First Joust

[Lady Marian Engel]

Marian felt like a child during holiday times when emotions were lighter then air and so high that one could almost fly thought the clouds. Marian was following behind her aunt and a few of the elder ladies of the court while looking around the city with wide and bright eyes. Her father enjoyed hunting most then any other sport and their home up north was known for it's hunting, so she did not often get to come to the city of Camelot but when she did she always felt alive and ever so slightly over whelmed.

It never failed for her to get lost at lest once and for a guard or her father having to go seek her out and help her find her way back to her aunt or assigned rooms. She would walk around the city or market with entertained smile her blue green eyes wide and full of wonder. Her aunt would tell her that looking around like so, was unlady like for a girl her age and remind her that she was no longer a child but Marian could not help it. Camelot was so big and bright and full of life that she felt swept away by the activity and sights and smells. OH! The smells of Camelot were her favorite! So many spices and breads filled the market and there seemed to be something new ever few stalls!

She paused to look at some bright bits of cloth that was on display and by the time she was not distracted by the brights blues and hues of pink and lace, her aunt and the others has disappeared! Marian looked around the row of stalls for any sign of her companions but found none! She was not afraid however, as this would be another adventure! Like in her books! Oh how she loved Camelot's library!

She smiled brightly to her self, finding the freedom of being away from her aunt who worried about being a lady at all times exciting! She could see the Castle from here for it towered over everything for miles so when she was ready to be found she could walk that way. Her father would just sake his head but smile, and her aunt would loving remind her that ladies did not mingle with the lower class. Besides, with the jousts happening today there was a chance that her father would never know she got lost again!

(For Sir Leon)

[Deleted]

This had been filled with training for the joust that was happening this afternoon. The prince had always been the winner most times that Camelot did host something such as a joust. And Leon had won a few in the times that he had been a knight, not all the time though. The prince was usually the best at the joust and at the sword duels. But there were many young knights entering the joust this afternoon, as Leon was one of them, as he entered every year not that he won all the time, but it was a nice time to met other knights from different kingdom and one of the knights had said to meet the young ladies. Not that Leon was uh how to put it, well he wasn’t sure about all that stuff really, all his life it has been work and more work, he had never had a women in his life so he didn’t know what it was like. There were some knights in the army that were married and had children, not Leon and some of the knights use to joke with him about the fact that he hadn’t found a lady and had a family by now.

Work was pretty much everything to the knight and there hadn’t been nothing else in his life so. He shook away his thoughts as he finished grooming his horse after the practice as Arthur always liked to have a few good rounds in before the real joust happened, and of course he always picked his second in command to train with. He patted his horse and walked out of the training arena. He was planning on doing down to the pub to have a drink with the knights before the joust started, but first he would have to make sure that his armour was ready and that his tunic worn was washed and ready as well. As every knight wore a tunic baring the crest of their family and it the last joust he had gotten it rather dirty.

As he left the training arena and headed across the main courtyard of the castle he nodded at a few guards and headed into the lower town to check on his things. He stopped first to check on his tunic, since it was ready he had someone take it up his chambers while he went to check on his jousting armour, as it was the same as the type of armour he was now wearing this was his practicing armour, and his real armour used for jousting had been damaged in the last joust so he had to get it fixed. As he was headed there, he noticed all the people that had come from far and wide all lined in the streets of the city as he walked past them he notice one young women who seemed to be lost or was with someone and was now not. He approach her and bowed his head, “milady, you seem to be lost or have lost something, may I be of any help”. He asked her.

[Lady Marian Engel]

Marian stood on her toes to look over the crowd with her eyes wide and excited. She was not normally allowed to be alone in the market with out an maid or escort for the obvious safety reasons. She felt a silent thrill that she knew was silly of her to feel just for being alone in the big city with no one to give her loving but disapproving looks when she mingled with people who looked so full of character. She lived in the northern lands and the only people she meet up there was farmers and family oriented people. Here there were merchants who had seen the world and if she was braver she would spend hours sitting near their stalls and hearing their stories of other kingdoms and other cities, and frightening tales of knights who did the imposable, or romantic tales of kings who wooed the most beautiful and elegant of ladies!!

