Chapter 02: Knight of the round table.
The training began early in the morning as the light broke in. They all gathered at the east side courtyard of the castle lawn where the banner of Sir Stephen stood. The flag has an image of a white ship, representing the Lord Knight's survival from the sinking of the great vessel.
The image brought bitter memories when her older brother, Prince William, died from drowning from the same ship. Remembering how her father mourned the loss of the next heir to the throne was unbearable to witness. The kingdom was left with no heir to the throne, no future king.
The echoing sound of the knight standing in front of them brought her sanity back to the present.
"Attention!"
From yesterday's enlistment, ten good lads were chosen by Sir Stephen including her and the daughter of Sir Wulfric, Morrigan. They say from every year five years of recruitment, only half of them became knights and at the battle, only a third of them survive.
'Being a knight would make me strong," she mumbled in her head.
A call of the ten men that were chosen by Lord Knight Stephen was first made. Known to be a girl, Morrigan was called first. The ringing voice of the lady shouting to heed the noble knight made her heart flutter and blush inside her helmet. In her mind, she was repeating the name.
Morrigan…
When the next one was called no one answered. From the tiny view inside her helmet, she noticed the men turn their heads to her.
"Pssst!" a young lad with red hair, pointing with his finger called her attention.
Shocked by the man's rude gesture to address a princess, she ignored his call. A grimace distorting her face hidden under the helmet was all she could do to reply to the auburn-haired fellow.
"Maude Lancaster!" Lord Knight Stephen shouted for the second time, staring in her direction.
"Maude Lancaster??" she repeated and scanned the lawn.
A tall man with broad shoulders beside her tilted to whisper, "Helmet! He's calling you."
"What?" she mumbled in surprise.
"Maude Lancaster!" his cousin, sir Stephen shouted, irritatingly.
"Oh!! It's me, sir!" she hurriedly replied.
As accustomed to being called a princess, it was tough for her to remember her disguised character. From her full name Princess Matilda Sutton Dana Bridgette, she changed it to Maude Lancaster, a man from a small noble family from the south who they have known very little of.
After Lord Knight named the ten new novices under his wing, he ordered his servant to bring the materials needed for their training. Carried to the law was a stack full of wooden swords and new iron armors consisting of plates for the chest, gauntlets for arms, and greaves for their feet. They were all uniform in length. What worried her the most was there was no helmet included.
'I-I can't take off my helmet! I can't let anyone know I'm the princess!' she shouted in her mind.
"Men! This will be the beginning of your training with me. I am Lord Knight, Stephen Blois, Duke of Normandy," he began, eyeing all of the ten recruits lined up in two rows with five novices each.
"To begin with your first day, I have a few words to say," Sir Stephen yelled, "First, every one of you will be called equally. No sir, no lady. You are all novices under my command. Your poor ways would reflect on me, for that, I advise you to be in your best manner at all times. Is that clear to all of you?"
"YES, MY LORD!" shouted the novices in unison.
"As you can all well observe, there are ten new armors for you to fit in. But unlike the ones you wore yesterday, these are different!" the knight continued to yell and glanced in her direction.
Wearing full plate armor with her helmet like she did from yesterday's event made her stand out among her fellow trainees. They were all wearing long sleeve cotton shirts and trousers revealing the contours of their body and faces except for her.
"Different, as they are heavier. From the breastplate to your greaves and gauntlets. They were made to familiarize your body to the weight and made sturdy for your harsh training."
"Maude! Set your armor in the armory and change!" Sir Stephen ordered.
"M-My Lord, an armor like this can't be undone alone. I-I need help," she pleaded.
"You need to learn to undone it on your own."
"B-But… Sir Stephen?" she insisted.
The ferocious glare of the knight sent chills to her body. It was the first time she saw her cousin with a disgruntled face.
Worried that she had to show her face, she approached the knight and whispered, "What about my helmet?"
"You can keep it."
Bouncing her head as a reply, she picked up the breastplate first and headed to the armory to change. When she walked back to the courtyard, everyone had already changed into the new armor and began their training.
