Lieth nodded, and Seklis smiled. “That’s permissible; we’ll all have squires to freshen us between rounds; she can keep your mail in case of need. And on my word as High Marshal, I shall be watching for any trouble, and will ward whomever you say.”
26
Paks came to the grange hall in the padded training armor and surcoat Seklis had provided. Lieth carried her paladin’s mail, and the elven blade. Light blazed from the grange hall windows: candles on frames hung high above the floor, more candles set in brackets along the walls and the railing separating the seats from the open space. Paks peeked into the hall on her way to the High Marshal’s study: already the seats were filling.
Seklis grinned when he saw her. “Ah—Lady Paksenarrion. Come, meet your fellow examiners. Here’s Marshal Sulinarrion, of Seameadow Grange—and Marshal Aris, of Copswith Grange—and Marshal Doryan—” Someone pulled at his sleeve, and he turned away, leaving Paks with three Marshals: a tall brown-haired woman and two men, both gray-haired and dark-eyed. By the time she had them sorted out (Aris was taller, with a wide scar on his forehead), the High Marshal was back, to complete the introductions. Paks was not sure she had them all straight in her mind, but there was no time to worry about it. The great Bells began to peal, and everyone moved into line, with Seklis rearranging as he saw fit.
“You, Suli—and then Seli here—and Paks, you get behind him. There. Gird’s grace on all of us.”
“Gird’s grace,” came the response, and they walked quickly into the hall, ranging themselves across the width of it just below the platform.
The seats were filled. Candlelight glittered on jewels, slid along the folds of satin and silk, caught the flash of an eye that glanced, and shone steadily back from the few motionless hands. From the far end of the Hall, a fanfare of trumpets followed the bells into silence. Then the pointers, who would judge the trials, entered in their spotless white uniforms. They came forward, bowing once to the examiners in line, then withdrew in two files to either side. Another blast of trumpets, and the candidates entered in two files, still wearing gray training clothes and training armor. They faced the examiners, bowed, and waited. High Marshal Seklis stepped forward.
“Who presents these candidates for trial?”
“I do.” A heavy-set man in the green, rose, and white of the Order stepped into the hall. “Sir Arinalt Konhalt, Training Master of the Order of the Bells.”
“Their names?”
As the Training Master spoke each name, the youth bowed. When he had finished, the Marshal-General spoke again.
“Here in the very hall where Luap spoke, and witnessed to the deeds of Gird, Protector of the Innocent and Helpless, we meet to test the fitness of these youths for knighthood. Each shall demonstrate in at least two bouts that he or she is skilled in swordfighting and brave enough to face a naked blade before others. Do you all agree to submit to the judgment of the pointers?” A murmur of agreement came from them all. “Then here is the order of the examiners.” Seklis introduced each examiner. “Because we have so many candidates,” Seklis went on, “we cannot accommodate all bouts at once. The first five candidates will now choose their examiners.” As the candidates moved forward, Paks watched their faces. They seemed very young; she reminded herself that they had had at least two years of knight’s training, besides serving as squires. None of the first five chose her; she watched as the examiners and pointers led the candidates back down the hall to the fighting areas. The candidates waiting for their turns began to fidget. They could not turn around and watch; they had to face the remaining examiners and try to feign calmness.
At the sound of trumpets, the first bouts began. Swords rang together, and stone echoed the stamp of booted feet. The nearest bout seemed evenly matched at first. Seklis had said that the examiners began by trying standard stroke combinations. No bout could end (except in emergencies) before fifty strokes, no matter what points were scored; most, he said, took between that and a hundred. Paks tried to keep count, but lost it when someone down the Hall cried out. Heads craned, but the bouts went on. Paks looked back at the pair she’d been watching; now the examiner, a Marshal whose name she’d forgotten, was moving the candidate around the area, gaining points with every stroke. The candidate rallied a moment, lunging again and again. But a final flurry by the Marshal broke that attack, and the pointers called the bout just after another one down the Hall.
As soon as a candidate finished one bout, he had to choose his next opponent. This time Paks was chosen, by the only candidate to win his bout. She followed her challenger halfway down the Hall to their assigned area. For the second bouts, the pointers gave the starting word. Paks grinned at the young man; his look of confidence faded. When he lunged, she caught his blade and shed it quickly from hers, then forced him back with a quick attack. He looked startled, as if he had not expected such a strong attack. Before he could recover his timing and balance, Paks pushed him back again, working him around the edge of their space. But he steadied himself, biting his lip, and managed to hold his ground. Paks tested all quarters of his range, probing but not using her full skill against him yet. She let him move into attack again. He quickened; she matched him, saw his surprise, and finished with a decisive rattle of strokes that got past his guard again and again. He would have bruises under his padding. But he bowed politely, and thanked her.
“Lady, it is my honor to suffer defeat at your hands.”
“May it be your only defeat, Sir Joris—” For she had been told his name, the ritual greeting: the first use of their title was by the examiner who passed them.
He grinned. “Lady, if I can learn to fight as you do, it will be. But I thought I had not so much to learn. Are you still learning new things?”
“Joris!” That was his proud father, come from the seats to grip his son’s shoulder.
Paks smiled at the older man. “Indeed I am, Sir Joris—and that’s a good question. You will learn as long as you know you need to.”
“Thank you, Lady Paksenarrion,” said the father. “He—”
“Please—” The pointers touched the older man’s arm. “Sir—please—not here—we have long to go.” Paks returned to the front of the Hall, and the new knight joined his successful comrades in the rear.
Paks lined up behind someone who had not yet been chosen—Seklis’s suggestion, so that each examiner would have a short rest between bouts. The second five were already on their first bouts, although one bout from the first five was still going on. She looked around the Hall, trying to spot the Duke, but in that mass of color and movement, she could not find him at first. She tried again. “He’s fine,” said Lieth in her ear. “I saw them come in.”
A few minutes later, another candidate chose her, and she fought her second bout, this one much shorter. At the fiftieth stroke, the spotter named her the victor. This candidate had taken a hard blow to the left shoulder on her first bout, and Paks suspected she had a broken collarbone. Her face was pale and sweaty, but she also managed her bow, and thanked Paks for the honor.
By this time, two of the examiners were out, one with a broken collarbone, and one with a cracked wrist. Paks made her way past three bouts going on, and lined up again. She did not feel particularly tired, and so put herself in line for immediate choice. She had another easy bout, which she drew out to near a hundred strokes for the candidate’s benefit, and then watched the last two finish. Now the family sponsor for each new knight carried out the new armor which the knights had earned. While the knights changed into their armor (Paks hoped the woman with the broken collarbone would not have to struggle into a mail shirt), the examiners also changed. Then the crown prince formally greeted each new knight by name and presented the tiny gold symbol of the Order. When he was through, the High Marshal stepped forward once more.