Chương 26: 3.5

Jewel watched the wrestling with consideration. Before, she had not entirely seen the point. After all she could simply lay on top of anyone that actually tried to wrestle her. Or that had been the case until the Terror Boar. Now though, there was a lot more to appreciate in how the combatants moved. It was in some ways incredibly similar to how the boar had treated her like a harmless babe once it closed. It was all in the weight, the leverage, the positioning.

She was going to ask Father if he and Muriel could come up with a regime that would let her practice Wrestling in some form, maybe they could have her try and grapple oxen? The way that she had been utterly defeated as soon as a suitably sized opponent closed with her? That had shocked and shamed her terribly. Lady Jewel she might be, but as a Wyrm she was supposed to be a part of the military obligations of the Barony as well.

Just as Alexander would someday be Baron and if he had the talent for it, even Gryphon Lord, she was to act in some sense like a Knight herself. So Wrestling had gone from a confusing past time she thought everyone was maybe a bit too enthusiastic about to a vitally important craft she had to master as soon as possible. That said, some of the staff she had taken to talking with seemed to not understand the sport any better then she had, despite the enthusiasm.

Especially the dairymaid, who would not stop talking about the sweat and the muscles and things Jewel was pretty sure had little to do with the artful application of force and balance Wrestling entailed. It was however a bit uncomfortable how much the current match reminded her of her experience with the Terror Boar. Kraok was putting in a mighty effort to try and match the skill of Lothlar. They had sparred, of course, and Kraok was learning fast.

But no matter his talent, a few fortnights of work and the years of service as a footman had not really prepared him to match the expertise and training of a Knight, even a foreigner like Lothlar. Which is to say that while they struggled mightily Kraok was definitely losing. That is until at the last minute, when Jewel knew that Lothlar had him entirely and just needed to shift one leg into a sweep to finish the plunge off center that Kraok was about to do he simply refused.

A hand squeezing tight at Kraok's shoulder, a glance passing between them and then a scowl from Kraok even as he got his balance under him further confused. The once Footman braced and then did a mighty heave that seemed to have caught everyone else spectating by surprise and drew a great deal of cheering and gasps but Jewel could plainly catch this had been an opening Lothlar intentionally left the still in training Knight.

The foreign Knight slammed into the hard packed dirt of the Courtyard with a huff and a laugh. Shouting in a good natured way he always seemed.

"A good bout from the Lord Baron's Champion!" Which got even more cheers. Especially from the Dairy Maid (Adeline! That was her name!). Lothlar rolled back onto his bare feet and he and Kraok held each other, hands on each other's forearms, right to left so that the other was free to embrace tightly as was proper for allies and brothers on the battlefield. Jewel strode up to the two 'combatants' giving each of them a considering eye before nodding.

Since Father was still occupied dispensing his generosity to last stragglers amongst the subjects the rest of her family had to take up the other officious functions of the fair. Today Jewel was the Lady of the Arena, dispenser of prizes and supposedly judge of fair play. She kept the frown she wanted to level on the two of them.

Throwing the match like that was a good move for establish Kraok's prowess, and it's not like they had not done a good showing between them for those farm hands with more muscle then sense, and the other footmen. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. But she didn't think it was in the spirit of things to have thrown the match like that. Still, it would do damage to both their honors to acknowledge it here and now.

And it was obvious that Lothlar had done it as a way to forfeit without losing face for either of them. Jewel would have preferred to see a proper match between them but she supposed she'd just have to watch when they were actually sparring in the mornings or something.

"To the champion of today's bouts I present the prize! Praise to Sir Kroak! Boarslayer and champion of Rochford!" She handed him the leather satchel of silver coins with a carefully suppressed wince. It was only a hundred and some, but that had come from her family's own coffers. Jewel never liked giving up the family coin. Just one of them was a solid day's labor worth haying a field. This was only for freemen and the occasional band of transient laborers without proper allegiance to fief and land of course.

Her Father's arrangement with their subjects was that they worked all of the fields of the barony at each appointed season and were given in kind their portion for sillage, grain, and if the harvests or weather was good, a generosity such as now. But still in principle, Kraok had just been given as a prize the labor of well over a hundred strong backed men toiling all their work hours cutting hay in the sun. Compared to the work of simply throwing a dozen men to the ground between them.

It made her feel uneasy with the exchange. But again, the work of a Knight was expensive, his manor would need coin to purchase what could not be obligated from the demesne's subjects. In which case it was hardly like she was doing anything but moving this pile of precious coins from one shelf in the coffers to another. Jewel nodded and smiled a bit brighter and more genuinely as feeling relieved that it was not really giving up such a great sum away from her family.

Not like when they had to pay for salt and other foreign herbs and spices. Kraok for his part opened the bag to inspect, drawing out a silver penny with the profile of the countess on one side and a gryphon posed rampant on another. He bit it right then and there! Like some common merchant unsure of the worth of the metal! Jewel bristled, her mane standing on end, the tension pulling a few of the recently rebound braids loose at the roots.

Quite a few of the older visitors also got sharp and Lothlar was tense with shame. Oblivious to his faux pas Kraok strode with assurance over to where the losers from the wrestling bouts had sat down to watch their betters finish. Jewel was too shocked at the insult he'd done to check the coin to even speak. But that blossomed into relief and admiration at the coup he proceeded to blunder into.

"Here, each of you, fifteen penny! The Lord's Generosity and honors are already overflowing for me." The shock as he divided up nearly the entirety of his bag of winnings amongst them drove Jewel and the crowd to silence. Either still oblivious of the scene he was making or just because he wanted to earn the reputation of generosity befitting Father's Knight Kraok continued.

"You all were excellent fighters. Keep working on your footing, get some solid meals. And when I am settled in my lands come find me any of you, all of you. I'll have a place in my staff for you." Ah! That made more sense. Jewel nodded firmly. To some, this might look like he was somehow poaching the labor and able bodies of Father's immediate fiefs for his own. But as she had noted with the coins it's not like they were actually leaving the Barony.

A little shuffling around of people was no different then moving coins from one barrel to another. Kraok might make a very good knight indeed.