The Draconia Chronicles: Knights of the Westfold
Chapter 5: Becoming Knights
A knight is not a knight without her armor. It starts with a loose long-sleeve shirt, and leather tights. Our tights are fitted to our thighs, and always black as black is a lucky color in our beliefs. Next come chausses of chainmail to protect the back of our legs. next came the plate armor that protected our legs in the form of cuisses, greaves, and sabatons. Then came the armor for the arms in the form of vambraces, cowters, rerebraces, and pauldrons with special neck guards for added protection.
The last pieces were my gauntlets, helmet, and jupon. My jupon bares the coat-of-arms of my noble house, and has a thong bottom in the rear. There are flaps of cloth to cover the front and rear for modesty sake. That makes up the full battle kit of armor for a knight. Like Lady Claramond and Lady Noemi, I stand 18 hands tall and weigh 14 and half stone without armor. The average soldier without her armor kit in our ranks is little over 10 stone in weight and 16.75 hands in height.
When you have fought enough battles in a lifetime, the very armor and weapons you carry into the fray soon become a part of you, a part of your soul. That goes for everyone who comes to battle from the archer with her steady longbow to the soldier with her weapon of choosing that is befitting of her skill. For me, it happened to be the battle axe I turn to for battle before my sword although I am a very capable warrior with both weapons. For I am Lady Glenda of the Noble House of Gwynedd.
"So where are you taking me anyway?" asked the water dragon, I am taught to believe that everyone deserves a fair chance to prove herself. A knight or soldier can prove herself in battle, and even a dragon can prove herself to be a friend. Although she still wears shackles, neither we nor any of the soldiers and knights in our ranks ever strike her or beat her, "it's amazing how you badgers made all this armor to protect yourself against our magic," that was the first compliment I ever heard from her.
I am not going to be tough on her like Lady Claramond. As she is a prisoner-of-war, we must still be civil in a time of war, "Taking you? I'd say it's a bit more than that, Lassie, we're goin' to the capital, the annual summit meetin' of the elders is happenin'," I explained to the prisoner named 'Blue' whom was being looked after by Lady Noemi. She is the only baroness from the Southern Westfold I know that is willingly standing up against the Dragons, and not getting fat off the taxes to the poor.
Knights are not just made from birth, they are forged in the fires of training. I remember training in the mountains with my master. The snow made the air biting cold as I was trained in the arts of combat. On the other side of being a Page, I was trained to be civil and how to speak and act properly in front of those of higher esteem. I was often punished if I did something my master did not approve of or if I showed any cowardice in the face of battle. It was through these trials that I became who I am.
Like Lady Noemi of Blaireau, I forged and shaped my own armor to fit my needs, one of them is sight. I want to see the face of my enemy when I strike my enemy down with my axe. For that, I forged an visored barbuta helm over an aventail of double chainmail. My armor is like those of the knights, soldiers, and archers I command with the help of Lady Noemi and Lady Claramond. It's plate armor and mesh chainmail with a green jupon with a gold bordering and a golden lion of Gwynedd at it's center.
I remember the day I became a knight at the Battle of Fallen Oakwood. I was near twenty years of age, and a young woman-at-arms at the time. I had fought many battles so I had experience under my belt. Side by side, I fought at my master hearing the whistle of arrows and the cries of pain from the dead and dying in the air. I fought until my last breath cutting down every Dragon that came my way by sword and shield. Yet the last breath was not mine, but my master's as she was wounded.
It was there among those who had fallen, their white eyes staring at the sun, and blood bathing them in red, that I was knighted by my master with her last ounce of strength. My master's name was Lady Bláthnaid of Boru. She was my teacher, and my friend and it is her sword that I carry at my side. In her name I joined the rebellion against Queen Oscura. I fight to see the sun set over a free land where there is peace between all the peoples Dragon, Tiger, and Badger who call these lands home.
Although there is a Dragon outpost up the road from here, that is not our destination. The army is to march to the capital in the center of the Westfold where the clan elders to be holding a meeting to discuss terms with Queen Oscura. Like me, Lady Noemi and Lady Claramond were not going to condone such an act of cowardice. The knights from our three houses shouldered their lances or kept their weapons and shields in hand in case the enemy tried to attack them while we are on the march.
We stopped for a rest at the end of the forest, and set up camp for the night. I went to check on a young soldier that was still recovering from a burn she suffered at the Battle of the Meadows. I kneeled down and helped a physician bandage it up, "Blue wishes to bathe in the nearby river, I entrust you to keep an eye on her in case she tries to make a run for it," Lady Noemi instructed to me. I can see that she is becoming attached to the prisoner, but she too has business to attend to with her soldiers.
Two soldiers unshackled her, and she flew down to the river. I watched her from the rocks as she dived into the water. There was a certain grace to her, I can see why Lady Noemi finds her so fetching. Maybe when the war is over, I'll settle down and find myself a mate. Then again, the males are few and hard to find these days. Suddenly, when she came up to the surface, "WHO'S THERE?!" She blasted and struck me down with a blast of water magick, "GLENDA?!" she said in shock, though I was not hurt.
"Helluva way to have a bath, eh Lassie?" I laughed, soaking wet and getting up from the ground, "yeah Lady Noemi sent me to keep a watch on yeh," I explained to her, it is best we keep the prisoner alive and unspoiled. As she came out of the water, I felt like I needed to have a word with her, "Blue, my dear, can I bother you for a question?" I asked, Blue shrugged her shoulders, I suppose that means yes, "are yah smittin'?" I asked, "with Lady Noemi?" Blue blushed as red as a ripe apple in the orchard.
"Don't be stupid, what makes you think I'm in love with...," she stopped in the middle of her sentence and sat down next to me, she looked around to see if anyone was watching. I am still surprised she has not flown off. This must be why she still tags along with us, "I suppose I do...like her," Blue muttered, I maybe only wearing a coif of chainmail instead of my helmet, but I could still hear her words, "but...I wouldn't work out, you see, she's a Badger, and I'm...," I placed a calm hand on her shoulder.
"A dragon?" I asked, and she nodded. My eyes softened to tell her that I am a friend, "when this war is over, you will have no need to feel ashamed of your feelings," I assured her, "but until then, you should tell her how you feel," I got up from the ground, and gave her a hand up. This is why we fight our rebellion against Queen Oscura. So that one day, Dragon and Badger can hold hands in sisterhood. This rebellion seems to be the only way to make her hear us, and we will make sure she will hear us.