Chapter 6: Not a knight

“What do you mean he isn’t taking any meetings?!”

Elara stood at the entrance to the city’s barracks. The entrance was blocked by a very surly guard.

“The Knight Commander has never taken any meetings, is not taking any meetings now and will likely never take a meeting even after his retirement.”

Dragging out the syllables on each word, the guard didn’t even bother looking at Elara while answering.

“What kind of- Never mind, how about you just let me inside then. Not to meet him, just to look around?”

“Leave.”

Casually dismissed, Elara headed back to Cross who was waiting nearby.

“They won't let me in. That kid set us up..now what. We might really have to spend the night outside..”

Cross tilted their head, tapping at their chin deep in thought, while Elara groaned.

“Ah, excuse me, Ser Knight.”

A passing man nodded respectfully at Cross while walking by them.

Cross responded with a polite nod, while Elara stared.

“That’s it!”

Cross tilted their head the opposite way.

“Your armor! You already look like a knight. You can probably get in.”

Cross shook their head rapidly in response, holding out their arms in a cross.

“You’ll do fine. Just do your silent nod as usual. Don’t gesture around wildly like you usually do..”

Cross made a sighing motion and nodded, then pointed a finger at her.

“Me? Oh that’s right..you’ll get in but you can’t talk so you can’t ask the Knight Commander for an interview..hm..”

She looked around and spotted what she was looking for.

“Come here.”

Dragging Cross, they both stood in front of a small stall.

“This is perfect. I’ll take all of this.”

Pulling up a bundle of expensive looking bundle of red cloth, she handed the shopkeeper some coins.

“Now stand still, Cross. Actually crouch down a little so I can reach.”

Cross crouched obediently as Elara got to work.

With skilled movements the loose bundle of cloth was transformed into a loose fitting tunic, overlaying Cross’s armor.

“There. Now you look like a proper traveling knight.”

Nodding to herself in satisfaction, she admired her work.

Cross now stood with the red tunic wrapped neatly yet loosely around their armor. Without looking closer one might even assume that the tunic was expertly stitched, yet it was all precise wrapping.

Looking down at the tunic covering themselves, Cross gestured at her hands before making a quizzical motion.

“How do I know how to do this? Years of bandaging my own wounds have made me an expert at wrapping loose cloth! Now come along.”

Pushing Cross towards the barracks entrance, she whispered.

“Just walk and nod. Act confident!”

Cross looked back to gesture their refusal but Elara was gone.

Looking around in confusion, Cross continued walking forward.

Without even realizing they had already made it past the entrance.

“Good afternoon, Ser knight. Tough travels, eh?”

The guard spoke respectfully with a nod.

Cross nodded back on instinct, slightly too hastily, causing the guard to raise an eyebrow, yet ultimately shrug/

“Good job. Just keep walking until we are a bit further in!”

Elaras whisper reached Cross, despite her being nowhere near.

Still walking, Cross continued until they reached a small storage corner of the barracks.

“Phew.”

Elara popped out from inside Cross’s tunic.

Cross stared dumbfoundedly at her.

“Don’t just stand around, help me look for this supposed Knight Commander…Ser Knight.”

Teasing with a grin, she began looking around with Cross.

The courtyard was busy with practicing knights, all out of their armors.

Some jogged around the courtyard, others dueled with wooden swords, while others were busy caring for their armors.

It was a bustling place, with all eyes suddenly directed at the single armored person among them.

Cross.

Hiding slightly behind Cross, Elara managed to evade their eyes.

Yet even without her hiding, she doubted they would have noticed her.

Their eyes were filled with a curious yet slightly predatory glint.

“Hey there, comrade! Are you visiting from a border territory? I haven’t seen that type of armour before.”

One of the knights, a tall man with a large protruding chin, who had been dueling earlier, approached them. His eyes noted the travel cloth that Cross wore.

“Can’t have been a long journey seeing as your clothes are still so pristine, so what say you? Up for a duel? It’s hard to find a worthy opponent around here.”

The other knights groaned at his words, having clearly had experience dueling him.

“The name’s Johan. Yours?”

Cross remained expectantly silent, staring at the man before them.

“The strong silent type huh? That’s fine. So, mystery knight. How about a duel?”

Cross instantly shook their head.

“So. You plan to insult me by refusing. Do you not value the honour of a duel? What kind of knight are you? Besides..Why are you carrying a staff. What kind of knight fights with a staff? Where is your sword and shield? Even a spear..”

Johan’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you even a knight at all?”

Seeing Cross becoming visibly flustered. Well not visibly, as the armour covered their whole body, yet Elara instinctively knew this somehow, or she at least took the liberty of assuming. She jumped out from behind Cross.

