Perhaps the second most attentive person on the tiltyard was Eric. He tracked the prince's entire journey from the carriage to the king's seat with a gaze of gaze, squinting at what he saw, almost a lever. His hair... He liked Prix's hair so much, but now this stubborn boy looked with mockery and so proudly as if he had outsmarted everyone around him, especially the Prince of the North.
Lenscherre clenched his teeth, proudly throwing his chin and walking with the rest of the participants to the ground, where the two thrones - the king and the prince - towered. Finally, moving away from the first shock, Xavier, the eldest, gave a welcoming speech and still forced himself to look at his son once again and handed him a bag.
- I greet the participants of the Tournament, - Prince Charles approached the railing wide enough to put a bag on them without fear that he would slip away.
Seven pairs of eyes now looked at him alone, and the young man even flashed a little bit with his eyes down. He took a deep breath to make himself look at the guests of the Capital City, and Prix's welcome speech was an essential part of each of the trials, especially the first one. The prince had to show that they had something to fight for, even if he didn't want to. However, he was hardly fully aware of the fact that he could not say anything to him: the participants were already ready to interrupt each other, just to get the main prize.
- Today we are starting the competitive part of the Tournament, - the younger Xavier glanced from man to man, estimating their light armor, and his heart was beating faster when he thought that one of them might get hurt. - I wish you luck... And...
The prince breathed a convulsive breath, as if he had lost a second of thought, but in fact, he was just a little bit more excited, blushing, because he met with Frasier, and this embarrassment immediately became visible to everyone, it only further spurred all those who were about to fight on this tiltyard. Especially Prince Jamie, who now stood there and smiled at the reaction. Especially Prince Eric, who couldn't help but notice it, was already so jealous.
- And I'd like to see you all safe and sound - after this test and after the tournament as a whole, - the young man spoke quickly, grabbing a bag and putting his fingers in it.
Participants held their breath, and some of them were ready to moan, because Charles, not realizing his actions, quickly licked his lips and held the tip of his tongue in their corner, looking somewhere in the sky and choosing a coin with all possible responsibility, not realizing that he demoralized almost every representative of the district kingdoms.
- Well, - he exhaled, looking at the drawing of lots and smiling, passing the coin to his father to raise it and show it to the tournament participants. - King Wade is temporarily joining us as a spectator.
In the fingers of the King of the Central Lands sparkled a coin with the number five. Prince Charles sank to his seat, crossing his eyes with Prince Eric for a second and swallowing. That look did not bode well for him.
Prince Charles was sitting there drumming himself with his fingertips on his lips, watching the preparations for the first competition. The power spread so that Prince Jamie would have to fight King James, King Stephen would have to fight King Anthony, and Prince Eric would have to fight King Noor. Three pairs of opponents, the first of which was a mountaineer and a southerner, and for the first young Xavier unwittingly cheered, though he confessed to nothing.
Now, several assistants were preparing his horse, checking the saddle and bridle fasteners, and the Prince of the Mountains himself was looking at his helmet, as light as his entire armor. He knew that he would feel confident in the saddle, because he had ridden quite often, like most of the people in his country. The mountaineers almost always used the most weightless armor, because for them the main factor was the freedom of movement, which often saved them from various misfortunes, including - from the blow of the enemy.
King James was dressed lighter, the Southern lands were famous above all for the heat that covered them all, it seems that even the waters there were always hot, so the southerners traditionally wore not so many clothes, and in battles saved not only the armor, but speed and endurance in relation to the scorching sun.
Both opponents had shields and spears, huge, as it should be in a similar competition. Here everything was decided not by force, but by accuracy, because the main thing was to direct the blow, the rest will be decided by chance - it is almost impossible to control the spear because of its size and gravity, and such battles, in reality, have long since disappeared into oblivion, remaining only as a traditional test of the tournament.
To Be Continued...