Day one of the DiNozzo Summer Tournament! I hope I did an ok job writing the fights, as I feel that is still one of my writing weaknesses. I hope you like this chapter!

-owl

The sun shone brightly on the tournament arena, and wind blew, gently rustling the leaves of the surrounding trees. Tony was standing with Ziva outside the arena. He had just told her that he would be participating in the tournament as well.

"So who will be giving the speech before they start?" Ziva asked, incredulous.

Tony shrugged. "I was thinking that I would do it today, because I saw the roster and I am going to be fighting tomorrow. You can do it tomorrow, because you are fighting today." He had thought it out beforehand, though it had been pure luck that they were fighting on different days.

Ziva threw her hands in the air, muttering as she walked away. "Whatever. You could have told me, though."

Tony watched her go then turned back to the royal box just in time for the bell to ring. Within a few minutes the stands were filled with peasants, and the visiting royalty and nobility that were not participating had filled the royal box.

After a quick fanfare of trumpets, Tony's title was announced and he stepped into the royal box and walked to the front, waving. When the applause died down the entries for day one came and lined up in the dirt of the arena.

"Welcome, everyone!" Tony said, his voice carrying over the amassed people. "Thank you all for coming, either to watch or to participate. These participants are only half of the total. The other half will be introduced tomorrow. So, again, I welcome you all and hope you enjoy yourselves!"

When he was done speaking Tony took his seat and watched as the officiant walked to the middle of the arena as the line of fighters all left.

"All matches will be fought to first blood, or until someone concedes or loses their weapon. Round one, Queen Ziva of DiNozzo against Sir Clayton Reeves of Meadth!" Then he scurried out of the way as the two he named approached.

After a quick countdown, Ziva launched herself at Sir Reeves. The fight didn't last long. Tony could tell that Sir Reeves was a great fighter, but Ziva was better, much better. He almost got hit in the right arm, but was able to block it with his sword. That, however, left him vulnerable to Ziva's fast reflexes. With one quick jab, Sir Reeves' other arm was cut, just below his elbow, splattering a small amount of blood onto the ground.

The officiant walked back out. "Round one goes to Queen Ziva. Round two will be Sir Timothy McGee of DiNozzo against Sir Edward Dorneget of Meadth."

"Queen Ziva is a formidable fighter," Prince Daniel commented, leaning towards Tony. "The knight from Meadth had no chance."

Tony chuckled. "Watching ZIva fight is always fun."

The second match went much the same as the first. Tim was a little closer to the younger knight's skill level than Ziva had been to Sir Reeves, but it was still a fairly quick match. Swords clashed a few times, until eventually Sir Dorneget's sword was forced out of his hand and he conceded before he could be hit.

"Round two goes to Sir Timothy McGee. Round three is Sir Brent Langer of Meadth against Sir Favian of DiNozzo."

"Yay, Tim!" Abby yelled joyfully, pumping her fist in the air.

Round three was a good match up, Tony couldn't help but to think, as the fight dragged on. The crowd cheered or booed every time the swords clashed. Neither knight could get an edge over the other. Eventually, though, Sir Langer was nicked on his shoulder and the round was over.

"Round three goes to Sir Favian. Round four is Sir Arthur of DiNozzo against Sir Reynard of DiNozzo."

Unsurprisingly, at least to Tony, Arthur lost. He was, after all, one of the newest knights in the ranks of DiNozzo. Reynard had been the one to teach Arthur the blade in the first place, Tony would have been shocked had Arthur won.

"Round four goes to Sir Reynard. Round five is Duchess Kensi of Bly against Duke Deeks of Bly."

"Ten doubloons on Kensi," Nell whispered to Eric.

"You're on."

Tony couldn't help but to chuckle that the married couple had gotten matched up. At the outset of the match the pair was fairly balanced. Before long, however, it became clear that Kensi was better with a sword. Deeks wasn't about to give up, though, and he fought as hard as he could, eventually, however, falling victim to his wife's sword

"Round five goes to Duchess Kensi. Round six is Sir Ashton of Investigatii against Lady Tani of Buidheann."