"Maude! Since you are late, you won't be able to choose your practice partner. As such, only Balor, who wasn't selected by any other, would be your sparring partner from here on until the end of training."
"W-What?!" she cried out.
The chap they called Balor was a giant with broad shoulders and muscled arms. The armor he wore only covered the middle of his chest, the gauntlet was only half his arm and he was not wearing the greaves because they were too small for him.
"I want to be Morrigan's partner!" she shouted.
The trainees turned their heads to her.
The lad sparring with the girl stepped towards her, "She already has one! It's your fault SLOWPOKE! That you didn't get the chance to choose your partner."
"Lets' change partners!" she demanded.
"I don't want to!" the fellow with auburn hair yelled back.
"I'll pay you with silver!"
"You are not the only well-off lad here," he scoffed.
"I'll fight you!"
The crowd cheered hearing her propose a duel between them.
"Fine! Let's fight it out. The victor would become Morrigan's training mate," the lad agreed.
"Aren't you men going to ask me if I wanted to change partners?" Morrigan argued and turned to the knight, "Sir Stephen! Are you going to allow this?"
"Yes. And you should be honored to have two men fighting for your attention."
The men continued to cheer. Sir Stephen was forced to interfere and act as mediator before the duel began.
"Alright, men! Fight like a gentleman, and that implies no hitting on your groins, no hitting while the man is down. You can use any weapon of your liking. And no killing each other. Is that tidy enough for you?"
"Yes, my lord!" They answered in unison.
"Good! Prepare yourself, men!"
The novices around them cheered for the red-haired fellow, "Audrey! Audrey! Audrey!"
"FIGHT!"
With the heavy gauntlet, she couldn't even lift the wooden sword straight up. When her opponent rushed in, she dropped her weapon and held her arm high to defend herself. Loud clunking sounds echoed throughout the lawn as her opponent repeatedly whacked her with a wooden sword.
Soon her gauntlet gave in and bent. With another strike, it penetrated the iron mold and hit her arm.
"Arghhhhhh!" she cried out.
The pain weakened her knees, but her opponent did not consider her down and defenseless. The red-haired lad smacked her repeatedly on her left arm, which she wielded to defend herself.
"I'm helpless," she mumbled to herself.
Like when the bandit snatched her out of the market, she was once again powerless. Turning her head, she glanced at Morrigan, staring at the duel or to be exact, her incompetence.
"Maude…," the girl whispered and nodded her head.
With her keen eyes, she saw the girl mumble her name. It felt invigorating to discover the lady hailing her to win.
Hearing the heavy breathing from the ruddy-haired lad, she knew he was exhausted. The consecutive slam on her arm became scarce, she could see every hit and swerved a few of them.
But she won't win by only evading her opponent. Reaching for her sword on the ground, she gripped it tight and whacked the novice on his knee.
"Arghhhhhhhhhhh!" he groaned.
The auburn-haired lad dropped down holding his leg. Rolling in the dirt and crying in pain. The men around them ran towards her opponent and carried him out limping.
"Maude!" Morrigan called and helped her stand.
"D-Did I win?" she asked.
"Yes, you did."
The lady smiling made her cheeks warm. Grasping for words to say, she raised her injured arm.
"Arghhh!" she whined.
Morrigan giggled, "You squealed like a girl."
Deepening her voice, she replied, "D-Do I?"
"It's charming."
The compliment burned her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I should have asked you beforehand if you want to be my partner in training."
"Why do you insist on being my training mate?"
"Sir Wulfric saved me before and after that, I dreamed of being a knight like him," she explained. "If I train with you, perhaps you could teach me some of his techniques."
"Will the victor show me his face? And I vow I shall share with you everything my father taught me," Morrigan answered.
"I-I'm sorry, my lady but I can't," she declined.
If she lifted off her helmet, they would recognize her as the princess.
"You can't? Why not?"
"Uhh…because," she staggered, "B-Because… My face was burned! And it's hideous to see! I don't want to scare you off or give you nightmares."
"Really?"
The iron helmet clunk from her head nodding.
"Fine. I shall grant you your wish and promise me you will show me your face when you become a knight."
"I promise," she pledged.