(Commission) The Lovely Knight Rises - Chapter 1

(This one starts a little slow but picks up quickly. See tags for details.)

Chapter 1

Steel thudded into Matt’s staff and the force sent him stumbling backwards. His heel pivoted helplessly over open air for a heart-stopping moment. Then he was falling. The treeline rolled sickeningly as he tumbled down into the ditch, limbs flailing awkwardly in his robes. Knuckles rapped against stone and his fingers sprang open. The staff that was the channel for his magic clattered into the pebble-strewn ditch and he yelped in pain and dismay as it rolled away.

Somewhere nearby a man wailed in mortal agony. 

A shadow fell over Matt and he looked up. A brigand loomed at the edge of the ditch, muted rays of dusklight glinting from his blade. Matt’s heart pounded wildly and blood thundered in his ears. A furtive glance confirmed his staff was too far away. Desperate, he stretched out his fingers, clawing for the length of polished wood. Dust spilled over the lip of the ditch as the brigand took a step forward and raised the glittering steel overheard. Matt froze in terror under the silhouette of imminent death.

Blood-stained steel burst suddenly from the brigand’s chest.

With a grate of metal on metal the blade disappeared quickly as it had come, leaving a ragged hole that gushed dark fluid. The brigand sagged to his knees and pitched forward, tumbling limply into the ditch. The body rolled to a stop beside Matt, showering him with dirt. He blinked rapidly to clear the stinging dust from his eyes. When he opened them again flat, dead eyes stared back above lips that bubbled with a froth of blood. “Aaaack!” Matt exclaimed and scrambled back from the corpse of the man who had, moments before, been poised to kill him. Death had done little to improve the brigand's scarred face or the dirty black tangle of his beard, now wet with blood. Matt curled in on himself, fighting down the urge to be sick. 

“Planning to sleep in that ditch tonight?” a teasing, feminine voice challenged. The clank of platemail signaled his companion’s arrival at the edge of the ditch. She offered out a hand and Matt accepted it gratefully. Her grip was strong and she pulled him up with effortless grace, but he still managed to stumble into her. Their bodies collided, his thin robe against her hard metal exterior and he let out a grunt of pain. The impact did not budge her an inch. “Easy there tiger, you’ve got to get me out of the armor first.”

“Huh?” Matt said, uncomprehending. A blush heated his cheeks as her meaning sunk in and he quickly said, “Oh, n-no. I wouldn’t, err I mean that was not my intention!” She only laughed in response and stepped back to get a better look at him. The scene on the road around them was grizzly: two more men were sprawled on the ground, their lives leaking out into the dirt in widening stains. He scanned the forest for any sign of others lurking about. Between the fading light and the dust still stinging his eyes it was a short and fruitless search. Most likely any ambushers still lying in wait were intimidated by how easily their fellows were dispatched. Matt turned his attention to the knight who had slain three men in as many moments and, as always, experienced a surge of admiration and intimidation.

Jasmine D’Eris was one of the Queen’s most trusted knights and one of only a few renowned female warriors in the entire kingdom. As tall as any man, just shy of six feet, she cut an imposing figure in her burnished platemail. A shield was strapped to her back and a long length of expertly forged steel was gripped in one gauntleted hand. A thick leather belt encircled her narrow waist and gave her an ever-so-slight air of femininity that her armor otherwise concealed. Jasmine pulled her helmet off and the fading light reflected off her pale skin. Though the road had dulled her armor’s sheen, her face was as fresh and beautiful as the day their journey had begun many weeks before. Her beauty was nearly as renowned as her martial skill and had earned her the title: ‘lovely knight’. Matt could not have agreed more. 

Jasmine brushed back a few errant strands of dark, sweat damped hair and smiled at him. Matt’s heart skipped a beat the way it always did whenever she smiled like that. They had been on half a dozen adventures together and there was something about her that never failed to get to him. Maybe it was her casual confidence. Or the laughing eyes that seemed to intimate she was the only one in on some private joke. Perhaps it was her lips- full and imminently kissable- if only he had the stature to reach them. The problem with being close to Jasmine was that she made Matt acutely aware of his height. A few inches above five feet tall he was of even height with most females, but not Jasmine. His abilities as a mage gave him enough confidence to pretend his size did not bother him in most situations, but when it came to Jasmine his insecurities never failed to bubble to the surface.

