Chapter 4
Covarla woke early the next morning. She dressed in clean clothes and belted her sword around her waist. She took a few minutes to braid her hair. She then tucked her knife in its sheath on her belt. She checked to make sure the pendant was hidden behind her shirt. She gave the seams of her clothes a good tug to make sure they wouldn't rip. The fighting might get a little rough and she didn't want any embarrassment to occur if one of the other competitors got a hold of her clothes.
When she was sure she was ready she knocked on the door connecting her room to Adria's. When there was no answer after a few minutes, Covarla stuck her head inside the room to see if Adria was still asleep.
Nobody was in the room. Adria must have left already, Covarla thought. She headed out her door and down the stairs to the common room for breakfast. There she found Adria sitting at a table talking to Maive. You mean Maive's talking to her, she thought.
Covarla sat next to Adria while Maive took a breath to say good morning. One of the boys that were helping the serving girls brought her a plate of fruit for breakfast. While she ate she listened to Maive tell Adria about all the changes to the inn that had occurred
since the last visit.
All the while customers were eating breakfast, then leaving. Girls and boys scurried in and out carrying plates and mugs to customers and taking empty ones back to the kitchen. Some girls were cleaning the tables not currently in use while the boys were sweeping out the the way corners.
When Covarla finished Maive stopped her chatter long enough to talk to Covarla. "You'd better get going dear, the competition starts in about an hour and you want to be signed up by then. Adria and I will be in the crowds, you can count on that. And don't you be worrying about my inn because the girls can run it. Plus, most of the custom will be enjoying themselves at the faire till dinner time."
Covarla nodded and waved farewell as she left the table. Maive continued her chatter with Adria as is she had never stopped. Covarla stopped one of the girls and asked directions to the faire. She left the inn as she memorized the directions.
The inn was located on a street with other inns of ranging prosperity. As she left she caught a glimpse of the sign hanging over the door. The sign featured a picture of a glass bird and the words "The Crystal Dove". She filed the name in the back of her mind as she went down the street and began a series of twists and turns that led to the same gate she had entered along with the faire.
As she neared the gate she noticed that she was being followed. She made sure to keep her pace the same so as not to let her watchers know she was aware of them. she went out the gate trying to get a good look at the followers. There was one man with another man
trailing him, so either two men not trying to be seen together or there was a man watching her watchers.
She neared the faire and headed straight for the open field beside it. Rows of wooden stands encircled a dirt patch where the competition would take place. Before the entrance to the circle was a small tent with a little secretary inside. Covarla walked up to the
man and waited till he looked up.
The little man glanced at her then looked at a piece of paper before him and then looked back and forth between them.
"Well, you're not already registered, so I assume you would like to, am I correct," the man said.
Covarla nodded. "Yes, sir, I would," she replied.
"Name," he asked.
"Covarla Kyshu," she replied.
"Age?"
"Eighteen."
"Parents and Village?"
"The late Mara and Kahl Kyshu of Amaranth."
"I'm sorry to hear that," the man said softly before continuing.
"Teacher?"
"Cear Huyett."
The man looked at Covarla a minute, as if expecting she was joking before writing it down on his paper. I wonder what that was about, she thought.
"Years of training?"
"Eight years, sir."
"Gender?" He looked at her. "Female."
Covarla smiled at the man. Well, that's kind obvious, even when I'm wearing breeches, she thought.
He set down his quill. "The matches are sword only. No bows, staves or magic. Please be in that tent in half an hour." He pointed to a large tent on the other end of the circle. He handed her a piece of wood with the number 24 on it. "You were just in time, you're the last applicant we'll accept." With that he turned back to his papers
and writing.
Covarla left the tent and began to wander around the faire. She stopped to listen to some of the musicians scattered around the stalls and tents. She stopped to look at a display of knives and swords. They reminded her of the time when she was ten and just beginning her training at the school.
She had been small then. She was shorter than most of the boys in her class, less muscled and very thin. She had gone with her parents to the faire being held outside Amaranth. Her parents had bought her a sword after she had stood staring at it in a shop window. It was
plain without anything really fancy. It seemed so large then. You could barely lift it, she thought wryly.
As she had grown she had matched height with most of the boys. She had filled out and let her hair grow to her waist. Of course, she now kept her hair tied back in an intricate braid. She didn't bother to wear dresses, but opted instead to wear the shirt and breeches like
all of her classmates, male and female.
Now her sword felt like another part of her arm. She was fairly accurate with her bow. She was pretty good with her knives and with her hands and feet. She had been able to hold her own back at her school. And win with my sword, she thought happily.
She broke out of her reverie and moved on to the next stall, this one selling rings and necklaces. Her watcher was still there, a few stalls down. She left the stall and looked at all the stalls along the way back to the arena. She got back to the arena a few minutes
early.
