The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 615: Welcome the Knights

The sound of urgent footsteps in the hallway stopped at the door, and Prince Claudius walked in with a scowl on his face.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding. Do you know how long we’ve been looking for you, Princess?” He demanded.

“I was just visiting with my brother-in-law for a few minutes. The staff even brought us snacks, surely you could have just asked them?”

Truthfully, he had only been looking for her for half a minute, and had heard her voice from down the hall.

But he didn’t want to admit that.

“Come, Father wants to see you, and we have much to catch up on.

My apologies, Duke Dominic, but I simply must borrow my little sister for a moment.”

“Of course. I should finish my paperwork. Enjoy your conversation, Your Highness.”

Dominic barely managed to keep a straight face at the petulant look on Elanor’s face, but her father had called for her, and that wasn’t something that she could ignore.

But she knew as well as Dominic that her oldest brother was just jealous that someone else got to spend time with his sisters. They all ignored him after they went away and got married, and most of his brothers were either dreadfully dull, or after his position as Crown Prince.

Hardly relaxing partners for conversation.

“Your Grace, it’s time to go greet the Knights from the other Realms who have arrived for the tournament.

The venue is ready, and they have set their tents around it, as is the custom for a joust. All that is left is for you to do the formal welcoming of the Nobility into your territory, and confirm that the events will be starting in two days.” The veiled maid reminded him.

“Got it. Let’s head out. Dave, can you have someone get the horse ready? Plus one for our lovely assistant.”

Dave nodded, and Dominic gladly placed a paperweight on his stack of documents to review, then rose to head for the door.

Greeting the Knights who had come for the tournament was an essential part of his duty, and delaying any longer would just be rude as a host. In fact, he likely should have arranged for them to meet him before every one arrived, but they had all been brought so close together that it simply wasn’t feasible to greet them all individually.

The arena area had changed dramatically from what Dominic remembered only a few days earlier.

Not only was there a massive stone stadium, designed to have a huge crowd watching the events, but there were nearly a hundred large and colourful tents set outside by the Knights, a small market with food and other vendors, and a secondary crowd area for locals who wanted to watch the festivities before and after the event.

It almost felt like a fair or a carnival, but with most of the conversation revolving around what the locals had heard about the various Nobles who would be competing.

The Knights had brought squires with them, men who had spread the word of their Lord’s deeds and accomplishments among the locals.

That was an essential part of the event. You needed to get a solid fan base to keep up morale, but it also affected the betting pool. Naturally, most of the Knights would be betting on themselves to win, but if the odds took too big of a swing, it would mess up the bets should they happen to end up in second or third.

There was a whole tournament circuit that the Knights participated in, and a complex betting system based on how they were ranked before and after, as well as how they actually performed during this event.

Most of the jousts weren’t a set location and date every year, unless they were one of the holiday events.

Mostly, they were up to whatever Noble had the money to host one, and the political influence to convince top jousters to show up.

Neither was an issue for Dominic.

Not because of himself, though he would have gotten many of the closer Knights to come. But when you had six Kings in your Manor, even the flimsiest of excuses was enough to get Noblemen to come see you.

The first few Noblemen came over as soon as Dominic stopped his horse, while Dave helped the veiled maid dismount.

The arrival of the local Duke meant that things were getting closer to started, and that was excellent news.

Dominic also realized that he didn’t need to have worried about the horses for the event. The only ones who would need them might be any of his local Knights who wanted to join, but who had just left the military.

The others travelled with their mechanical horse as part of their equipment, and they were currently being checked and polished by the squires.

That was part of what had drawn the local crowd here to watch, and Dominic could see why.

It was an amazing spectacle. Both a show of wealth and military might, but also Noble pride, and some of the top jousters had their own fandoms among the locals.

That was often not the case, but the people of Wistover were all newly arrived from other regions, and some of these men were familiar faces to them from past events.

“Gentlemen, welcome to Wistover. I can see that everyone is quite excited for the event to start, so I won’t give you some long-winded speech.

Just the basics.

First, it is true that the Kings are here, and most do intend to attend the event. It is possible that you may meet one or more of them on any given day of the tournament.

If possible, have your squires be prepared for anything you might need to change for a casual meeting.

The event will begin the day after tomorrow, to give the last of the Knights time to arrive and get set up. You surely already knew that, I just wanted to make it official.

If you have business with anyone staying within the Manor grounds, inform the gate guards, and they will make the arrangements.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all in action.”