She pulled out a cloth and began wiping the blood from her blade. Matt watched her for a moment before blurting out, “I’m sorry.” 

“What for?” she replied without looking up from her task.

“They came at us so quickly- I… I couldn’t do anything.”

Jasmine let out a slow breath. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I wasn’t ready, I should have been watching. I froze.”

Jasmine finished cleaning her blade and met Matt’s eyes with a frank stare. “I said, don’t worry about it.”

“If I had just-”

“Matt.” Jasmine cut in. “Stop. I said its fine, so it’s fine. If the Queen thought you could handle the job alone she would have sent you alone. She didn’t and that’s why I’m here to protect you.”

“That... Okay, that may be true but-”

“No buts. You’ve gotta stop beating yourself up. You’re not at the academy anymore, no one is going to torment you over every little mistake.” Matt grimaced at the reminder of his academy days. Jasmine did not give him time to form another argument, “Besides, I could just as easily be apologizing to you. I know you can’t fire off spells without preparation and I let one get by me. If I had been faster you might not have been knocked into the ditch.” Jasmine slid her sword home into its scabbard.

“You got all three of them,” Matt argued. “And you saved me.”

Jasmine shrugged, “And you’ve never saved me?”

“Well,” Matt started uncertainly, caught off-guard by her change in tact. “I mean, not like that.”

“Right, you haven’t run anyone through with your sword lately,” Jasmine retorted with a wry smile. 

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Matt grumbled.

Jasmine rolled her eyes which, on her, was somehow an affectionate gesture rather than an irritating one. “Right, because dumping half a dozen men chasing us into a pit doesn’t count?” Matt remembered their flight through the southern jungle months before. After days of itchy bug bites and sweat-drenched heat dropping a bunch of violent savages into a magically triggered trap had been a bit of a high point.

Still, he wasn’t ready to concede. “You could have taken them.” 

Jasmine favored him with another smile that made his heart race. “Maybe,” she took a step forward closing the distance between them so that Matt was forced to crane his neck up to meet her eyes. “But you made things easy for me, so stop worrying about it when I make things easy for you. Unless you’re looking down on me because I’m a woman?” They were mere inches apart now and Matt could smell sweat mingled with the leather and metal armoring her body. The tiniest hints of crows feet wrinkled the corners of her eyes and he was reminded that she was nearly a decade his senior. Given her beauty and teasing nature it was easy to forget that the Queen had vested her with command of every one of their adventures. Matt was a skilled magus in his own right, but there were others in the kingdom that were his equal. There was only one Lovely Knight, and he was lucky to be given the opportunity to accompany her. “Well, soldier?” Jasmine said softly.

“N-no!” Matt stammered. “I could never look down on you.”

“Huh,” Jasmine said, a pensive look crossing her face as though he had said something thought-provoking. “I guess you’re right, you’re too short for that.” Matt sighed and Jasmine laughed at his crestfallen expression. “Oh stop moping. And go get your staff. Unless you plan to fight the next group off with your prick.” Her hand shot down and before Matt could stop her she had her fingers around his junk. Sudden pressure that bordered on pain shot through his loins- and relaxed just as suddenly. He gaped at Jasmine and she returned his shock with an unreadable twist of her lips that could have been the start of a smile or a sneer of disdain- Matt had no idea which. Her hand fell away and she turned her back to survey the surrounding woods leaving Matt standing in a confused stupor.

Jasmine’s undecipherable behavior occupied his thoughts long after he retrieved his staff and their journey resumed. Was it possible that she shared his feelings? Or was wishful thinking spinning fantasies out of her confidence and familiarity? By the time the sun set and their camp was staked out Matt still had not reached a conclusion. He watched Jasmine breath life into the fire between them and, as the first flickering flames began to dance in her eyes, resolved to find out.

“So,” Matt began inauspiciously. “What do you plan to do after we bring the artifact back to the Queen?”

“Mmm,” Jasmine gave a non-commital shrug and Matt noticed her expression was distant.

Quickly forgetting where he had been going with that line of conversation he asked, “Is everything alright?”

“Those men had chainmail on under their leathers,” she said as though that explained everything.

“Okay?”

