Men Who Play With Swords

@J Hontz and S Pickrel 2009 - all rights reserved

 
- in a field near Williamsburg Virginia, present day-
 

It was a cool but crisp day, white clouds scuttling across a clear blue sky.  Goldie Hawkins sighed with contentment. What wasn't to love when you had a weekend filled with color, costumes, swords and excitement?  Well, okay, it would have been better if Justine had been here for the morning pageantry, but she was due for lunch (Goldie checked her  - hidden, since she was in costume too - watch) any moment.

Goldie'd been lucky and snagged a good table at the pavilion set up for refreshments. She sipped her hot coffee, savoring the smell of it, as she leafed through her sketch pad.  She'd drawn a few scenes from the opening ceremonies of the Society for Creative Anachronism event, and from the introduction of the royalty, and even sketched some from when  the mounted contingent came through.  She'd gotten some good ideas from that and had mentally noted an outline for a sketch she'd work on later. After lunch came the best part, anyway, the sword and combat demos.  Nothing quite like watching muscled guys swinging swords.

Goldie looked up with a smile as she saw Justine approaching.  Whereas Goldie's costume was more tavern wench than aristocrat, Justine's was modest and rich and oh so like her. They'd been friends since they met in college, the rather up-tight history major and the slightly - okay very - uninhibited art student. They'd been assigned as roommates and surprisingly enough, a real friendship had developed.

"Hey!" Goldie said as Justine slipped into the seat opposite. "Finally ditched your responsibilities, I see," she added approvingly. Goldie passed her friend a cup of coffee. "The tea looked horrible. These people just never do tea well."

Justine took an experimental sip.  "Apparently they don't do coffee well either."  She grinned.  "Oh wait, I get it.  They didn't have coffee until after the Renaissance so how would they even know?"

Goldie giggled. She tended to giggle a lot. "Yeah, that's it, must be. So... How was the date?"

Justine set the coffee down and regarded her friend carefully.  "That's the last time, girlfriend.  If you ever do that to me again, I'm moving to Juneau and not giving you my phone number."

"Aw, come on. George is cute, you have to give him that.  He even has clean fingernails!"

"George is an antediluvian auto mechanic who thinks the last four words of the national anthem are 'gentlemen, start your engines.'"

Goldie sighed. "Yeah, but he parties so well... Okay, next time you find your own man. And find me one. Like maybe one of those!" she added her eyes going wide as she watched a bunch of men with swords on their hips walk in and take seats at nearby tables. "Gods, I love men with pointy sticks."

Justine groaned.  "Are we ready to order?" she asked, a desperate and probably futile attempt at distraction.

"Oh, look at those two. God, I want to draw them nude."

"I think roast beef looks good," she said.  "Even if it's well done and not rare."

"Seriously, look at them!"

Justine snuck a glance over her shoulder and flushed the same crimson color as Goldie's nail polish.  They were close enough to hear every word Goldie said.  "Hush," she whispered, frantic with embarrassment.  "They can hear you."

Goldie, unabashed, waved at the other table, giving the men her best smile. "Hi!"

Justin Alaster grinned and watched as her friend tried to melt into her chair.  "Hello," he shot back, ready to be entertained.  His friend, Luc Rousseau-Lefebvre, looked like he wanted to melt into a chair too.

Goldie waved and said, "Want to join us?  Are you two new here? I saw you this morning, but hadn't seen either of you at any previous SCA events. I'd remember if I had," she added with a wink.

Justin pulled out a chair and settled in, introducing himself.  "And this is Luc," he added, effectively forcing his friend to join him.

Luc glared at Justin for a minute but nodded and sank into a chair.

"I'm Goldie..."

"Of course you are," Luc muttered just loud enough for Justin to hear.

"And this is my friend Justine! Isn't that odd, you two having nearly the same name," Goldie added giggling and glancing over at Justine.

Justin's grin expanded as he considered the brunette trying to pretend she wasn't there.  "I'd say it was a sign from the gods.  Clearly we were supposed to meet here, at this table, on this day on this planet and in this universe.  Fate is speaking and I'm listening."

