Page 12 of Fox of Fox Hall

He nearly dropped the shade. Conall wasfinishing tying up leather padding on himself and was now in thecenter of their informal ring. Whatever he said was not audible atthe distance, but he appeared to be addressing the others. No onehad ever said a word about Byr Conall instructing the youngerknights and trainees, although why would they have mentioned it,and to Fox? It seemed natural now, the sort of thing someonepatient and watchful like Conall ought to do.

Fox frowned, considering for the first time thatConall could do the same with children of his own and yet did not.He did not have any young that Fox knew of despite being byr andfrom a well-known family. The matter of bearing should haveoccurred to him if it had occurred to Domvoda, although Conallmight have siblings to attend to such things and therefore no needor drive for young of his own. But Fox was vaguely certain thatConall was important, as byr went, as important as they could evertruly be when they did not do the farming and herding on the fieldsthey claimed. Conall, if hewasthat respected a byr, shouldbe on his lands more than he should be waiting on Domvoda. Heshould not be staying with the younger knights, and he should havesought out a bearer, or a partner if he was one for marriage—amate, if he had been so blessed.

The thought was barely more than anuncomfortable, fleeting possibility, then it was forgotten. Foxgasped when Conall suddenly moved, lightning fast and brutal as hehit another padded knight several times before sweeping them offtheir feet. Whatever he did to compensate for his limited range ofmotion, Fox couldn’t tell. He turned his head from the sight,willing his heart to slow.

“So that is the Dragonslayer?” Byr Falnya asked,far more level than Fox could have been in that moment.

Fox gave a twitch, facing the byr who had movedto be next to him. Despite keeping pace with Fox, Byr Falnya didnot look at him.

“Oh, yes.” Thankfully, one of the other byranswered so Fox could compose himself. “He’s the favorite to win inseveral of the events… because he usually does. But I don’t know ifhe will win the tournament overall this year.” Winners weredetermined by a strange tally of audience appreciation, the supportof the other knights participating, at least one victory in theindividual events, valor in the large mock-battle the second day ofthe tournament, and Domvoda’s favor. Fox did not know which factormattered the most, but assumed Conall remained skilled andfavored.

Well, he had assumed that until that moment.

“There are new contenders,” Domvoda announcedslyly. “Younger contenders. Some have even seen some significantfighting already. There are dragons enough for them to battle.”

“Byr Conall’s injuries will hinder him more,since by now, everyone knows the tricks he uses to manage aroundthem,” the first byr continued with some relish. “I’m surprised heeven entered at his age. Oh,” the falsely apologetic tone wasperfect, Fox had to admit, “I don’t mean to say he’s not perfectlycapable in the everyday, but tournaments are for the younger setfor a reason.”

That reason was why Fox avoided watching thetournament if he could. To him, it was nothing but people gettingbattered and bloodied, or—rarely but not impossibly—worse thanthat. To the knights, it was a way to earn a living by collectingprizes and enhancing their reputations. To the rest of the nobles,it was entertainment.

“But, you see, there are larger prizes thisyear,” another byr added cattily. Byr Agnis, who had visitedDomvoda’s bed once and thought she might still be consort someday.“Byr Conall cannot afford to sit out. I only hope he doesn’t maketoo much of a fool of himself.”

“My coin is on him, all the same,” the first byradded. “More to lose means he’ll fight harder, and we all know howhe can act in a crisis.”

Fox made his face as blank as possible while theverses ofThe Song of the Dragonslayerplayed in his mind.He had seen dragons twice in his life, both times when the dragonshad been passing over the countryside and apparently uninterestedin conflict. One glittering under the sun’s rays, the other asilvery-dark shape against the moon, both terrifyingly massive evenat a great distance. Scales like armor, in an array of colors thatfaded after the dragon’s death in a way the colors of the eggshellsdid not. Wings of leather, or sometimes feathers, Fox had heard,although he wasn’t sure he believed a dragon might have wings likea bird. Impossibly sharp claws longer than most people stood tall.Teeth like daggers—in the stories at least; Fox hadn’t seen thosefor himself outside of tapestries and paintings. Hehadseenthe hard, pointed tip of each dragon’s tail, gleaming like jewelseven when miles away, and knew the dragons could use those tails tosmash through walls of stone without showing signs of injury.

They had cunning. Every older knight loved tospeak of it, the shrewd, canny look in the eyes of the beasts evenas they sent people fleeing before them. It took a full complementof knights and soldiers to fend one off, or, if they were veryfortunate, slay it.

Fox couldn’t help but think that the dragonscould easily destroy the kingdom if they wished to, although heknew not to speak it aloud. It discomfited commoners and byr alike.But the creatures weren’t unthinking animals. They had reasons forwhat they did, although Fox didn’t understand those reasons. Andone of them had taken—tried to take—Byr Conall.

Fox imagined Byr Conall as the lyrics of thesong painted him—dangling far above the earth, but climbing,climbing, until he reached scales, and then digging and tearingwith bloody fingers, his teeth, whatever it took to pry away scalesso he could stab with the one weapon he’d had left, a simple knife,while the dragon screamed and they both plummeted to theground.

“My cousin also competes this year,” Byr Falnyaoffered. “She has no hope of winning, not realistically, but thelargest prize is quite the sum and she wanted to travel with me.She also was excited at the possibility that she might face theDragonslayer.”

“I hope she won’t be disappointed,” Domvodareturned, “and he is able to compete throughout the entiretournament. He should win an event or two, in any case, if you arelooking for where to bet your coin. You too, my Fox.”

Fox did not startle. “You know I don’t care fortournaments.”

“But this is likely the Dragonslayer’s last,”Domvoda chided, meeting Fox’s eyes. “If there is a tournament towatch, it is this one.”

Fox nodded, accepting the implicit order toattend. There was little else he could do.

“She does not expect to win against him.” ByrFalnya calmly interrupted the moment, glancing back toward thesparring again. “My cousin. I believe she will be honored to loseto him because she will learn from it. What, I admit I am notentirely sure.”

Survival. Fox kept the thought out of hismouth. The answer was right there in the song, which was probablypart of why Conall disliked it so much. Sheltered, pampered byrwould never understand something like that.

“I don’t understand,” Fox broke in lightly,foolishly, “why hehasto compete?”

Domvoda was happy to answer. “The money, my Fox.A few generations ago, his family’s lands were quite ravaged bydragons and the family fortunes have not recovered.”

The statement did not shock Fox but the snortsand giggles from the assembled byr made his stomach turn. Byr didnot get thrown from their lands when they had no money, but theyalso apparently could not expect help from the other byr. Despitehow any of them could have suffered the same fate. Despite the factthat Conall was their hero, whohaddefended them andwoulddefend them even when he was no longer able to play intheir tournaments.

Fox took a deep breath. “Will you laugh sofreely when the great beasts do the same to your homes?” He keptthe shade behind him so they could all see his face. “And theknights meant to save you are too injured from playing your gamesto truly help?”

The only one who laughed this time wasDomvoda.

“Sleeping near the knights has made the Foxdecide to play knight as well,” Domvoda remarked for everyone tohear. “Will the Fox take on a dragon next?”

Nervous, cackling laughter erupted behind him asthe other byr finally got their chance to sink their teeth into Foxwith the king’s approval. Fox kept his tail motionless and his holdon the shade handle steady, and stared back at Domvoda despite hisstinging cheeks.

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