Keeping The Faith (John Fisher Chronicles Book 2)

by William Lehman

  I took his hand, and said "Johann Beornson, Aquaterra." Well, he went for the squeeze grip, and I let him. Then I squeezed back. That didn't last very long at all, as neither of us had the advantage, and he didn't decide to push it, once he figured it out. "I didn't see you at September Crown, nor May Crown come to think of it, and I didn't see you at July Coronation to swear fealty." he said with a question in his voice.

  "No, my work has been keeping me too busy to play for the last year and a bit, I'm just getting back into it." I replied.

  He started to say something more, when a guy in a Squire's belt, with the same device as was on his surcoat came up and said "You're up next on Vert, your Grace." (the device, or coat of arms, meant that this was Reynard's squire, or one of them.)

  Reynard nodded, and said "Excuse me, got to go." picked up his helm (a big ornate thing with a huge horse tail) and a glaive, and headed for the Vert field.

  I turned around to walk off, and there was Mary, with the guy that had been my knight, before I was knighted. Andy looked at me with a big grin and said "She's been looking for you, you really ought to take better care, someone might pick her up..."

  I grinned back and said "Yeah? And just what would your Kingdom Defender Archer wife say about that? You can't run that fast! I've seen Sheri when she's pissed."

  Andy chuckled and said "I didn't say I would do it, just that someone might." I reached over and hugged him, I think I mentioned that he's a BIG man, six foot eight inches, three-hundred and twenty-five lbs, redhead and full reddish-blond beard, dressed as a Saxon from about nine hundred CE in the armor of the period, with a shield big enough to use as a table, and a helm that must weigh forty lbs. In the Society he answers to Sir Aethelred Cloudbreaker, but most of us still call him Andy. I barely come up to his chin, and I'm not tiny.

  I stepped away and said "So, how the Hel have you been? Sorry I haven't been around. Work's been a bit on the busy side lately." Andy, of course, knew what I did, it's not the sort of thing you can keep from your knight, and I've really never made a secret of the fact that I'm a federal cop. He doesn't know that I was in the Teams, or that I'm intermittently furry, neither of those are really on the share list normally, and all that Andy and his wife needed to know was that I was in the Navy and was out a lot. They might have suspected, but they never really out and out asked. I introduced Mary, and asked after his wife Sheri, and by that time the first round was done, and the pairings for the second round were out.

  We caught up on things, with kibitzes from Mary, and Sheri (Mistress Shadhra in the SCA, and the current Kingdom Protector, meaning she was the top target archer in the kingdom) who had walked up a few seconds later, through the next several rounds. I lost one, to the robo-duke, Duke Thorin, who's been king five times, and even at fifty-something can take it anytime he really wants it. He's the definition of a scientific fighter. Studies his opponent constantly anytime he's not on the field, almost never makes a mistake, and if you leave an opening, even for a second, he's nailed you. Never hits too hard, but cleanly and with authority. I'm not sure I could beat him even with 'Thrope speed, except by just taking his hits and keep coming, or catching his sword with brute strength. Which, while in a real fight, would be the way of it, in the somewhat stylized combat we do, is not cool. Oh, I've beat him, once or twice, but never twice with the same shot, and as I said, I was out of practice. Andy lost to Davin, another one of the "'Been king so often it's ridiculous" crew, and to a lucky shot by an up and comer whose name I didn't catch. So he was out, and I looked up and realized I was in the semi-finals.

  Well, that was going to be a problem. I quit fighting for about two years after I got cut up by that cougar and wound up intermittently furry. Most of the first year, I was gone off to schools, and otherwise occupied by things military, but after about thirteen months of training, I was assigned back in my old home turf at Bangor Sub base. I went to a couple of events, but didn't fight, because I knew it wouldn't be fair.

  Then came the day the King cordially invited me to have a little discussion with him. "Sir Johann" he said "Why have you not been entering the lists lately? Are you well?"