It was then that she heard a voice and turned to look up at the voice, to find Sir Leon there. She had never been formally introduced to him but everyone knew who he was! Rank was important to her aunt and while not a snob her aunt had made sure that there were some names that she knew by heart. The prince was one of them, of course; and the king's most trusted knight was one of the others. She knew she must look the fool standing there looking like a excited child but she was too happy to overly worry about such things right now.

She stood there for a moment just staring up at him before she remembered she was supposed to speak, and her face blushed for the error in her etiquette. "I-I was just looking for my aunt, sir, as I seem to have lost her in the crowd." Marian hoped he was not quick to find her, for she was not ready to let this silly adventure end! Being away from her guardians was too fun. "If you could just point me to tournament grounds, I could go there and wait for her." They had been here doing a bit of shopping before they went to cheer on all the knights some more! Marian had only ever seen one joust before but she was looking forward to seeing another one! It seemed so exiting to watch them ride at each other and her body would tense and she would hold her breath as they grew closer before cheering for the winner no matter who he was.

Marian's father was a knight, but he was getting to old to take part in these games. He joined his brothers in hunts and would train with them when he was in the city but he did not often joust nor join the melee. He left that to the younger knights and Marian was glad of it. For as exciting and thrilling as it was to watch the sporting matches she could not imagine her father doing it!

[Deleted]

Every so years, Camelot put on a joust. It was a great time to just relax and have some fun as well as get to know a lot of different and great people. Knights came from far and wide to either watch the event with their families or the younger one entered into it. Leon always loved seeing how many people filled the streets of the city. As the joust always brought busy times for those people working in the streets selling many different things, from many places all over the world. Leon had only been a few places in his life, and even then it had mostly been something to do with work. He didn’t have time off to go traveling and see the many places the world had to offer. But he still liked to meet people from such places and talk with them. He loved the stories they told, of fare off places and unknown journeys. It all sounded so nice, but Leon had a life in Camelot and a duty as a knight to keep. There would be no traveling anytime soon for this knight.

Like always before a joust, the prince liked to do a few rounds before he was sure that he was ready for the joust, and Leon liked it too. He didn’t stop training before something like a joust, if he didn’t have to get his tunic cleaned and his armour fixed he would have been down in the training grounds swinging his sword at a dummy or doing a quick duel with another knights, Leon always like to keep himself fit, I mean he had to in his line of work, he couldn’t afford being lazy, or unfit for that matter. Even though sometimes he wondered how he kept going all these years, something deep down drove him to keep on going. He would never get it. It was normal for young children and ladies to get lost in the over crowded streets. That’s what the guards were posted pretty much everywhere in the city to help those that were not from Camelot finding their way around.

When it came to knowing who he was, there weren’t many people who didn’t know who he was. As the King’s name was something you had to learn from childbirth, and then came the prince’s name, and then came the names of those who held high rank in the court. And Leon’s name was one of the many that held high rank in the court of Camelot, so it normal when people would know him and he would not know them way, as he was so busy most days to even stop and talk to anyone let alone he introduced to them. He knew all the knights by heart, as being the second in command he had too, and there was sure a lot of them. But he didn’t know their families well, he heard them all speak of them once and awhile, over a drink at the pub, or many other times when the knights were together. He couldn’t help but smile at the way this young lady was looking at everything around the city. He still remembered the first time his parents had taken him and his sister to the events in Camelot, and knew the feeling of being lost in all the wonderful things around.

He nodded his head, “It’s understandable my lady, many people lose each other in the crowd”, he said smiling and ignore the fact that she had taken so long to answer his question. So she was heading to the training grounds, there was no doubt that her aunt would be there, as most of the people went and found a spot to watch the joust early and talk to the knights there before the joust began. He looked at her and bowed his head lightly, “I am heading towards the training ground and if milady will permit me, I shall walk with you there”. He said asking her, he was going the same way so why not, this way she would not get lost, and Leon would get to talk to her a little more. He told a guard to let the blacksmith know to being his armour to his tent and he turned back to the young lady waiting for her to answer.

[Lady Marian Engel]

Marian's family were wealthy but they were not high ranking nobles in any sort when compared to the king and the families he kept close to him. Her father was a knight, and that made her welcome but it was just welcome known that some families were stronger then others. Her's was country bumkin sort, and often never really in the vast and beautiful city nor attended the balls or feasts that the king would host at times. They only came to the city for the larger events such as the joust, tournaments and her father's knightly business.