Tony didn't recognize the first person, and hadn't realized that Investigatii had sent any of their knights. He also hadn't realized that Lady Tani had planned to fight. Both fighters were good with their blades, and it was an even match, which was good. Tani eventually was able to knock Sir Ashton to the ground, leaving a welt on his forearm.

"Round six goes to Lady Tani. Round seven is Lady Liu of Buidheann against Sir Harold of Investigatii."

Lady Liu was able to slash the other knight almost as soon as the round started. Tony wasn't surprised, she carried herself in a way that promised that she was a formidable opponent.

"Can Quinn teach me how to fight with a sword?" Princess Grace asked, a pleading tone heavy in her voice as she turned to her father.

"No."

"Round seven goes to Lady Liu. Round eight is Lord Lou Grover against Sir Ernest of Investigatii."

Lord Grover was almost twice as big as Sir Ernest, and won the round quickly.

"Round eight goes to Lord Grover. Round Nine is Queen Ziva of DiNozzo against Sir Timothy McGee of DiNozzo."

Ziva and Tim were a good match. Or, at least, they had trained with each other enough that they knew almost all of each other's tricks. At one point Tim knocked Ziva's sword out of her hand, though she was able to catch it before Tim was able to. They continued fighting for a while. Every time that Ziva took the offense, he was ready, and it wasn't until he didn't move his leg out of the way for her follow through that she was able to cut him enough to win the match.

"Round nine goes to Queen Ziva. Round ten is Sir Favian of DiNozzo against Sir Reynard of DiNozzo."

Favian and Reynard were best of friends, and they spent most of their time training with each other. As such, they were almost more evenly matched than Ziva and Tim had been. Their bout lasted nearly a quarter of an hour, according to Tony's mental clock. The round was over when Reynard got a lucky hit.

"Round ten goes to Sir Reynard. Round eleven is Duchess Kensi of Bly against Lady Tani of Buidheann."

Lady Tani barely waited for the countdown to end and the round to start before she had launched herself across the arena towards Kensi. It was likely Tani's impatience that was her downfall, falling victim to Kensi's slow but deliberate movements that sliced the lady's shoulder.

"Round eleven goes to Duchess Kensi. Round Twelve is Lady Liu of Buidheann against Lord Lou Grover."

Lady Liu was a good fighter, Tony would admit, but just as Lord Grover's size advantage had helped him in the first round, it did so again.

"Round twelve goes to Lord Grover. Round thirteen is Queen Ziva of DiNozzo against Sir Reynard of DiNozzo."

It was clear that Ziva often trained with the knights, as Reynard was able to keep up with her for a while. However, while she was slightly smaller, Ziva was able to use that to her advantage. It was hard for Reynard to land a hit on her, and after a few blocks Ziva broke through his defenses and drew blood.

"Round thirteen goes to Queen Ziva. Round fourteen is Duchess Kensi of Bly against Lord Lou Grover."

Once again, Lord Grover was nearly double the size of his opponent. This time, however, it was his disadvantage. Kensi was able to twist and turn to dodge Lord Grover's attacks, whereas he had more muscle that took up more space that made it a lot harder for him to dodge Kensi's swings.

They had been fighting for almost as long as Reynard and Favian when the round was brought to a close. Both of them had swung their swords and managed to hit each other well enough that they both fell to the ground, unmoving.

The immediate aftermath went as such; Prince Daniel stood up in shock, getting closer to the edge of the royal box to see better, while Lord Noshimuri held Princess Grace back from following her father. Both Deeks and King Steve ran out to the middle of the arena, closely followed by the official who had been announcing every round.

After a few minutes both Lord Grover and Kensi began to stir, and soon after that they were escorted out of the arena.

"Both contestants will be fine!" the official yelled to the crowd. "They knocked each other out, making the match a draw. Therefore that leaves Queen Ziva of DiNozzo the winner of day one of the tournament."

The crowd went wild, and Tony couldn't help but smile. His wife had won the day.