“Fool! How dare you insult the great knight Cross. Do you not know that they can slay beasts with a mere staff! You think you are worthy of dueling such a legend!?”

She announced loudly and with confidence.

“Who the hell are you? And great knight Cross..never heard of anyone like that.”

Elara scoffs at him.

“Of course you haven’t. Cross is someone who does it all without asking for recognition. A…hero type. That’s it.”

She lied through her teeth.

“A hero type..is that a joke? What is a child inside that big suit of armor? A hero? Who the hell goes around saying that. That’s hilarious!”

Elara gritted her teeth.

“Actually. Pursuing a heroic lifestyle is not weird at all. Some people do it..”

“Who? Toddlers playing pretend? Get real. No wonder this Cross or whatever doesn’t want to duel me. It’s probably two or three toddlers stacked together inside that suit of armor. A hero..hahaha!”

Her eye twitched at the continued mockery of her goal.

“Actually. I am this knight's travel companion. If you wish to duel Cross. You have to win against me first to prove you’re strong enough. So how about it? Want a duel?”

Johan snorted at her suggestion.

“Against a small thing like you? Girl can you even lift a sword?”

Mocking her, he picked up a wooden sword and flung it at her.

“Sure, Yeah. Let’s duel, little hero sidekick.”

Catching the wooden sword, she slowly took off her cloak and sword belt, handing them to Cross, who held them like a dutiful parent.

“Damn.”

Johan gave an impressed whistle.

“Look at all those scars. Pipsqueek gets around, know what I mean?”

The other knights chuckled nervously at Johan’s rude joke.

Lifting the wooden sword, Elara breathed in and concentrated.

Being a hero is a joke to them..I will show them. Don’t make fun of the promise I made.

“Since you’re some kind of tagalong, I’ll let you have the first strike. In return, we play by the rules of first one to hit the ground wins.”

The other knights murmured.

“Hey Johan, those aren’t the rules..thats dangerous-”

“Shut up.”

The other knights were silenced by Johan's glare.

“Alright, I accept.”

Elara nodded easily.

Cross tensed behind her, grip already reaching for the healing staff.

“Don’t worry, won’t need any of that..”

Winking at Cross, she walked forward, wooden blade held low.

Johan smiled widely.

“Great! Then as promised. The first blow is free.”

She didn’t need to be told twice, her sword already in a downward swing towards her opponent.

The blade didn’t quite reach Johan’s head, barely striking his overly large chin with its tip.

“Haha! Us knights are beaten regularly so we can easily withstand something like this. Too bad your arms were a bit too short huh? Might have made me flinch if you had struck me on my head.”

He readied his own wooden blade and lunged at her.

Elara struggled to block each strike, her body getting welted with blow after blow. Leaving obvious blotches across her already scarred skin.

Cross’s grip tightened around their staff.

“What’s wrong!? Aren’t you supposed to be the test to see if I am worthy of fighting that knight of yours?! How pathetic! This isn’t even a challenge! I suppose its still fun though!”

Smiling while relentlessly throwing his sword around, small beads of sweat appeared across his forehead.

“Why the hell aren’t you falling down already? Such a small pathetic thing. You can’t even strike back! DOWN!”

Yelling, he glared at Elara, swinging his sword again. This time however, he struck neither wood nor skin.

Wincing from the pain, Elara had sidestepped his strike.

“What the-”

Johan’s vision blurred as he stumbled forward past her, nearly collapsing.

“What the hell..I can’t be that tired yet..what..”

“You’re not. You have a mild concussion.”

He kept trying to blink his disorientation away, to no avail.

“When the hell..you haven’t even hit me once..how-”

He laughed in realization.

“No way. That first strike that you missed..”

She shook her head.

“Didn’t miss. Struck where I wanted. I just needed some time for the disorientation to set in fully.”

“Such a cheap trick..the match would have long been over before that sort of thing set in..”

She nodded with a slight smile.

“Yes. But you decided on a match of whoever can keep standing. I can take a lot of abuse.”

She pointed at her scarred body.

“Now it’s time to see if you can too.”

The courtyard filled with a man's pathetic yelping, each one following a loud strike akin that of a whip.

“I’m not that strong. So I can't hit you strong enough to knock you out. So this will be quite painful for you. Sorry in advance.”

She kept pummeling him with incredibly weak strikes, yet each swing of her arms was like a rolling snake. Resulting in a stinging small welt on her opponent's skin. Each strike barely stronger than a towel slap.

“Ow! OW! Ow! Ow!”

Several minutes of relentless assault later, Johan collapsed on his back, breathing heavily.

“I give! I give! You’re relentless..such a cheap trick..unbeffiting of a knight!’

She smiled down at him.

“Good thing I’m not a knight then. I’m a hero.”