lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

‘Camden’ edged backward again. “No, look, it’s not a game. I’m Camden Lahey, and you — you can’t be Isaac, little Isaac. Just — just let me up, I’ll yield, I swear.” His sword was on the other side of the lists anyway, there was no chance he would be able to get it and defend himself at this point.

“I don’t believe you,” he stated finally and cast his sword aside, backing away and refusing to break eye contact. “Now yield and be on your way — I no longer care who you are, but you better realise that whatever you were trying to achieve by taunting me this way…very nearly worked.”

The knight calling himself Camden froze, staring at Isaac. A silence fell as everyone strained to hear what was being said, but he said only, “I yield,” before walking off the lists, abandoning his sword, shield, and helm.

lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

The other knight’s neck strained as he fought to keep from cutting his own throat, and he edged backward. “No one told me,” he managed. “I was there, I lived it! I-if you’re Isaac, where have you been since mother died, since the benefactor took me in!”

“The…the what? I went to the Hales! The whole family is dead — and you…you can’t be Camden…you just can’t be. Is this a game to you? To make me forfeit? Because that’s not an option!” He hissed then, doubt and suspicion returning once again.

‘Camden’ edged backward again. “No, look, it’s not a game. I’m Camden Lahey, and you — you can’t be Isaac, little Isaac. Just — just let me up, I’ll yield, I swear.” His sword was on the other side of the lists anyway, there was no chance he would be able to get it and defend himself at this point.

lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

‘Camden’ tilted his head back under the pressure of the hilt, teeth gritted. “I taught him to swim, in the river by our home. We saved a boy from drowning, from one of the villages on our father’s land. But you would not remember that, because you are not he!”

He stilled and his eyes widened then, before he pushed forwards a little, the tip of the blade nicking his skin. “Who told you that?” he hissed viciously, his entire body wound tight as his eyes flashed with ever increasing rage.

The other knight’s neck strained as he fought to keep from cutting his own throat, and he edged backward. “No one told me,” he managed. “I was there, I lived it! I-if you’re Isaac, where have you been since mother died, since the benefactor took me in!”

lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

“If you’re so certain of that, then kill me,” the knight pretending to be Camden said, apparently equally shaken. “I would know, I would know if you were my brother. Isaac is — he is little, still young! You cannot be him.” He pushed himself up to his elbows, exposed throat perilously near to the point of Isaac’s sword.

“You…you’re too good of an actor — tell me something that only he would know!” Isaac challenged him and fixed him with a piercing gaze, taking a step forward and sliding the hilt of his sword under the other male’s chin. “Because as far as we…as I was concerned, my brother died a long time ago.”

‘Camden’ tilted his head back under the pressure of the hilt, teeth gritted. “I taught him to swim, in the river by our home. We saved a boy from drowning, from one of the villages on our father’s land. But you would not remember that, because you are not he!”

lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

When Isaac removed his helm at last, the crowd gasped, and ‘Camden’ stumbled, tripping and falling on his ass, sword spinning from his hand. “I’m who I say I am! Who are you, pretending to be my little brother?”

The Princess swayed in her box, a roaring filling her ears unrelated to any external sound as the Azure Knight revealed himself at last to be Sir Isaac Lahey.

He ignored the crowd as his eyes focused on his ‘older brother’, doubt momentarily flickering in his eyes before he then furiously shook his head. “I’m not pretending, it’s you who is pretending! I know that my brother is dead — we held a funeral for him!”

He didn’t care that his voice was wavering tellingly, that it was carrying across the crowds, for he kept his sword outstretched once more, believing this to be nothing more than a cruel ploy to distract him, and he would be voicing his opinions over this once it was over.

“If you’re so certain of that, then kill me,” the knight pretending to be Camden said, apparently equally shaken. “I would know, I would know if you were my brother. Isaac is — he is little, still young! You cannot be him.” He pushed himself up to his elbows, exposed throat perilously near to the point of Isaac’s sword.

lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

‘Camden’ merely laughed at him, offering another bow before attacking. As before, it really wasn’t much of a challenge for the Azure Knight — the impostor seemed more intent on putting on a show than actually fighting well, and his wide sweeps and telegraphed blows made it all too easy for a skilled opponent to overcome him.

He kept taunting the Azure Knight, though, cajoling, begging, demanding to know who his opponent was. “Do you not feel hot under that metal?” he’d say, “Take off your helm.” Or, “Are you such a coward yourself that you need to protect your head while mine is yet bare?”

Isaac rolled his eyes and retaliated with an elegant ease, ducking and diving, and even rolling on some occasions as he weaved his way through the attack, adding in a few well-timed jabs and stabs for measure. He was almost bored, but he’d learned the hard way not to be too cocky, for that alone could be his downfall one day.

Rising to the taunt, he gave into temptation and whipped off his helm, casting it aside as his sweaty curls tumbled across his forehead, eyes wild and flashing with anger as he continued to fight. “At least mine’s is my own face! Who are you really?”

When Isaac removed his helm at last, the crowd gasped, and ‘Camden’ stumbled, tripping and falling on his ass, sword spinning from his hand. “I’m who I say I am! Who are you, pretending to be my little brother?”

The Princess swayed in her box, a roaring filling her ears unrelated to any external sound as the Azure Knight revealed himself at last to be Sir Isaac Lahey.

lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

Whomever he truly was, the knight called Sir Camden was, in the end, no match for the Azure Knight. Rage, skill, determination — whatever the cause, in three passes he had been unhorsed twice and taken a powerful jolt to the shield that nearly sent a splinter through his open visor the third. He dismounted at that point, removing his helm and shaking it as if disappointed in its protection, before tossing it away.

