Page 4 of Renaissance Bear

"It's good to be the king."

"Knight."

"Whatever!" Jasmine bonked against Alis's armored shoulder, winced, and laughed, which was also basically all part of the ritual. "Anything I should know about being Lady Alessandra today?"

"I don't think so. Oh, except if you flirt with the hot guy, definitely let me know how that goes."

"Ewwwww. Not gonna flirt with your hot guy. Also, how would I know who he was?"

"Obviously he's the one you'd look at and go, 'Oh, Alis would think he's hot' about!"

Jasmine paused. "I want to say there's no way that would work, except we have a long history of being able to do that while not thinking said guy is hot atall."

"Twin power," Alis said solemnly. "All right, the armored division qualifiers are coming up and that's my round. Come cheer me on?"

"Do I ever not?"

"Constantly, when you're not here."

"Oh, shut up, you know what I mean." Jasmine gave Alis a fond boot toward the tent door, and Alis stumbled along obligingly, but stopped to put her helm on before leaving. "See you in a few, Lord Edward."

Alis thumped her chest and threw a peace sign as she headed out into the dappled light behind the stands, then found herself grinning as she turned toward the arena's entrance.

Shelovedthis. Her stride lengthened, armor clanking as it moved easily with her. It weighed a ton and smelled like a hot engine, but she'd been playing knights in armor since she was a kid and it never, ever got old. 'Lord Edward' had a swagger to his walk that made Alis feel invincible, and the way the helmet narrowed down her line of vision to the fight gave her a focus that still thrilled her, even after doing this for years. She took a long way around, moving into the crowd, not to blend in but so it was less obvious where she'd come from, and stopped for a few pictures on her way to the lists.

Even if she couldn't see them as she approached, the sudden roar of excitement at her arrival would have guided her into thefighting arena. Cheers went up, first a mishmash, then steadying out into, "Lord! Ed! Ward! Black! Knight!" that went on as she strode over to collect her sword and shield, then became a thrilled cacophony when she lifted the sword into the air.

She feltstrong, as a fighter. She'd learned how to take a hit a long time ago, but more importantly, she'd learned how to avoid them. Most of her opponents were men, and she lacked their upper body strength, but she was fast and had thighs that could keep her going forever. If she couldn't beat them with pure skill, Alis was a champion at wearing them down.

The crowd's yells propelled her into the fighting ring, where her opponent held his weaponry with competence, but also sagged, just a little, as Alis entered. Psychological warfare was a hell of a thing, too: plenty of people just didn't want to fight the Black Knight. This guy had lost before the battle even started. Alis slammed her sword and shield together, making a huge noise, and the guy's confidence slipped again. Alis, under her breath, said, "This is gonna be fun," and when the bell rang, rushed her opponent.

It was over so fast he hardly knew what had hit him. Alis knew it had mostly been her reputation, but that was justfine. It left her fresher for her next round, and an easy early defeat meant the next person she faced would be just that much more nervous about meeting the Black Knight in battle. She raised her sword again, accepting accolades, and caught a glimpse of Jasmine on the other side of the fence, looking melodramatically swoony over 'Lord Edward.'

"Let me favor you, my lord!" Jasmine cried, waving a handkerchief in the air.

Alis placed her fist over her heart, shook her head slowly, and then raised three fingers into the air, earning a trilling cry of dismay from her ridiculous twin.

"The Black Knight will not accept my favor with fewer thanthreewins to his name!" Jasmine called. "Could any other knight be so noble? Oh, my heart!" She fluttered, and Alis, walking dramatically back to the ranks to await her next fight, fought down a giggle. Jasmine would have to take it down a notch or Alis would end up marryingherselfat the big wedding production at the end of the faire.

Two more rounds of armored fights took place before it was Alis's turn to go up again, facing the winner of the qualifier that had followed hers. This guy was less cowed by her reputation, but size for size, they were incredibly well matched: he had a bit of reach on her, maybe, but Alis was faster. Half a dozen blows later, she knocked his legs out from under him and demanded a yield by placing her sword over his heart. Then she raised her hand to the sky, lifting two fingers this time, and Jasmine squealed with anticipation at the third win which would allow her to offer 'Lord Edward' her favor.

The third round, almost an hour later, wasworthit: her opponent this time, a big man who moved thoughtfully and slowly, spent a lot of time testing her. Long enough that her arm strength began to fail, although she played it up, trying to make herself look weaker. Panting, sweating, enjoying herself throughly, she waited untilhisreflexes were slowing, and finally made an attack at the weakness his tests ofherhad exposed: a tendency to drop his guard when he thought he was out of her noticeably-shorter-than-his reach. She stumbled once, moving a step closer, and lunged beneath the broad sweep of his blade, slamming her own (blunted) tip against the joining of his armor on his sword arm side. As his sword dropped to the ground in a billow of dust, Alis knew that his fingers had gone numb from the hit.

His eyes jerked to hers, sheer astonishment in them, and then he was down, the third defeat of the day by the BlackKnight. To the sounds of delighted cheers, Alis offered him a hand up, and they shook, her opponent pulling his helm off to smile crookedly and shake his head. "You're really good."

She inclined her head politely—Lord Edward didn't speak in public if she could help it—and put her fist over her heart again in acknowledgement. Then she went to get her favor from Jasmine, who was yelling and waving the handkerchief like a gleeful idiot. She tied it around Alis's armored biceps, made a show of fluttering and swooning, and finally, reluctantly, allowed herself to be taken away by the rest of the ladies of the court who had joined her at the lists.

Alis, grinning beneath her helm, turned to wave at her cheering fans, and, to her delight, caught a glimpse of the gorgeous guy from earlier. He was even better-looking out of a helm and padded leather armor than in it: she could see the golden highlights in the looseness of his dark blonde hair, and she swore that in the setting sun those deep brown eyes of his had elements of honey drops in them. He was grinning and cheering along with everyone else, until she thought that for a moment, their eyes actually met and his smile fell away like he'd been hit with a brick.

Oh well, Alis thought with an absolutely ridiculous sense of betrayal, so much forthatsummer romance.

Chapter 3

Jon's eyes met the Black Knight's, and his bear said,Our mate!with the same gasping delight it had used when Jon had seen the woman in green earlier.

"Whatno! No, that's not—our mate was—we saw her earlier!" Jon actually said that out loud, then nearly swallowed his tongue, hoping no one around him had heard, or at least, noticed. Fortunately the crowd was incredibly loud, still cheering the Black Knight, chants ofLord! Ed! Ward! Lord! Ed! Ward! Black! Knight!echoing around them repeatedly.

This is our mate,the bear said with enthusiasm.We must go meet our mate.

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