She circled the stands that were beginning to be filled with people looking for good seats. She went around the stands to the large tent. There was one guard at the entrance, probably hired from a guard post for today. She showed him the disk that the secretary had
given her. He waved her through.
Inside the tent were a bunch of benches. Covarla went inside and sat near the three other women in the tent. Everyone in the tent was wearing shirts and breeches and had a sword belted around their waist. Their clothes and swords ranged from fancy to plain. The people
themselves ranged from tall to short and thin.
One of the women tapped her shoulder. "First time at this competition," she asked.
Covarla nodded.
"How many years of training?"
"Eight," Covarla replied.
"Okay, then you'll be matched with someone who's had about sixteen years of training. They always have the first matches containing people with less than ten years of training matched with people who have had about twice as much training. This lets only the best people get to the second round. From there on it's random. Good luck to you, though."
Covarla smiled, "Good luck to you too."
The church bells then tolled the hour and the official came into the tent. "Numbers one and sixteen, please." A large man and a smaller man stood and followed the man through the tent flap. The official shouted the names of the contestants and ordered the match to begin.
Within minutes the smaller man was sitting back in his seat in the tent while the larger joined the crowd in the audience. The official came back to take tow more contestants. Again the match was short this time the larger of the two won.
Next one of the men was paired up with the woman who had talked to Covarla. She came back after she had won and winked at Covarla. Three more men and another woman went before the official called for numbers twenty-four and eight.
Covarla stood as a very large man stood, too. The official led them out into the sunny circle and announced their names.
When the match began the large man grinned at her superiorly as he drew his sword. He took his time not suspecting his opponent to attack.
While his sword was just out of its sheath he charged at her. She waited until he was within a few feet before moving to the side and bringing her sword up against his neck.
He blinked as he stopped his charge. His sword was straight out and would have run her through had she stayed there. Her sword was about a hair away from drawing blood.
The official came over and shouted, "The winner is Covarla Kyshu!"
The crowd cheered. Covarla searched the faces until she found Adria and Maive near the middle of the left bleachers. She went back into the tent and sat down again quietly. She watched six more matches before the official proclaimed that the first round was over. By then three women and nine men were left in the tent, the others had disappeared into the crowd.
Then the official came back to call numbers sixteen and six. They were the skinny man and
the large tall man. Again the skinny man came back, only this time the match was twice as long.
Again the other woman left and came back after about ten minutes. She smiled at Covarla as Covarla left for her match.
This time she was matched up against a tall, well muscled man. The official announced her name and her opponent's name. They drew their swords in unison. This time the man bowed to her and waited for her to bow back before moving towards her.
The man slowly moved towards her before making a small strike at her which she blocked. She met everyone of his slight attacks not trying to make an attack of her own, but waiting for him to make a serious attack. She could tell that he wasn't really trying his best.
He finally made a slash at her head that reminded her of her fight with Rahn Gowr. This time she did the same thing. Quickly ducking under the swipe and coming up beside him with her sword at his throat.
The match was won by Covarla. She bowed to the man as he bowed to her. He smiled at her as he walked over to the stands and sat down. She went back to the tent and waited through another match.
Now she found herself paired against the only other woman left. She was the same one that had talked to Covarla earlier. They smiled at each other as they went into the circle. They drew their swords and prepared for attack. Covarla moved towards the other woman as she rushed at Covarla. Covarla met each attack before it had a chance to come close. They twisted and turned as they met attack after attack. They seemed to dance around the circle.
Covarla noticed that the other woman wasn't going to make a mistake while attacking so she switched her strategy. She suddenly began to attack the woman who was suddenly hard pressed to defend herself from Covarla's sword.
She pushed the woman back and back as she was forced to give ground or get hit. The woman stumbled over a stone and momentarily lost her concentration. Covarla stopped her sword in a position where the woman would have been run through had the attack continued.
The official announced that Covarla was the winner of this match. The other woman called, "Good match" to her as she disappeared into the crowd. The official brought the last person out. He was a tall man with muscular body and a large frame.
When the official called for the match to begin the man drew his sword and charged. His sword came at her from every side. Covarla was hard pressed to meet every blow. The man pressed at her till she turned out of the way of the blows. The man moved from attack to
attack swiftly and aggressively.
Covarla took every chance she could to attack the man. Occasionally she forced him to move as she changed the course of her attack halfway through one attack. Then, she got lucky.
She had started a lunge towards him and his sword was up and prepared to defend himself. When she was just about to clash swords with him she turned and came at him from behind. Her sword stopped just above his head as he was halfway turned towards her.
The official shouted, "The winner of the competition is Covarla Kyshu." The crowd cheered happily. Apparently my performance was acceptable to them, she thought.
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