that suits them the most. And a weapon says a lot about the person carrying it," she pointed out. "Will could simply carry a sword instead of an axe but he does not because he is a carpenter and it suits him. Djaq carries a smaller sword due to her constitution. John carries a staff because he has lived in the forest for such a long time. Much carries a buckler to defend against attacks because that is what he does. He shields, protects and compliments the person he is with. Robin has a God given talent with the bow," Evangeline enumerated with a cheeky shrug that reminded Allan very much of Robin, "and you started carrying a bow and a sword because--"
"It was easily accessible. It was already there," Allan answered honestly.
"You mean, dispensable. And is that what you are, Allan?" she asked with another self assured expression that reminded the outlaw of his gang's leader , "Are you really easily accessible?" she mimicked his tone.
Allan A Dale wanted to say something but nothing really came to mind. He had never equated easily accessible to mean dispensable. It just meant it was easy to come by, which in his opinion, the swords were. But he realized there may be some truth with this dispensable business. During the course of his stay both in the forest and the castle, he had lost several swords. Sometimes they would get in fights where in he was the one disarmed and his sword flies elsewhere with no time to retrieve it. So he picks up the next one that comes along and keeps that until it is lost. Or if his bow breaks, he would just get Will to make him a new one or steal one from a castle guard. It was convenient. "Well, I don't want to be just-- convenient," he murmured to himself.
"Did you say something?" Evangeline asked from half way down the room gazing up at a row of lances.
"Yeah, so," he approached her tentatively, "how do we go about this again? Do I just pick any weapon up like this one?" Allan reached for the nearest sword but the girl swat his wrist before he could even pick one up.
"Silly cat," she said, pointing at small door at the corner, "we are going to go to the practice hall and use the wasters."
"Wasters?!" Allan objected, "Don't I just try one out and see if it's alright? What's the point of all this picking- a- weapon thing if I have to work with the wooden replicas of the stuff?"
"There are two points. First, the Knights will not be hunting you down for touching their property," she answered, checking if the practice hall is occupied before holding the door open for the outlaw.
"But you've touched their things," he quipped, marveling how neatly the wasters were lined against one wall and how clearly marked the practice areas were. He was definitely not at Nottingham Castle or the forest now.
Allan watched the girl face him and give him an innocent wide eyed expression. She placed both her hands behind her, her hazel eyes meeting his gaze. "What would a girl like me be doing in the Knight's hall, monsieur?" she asked demurely.
The outlaw's jaw dropped in shock. "You're evil," he stated as the girl broke into giggles. "Not being funny, but you said there's a second point?"
"Yes, the second point is so you will avoid hurting yourself," she said handing him a wooden sword.
"Why will I be hurting myself?" he asked curiously slashing the air infront of him.
"Because you are going to be sparring."
"With who?"
"With me," Evangeline answered already at the center of the room with a wooden sword of her own. She played with her sword with one hand, making circles by her side, oddly enough reminding the outlaw of the Carter. "Allan," the girl motioned for him to take his place so they could start sparring.
Allan couldn't help but think that the crusader must definitely be crazy to ever fall for this girl. "Just out of curiosity, what does a person with a sword mean?" he asked, taking his position across her and readying himself.
"If the person is any good, he is a straightforward kind of a person who knows himself very well. The kind to know he can kill a person with something as simple as a sharp stick. Confident," she answered while taking a stance, "But if the person is not that good, it means either he has no other choice left or he was placed in some position and does not know what else to do but to take up a sharp stick."
The outlaw frowned, "Well that doesn't sound like anyone I know," he replied, not knowing if he was lying or not, not that he had anymore time to think about it. The courtier just quietly started her assault.