Something else that was pleasant was the audience did have a few members of court in attendance. The king could not attend, but it was obvious that the loyal courtiers would tell him about what happened. All that left was for us to look around the capitol for things to get involved in. Our coffer was getting low. That meant that we were going to need to get some jobs. The language of the new world was practically English. It was just that every word was spelled as it was pronounced. It was a bit jarring at first, but I could get used to it. Anthony and Fabien were not too proud to get jobs, coming from a minor house. They found employment as the hosts of a tavern nearby the red-light district. Petras and Jeran were able to moonlight as guards to a warehouse near the docks. I was able to get a job cleaning the local church. There was a small parish of peasants that went there. Hanging out with them allowed me to get the gossip of the lower class funneled straight to my ear. The other knights kept the house clean and Evan was made to cook all of the meals each day. We got by that month.
Once it was time for the tournament, we were able to get our pay and quit our jobs. The real test ahead of us was getting the eye of the court. Hopefully, the king himself would attend. There was no need for all the preliminary rounds of fighting that took place last time. The last tournament sorted that out. Once we got to the round of 16, we would qualify for the next tournament. This time, we were dealing with the best fighters of the capitol duchy. It was no surprise that we would need to bring our best performances going forward. It was another standard draw of 128 competitors in single elimination combat. That made sense to me. Aside from Petras and Jeran, there were only humans fighting here. The first round, I was given a weak opponent. He was a mercenary that got lucky in his draw. I beat him easily. The next round was a soldier that was on leave from his post to compete. I beat him too. It took a whole lot out of me though. I was then given a young knight. He was a competent fighter and it forced me to play dirty to win. I still almost lost an ear fighting him though. I now was qualified.
Anthony, Fabien and Jeran did well to get through to the round of 16 too. Petras was caught by a gladiator with a net and spear. There was no way to escape the heavy fish net and eventually, he was forced to admit his defeat. The crowd went wild with applause at that development. Petras scowled and spat on the ground in disgust. I was allowed to slip by into the quarterfinals by meeting Jeran. There was a strict hierarchy between us. It was Fabien, then Anthony, me and then whoever was the victor of Jeran and Petras. The bye round gave me a chance to prepare for my next opponent. The brothers Swiftheart also made it to the quarterfinals. If they won, they would meet in the semifinals. My opponent was Sir Killroy again. I looked him down and said "Looks the world wants to see our rematch." He scoffed but said nothing. We fought hard. He wielded a zweihander and I had my knives. After all the dodging and close combat, it devolved into a fist fight. Unfortunately, I did not have shiny metal gauntlets like Sir Killroy. I was immediately on the defensive position. I lost to him once again.
Fabien was no match for him either. Sir Killroy went to the finals and dominated his opponent. That made two consecutive victories on the circuit. However, since both the semis and the final were on the same day, the king got to see both brothers fight. The king wanted to talk to them. They were allowed to enter the royal box for a brief conversation. They got to introduce themselves and offer their services to the king. Fabien even had a large sapphire on hand to give as a gift. From what they said, the meeting went well. I was told later that the king's cousin saw my match with Sir Killroy and told him about it. We got a royal invitation for the celebration for the "stunning" victory of Sir Herman Killroy. It turned out that Sir Killroy was actually an illegitimate child of the ruling family. The king's younger brother's son with a mistress of noble birth or some such. Not a big deal when you were built like a tank and could crush the skulls of several men at once. Petras and Jeran were not invited though. It still was fine. They were not human. We had everyone get their finest clothes and we went to the castle.