  I couldn't exactly out myself as a furry and a SEAL, the first because, while it's legal, it isn't exactly something you share if you can avoid. It's only been thirty or forty years since people like me had a bounty on our heads in this state. The second, because we were directed not to. Our unit was and is highly classified (the roster of current operators carries a Top Secret Code word classification). So I had to think on my feet. "Well, your Maj., I've been to a few special schools lately, and frankly, after them, it wouldn't be fair to step back in the Eric". Which was the truth, just not all of it.

  "I see," said the king (as I recall it was one of Duke Darius' reigns). "I don't suppose you can elaborate on that?" I shook my head. It was well known that I was Navy, just not exactly what in the Navy I did. Darius looked at me and pursed his lips. "We have men and women who fight in this kingdom who are Rangers, and who are Marine Force recon., who are members of Princess Patricia's Light Infantry, or are Para's, various cops from the RCMP to the FBI. I'm sure you think your schools, whatever they were, made you a bad-ass, and they probably did, not that you were any slacker with a stick before. I expect my knights to fight, if they are physically able. Are you physically able?"

  The only thing I could say to that was "Yes, your Majesty." So I started fighting again. As a policy, I didn't win big tournaments, because I just couldn't be sure that I wasn't letting some of the cat out in speed or strength; and while one king, one time, told me that he didn't care what I had on the ball, he wanted me to fight; well, it just didn't seem right.

  Chapter Eighteen

  It had become my policy to win tournaments that only had a couple knights or maybe an Earl if I could, and make sure that I made a good showing in the tournaments with all the heavy hitters, but I made sure I didn't win any of the big ones, or crown. Sometimes that was easy; if you draw Thorin, Davin, Darius, Michael the Tall (a left-hander that's always been a real hard fight for me), Rauokinn, Andy, or Alexi, the likelihood that two of those were going to get something in on you was high. But in this case, most of those guys had canceled each other out. Rauokinn and Alexi both got Thorin, so he was out, Alexi was still in, but not clean (I don't know who he lost to, but his shield was point up on the board, so he had lost once), Davin twisted an ankle and had to withdraw, Michael the Tall had hurt his back before the tournament, so he was marshaling, Darius had lost to Andy, and to Reynard. Reynard had also taken Rauokinn and someone had gotten a lucky shot on her in the first round, so she was out (if I didn't mention, Rauokinn is a female knight, and may be the first queen by her own hand in An Tir one of these days). I was lined up against a knight whose device I recognized but I didn't remember the name to save my butt. I vaguely remembered that he was OK but not one of the top ten. Reynard was clean and lined up against Alexi. Winning at Ursulmas was the clue that you were liable to be the next king, I didn't want that. So I needed to find a way to take a dive. I started to pull on my helm and grab my gear, when both Andy and Sheri walked up and said "Johann, TAKE this one."

  I looked over with a "Huh?"

  "Don't lose this one, Reynard will hurt him if he enters the finals, there's bad blood there." muttered Sheri, as she handed me my spear. (I fight sword and spear almost as often as I fight sword and axe, similar reasons, and both are just a lot of fun to fight with.)

  "Uh, I was going to go out with my axe" I mumbled, not really understanding what was going on.

  "No, against him, and against Reynard, you want your spear. Johann, I know why you've never won crown, and why you don't normally win big tournaments. I've suspected for years, the news article confirmed it. Are you aware that Reynard is too?"

  "Yeah, I smelled him right off." I replied. Hey, when you're busted, might as well admit it.

  "He's been using his ability to win everything he enters. No one's beat him, ever, since he came down
from Oertha (Alaska). He seems to take real pride in winning with a very solid one-shot. The guy that you're up against got lucky and armed him, at crown. He's been waiting for a chance to embarrass the guy ever since." This was Sheri again.