Flourishing a bow to both the Azure Knight and the crowd, he shouted, “If it pleases Your Highnesses, let us continue this battle on foot! I do not yet yield!”

He didn’t want to hurt or injure the impostor too harshly — he needed simply to win the battle, unmask him to reveal his true identity and only then could he seek out his beloved, and he didn’t dare do that until he’d neutralised every available threat.

“Coward,” he muttered under his breath, deliberately baiting him as he jumped down in an elegant move from his horse, a little shorter than the other male posing as his brother, yet just as fierce when wielding his stance.

‘Camden’ merely laughed at him, offering another bow before attacking. As before, it really wasn’t much of a challenge for the Azure Knight — the impostor seemed more intent on putting on a show than actually fighting well, and his wide sweeps and telegraphed blows made it all too easy for a skilled opponent to overcome him.

He kept taunting the Azure Knight, though, cajoling, begging, demanding to know who his opponent was. “Do you not feel hot under that metal?” he’d say, “Take off your helm.” Or, “Are you such a coward yourself that you need to protect your head while mine is yet bare?”

lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

The knight claiming to be Sir Camden grinned widely, but in a strangely good-natured way, as if he was merely looking forward to light competition and not tearing the Azure Knight’s heart to shreds. He clapped his helm on, arrogantly leaving the visor up.

Above, the Princess rose again, clasping both hands to the rail surrounding her seating, and leaned forward, the better to see. She dared give no sign of approval to either knight. Playing to the crowd, stamping and screaming, the false Sir Camden raised his hand and waved before swinging up into the saddle and accepting a lance.

“CHARGE!” came the command, and the two knights thundered toward one another.

He trembled minutely before reining in his emotions and straightening up, hating how the impostor had even brilliantly mastered his deceased brother’s emotions — that smile there was the ghost of the one that Camden used to send his way when he was up to no good, and it staggered Isaac now to see it after all this time.

Nodding at the charge, he dug his heels into Button’s sides as he charged forward on the command, looking forward to knocking the brute off of his own horse far too much, and thus hopefully winning the competition. Discovering his true identity was just another task to add to his never-ending list.

Whomever he truly was, the knight called Sir Camden was, in the end, no match for the Azure Knight. Rage, skill, determination — whatever the cause, in three passes he had been unhorsed twice and taken a powerful jolt to the shield that nearly sent a splinter through his open visor the third. He dismounted at that point, removing his helm and shaking it as if disappointed in its protection, before tossing it away.

Flourishing a bow to both the Azure Knight and the crowd, he shouted, “If it pleases Your Highnesses, let us continue this battle on foot! I do not yet yield!”

lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

The crowd booed at him, displeased by his apparent unwillingness to continue fighting. He was so close, the contest almost over, and he would give up now? Someone shouted of the Azure Knight’s sudden cowardice, insulting his mother.

But then the Prince rose, lifting both hands, and amazingly the crowd quieted. “Do you wish to forfeit?” he asked the Azure Knight. A page stood at his elbow, lifting a fresh lance to the knight.

He flinched and clenched his jaw, reaching for his lance as his Page returned it to him, bristling at the offensive remark aimed at his mother, before he gazed furiously at the impostor before him.

“How dare you…” he breathed out as he mounted Buttons once more, fighting the urge to remove his helm to reveal his true identity, and it was clear that whoever was before him knew who he was. “He’s dead!”

The knight claiming to be Sir Camden grinned widely, but in a strangely good-natured way, as if he was merely looking forward to light competition and not tearing the Azure Knight’s heart to shreds. He clapped his helm on, arrogantly leaving the visor up.

Above, the Princess rose again, clasping both hands to the rail surrounding her seating, and leaned forward, the better to see. She dared give no sign of approval to either knight. Playing to the crowd, stamping and screaming, the false Sir Camden raised his hand and waved before swinging up into the saddle and accepting a lance.

“CHARGE!” came the command, and the two knights thundered toward one another.

lycanthropelahey:

iamthefirechild:

As on the previous two days, none were capable of standing before the Azure Knight. He was hard-pressed against some few opponents — Lord Deucalion in particular, despite his handicap, nearly defeated the concealed knight — but skill, youth, and determination won the day each time.

And then his final opponent appeared, and the crowd clamoured with excitement, for the other knight bore the heraldry of Lahey on his shield. That family was thought to be extinct, wiped out in an unexpected clash with the House of Argent, yet this knight, tall and smiling, carried his helm under his arm and was announced as Sir Camden Lahey.

Sir Isaac was performing astoundingly well, sweating and panting underneath his armour, but he would never admit to defeat. To do so, would annoy the crowds as well as bring shame to his own house, and the Hales, and would certainly displease Summer, if she were watching.

But then, a new opponent sauntered onto the field and he stiffened, wide eyes latching onto the familiar emblem, and he shook his head in disbelief, unable to believe his eyes. “No….” He finally spoke before his lance clattered to the ground, wondering what sort of cruel witchcraft this was.

The crowd booed at him, displeased by his apparent unwillingness to continue fighting. He was so close, the contest almost over, and he would give up now? Someone shouted of the Azure Knight’s sudden cowardice, insulting his mother.

But then the Prince rose, lifting both hands, and amazingly the crowd quieted. “Do you wish to forfeit?” he asked the Azure Knight. A page stood at his elbow, lifting a fresh lance to the knight.