The three winners are told to appear before the king without their horse and fully prepared for battle.
Cedric hands his brother Henry a flail.
"This will prove usefull in the next battle, I am sure of it." "They both seem rather vicious, be carefull Henry." Roderick warned his friend.
Frederick added:
"What's going to happen now? there are three knights left." Henry anwered:
"We will just have to wait and see.. its best to be prepared for everything at this unusual tournament."All three remaining knights moved to stand before the king, looking up at the balcony.
The king stood up from his throne, and his niece Mary stood up as well. Together they moved to the edge of the balcony to better see the knights.
The king spoke:
"Three brave knights remain, to fight for the hand of my lovely niece Mary. But there can be only one champion worthy enough to marry her.
Therefore the three of you will fight each other in a three way battle! Only a man strong enough to defeat more than one knight at once will be good enough for my niece Mary."Most people present seemed surprised at this odd turn of events. a three way battle? how odd. But at the same time, everyone was curious to see it, and better yet: who would emerge victorious.
All the nobles on the balcony moved forward to take a good look at the fight that was about to start.
Wolfgang of Ravenstein and Siegfried Rodich where confident that their cousin would surely win, he was a very strong man after all.
The heralds their horns could be heard once more, signaling the start of this unusual battle.
All knights looked at each other as they moved in a circle, waiting for each other to make the first move.
Carrying a menacing heavy axe along with his mace, Sir Heinrich Drachenfell was ready for a strong offensive.
Lord Silvermane stood perfectly still and silent, it was rather unnerving. he grasped his spear firmly, ready to strike at anyone that came near.
Henry eyed them both, being focused on the battle at hand. He was concerned that these two mighty knights would be too strong for him, but he was eager to overcome this challenge. The lovely princess would surely be much happier with him than with them.
(The story will continue tomorrow.
)