Therefore, Douglas and Roi were more than happy to prepare the man they expected to win the tournament today. The God of Vengeance was a hell of a competitor and they were honored that he’d asked for their assistance. The pairs for the finals hadn’t been drawn yet, but one of the stable boys had been running back and forth from the marshal’s station to see if anything had been posted yet. They knew the pairs would soon be drawn.
Finally, they were.
The stable boy came running back to the staging area at high speed, his flushed face full of excitement.
“Oy!” he exclaimed. “Sir Essien against Sir William!”
Essien started laughing. “So I’ve drawn the Wolfe, have I?” he said. “That’s fine with me. I will beat that dog to a pulp. And my brother?”
“He drew Sir Jonathan!”
Essien laughed harder. “Wolfie?” he said. “Now, that’s the bout I want to see. God’s Blood, that is going to be a battle.”
As he stood there, snorting, he was joined by Ashton. The big blond knight wandered over, an amused expression on his face as he came to stand next to Essien.
“Did you see the matches?” he asked.
Essien nodded. “I was just told,” he said. “Me against the littlest de Wolfe. He’s going to be spanked today, I can feel it.”
Ashton chuckled. “Not strangely, he has said the same thing about you.”
Essien’s smile vanished unnaturally fast. “Did he?” he said. “That little whelp. Once I unseat him, I’m going to put him over my knee and lash the arrogance right out of him.”
That only made Ashton laugh harder. “Again,” he said, “not strangely, he said the same thing aboutyou.”
Essien looked at him, scowling. “Ash,” he said frankly, “in a bout between the two of us, who would you put your money on to emerge the victor?”
Ashton scratched his head. “Let me think a moment,” he said, watching Essien fume. “The littlest Wolfe has size and strength going for him. William is taller than you are.”
Essien frowned. “Taller and dumber,” he said. “Do you honestly think that whelp can beat me in a tournament?”
Ashton shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “Riding tournaments was your business for quite some time, and no one does it better than you and your brother. But do not underestimate William, because he is more devious than you are. If he can figure out a way to take you down, he will.”
That both flattered and worried Essien. He knew William and knew the lad was crafty. Not evil, but crafty. With de Norville and Hage out of the competition, at least all he had to worry about was the youngest de Wolfe brother.
And his own brother.
Or Wolfie.
Hell, he had to worry about all of them.
“Who else made the finals?” he asked. “I did not see the rest of the matchups.”
“Not me,” Ashton said indignantly, referring to being knocked out in the semifinals. “Your brother saw to that. But toanswer your question, Cassian and Rolf Deinhold make the third pair.”
“Ah,” Essien said. “The Dark Conqueror and the Sword of Tyr. That should be exciting. Deinhold may look like someone who was scraped out of the sewer, but he is nothing to be trifled with on a tournament field. The man will send you to the ground if you are not careful.”
Ashton knew that. “Indeed,” he said. “You are up first. According to the marshal’s list, the winners between Wolfie and your brother, and Cassian and Deinhold, will ride against each other. Then you will ride against the winner. What will you do if you must face your brother?”
The only reason Essian had the privileged position of facing the final winner between four competitors was because he’d won the overall joust at the last exhibition on the tournament circuit in Bath. Because he’d made it this far in this particular tournament, the marshals were giving him the honor of only having to face one more competitor should he win his bout. He could do away with de Wolfe and then…
“Addax and I have faced each other before,” he said. “Nineteen times over the years, to be exact.”
“And?”
“And Addax has me beat, ten victories to nine.”
Ashton shook his head, putting a hand on Essien’s shoulder. “Not this time,” he said in a low voice. “This time, you will send him to the ground and take your horse back. He’ll be riding it, you know. He is preparing that animal right now for today’s bouts.”
