Chapter 746: A Knight’s First and Final Weapon
As much as Ollie wanted to settle things quickly and quietly, there were some things that were unavoidable. The room that the captive knights stayed in was under constant guard and while they had luxurious quarters, they were still prisoners. If Ollie wanted to take them to a courtyard to settle matters with Sir Rain, he needed to ensure that there were sufficient guards to watch over the men while he focused on his duel.
While Harrod was happy to fetch more men to stand guard for Sir Ollie, the young knight had failed to give any instructions about keeping things quiet. Because of his oversight, by the time Ollie and the captive knights arrived in a flagstone yard that Nyrielle’s army used for training, the entire square was packed with soldiers who had come to watch. And from the sounds of the chatter when they arrived, the men were already placing bets, though the form of the bets seemed a bit odd.
"Two silver pennies says Sir Ollie ends it on the first blow," one man said, holding up two clawed fingers.
"Four silver tails says Sir Ollie kills the fool outright," another man added, jostling his way forward.
"I’ve got a silver penny that says the human won’t even scratch Sir Ollie before the duel ends..."
The bets were as varied as the soldiers placing them, but no one seemed to have two bits of silver to rub together to wager that Ollie would lose.
"Where are the weapons, kitchen boy?" Sir Rain said, looking around the square and frowning. "Don’t tell me that we’re going to fight with those padded wooden sticks like children?"
"A knight’s first weapon is his last weapon," Ollie said, taking a fighting stance in the middle of the square and holding up his fists. "When swords lay broken and armor torn asunder, a knight will fight with his bare hands until there is no life left in his body," he quoted. "Didn’t you learn this from your teachers?"
"Foolish nonsense from men who have never known battle," Sir Rain spat as he squared off against Ollie, raising his own fists in a fighting stance that was more appropriate to brawling in bars than fighting a duel. "Did you learn that from Master Isabell’s poet husband? It seems the sort of thing he’d say."