âTabard⊠right⊠I need one of thoseâŠâ Ace was muttering to himself as he shuffled through the bustling streets of Montrose. âAt least theyâll give me armor and a⊠a helper person; and Iâve got my sword,â he glanced at his shoulder as the owl on his shoulder made a clacking sound with her beak.
A tall, bulky man with a deep black beard walked past them. His blood red tabard bore an intricately woven lion of golden thread, and it was vibrant even in the clouded light. A small army of squires and guards followed, also bearing swatches of the same red on their gear. He walked with authority, looking down his nose at everyone around himâincluding Aceâas he passed.
âI bet thatâs one of the other knights,â Ace bit his lip, offering a finger to stroke Orfeaâs chin in an attempt to calm her. âI donât think I like him either.â
He continued to weave through the crowds filling the street, and he found booths set up along the sides selling a variety of wares. Flowers, food, earthenware, clothing, and other trinkets were on display as shopkeepers called out to the crowds, hoping for even a few seconds of someoneâs attention.
âGet yeâ gear here!â A man with a thick Weivan accent called from a nearby booth. âScarves, tabards, bannersâshow yeâ pride for yeâ country! Show yeâ pride for yeâ knight!â
Ace stopped and joined the others gathered at the booth, eyeing the selection or wares hung from poles along the back. He perked up when he found tabards in traditional colors of each country: red and gold for Daethos, red and blue for Northaven, green and white for Weiva, and lavender and gold for Valiant. He frowned when Kalgaraâs gold and blue was not found among them, but he was not surprised. Despite the peace treaty signed after the war, Kalgara was still not considered part of Daethosâ reign.
But then, a tabard in a simple shade of red with a black stripe down the middle and along its edges caught his eye.
âExcuse me!âÂ
Orfea hopped onto his head as he squeezed between two women to reach the boothâs front table.Â
âAye, how cannaâ help yeâ?â The red-haired man stepped up to the opposite side, blinking when he found himself face to face with a barn owl.
Ace coaxed Orfea to step onto his hand, and he returned her to his shoulder before pointing to the back wall. âWhat country are those colors for?â
The man glanced backward, following the direction of Aceâs gloved finger. A smile tugged at his lips when he saw the red and black fabric. âOh, thatâs one for the Spades District in Southern Northaven.â
âThe Spades District,â the gambler began to grin. âOf course.â
âAye, my new seamstress just made it thâ other day,â he turned back to Ace. âI assume yerâ familiar?â
âI was born and raised in Fortanya.â
âThatâs thâ heart of it, all right.â The man nodded.
âIll take it,â Ace started to reach for his money bag.
The manâs smile grew genuine. âOh, thank yeâ, sir. My daughter will beâI meanââ
âYour daughter is your new seamstress?â Ace paused when he caught the slip.
The shopkeeper shrugged with open palms. âAye, just⊠tryinâa get her interested in thâ family business.â He turned back to the wall and pulled it down from the pole. He handed it to Ace and watched as he ran his thumbs along the black edges. âSince we moved here, sheâs become enamored over Northavenâs districts. I think she just likes thâ emblems.â
Sure enough, Aceâs thumbs found a pair of small embroidered swords crossed over a black, leaf-like spade on the top right of the tabard. âShe does very good work,â he said, setting the fabric down on the table. âThis will be perfect.â
âVery good, sir. The tabards are thirty silver pieces.â
âThirty?â His hands froze in place. He knew he didnât have thirtyânot since buying Orfea and food for them both over the last two days; still, he felt compelled to sift through the bag nonethelessâif only just to show he was trying. â...Iâm very sorry, sir; I only have twenty-two. I didnât mean to waste your time,â he frowned and started to hand the tabard back to the man.
The man held up his hands. âNoâIâll split the difference.â
âWhat?â
âI really want her to sell her first tabard,â the man set a hand on the cloth to stop its movement. âFifteen pieces, and itâs yours.â
âSir, at least let me give you what I haveââ
âFifteen,â he stressed. âItâs going to a good home. âSides, yeâll need provisions while yer here for thâ tournament.â
Ace smiled, then bent down to count out fifteen pieces. He handed them to the shopkeeper, who accepted them gladly. âThank you sir, I don't know what to say.â
âIâll accept yer name,â he reached out once his hand was free of the coins.
Ace grasped his hand and shook it. âAce Gallagher.â
âAce?â He repeated, cracking a wide grin. âIt really is goinâ to a good home, isnât it.â
Ace simply smirked.
âIâm Robert Murphy. My wife, there at the other end of the booth, is Charlotte. My daughter, Rose, is not here at thâ moment, but Iâll be sure to tell her sheâs made a sale.â
âAnd tell her when I have more money, I will buy all the Spades District gear sheâs got.â
Robert gave a hearty chuckle. âI'll do it. Enjoy thâ tournament, Ace; I assume you're rooting for thâ Knight oâ Northaven?â
Ace chewed on his smile. âYeah, I sure am.â
âWell, Iâll wish thâ best of luck to Northaven tomorrow on your behalf!â He raised a fist.
âThank you, Robert, Iâll...â he paused, âIâll bet heâll need it.â
âAnd thatâs one very well behaved bird yeâve got there!â He pointed to Orfea. âIâve been meaninâ to say so.â
âOh, thanks,â he reached up to gently stroke the birdâs feathers. âSheâs a good judge of character.â
Robert simply chuckled. âGood'ay, Ace.â
âGood day,â he nodded.
Ace returned to the crowd, again weaving around the groups of visitors, vowing to save the rest of his money for absolute emergencies. He almost immediately caved when he passed a booth selling sweet pies and savory pastry pocketsâand the rumble of hunger in his stomach convinced him to stop for lunch. Thankfully, the meat-filled treat was only one more of his silver pieces, but the dwindling number in his money bag reminded him how much he needed the prize.
âI sure hope I can win this thing,â he again began to mutter to himself as he returned to the arena with his new tabard and dinner in hand. He took a bite of the pastry and then pinched off a bit of the shredded pork inside to hand it to Orfea. She swallowed it gladly.
ââCause, if not⊠well,â his focus turned inward, âI donât think Athenaâs going to give me another chance.â
Â
----Â
More from the jousting story! This one happens before the tournament (as I'm sure you gathered) and also stemmed from me realizing how little Ace really has when he goes into this thing. I really kinda glossed over that in the first draft... ha.
Also figured out how I could still work "Spades" in since I changed the country's name to Northaven. Now Spades is a district! The only other I know of is the Diamonds district (the line of distinction between the two is very apparent) and I assume the other card suits have their place too.
Lastly, I swapped Ace buying a mini dragon to Ace buying a barn owl off an old lady. I did kinda forget Ace gets her in this story... so she should still be around in Book 5.
Fun story for Orfea's name: my old boss/friend Ken and his wife took me to go see the opera "Orfeo ed Euridice" at one of the colleges one evening when I was working with them. We ate at Cracker Barrel before, where I found a snowy owl plush that I had to purchase. We went to the opera, and enjoyed it, and on the way home I decided I would name the owl Orfea (because even the "actor" playing Orfeo/Orpheus was a girl/alto and I wanted her to be a girl owl). So even though Ace's owl is not a snowy owl, I still like the name for an owl. And Orfea means "darkness of night" so it works well for an owl anyway.