Justine gaped at him.

Goldie was clearly delighted. "So, you two new here?" she repeated. She'd pulled out her tablet and was drawing the other guy's, Luc's, face already, as she said it.

"Yeah," Justin said, watching her draw with a fascinated eye.  Under her pencil Luc's face was emerging in clean lines, each stroke swift and sure.  "A friend of ours talked us into doing some broadsword demos."

"Really?  How grand. You've got a great face, Luc. But it would be nicer if you didn't frown so much, you know?"  Goldie commented, making his frown a bit more grim than it really was. "See?"  Then she erased the frown, studied his face and turned the ends of the lips up a bit. "There, that's better."

Luc regarded Goldie as if she were some sort of alien species he'd never met before: warily.

"Can he talk?" Goldie asked Justin in a mock whisper.

"No, but he has been known to grunt," Justin whispered back.

Justine smothered a laugh behind her coffee cup.

Luc's head swiveled toward Justine for the first time. He regarded her only a bit less warily than he had Goldie.

"She doesn't bite. At least she's never bitten me," Goldie offered helpfully.

"Thanks for the character reference," Justine said.

"No worries, you're a girl," Justin pointed out, watching his friend out of the corner of his eye. "They have small teeth."

"True. I could call George; she dated him the other night, and ask him if she bit him," Goldie suggested thoughtfully. "Although after only one date, I'm not sure that would be a serious test of her behavior with males."

"I need coffee," Luc said getting to his feet. Way, way up there, as a matter of fact, quite tall and hunky. "Can I get anyone anything?  Food?" he suggested pointedly at Goldie, no doubt hoping if she were eating she wouldn't talk so much.

"I'll take an ale," Justin said.  "And a couple of sandwiches.  You two want anything.  He's buying?"

"Uhm, maybe a sandwich. Geez that ale sounds good, this coffee is pure dishwater. You Justine?"

"It does sound good," Justine said.  "And a sandwich."

Luc nodded and sauntered away. Goldie had turned over to a new page and was working on a sketch of Justin. "You have great lips," she said as she drew.

He grinned.  "And I do great things with them."

Goldie looked up flustered for a moment, amazingly. Then she grinned. "Sorry. Justine is going to lecture me later, you know. So broadswords?  Really. Most of the guys around here can barely lift a rapier."

"Yeah.  Well, the broadsword was the common one of the medieval era," Justin said.

"For knights,' Justine qualified.  "Everybody else used pikes, bows and arrows, lances..."

"Please tell me you two will be using the real things and not stage props," Goldie pleaded, her eyes wide and glued to Justin.

"Of course," Justin said, puzzled.  "What would be the point otherwise.  Besides they only weigh three to five pounds.  Not nearly like the greatsword.  A bit shorter too."

Six sandwiches were unceremoniously dumped into the middle of the table with no warning. Goldie jumped.  Luc was a bit more careful with the ale thankfully.

"Thanks," Goldie said to the grouch, giving him her best smile in hopes of forgiveness.

Luc relented. "You're welcome," he said as he sat down. "Although wielding a broadsword is still pretty tiring if you aren't used to it," he added.

Justine lifted the bread on her sandwich cautiously and then smiled and took a bite.  "True.  It's one of the reason swords became steadily lighter.  The broadsword is a one-handed sword, as well.  Where'd you guys learn to use one," she asked, looking from one to the other.  "It's not like it's your usual style of fencing."

Luc glanced at Justin and replied. "At home. My family is ... has a history of military service. So how to use edged weapons of all kinds was drilled into me almost from the moment I could walk."

"You ride too? Can you fight horseback?" Goldie asked, eyes wide, looking from Luc to Justin and back again.

Justin reached out for a sandwich and Goldie grabbed his wrist. "See, Justine. Look at that muscle definition right there.  That's what I meant the other day about not having the right sorts of models."

"Yeah," Justine mumbled.

"Models?"  Justin asked.

