Page 28 of The Kingdom of Flames

The husband slid, exhausted, upon the suitor who would have bedded his wife and sat at his table for the evening. The husband was older and larger, but a veteran, Celestine was sure of it.

The suitor made a play for his mace, but the husband was on top of him, smashing his helm apart with gauntleted fists. The husband grunted, punched, and roared as he battered the man into the mud.

Finally, the suitor's hand raised in a hand gesture of supplication, and the people of the Red Banner roared.

The husband pushed off his downed opponent, standing, wavering. His wife flooded into the muddy arena.

“She goes to her husband!” Celestine turned to the sitting Lord Encarmine, seeing the wife hold her husband’s armored hand in the air in victory. The wife threw her arms around her spouse.

The crowd quieted as Encarmine stood, all eyes on him.

He commands always. Never have I seen any man or being be dominance and conquest made manifest.

“Hail to the victor, hail to the defender.” Encarmine saluted.

The battered husband removed his helm and bowed, and then he returned the salute to his lord.

“Your key lives in your own pocket this evening, Merril,” Encarmine said.

“Aye, my lord.” The older man nodded, his face a mass of bruises. His wife held him up and showered his cheek with kisses. “Now I’d see it slid into the lock it owns.”

The crowd laughed. Encarmine smiled. “Enjoy your boon. For every man is lord of his own home. There is glory in conquest, but true honor is defending that which is yours. It makes us cherish what we take for granted, does it not?”

Merril’s wife smiled and held her husband tight. The old warrior looked down at his wife. “It does, my Lord. It does indeed.”

“What better to covet, than that which you have?”

Merril smiled and groaned. His wife took him out of the arena to tend to his wounds… and likely her own lust, Celestine decided.

“Lady Atrotha,” Encarmine called to the wife.

She turned, her husband’s arm over her shoulder. “Lord?”

Encarmine raised a salute to her. “Well wagered. Mercy might be needed in your conquest.”

The crowd of his people laughed and cheered. Atrotha grinned. “Woe to the vanquished, my Lord.”

Laughs and cheers went around. Encarmine raised his fist in honor, and the elder couple left. The young suitor was helped up.

“Young Jamie,” Encarmine called out. The wounded warrior removed his helm. He was a handsome young man. Celestine saw his jaw was broken, but he held himself upright despite the pain.

“Let this be a lesson to you, for some opportunities are traps, and no man fights fiercer than one defending his home. You wagered and lost.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Encarmine nodded, and someone helped the man away. He sat back down as the crowd turned to fevered discussion.

“She wanted him to win?” Celestine asked.

Encarmine regarded her. “What do you think?”

“The wife lured the young suitor to spur her husband into action.”

“Perhaps.”

“To prove his love and devotion to her.”

Encarmine stared at her. “Possibly so, Lady Celestine. Or I venture another path to you. This could be a game she plays to stir her own needs. Or her adoration, to see men fighting for her for an evening. Or she wanted the suitor all along, but her husband's fury thawed her heart for him again.”

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