  Andy just looked at me, and said "Sir Thorbjorn is right handed, he's very strong on his shield side, so he'll be pushing that center gripped round out as far as he can. His first swing is always a flat snap at the head, it's his biggest weakness. He'll probably charge you when he sees the spear, because he knows enough to know not to sit out at your B-range. If he doesn't, feint with the spear to draw him in. Duck under the shot, or block it with the spear, and go hard for the sword side, with a wrap to the kidney. You won't need to hurt him, he takes clean." This was a small surprise, Andy almost never provided this sort of intel, figuring that if you couldn't watch your opponents and figure it out, you didn't need to win. I didn't get much chance to think on it though, I was walking on to the Eric as this was going on, and my opponent (who was apparently Sir Thorbjorn) was already out there.

  It went down just as Andy predicted, after the salutes, Thorbjorn circled out of range for about half the Eric, I pump faked a thrust high, he charged, I put the spear out almost vertically as I stepped to the side, and angled it enough that the sword shot aimed for my head glanced up the spear. I shoved his sword on up as I ducked under it, and delivered a flat snap to his lower back about three inches above the belt, it connected and he face-planted. It was a beautiful death (in fact he won best death for it), the Marshall looked at us to ensure it was over, and called me winner. I helped Thorbjorn to his feet, we congratulated each other on a good fight, I mentioned to him that he needs to not lead with the same shot, and we headed out. As I walked off the field, I could feel Reynard staring a hole in my back. GREAT, I had come here for a mental break, not another high-tension 'Thrope fest.

  When we got off the field, Mary ran up to me, kissed me as I was pulling off the helm, and said "I'll be back in a few, Sheri and Bird have some clothes for me." and was off. I had just started to sit down to watch the other fight, where my opponent would be chosen (it seemed it was a foregone conclusion who it would be, but this would be my first opportunity to watch Reynard in the Eric) when I felt a presence behind me -- a BIG presence. I looked up, and there was Baron Sir Thomas, the guy I mentioned earlier, but he had the crown of An Tir on his head. If anyone had mentioned he had won crown to me, I must have spaced it, but it was good to see, he had been just outside the winners circle for years.

  "Sir Johann, after you watch this, do you have a minute?" he asked.

  Well, what could I say "But, of course, your Majesty"? Now understand that we all know that in the real world, the crown and position mean nothing. This is a game we play, but it's a game that only works if everyone plays it (hum, sort of like government...except that if you decide not to play the government's game, depending on what exactly you do in the area of "not playing", someone like me has to come and make you play). So, to make the game work, you act like the guy that wears the crown actually has high justice over you, and if you don't like what the king is doing, and you aren't in a position to come up to him privately and say "Your Maj, you're messing up here" (which peers of the realm, like knights, are in a position to do), then you just stay away from court and from events that the crown is attending for six months, then we'll have a new crown, and anything truly silly that the old Crown did, will go away. Still, it's not that often that the Crown wants to have a private word with you, so I figured I knew what was coming, but first I wanted to watch this fight.

  Alexi is a bear of a man, he even has a bear on his device, or coat of arms. He stands about 6'4" and weighs well over three-hundred lbs. But for all of that, he's pretty fast, and he carries a shield that's the size of a barn door. I don't know if I've ever seen Alexi mad, but I know I don't want to. Reynard, on the other hand, is built more like a quarterback, lean and lithe. It was one of the classic battles of the SCA, great big monster who hits like a brick, versus the skinny dude that's fast, but can't power through the other guys defense, or agility vs. power. It was made more interesting in that Reynard was carrying a glaive (now I knew why his trainee did). Then I noticed something odd about his glaive, most people put a butt spike on their glaive, just in case the guy gets up close, but this one didn't have a spike, it had a trailer hitch ball. Not a legal striking device, of course, but damn it would move the center of gravity back, probably to about where you would normally grip, so that's going to make it FAST. The extra mass is also going to mean it'll hit like a freight train...oh, clever fox. Alexi I had fought before (lots), and he was carrying his usual gear, a large strapped heater (the "shield shaped" shield) and a sword the size of a tree trunk.