Jasmine’s eyes flicked up to him with a hint of irritation and she sighed. “Sometimes I forget how new at this you still are.”

“Hey, we’ve been adventuring together for almost two years now!” 

“And you were fresh out of the academy the first time. Remember I had to to teach you to ride a horse?”

Matt blushed furiously at the memory of being picked up out of the dirt over and over after falling from horseback. “I don’t see what that has to do with chainmail,” he said, and folded his arms defensively across his chest.

Jasmine sighed again. “Unbuckle me and I’ll tell you.” She stood and Matt followed suit, circling around to her side of the fire to stand behind her. He began to loosen the straps that held her platemail in place while Jasmine went on, “Highwaymen are rarely professional thieves. They are desperate sellswords, farmers who’ve turned to crime to feed starving families, men who have no other options. Chainmail is very expensive, and the mail those men wore was of high quality. If they were starving farmers they could have easily sold it and fed an entire family for a year or more.” Matt listened intently to Jasmine’s explanation while he unbuckled a few more straps. “And if they were sellswords they could have fetched more than a fair price for the services for being well-equipped.”

“So you’re saying they weren’t brigands?” Matt asked incredulously.

Jasmine shook her head. “I don’t know anything for sure, but something about it feels off to me. That first man I saw, the one in the bushes- he was too relaxed. Its like they weren’t planning to attack us at all. Not until I saw them.”

“Then why wait beside the road? Were they waiting for someone else?” Matt finished unbuckling Jasmine and she shrugged out of her breastplate. The metal plate was set on the ground as she bent and tugged off the padded shirt that was her last layer of protection. She straightened and only a clinging sweat-damp shirt covered her naked flesh. A half turn revealed a sculpted torso in profile- pads of muscle dancing just beneath a layer of feminine softness. The modest swell of her bust was outlined in detail by the clinging fabric and even in the dim firelight he could make out the pink protrusions of her nipples. For a moment Matt completely forgot what they were talking about.

“I don’t know why, that’s what has been bothering me,” Jasmine said.      

Matt swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Oh.” He watched Jasmine strip out of the rest of her armor, revealing a body much more fit than his own. Her upper arms were nearly as thick as his thighs and her the thickest part of her thighs were nearly as wide around as his chest. She was not just taller than him- she was bigger. And despite her size she moved with the effortless grace of a jungle cat, curved flesh molded over raw power. He remembered suddenly that he had something bothering him as well. “Well, I guess we should be extra careful. There’s something else I wanted to ask you about.”

Jasmine resumed her seat by the fire and gesture for Matt to do the same. “Well, out with it then,” she urged.

Matt took a deep breath and said, “We’ve been adventuring together for a while.”

“Mmm hmm,” Jasmine agreed. “Someone has to keep you alive.”

“Hey!”

Jasmine grinned, “You’re too easy, mage.”

“This is serious,” he said and was annoyed at how petulant his voice sounded.

“Uh oh, serious talk. That calls for a drink!” Jasmine declared and yanked a bottle from a travel pack. The cork came free with an audible pop and she tipped the bottle to her lips, taking a long swill before passing it across the fire. Matt accepted and brought the bottle to his mouth, acutely aware that Jasmine’s lips had been on it moments before. He took a long swallow that immediately devolved into a fit of coughing. Laughing, Jasmine pulled the bottle back and took another swig herself before setting it aside. “This must be a very serious talk if you’re drinking like that!” Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Between coughs Matt said, “You didn’t... warn me that was... Erogan Firewhiskey.”

“Where would the fun be in that?” Jasmine laughed.

Matt shook his head to clear it as the alcohol permeated his body, filling him with a fuzzy warmth that made him want to simultaneously lay down by the fire and run about shouting like a madman. He watched Jasmine watching him with an expression equal parts expectation and delight. The firelight highlighted her pale-skinned beauty, dark hair dancing with the a dozen candle-flames- miniature reflections of the fire between them. His eyes fell to the swell of her bust, her nipples taut and erect against the flimsy material of her undershirt. Matt swallowed and said, “I need another drink.”

Jasmine hesitated, but only for a moment, then passed him the bottle. Matt started to take another long pull when Jasmine’s hand came up to catch the end up the bottle and pull it down. “Hey-”

“Don’t forget, we’re on a mission,” Jasmine said sternly, but her expression was warm. “And you’re a lightweight.”

