The men fought in their tournaments as valiantly as if they were fighting on a battlefield. They fought as if the High King himself was watching them, and they were inclined to impress him and gain his favour.
'I suppose Queen Asabel is here, if there is anyone that they might impress,' he thought dryly to himself. Not out of denigration for Queen Asabel – but even with her presence, he didn't think that the men ought to have been inclined towards such a fervour. Even the monetary rewards ought not to have been enough.
There was a very real feeling that they were fighting for far more than a man's traditional glory. There was a look of fire in the majority of their eyes, as if they were determined to claim the mantle of a hero.
He'd made a comment to Karstly on the matter, just a couple of hours earlier. "They fight as if the Gods are dancing right next to them," he'd said.