  The herald announced the fighters, and did the salutes to the crown, the fighters' inspirations, and to each other, got out of the way, and the Marshall called "lay on". Alexi brought his shield up and angled until the only shot at him was a half inch of eyeball, and started moving in, while circling a little to Reynard's off side, decent tactics, about the only thing you could do. The problem with fighting against the glaive is that first shot. I expected something tricky from Reynard, and I wasn't disappointed. He feinted once, and let Alexi make contact with his glaive on Alexi's shield. Then Alexi's plan went to Hel. Alexi pushed the shield out and up to force the glaive wide up and away from his body and closed in fast, which is classic. But Reynard didn't back up or disengage at all, he whipped that 6 foot staff around as if it was a rapier, caught Alexi's sword that was coming down, flicked it aside as if it was a mosquito instead of 5 pounds of rattan swinging in at about 60 miles an hour, and the follow through was what would have been considered one of the "great cuts" in feudal Japan. It caught Alexi right at the base of the helm and would have gone out his opposite hip if it had been a real blade. All of this was so fast Alexi just stood there for a second with that "what just happened?" look on his face, then dropped to his knees, and on to his face. Just like that, it was over, total fight time: 45 seconds max. DAMN. The Marshall's came in to verify that it was good, and indicate the winner, and then they announced that the final would be in forty-five minutes, Earl Sir Reynard De Havloc meeting Sir Johann Beornson. I walked off to find the king.

  I didn't have to go far. King Thomas was waiting for me as I got away from the ropes, and guided me over to a room that had two royal guards in front with live steel (no, they probably wouldn't actually use it...yes, it was sharp).

  I say probably because some folks take this thing we call a game, or "the dream" WAAAY too seriously. Many years ago, a sitting Baron and Baroness got shot at, and their car got burned because of stuff that had happened at an event. They never figured out who did it, but the couple was worried enough that they were wearing cop body armor under their medieval clothing for the six months or so that it took to resign and find replacements. When things like that happen, well if someone took to hurt the king or anyone else for real, yes the guards might use those swords, or one of the local populace might be carrying modern weaponry. I knew of at least two merchants that always had a gun on, and might make sure that the person who decided to wanted to hurt people wouldn't make that mistake again.

  We stepped into the room, and there was Andy, Sheri, Her Majesty, and a couple other of the senior knights. The king gestured for me to take a seat, and then sat down next to me.

  "Well, what did you think of Reynard?" Thomas asked.

  "He's smart, and fast, damn fast." I replied.

  "He's also a real hard hitter." Thomas added. "Alexi will have a bruise from that that'll probably keep him from full use of that shoulder for a week." I winced at that, I mean, we hit hard, but damn. "Sir Johann, we've talked with Sir Reynard on this a couple times, and he has pointed out to us that 'Nothing he does is against the rules'. This is true, so far as it goes, at least the letter of the law. No one has been able to convince him to 'play nice', so your knight said that you might be of some assistance." "Well, I'll see
what I can do..." I started, when the king raised a hand.

  "Johann, we've all seen the news footage. Yes, it was quelled quickly, but there's a few news junkies in the group, and your face is fairly recognizable."

  DAMN that defense attorney! How long is that rotten SOB's lame ass excuse going to haunt me? "Your Majesty, do you want my belt?" I asked.

  What I was actually asking was, do you want me to resign my knighthood, surrender my knight's belt and chain. Sort of like asking the Captain if he wants my badge, and about as painful.

  "No! Don't be ridiculous. This happened to you, what fifteen, twenty years ago? In all that time, there have been no complaints about your fighting, you've never taken advantage of the situation, in fact, there's been a lot of suspicion that you were throwing fights you should have won. That stops now, by the way. If you're good enough to be king, and you can afford it, and I have it on the very best of authority that you can, and if you have the ability to serve, I expect you to be KING; but first, I expect you to win this fight, and do it in such a way that Reynard understands about using unfair advantages to hurt people. Yes, I'm aware that he's got the same disease you do. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Crystal, my Liege."

  "Great, now go out there and get ready to process in."

  I stood up, being now outed before half a dozen people that I really didn't want to be outed to, and walked out of the room, to go find Mary and as many of my household as I could round up. This wasn't a planned household event, so other than Bird, I wasn't sure who was here, having been tied up at the Eric all morning.