“You-You don’t want to be with a lightweight?” Matt retorted belligerently. “Is that it? I’m just not a big enough man to hold my liquor?”

Jasmine arched an eyebrow. “I never knew you cared so much about your tolerance for firewhisky,” she said drily.

“I don’t. That’s not- I just-”

Jasmine leaned forward and her fingers brushed against Matt’s face. He froze like a rabbit caught in a snare, every fiber of his being focused on the calloused pads of her fingers resting his cheek. Her thumb hooked under his chin and she tilted his head up, forcing him to look into her eyes. “Matt,” she said softly. “Just say what you want to say.”

How could she be so confident, so fearless? Even with firewhiskey beginning to boil through his veins it took every ounce of his will to open his mouth. “I like you.”

Jasmine smiled. “Yeah? Good, because I like you too.”

“You do?” Matt’s heart skipped a beat, and began to pound like a drum.

“Of course, we’re allies aren’t we?” Jasmine said with a shrug, though the smile never left her face.

“Oh, that’s not… Its’ just the way you look at me sometimes I wondered… What I mean to say is you’re amazing and I… I don’t know.” Matt’s shoulders slumped. Why were the right words so hard to find? Jasmine was a high ranking knight and a beauty that was more likely to end up married to a lord than some lowborn magi. Their eyes met and Matt traced the lines of her face, searching for some sign of what he should do or say. Firelight offered her pale skin a warm glow made warmer by the flush of her cheeks, she was so beautiful. “Nevermind,” Matt said at last.   

Jasmine laughed softly, “Oh Matt, I know what you meant.”

He pulled his hand free of hers and looked away, unable to hold her gaze. “You don’t feel the same way, I get it.”

A tense moment of silence was broken by a log splintering in the fire.

“Is that what the academy taught you? Give up before the battle has begun?” There was no trace of humor in Jasmine’s voice now.

Matt scowled. “That’s not the same.”

“It’s exactly the same. If you want something, you have to fight for it.”

Matt chewed on that. He had little experience with women- very little. A couple nights with a girl from his village who he was fairly certain had been using him for practice, and few more with one his peers at the academy. Those nights had been more to distract from the stress of expectations and exams than anything else. He had never wanted someone the way he wanted Jasmine. Everywhere they went people called Jasmine’s name, bought her rounds at inns- she could have anyone she wanted. How could a novice Magi hope to win the affection of one of the most famous women in the kingdom? He was supposed to fight for her? “I don’t know how.”

“Is that so?” Jasmine mused. “Because here I was thinking you were making a fine go of it until a minute ago.”

What? Matt had to replay her words in his mind a few times before the meaning sunk in. Was she saying he had a chance? Had he done something to warrant his attention? If so he had no idea what it could be.  “So you…” he swallowed. “You think of me as more than an ally?”

Jasmine chuckled, clearly enjoying his discomfort. “I’m saying you shouldn’t give up so easily, you never know what might happen. However,” Here it comes, Matt thought, this is where she rejects me. “We have a mission and that battle has to come first.” A confusing swirl of emotions raced through Matt’s mind before gradually coalescing into something resembling coherent thought. She isn’t telling me no, she’s saying I have to win her affection! Of course, how could I be so stupid, girls expect flowers and noble acts and-

A finger snapped in front of Matt’s face.

“Focus,” Jasmine snapped. “What did I just say?”

“What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me, I saw that starry-eyed look on your face.”

Matt felt his cheeks redden and he nodded. “Right, the mission. Focus on the mission. And after that?”

“We’ll talk.” 

Matt thought he heard a smile in her words but when he glanced up she was already turned away, digging out her bedroll. He sighed, feeling like he had taken three steps forward and two steps back. More than ever he wanted to find that damn artifact and get back to civilization. He forced his eyes away from the steady rise and fall of Jasmine’s chest and whispered the words to the divination spell he had cast a hundred times since their quest had begun. 

Tendrils of golden light quested out from Matt’s body and crept across the ground, seeking the artifact. Always they had pointed east but now- they simply vanished. Matt stood up, searching for the telltale ribbons of energy that should have pointed towards their destination. Then it hit him, the tendrils were pointing- just not in a direction he could see around him. 

They pointed straight down.