"Oh, I teach drawing. I've got an advanced drawing class. We use live models if we can. I don't suppose...." Goldie added.

"No," Luc replied around a bite of sandwich.

"We'd love to," Justin said at the same time.  "Does it pay?"

Goldie's face went from ecstatic at the 'we'd love to' to fallen and crumpled up at the 'does it pay.' "I could buy you dinner," Goldie suggested.

Justin grinned.  "Are you asking me out on a date, darlin'?"

Luc kicked him under the table, hard.  Goldie blushed.

Justin ignored Luc and winked at Goldie.  "Because if you are, I'm not sure I'd trust myself alone with you like that.  After modeling for you and all.  But if it were a double date..." he let his voice trail off as he took a long pull of his ale, his eyes flirting with her over the rim.

"Luc would have to agree to model too," Goldie replied, recovering. "And Justine has to say yes, too. She's mad at me because I set her up with a friend of mine the other night."

Luc turned his eyes on Justine again. "She doesn't have to do anything of the kind."

Justin turned his laughing eyes on Justine.  "But she will, cause she doesn't want to spoil her friend's fun, does she."

Justine felt her lips start to twitch and ruthlessly controlled them, giving the laughing man a look guaranteed to stop adolescent males in their tracks at fifty paces.  "She doesn't?"

"Please?" Goldie asked Justine. "What could it hurt?"

Luc looked at a watch on his wrist, despite the fact he was in costume. "We gotta go, Justin. Another of your great ideas. A broadsword demo."

Justin didn't move, his eyes locked on Justine's daring her.  And she dared.  "Okay.  Dinner," she said, almost against her will.

Justin's grin exploded into delight as he shoved his chair back.  "We'll be done in an hour.  Unless you want to watch?" he said, his eyes back to Goldie.

"Of course we want to watch," Goldie replied, sucking down the rest of her ale.

As they all stood Luc said softly to Justine, "You don't have to really. If you'd like to, that would be nice, but don't feel like you have no choice. I'll beat the crap out of Justin during the demo and make sure he understands that."

She choked on a gurgle of laughter.  "No, I'd like to.  Fencing is always interesting.  and I've never seen a real broadsword fight."

"I meant dinner," Luc replied, frowning.

"Oh.  Oh, I see.  Yes, well..." She looked over at Goldie, gathering her sketch pad and charcoals and sighed.  "It's fine, really."  She looked up at him.  "Unless you don't want to?"

He glanced over at Justin who was alternating between watching Goldie and admiring her drawing of himself. "I'd like it, actually," he finally replied.

"Okay then.  Swords, nudes and dinner.  I can hang," Justine said.

 

"Wait. Nudes?" Luc asked.

Justine nodded, her eyes alight.  "Yeah.  Goldie teaches the Life Drawing classes at William and Mary.  Nude drawing.  Your friend really should have held out.  You'd have gotten dinner and an hourly rate from the university."

"Nude?" Luc asked again. "Nude?" he asked louder glaring at Justin. "No way!"

"What's wrong?  It's art," Justin said.  "And education."

"No, no way," Luc muttered, setting off toward the field where they'd fight. "I'm not stripping in front of strangers."  He was glaring at Justin again.

"It's okay, Luc honest. No one's allowed to touch you," Goldie offered. She looked an appeal to Justin.

"And if it's the strip part that you're worried about, you get to do that in private.  You come out in a robe and and drop it while you pose," Justine explained helpfully.  "It's all very asexual."

"He has issues," Justin whispered loudly.

Luc lifted his arm and pointed at Justin. "You...You won't be able to pose cuz I'm gonna whip your ass right now."

"And disappoint all those people who paid money for the demo?" Justin asked innocently.  "Really, Luc.  How is that fair?"

Luc's jaw worked.

"Really, just the once if you hate it. I thought, you two posed with swords. It would be fabulous. My students will get an opportunity that, that.. It'll be fabulous!" Goldie wrapped an arm around Luc's. "Please?"  She tried batting her baby blues up at him.

