The crowed cheered as Alex and Sir Gonthad entered the ring. I wanted to go in with him, I wanted to help him fight and protect him but unfortunately, that couldn’t happen. The kings and prince’s thrones were set on a wooden structure raised a few feet off the ground. A cloth formed a roof to provide shelter from the light drizzle.

The two knights tightly shook hands again and unsheathed their swords. They were blunt so they couldn’t kill, but it would still hurt if you got hit by one. I bit my lip when the king stood up and called,

“Let the battle commence!”

The second those words were said, Sir Gonthad lunged at Alex with all his strength. The only move Alex had was to block. Alex staggered from the force and jumped back when the knight swung again but he was so unsteady, he fell to the ground.

That’s when I realized what Gonthad’s fighting style was. He’s big and strong so he’ll get the first hit in and even if you block it, you’ll be so taken back from such a strong blow that he’ll have time to deal another.

My teeth clamped down around my lip again but I was so worried about the fight that I didn’t notice I was bleeding. The knight tried to hit him again but Alex rolled away just in time and jumped up.

Their fight lasted what felt like hours. Sometimes Alex would have the upper hand, sometimes Sir Gonthad would. It was overall exhausting for them, and me. I was constantly biting my lip, pacing, or holding my breath.

I could tell that this fight was going on too long. It was the first and longest day because everyone had to fight everyone and if this went on much longer, we’d be behind schedule. I glanced up at the platform to see the kings discussing things feverishly. I shifted my eyes and decided to move closer and try and hear what they were talking about.

“It…gone…long!” I heard one king hiss after I’d gotten in earshot.

I had to strain my ears but I could catch bits of their conversation.

“What…We do?”

“Rematch…Last…If…Make it.”

Eventually they seemed to agree on something and a long horn blast sounded. The two men in the ring stopped and looked up, both out of breath and tired.

“This match has lasted too long, so we’ve made a decision. We’ll call this a draw and we will pair you up with others as usual. If you both make it to the last day, then you’ll fight again. The winner of your match will face the other winner.” The king explained.

I was overcome with relief, that meant Alex could rest for now and form the looks of it, he needed it.

The two shook hands again and Alex walked out of the ring with a slight limp. Well once we reached the tent, that slight limp became a crippled walk.

“Well how many times does that happen?” He asked, sitting down on the chair in the tent and stretching out his leg.

He pulled up his pant leg to reveal a huge dark purple bruise.

“Holy shit, Alex!” I cried, grabbing my bag and digging through it looking for the proper herbs and a bandage.
“It’s not broken, just tie it up tight.” He mumbled.

I bandaged it quickly, making sure to give him a mixture for the pain. He was right, it wasn’t broken, but the bone was severely bruised.

“Lex, I don’t know if you’ll be able to fight.” I murmured.
“If it’s not broken then I can.” He stated through gritted teeth.
“It looks bad, it’ll be extremely painful.” I said, smoothing the bandage.
“If I can walk on it, I can fight!” He exclaimed.

I sighed, knowing I couldn’t really do anything about it and nodded. At least Alex will have an hours rest while waiting to fight again.

---

“A few hours rest” Turned out to only be a half hour. It couldn’t really be helped, the battles just went by quickly as there were only six knights. Alex fought, and won, all twelve battles while injured with only twenty minutes rest in-between.

By the end of the day, my poor Alex limped out of the ring and collapsed on the chair in his tent.

“Lex, you did amazing.” I murmured, kneeling in front of him. He opened his exhausted eyes and smiled slightly.
“Thanks, Jay.” He sighed.
“Come on, we’ve got to get back up to the castle.” I urged.

I hated moving him, he was so tired, but we couldn’t stay here. He nodded and took a breath as he stood up. I rushed to his side to support what his leg couldn’t. Once up to his room, he fell onto his bed, asleep probably the second he hit the mattress. I smiled at him and pulled his boots and his belt off. Then I untied his tunic and pulled some medicine out of my bag and dabbed it onto his bruises. After that I decided to go ahead and sleep in my own bed which hadn’t been touched in over two weeks.

Notes

Title cred: Canals by All Time Low


Wow I really really really hate how I wrote this chapter but I felt bad for not updating in 11 days so I want to get something up and yeah sorry about how shitty this was