Read Online Fatal Fairies (Renaissance Faire Mystery Book 8) by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene - Free Book Online Page A

the King’s or Queen’s Joust, so neither of them was present in the grandstands. I saw Princess Isabelle up there with her court of followers. Her eyes were pinned on me instead of Chase.
    I wasn’t wearing the dark-rimmed glasses, but it was still likely that she recognized me from the police station. That meant she would give Chase hell when they saw each other again in private. I was sorry for that, in a way. On the other hand, I planned to steal him from her as I had years before in my Village. Maybe this was a way to let her know I was after him.
    Lord Dunstable was still dropping the kerchief to begin the joust from the grandstand. Another older knight, he only performed this function at the King’s Feast in my world, but I understood he’d once done it at every joust in the Village. Strange, the things that were the same and those that were different. How much was affected by my wish for Chase not to be Bailiff?
    There was no time to ruminate over the answers. I handed Chase his helm and took the sword from him. I gave him a lance and then stepped back. My feet were killing me on the rough mixture of sand, gravel, and dirt. Even the hay poked into them.
    Chase was a strong jouster. Very few knights could stand against him. He’d started jousting right out of college when he’d first come to the Village. At the time, it had been the only thing he wanted to do.
    The jousts were partially real in that two men on horses went at each other quickly with pointed objects in their hands. The lances were thin and mostly gave way when they hit an opponent. Sometimes there were injuries, usually from jousters falling from their mounts.
    I shuddered in this case to imagine Chase knocking poor Sir Reginald from his horse. He wasn’t exactly elderly, but he wasn’t in great condition like the younger knights. Who’d set this up anyway? Even though this was a different Village, I wondered if this was the time that Sir Reginald would have a heart attack.
    How could I watch and let this happen?
    Answer—I couldn’t. It wasn’t me.
    “Wait! Stop!” I ran between the two men, yelling and screaming like a banshee, waving my arms around. “Don’t joust.”
    Sir Reginald’s horse reared up, and he lost his seat. He tumbled to the ground, but wasn’t hurt.
    “You must curb your squire, Sir Knight.” His voice was loud enough to make a spectacle of it.
    That was the whole point in being here.
    People booed and yelled for me to leave the field. Chase stared down at me.
    “What are you at, squire? Back to the station with you before I give you a good hiding.”
    “Please, good Sir Knight.” I got on my knees and raised my hands to him in supplication. “Do not harm the ancient, frail knight. Allow him to go back to the castle in dignity and peace.”
    “What?” Sir Reginald sounded amazed, his voice echoing from behind his helm.
    Cheerleaders and spectators laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. I didn’t care. Sir Reginald had almost died in my Village, and Chase had felt bad for weeks. There was no reason it should happen here. I could stop it.
    “Get that varlet off the field,” the older knight sneered.
    His cheerleader took up the chant, encouraging his fans to follow her. “Off the field. Off the field.”
    I put my hand on Chase’s knee—that was as high as I could reach with him on horseback. “Please don’t let him joust.”
    He raised his visor. His dark eyes were confused and curious. Yet as he was about to speak, a large cloud came up and began raining hard on us. There were deafening thunderclaps and strong winds that blew many of the banners down.
    Spectators and Village residents ran to shelter. Sir Reginald’s horse bolted toward the stables. I didn’t move, wondering if this was the work of my fairy godmother. It seemed well-planned to me. Then lightning struck where Sir Reginald had been standing only a moment before. He was much faster getting off the field than I’d