The Gorgon Read Free Page A

They're too
far out."
    Summer smiled faintly. "That
should be the last of the guests. The tourney is scheduled to b-begin in two
hours." Forgetting about the incoming party, her smile blossomed into a
radiant gesture. "I have never seen a tourney, Nise. I can hardly stand
the excitement!"
    Genisa grinned. "It's a
wonderful spectacle of arrogance and humiliation. I have seen Stephan compete
in at least six."
    "And he won every
b-bout?"
    "Every bout, as you well
know. Stephan does not lose." Genisa grasped her sister-in-law by the
hand, pulling her toward the portion of the battlement that straddled the
portcullis. "We can see the incoming party better from here. If this is
indeed the last group, then we must ready ourselves for the afternoon of
competition."
    "And f-food," Summer
said eagerly. "I have b-been smelling roast beef all morn."
    "Me, too," Genisa
giggled, waving one of the tunic-clad men-at-arms away from the spot she wished
to gaze from. The tournament field in the near distance was revealed, several
of the guests having already established small tents about the perimeter, and
the two women found their attention occupied by the colorful display of
shelters. "Look at all of the tents, Summer. There must be hundreds."
    Summer cocked a well-shaped
eyebrow as she totaled the sea of tents. "I count eighteen. B-but we
certainly may have one hundred before the day is through."
    Unaware that she had been subtly
corrected, Genisa continued to stare out over the bright turf as the flags of
various houses were secured to the lodges. One hundred or eighteen was all the
same to her; unlike her intelligent sister-in-law, Genisa could not read or
write or calculate numbers. The fine arts of needlework and music and painting
were all she had ever been required to learn.
    Suddenly, her bright expression
faded. When Summer glanced at her sister-in-law to say something to the woman,
she noted the change in countenance.
    "What's wrong?" she
asked.
    "There's the Kerry
tent," she replied, indicating the fanciful shelter of yellow and white.
"Good Heavens, I wish they hadn't been invited. I do not know why Stephan
insisted on inviting Breck Kerry and his stupid brother."
    Summer gazed at the brilliantly
colored tarp, its towering standard snapping loudly in the breeze.  "Isn't
he the knight who b-broke Stephan's wrist last year?" she asked.
    Genisa nodded grimly. "He's
an unscrupulous knight. Stephan says his tactics are foul and questionable, but
his peers tolerate him because his father was a great knight for King Richard
the Lion Heart." Pensively, she sighed and leaned forward on the parapet.
"I wish he hadn't come. I shall worry terribly about Stephan now."
    Summer's gaze drifted over the
other tents surrounding the tournament field, an area coming alive with guests
and knights and ladies in fine clothing. "Stephan and F-father invited all
of the knights on the circuit, men Stephan and Ian have competed against for
several years. It would be unfair to invite some and not others for this
celebration."
    "I know, I know,"
Genisa sighed unhappily. "Still, I wish he had somehow managed to exclude
Breck. I do not want him here."
    Summer smiled, attempting to
alleviate Genisa's fears. "Not to worry, darling,” she said soothingly.
“Stephan is the b-best knight on the circuit, is he not?"
    Genisa shrugged carelessly, her
chin in her hand as she leaned forward on the stone ledge. "So he says,”
she muttered. “I have only heard him mention a few others, men who give him
steady competition. There is one knight I have heard him mention above all
others, a man who... look there!" As usual, Genisa had difficulty
maintaining her concentration for any length of time and she stabbed her finger
into the air, pointing to the road that moved through the town and snaked
towards the mighty fortress. "Look at all of the knights in that party.
Five in all."
    Summer studied the approaching
party, beginning their ascent up the wide pebbled road towards