Page 64 of A War of Crowns

“Do we want to take bets?” Rakon asked.

But Aldric frowned when he reminded, “We don’t bet against a brother.”

Calix tilted his head, a single eyebrow arched. “You honestly think that pretty man is going to bestEisway?”

Aldric shrugged. “There has to be a reason the queen selected him as her champion. Unless this whole tournament is simply one…” Unbidden, his attention wandered back toward the Elmorian box.

The queen still watched with all the keen-eyed attentiveness of a falcon.

Aldric looked away and took a healthy swig from his waterskin before finishing, “…large ego stroke for my brother’s benefit.”

“His Majesty hardly needs anyoneelsestroking his ego,” Leif groused, earning a round of chuckles from the other Sons.

The blare of a horn lured all eyes back to the list.

Eisway and the young Elmorian knight spurred their horses forward, racing toward each other from opposite sides of the tilt. Clumps of sandy dirt soared through the air, kicked up from their horses’ hooves. Their lances lowered. The crowd screamed.

Aldric’s heart thundered in time with the cacophony.

“Come on, Eisway…” Sven whispered as the two lancers slammed together in a harsh clash of wood on metal. Both were aiming for the shield attached to their opponent’s shoulder. Both struck true.

But only the Elmorian champion shattered his lance in a glorious spray of wood chips and faded paint. The force of the impact sent Eisway reeling.

Suddenly boneless, his Son slumped backward off his horse and crashed into the dirt in a heap of limbs and dull plate.

The Elmorians cheered for their easy victory.

But Eisway lay still.

Aldric’s jaw tightened. “Kyn,” he barked, though the medic was already launching himself through the ropes barring them from the tiltyard. Calix ran close behind and the two sprinted toward Eisway’s body, which still lay motionless.

“Think he’s all right?” Rakon asked, a thread of worry in his voice.

“Let’s pray he is,” came Leif’s equally quiet reply.

Aldric held his tongue.

A great tension, palpable and heavy, rose like the mist haunting the low hills of Blackrun until Calix raised his fist in a confirmationEisway still lived. The sigh of relief from the Sons who were left on the sidelines was a collective one.

Even Aldric felt some of the tension ease from his shoulders.

It took both Kyn and Calix working in unison to hoist Eisway up and drag the fully armored man back to where the rest of them waited. When they got close, Rakon moved forward to help the three of them back through the ropes.

“I’m fine,” Eisway rasped from within the confines of his helmet. “Stop fussing, Mother.”

“I think you have me confused with soft hands over there,” came Calix’s dry retort.

When they finally lowered Eisway to the grass and pried off his helmet, Rakon loomed over him to provide a bit of impromptu shade and Aldric passed off his waterskin to the lad.

Blood soaked the right side of Eisway’s face, though Aldric couldn’t yet discern just where it was all coming from.

Rakon tilted his head at the younger man. “You all right?”

Leif asked, “How many Crows do you see, boy?”

Kyn shushed them both. “I need more water so I can clean this wound.”

While the other Sons hustled to get Kyn what he needed, Eisway finally looked up at Aldric. A grin split his injured Son’s bloodied lips. “You’re up next, Father…make him hurt for me, yeh?”

---