Knights in Shining Armour: A Tale Of Love

Chapter 2 Slow Burn

Andrew fought well. He was fast, and could read his opponent easily. Hazel watched from the stables as the other knights put him to the test. She was sewing together a tear in one of the jousters' caparisons; the cloth that their horses wore during a joust. The material was heavy, and Hazel enjoyed the ropey texture at her fingertips. Once she finished sewing, it was time to tend to the horses, but she found herself distracted watching Andrew fight.

Luca and Harmon were the other two fighters out there today, Harmon was a short stocky man with dark hair and a fiercely competitive streak, while Luca was lanky with curly ginger hair and no worries in the world. Each man was a brilliant fighter, with slightly different styles and go-to cuts. Harmon was faster than Andrew, almost dancing his way through each fight. Luca favoured brute force, making it easy for Andrew to predict his movements. Hazel could see that Andrew struggled to hold Luca’s force back at times; he was evenly matched for both fighters really.

Harmon stepped forward, bearing his broad chest at Andrew, while Luca swung around behind, flanking Andrew. Andrew was quick, but not quick enough to stop Harmon’s blade and simultaneously defend against Luca’s rapid attack from the rear. The fight ended in laughter and handshakes. He’s officially one of us, Hazel thought to herself.

As the fighters left the field, Andrew looked over to Hazel, gave her a dazzling smile and waved as he strode back to the knight’s quarters. Hazel returned the smile with a meek one of her own, and picked up her sewing. She’d been repeating the same stitch for too long to explain.

Hazel enjoyed spending time with the horses, and decided to go for a ride that afternoon while nobody was using the field to train. She saddled up her favourite horse, a huge black shire horse named Maelstrom, though Hazel called her Mae for short. Hazel warmed up by walking laps around the arena, letting Mae stretch her legs and get the feel for Hazel again. Mae belonged to Ser Killian who rarely rode any more. He’d raised Mae as a foal, and taught her to joust right here at the castle. When he’d decided to retire somewhat, he’d asked Hazel if she could exercise Mae sometimes just to keep her limber. Mae was still young and full of fire, Hazel could see her staring out and snorting at the other horses who jousted more regularly. Nobody can truly know the mind of an animal, but Hazel had a strong feeling that Mae would be happier sprinting down that tilt than she was doing laps with Hazel.

Hazel pushed Mae into a trot, relaxing her hips and shoulders into the rising motion. Mae was speeding up, ready to canter, but Hazel held her back for a lap before really letting her go. Hazel couldn’t help but laugh at the pure joy she felt riding this horse. Just for fun, she steered Mae down the tilt and did a sprint down it the way jousters do. At the end of the tilt, Hazel heard someone clapping. She slowed Mae to a walk and surveyed the grandstands to see who was watching her.

It only took her a moment to find Andrew, his golden hair gleaming in the afternoon sunlight as he clapped and walked towards her from the knight’s quarters.

“Bravo my lady! And when will I see you joust?” He called out.

Hazel steered Mae to where Andrew was walking, taking her feet out of the stirrups and dropping her reins.

“Oh, not yet. I’ve hit the quintain a couple of times…” Hazel sighed.

Andrew walked close to Mae, patting her neck and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Well that won’t do, you’ve got talent Hazel. As does this horse, what’s her name?”

“Maelstrom, she’s Ser Killian’s, he raised her from a foal”. Hazel leaned forward and hugged Mae’s neck.

“The two of you make an impressive team.”

Hazel sat back up and smiled, “thank you Andrew. You’re an impressive fighter, I thought you had Luca and Harmon beat for a minute there”.

Andrew smiled and looked at the ground, “ah thank you, they’re good fun to fight and I’m sure they’ll teach me a thing or two”. He looked back up at Hazel, with that sincere eye contact that made Hazel’s heart skip a beat.

“Do you fight?” He asked.

“Only with wooden swords, and never in front of crowds”.

“Why?”

“I don’t think I’m good enough yet…”

Andrew frowned ponderously. “Who is teaching you?” he asked.

“Well, everyone teaches me a little bit at a time when they have a free moment, but I haven’t really had consistent lessons”. Hazel swung her leg over Mae’s back and dismounted. She held the reins loosely and led Mae back to the stables.

Andrew followed dutifully, walking beside Hazel. “I could teach you, regularly I mean”.

Hazel looked up at him, eyes wide with surprise and excitement. “Really? I don’t want to take up too much of your time…”

“It would be a pleasure Lady Hazel”. Andrew bowed as he spoke, grinning again.

“Well in that case, say when and I’m there”.