As country gentry they would get visitors often of knights or messengers who would given them the latest news and gossip from the city and most of these tales would be about the knights! Marian would often find her self sitting with their guest for hours with her eyes wide and her lips tilted up in a small smile as they would tell one story or another about a knight who had slayed this beast or a knight who had saved the king in some form! Even some about the prince who found with his men! Marian had not meet many knights but often when she did, she found her self wondering if they were really like the knights in the tales she would hear, gallant and heroic in ways that she could never be. How did one ride into cretin death?! She would be afraid of fainting!

So when Sir Leon gave her a little bow, with his offer of an escort she almost forgot to breathe! Had her blight eyes not already been wide with wonder at the city he fought so hard to protect they would have widen at the secret little thrill she got from seeing a knight acting knightly! She felt like a child who had believed in something so hard and suddenly found out it was real! She normally only got to meet and speak with squares or men who were not yet knights, as she was the youngest and often too shy to let her aunt gently push her into conversations with real knights.

Marian was glad he turned to speak with someone, for it gave her a moment to think before she spoke and only prove how country gentry her family was when compared to the sophisticated world he would have come to know. When he turned to look at her again, her mind almost went blank but not completely, "I would find that truly helpful. I fear that I do not get to spend much time in the city and every thing gets turned around for me. Thank you kindly for your offer, Sir Leon." She knew that he would be jousting, her father had spoken of Sir Leon's skill on the trip from her home but Marian wondered if she would get to see him joust. She did not know how one won and lost, but she hoped he did not loose.

[Deleted]

There were many noble families that lived in or around Camelot. Many of them came during events put on by the King, mostly the joust and melee battles and so on. It was common for the knights to know most of the noble families names, much more so when high ranking noble families, but Leon made sure that he knew each noble family no matter what rank you where. He remembered spending three nights, looking over a huge book of names not only from Camelot but the names of noble families outside of Camelot, the neighbouring countries, as the castle would get guests from time to time and Leon would have to greet them and show them around and other duties that he was given. Even when he’s parents were alive and they had moved to the country side, his mother and father barely came out to the castle for events, only when he had something to do with Leon. And he knew most noble families were like this.

When his parents had moved to the country they didn’t spend the time they did before in the city, they didn’t visit Leon as much when he was squire, and the only way to see them really was to send letters so Leon never got any free time to visit them in their manor out in the country. He remembered riding out there one winter’s morning as he had gotten time off because once and awhile the young squires were aloud to visit their families once every winter. It looked so wonderful in the winter, the pure white snow fall on the roof and covering the ground, he remember playing out in that snow with his sister and Gwen and her brother. Those had been the days when you were just a silly little kid and you didn’t have to worry about the things that go on around you. Now that Leon was an adult there wasn’t anytime for him, and he had been able to see the manor after he had been rebuilt after the fire.

Leon’s act of honour was just something that came normal to him. So when ever he met someone he was on his best manners, and he always treated everyone with the same, no matter who you are. Leon always acted this way, well the knightly way anyways. There wasn’t a time were he didn’t stop being knightly because that’s all he knew was being a good knight, a loyal and just knight. He knew of some people who called themselves knights but were not so. He had seen some knights from other places be cruel and mean to the less, which made him angry and it was way when ever he met someone he was nice towards them, kind and sweet. Many of the lower town’s people and the outlines villages never got to see the wonderful wall of Camelot or meet the knights that protected it.

He told the guard to tell the blacksmith to have his new armour brought to his tent in the grounds, this way he could bring this young lady there and help her find whoever she had come with. There were so many people in Camelot that it was normal for people to get lost in the coward and the wonderful stuff that was going on all around the castle and the city it’s self. He nodded his head, “I truly understand, one can get lost on the streets of Camelot”. He smiled and bowed, “It was my pleasure, mi lady”. He said as he came up from his bow and motioned for her to follow him through the streets towards the jousting grounds. Since she didn’t get to the city as much as other noble families he wonder if she had any questions about the way things went on during a joust or just any questions in general. So as they were walking he asked, “If you have any questions you wish to ask my lady, I would be happy to answer them, that is if do so have any”. He wasn't sure if she did in fact have any question, but at least Leon could ask, he was being a gentlemen after all.