He grunted.

"And it might drum up business," Justin pointed out.

Justine blinked, her imagination running rampant.  Business?  From posing nude?  She considered the two men in a new light.  Escorts?  Naw.  If that were the case taking his clothes off wouldn't be an issue.
 
"This," Luc replied waving at the crowd waiting to watch the demo, "might drum up business. Not the other, you idiot."

Justin shrugged.  "You never know.  And besides, it'll help your inhibitions.  You really need to get over all this outdated modesty."

Luc growled. Goldie hid a grin.  And then the guys got ready for their demo. The girls found seats up front.

"Wow. They're awesome. Did you get a look at those muscles?" Goldie asked Justine, licking her lips.

Justine looked at Goldie.  "You're drooling."

"And you aren't. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm just not letting it show,"  she said smugly.

"Hah!  So you are happy with this," Goldie chortled. Then added, "Oh, my," since Luc and Justin, about to be introduced, had stripped down to tight pants stuffed in boots, and loose shirts.  Each held a broadsword as if they knew what to do with them. "This is gonna be awesome."

"Happy and drooling aren't the same thing," Justine said.  Then she leaned forward, her elbows on the partition dividing the spectators from the combatants, her eyes fixed on the two men.

Justine and Goldie weren't the only two whose eyes were locked on the performance, if it was a performance. And sure enough the guys put on a show like the Society for Creative Anachronism hadn't had in years, swords flashing in the sunlight, the both of them sheened in sweat, as they danced across the field. Nor did the uneven terrain bother them. So many other swordfights they'd watched were uneven because the combatants mostly trained in a gym or on some other flat surface. These two, though, didn't seem to slow one iota or react with surprise when the footing got difficult. They were totally focused on each other, their swords flashing.

"Man," Justine said under her breath.  "These two know what they're doing."

The crowd got into it cheering for either one who scored a good hit. Goldie frowned though as she watched. "They move a bit... differently. More, I don't know. Too fluid."

"They move like this ain't a game," Justine said, frowning at them.  Then she leaned forward a bit.  "They need horses."

"Yeah, I bet they can fight on horseback too," Goldie agreed. "Oops," she added, poking Justine in the side with an elbow. "We've got competition."  Some of the women watching were close to swooning.

"Competition?  Goldie are you nuts.  We barely know these guys.  For all we know they're both married with six kids each and a wife with a black belt in karate."

"Nah, Luc's the honorable type. No way."

Justine didn't answer.  Luc had Justin backing up towards the partition, driving him back with a relentless flurry of blows that had sparks flying as Justin tried to counter his attack.  The crowd was going nuts and an instant later Justin's back was to the wall and Luc's sword was swinging towards his throat.  At the last second Justin stepped sideways, drove an elbow into Luc's sternum, dove and rolled, coming up on his feet behind Luc.

"Shit!" Justine said, blinking.  "Can you imagine these guys if this was for real?"

Goldie was biting her bottom lip.  "I hope they won't kill each other."

Luc had whirled in time to meet Justin's descending sword with his own. Once he had stopped Justin's sword he moved to hook a leg up behind Justin's one knee and brought Justin to the ground, Luc's sword at Justin's neck.

"Not today, it looks like," Justine said over the roar of the crowd.  On the field Luc reached a hand down to help Justin up, ignoring the spectators.  "God, that was amazing," she said.

"You okay?" Luc asked his friend. "I think we're a hit. Next time you get to win."

Justin laughed, swiping the sweat off his face with his forearm.  "Yeah.  A hit.  Next time we'll have to do it with a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other."

Luc, following Justin's lead, turned to the crowd and bowed. "I prefer it that way," he replied. "Better balance."  He wiped the sweat from his own face with his sleeve. "Man, we're filthy."

"Where's the showers?" Justin said, waving at Goldie and Justine.  "Or are we getting a head start on the modeling for the ladies?"

"I shoulda taken your head," Luc replied.

"You'd miss me, man.  You know it," Justin said complacently.  "And since you can't cook worth a damn you'd starve to death too."

