There is a joust.
Among the ladies of the court, there is the lovely Lady Cecelia. I am William of Edenbridge son of the Earl of Edenbridge and Knight to King and Country.
My turn in mock mounted battle awaits ...as the gallantry before me makes their runs at each other in the full regalia of sporting combat. Armored horses and knights charge each other separated by gold and royal banners. Pennants snap in the breeze from the viewing stand where the Lady Cecelia is seated attended by her ladies. The assembled beauty of the court is arrayed beneath the canopies being served their goblets of honey wine and grapes, but my eyes find room only for Cecelia.
The clash of shield and lance has left the field strewn with unseated riders , broken shafts and bent shields. As the armorers clear the remains of battle from the turf my turn comes. Accompanied by a bearer; I trot a sable warhorse to the viewing stand...armor glistening in the sun, the red cross and white field of St George is my shield...a crimson scarf brought to my tent by a shy Lady-in-waiting and affixed as a flourish to the peak of my helmet by my armorer matches exactly the color of Lady Cecelia's Barengaria gown.
She stands as I approach mounted. I bare my head and walking forward of the court, she greets me at the rail. In her hand is a garter, the colors of her family crest.
I bend solemnly towards her, rise and place my eyes on hers: dark, sparkling, expressive. Beneath a tapestry-band of woven flowers that circles her head...Lady Cecelia's dark hair flows beneath it towards her shoulders and she leans forward to whisper.
" Ride for me today, my love," she says softly, " win this victory and you shall win my heart as well!"
"Today I do combat in the holy name of Saint George ....and for you: my fair Lady Cecelia " I swear to her.
She straightens, the gold of her blouse shows beneath the crimson gown, and slides the garter over the point of my lance. I touch the fingertips of my chain-mailed glove to my forehead then to my lips without taking my eyes off hers. Anxious for the charge, my warhorse struggles under the weight of his armor, steps and snorts his bulging eyes bright with expectation. I slide on my steeled helmet and look once more into my Lady's eyes before closing my visor and wheeling my horse towards the field of battle.
Trotting towards the gauntlet end where my pennants fly and the monk waits to bless me, I pass my opponent shoulder to shoulder. He fails to meet my glare instead exercises his weapon in useless air. I shall win this combat. I feel it. My mount champs his bit and my armorer fights with two hands to hold him back. I reach my post to turn and face the long bannered line barely noticing the monks sign of the cross chanting his Celtic prayer for I am due my victory this day.
Far down the line My opponent rears his mount and lurches to his post facing me opposite and suddenly it is quiet save for the banners in the wind. I hear my own breathing inside my headgear..I feel my heart pounding beneath my chest armor. My boy hoists the shield and straps it to my forearm while my fingers grip and ungrip getting the mesh of chain mail seated on its handle. He lifts the battle lance towards me so I may rest its butt end on the iron sheath molded to my hip armor: ten lonf feet of lance point towards the sky. On its tip is my Lady's garter.
I grasp its weight...turning ...turning.. Trumpets blare...they blare again.