"True," Luc admitted grudgingly.  They got whacked on the back and shoulders by their fans, and a few ladies, despite their filthiness wanted to kiss them. Luc found it horrifying, Justin laughed his way through it all.  "That's it, never again," Luc muttered after a fourth woman pinched his ass.

"You have no soul, man," Justin said, pinching another woman right back.

"Wow, that was beautiful," Goldie said as she towed Justine over to where they were standing. 

"We need a shower," Luc muttered.

"Mmmm, you don't understand women much do you?" Goldie asked Luc.

"No he sure doesn't," Justin said, answering for him.  "He doesn't know how to have fun either."

"Falling down on your job as best friend, then, aren't you?" Goldie teased him.

"Not at all," Justin denied, indignant.  "I got him posing nude, don't I?"

"And you two are more gorgeous than I'd hoped," Goldie replied. 

Luc groaned. "I'm going home."

"What about dinner?"  Justin said.  "I was thinking we could grab a pizza or something."

"After a shower," Luc muttered.

"How about you guys meet us at my bookstore afterwards?" Goldie suggested, pulling out a card with its address on it. "We'll get all dolled up and take you out for a good dinner."

"We will?" Justine said.  "Dolled up, I mean," she amended hastily.

"Sure you will, angel," Justin said, taking the card.  "We'll see you there at say, five-thirty?"

"Yeah, you can wear that slinky new dress you bought, Justine. She's a knockout in it Luc."

"Oh? I think she's a knock out now," Luc replied.

Justine blushed. 

"So we'll see you at the bookstore," Justin reiterated.  "I'll make sure he brushes his teeth just for you Justine.  Since you're going to wear that dress for him."

"I am?"

"Please?" Luc said as Justin began to tow him off.

Justine nodded weakly.  "Okay."

Justin waved and then they were gone.  Justine turned to her friend.  "I swear Goldie, I am so going to get you for this.  You and his so called friend."

"Why?" Goldie replied with a giggle, wrapping an arm with Justine's. "You gotta admit, they're more fun than any other guys we know. And they're hunks. I mean, what more could you want?"

"To not feel like I forced myself on them," she hissed.  "That poor man just wanted to go home and relax."

Goldie gaped at her. "That's why he called you a knock-out and asked you to wear your slinky dress, right, because he doesn't wanna go out with you?"

"No.  He did that because he's gentleman and you and his friend...."  She threw her hands up in the air.  "Oh never mind.  Just never mind!  Now I've got to go home and change."

"Yeah, me too," Goldie pointed out. "Hmmm. I wonder what I should wear..."

"I'll see you at the shop," Justine said as she got in her car.  "Figure out where we're taking them."

"I know just the place," Goldie said, grinning. She waved to Justine as she pulled away.

Justin grinned at Luc as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards the house they shared.  "She's gorgeous."

"Who is?" Luc asked, obviously distracted over something.

Justin grinned.  "Both of them."

"Hmmm. You realize if we pose nude she's gonna know we're not, uhm, normal."

"How do you figure?"

"She studies bodies, Justin.  She understands how muscles and sinews work. She's going to notice the small differences we can't hide.  So, since you told her we'd pose nude, you get to come up with an explanation."

"We'll just tell her it's from the kind of work outs we do, for the sword fighting. She's an artist, not a doctor, it'll be fine," he said, unconcerned. 

Luc looked over at him. "You are more trouble than you're worth. We're supposed to be keeping a low profile. Now you've got us making a splash and dating all in one day."

"A splash?  Hardly.  Just a bunch of college kids who'll want to take lessons.  Nothing to worry about."

"Uh huh," Luc said with a sigh. "I hope you're right. So, are we supposed to dress up in head waiter suits or what?"

"Looks that way."  Justin clapped him on the arm as they walked up to the front door.  "Hell, it beats sitting at home playing monopoly, ya know?" 

"I'll grant you that," Luc replied with a grin.

 

Next Chapter                                                                                                                  Home