Lightstar Family/Adaria/Tourney Win 01/Rounds
Round One
"Wait, what?" Adaria blinked in confusion. Arya lost... in the first round? She made a frowny-pout and chewed her lower lip. It occurred so unexpectedly that the girl had not really followed what happened. Then it was her turn to compete, and she did not even have time to give her love a hug before being ushered to the designated area; Adaria could only offer a sympathetic eyebrow-furrow and an air-hug across the distance.
Sighing, the duchess brushed her bangs away from her eyes and rolled her shoulders several times to loosen them up. She squeezed the handle of her sword and then made a few practice swings. It had been a while since Adaria had been in a tournament, so she felt rusty, even though she had been maintaining regular training sessions at the arena in her spare time.
She smiled at her first opponent and gave a curtsy, which looked strange due to her not being in a dress. The match began... and she promptly dropped her sword after deflecting Lysander's first, heavy blow.
"WAAH!!" Adaria complained and then quickly rolled off to the side. The audience laughed, and she felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment, but her helpful squire-for-hire rushed forward with a backup blade. Her opponent graciously waited for her to assume a ready stance before engaging again. Within moments, however, Adaria found herself backing up repeatedly. She regretted having chosen not to spar with anyone during her recent training sessions; fighting a wooden dummy just was not the same!
Right before the girl was about to miss a block and possibly lose the match, a female voice cried out from the side, "You can do it!" Immediately following those words of encouragement, Adaria thought she heard a sharp bark of agreement, and she suddenly pictured Arya.
No! She refused to lose in the first round! She must win for her sweetheart! With an unexpected rush of adrenaline, Adaria dropped down into a split. Lysander's sword swooped harmlessly a couple feet over her head, and he seemed momentarily stunned, as if wondering where his opponent had gone. A gentle prod at his padded gut informed him that he had lost.
Round Two
She smiled and tapped the sword against her temple in salute to Alma as they got into position. Adaria had considered curtsying to the other lady, but she figured it would look out of place. A few back-and-forth exchanges later, the duchess noticed an opening and took it to advance again.
"Good match!" she remarked with a nod to the Cathayan dame.
Round Three
"Uh oh, the Duke of Colasan..." Adaria muttered to herself after hearing the announcement. Wait a moment... Why did his name sound so familiar? She tried to remember where she had heard it before but failed, and then the time for pondering expired. While squaring up, Adaria politely curtsied.
Anatole appeared to take a measured and patient approach against the younger girl, perhaps cautious of her initial, surprising score against the former council member of Soliferum. The match proceeded at a rather slow pace. Both combatants expended little energy in their motions, but then Adaria gradually pushed the duke back. Of course, the girl happened to be too focused on her technique to realize that her opponent was actually giving up ground on purpose.
Several audience members noticed this nuance and quietly commented on the observation to their oblivious neighbors. The sharp-eyed nobles expected Anatole to make his move soon. However, what they did not count on was Adaria's silly and quirky personality, which had a habit of rearing its adorable head at the most inopportune moments.
When the duke decided that the time had come to turn the tables on the unsuspecting lady, he seemed to stumble backwards. As if inviting an attack, his sword drooped slightly, but that was when Adaria suddenly remembered. He had written that sweet letter about dedicating his victories at the FSABBPSPFC Tourney to her, the hostess! In the note, Anatole had remarked about a couple of interesting cooking concoctions.
She pulled up short and froze, exclaiming triumphantly, "A-ha! Extremely Hot Horseshoe Kebab!" Then, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, the duchess resumed her offensive. Anatole blinked and maybe reacted too slowly. With his concentration interrupted, the Duke of Colasan just barely missed a block that normally would have been no problem at all to make.
The move gave Adaria enough of an advantage that, coupled with her happy boost of self-esteem at having recalled the memory, allowed her to pierce his defenses. She scored the point and gasped.
Round Four
"Eeps, a Duchess from Ohnar... Wish me luck, my sweet Honey Wolf!" Adaria giggled to Arya and managed a quick embrace and a peck on the cheek before dashing off to take her place in the arena.
She replicated her earlier sword salute and took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. The only other time she had advanced so far in a tournament was during the Joust in Sasrhas at the last Ohnarian Dual-Event Tourney, where she had managed to miraculously draw three wildcards in a row. Adaria had not yet pulled any wildcards this time around, although she certainly had to be experiencing some form of luck to have come so far today.
As she regarded her adversary, the girl feared that her recent serendipity had just about run its full course. Taylin seemed to exude an air of confidence that had Adaria unconsciously nibbling her lip. The more mature lady was likely a seasoned expert with the blade, whereas the more naive girl possessed a higher aptitude for dual-daggers instead of a single sword.
An official signaled the start of the round, and the two duchesses met with a hearty and resounding clash.
Semi-Final Round
Three nobles from the original forty-one remained at the end of the fourth round: a young knight, an older count, and a (subjectively [yet, to some, also objectively]) lovelier (than the other two) duchess.
"Whew, you know, I could sure use that wildcard right about now, tehe..." Adaria joked to the Kindaran and the Arcaean, as she rubbed her aching sword arm. They were all waiting for the last wildcard to be randomly drawn and announced. After hearing her light-hearted words, Devan shared a long stare with Gaar.
"Eh? Ooh! Are you two having a staring contest to pass the wait? Me next! I call winner!" It was a typical Adaria moment.
The two men seemed to come to an unspoken agreement then, as they nodded almost imperceptibly to each other. One of them hailed the official in charge of the wildcards and spoke about freely offering the respite to the duchess. Such a pass was not unheard of, but it was rarely seen, so the official nodded and turned to the other man. That noble also agreed to give up his chance, so the NPC proceeded to make the formal declaration.
Adaria's jaw dropped.
"I was just kidding!! You guys really didn't have to do that... but thanks!! Wait, are you sure??"
They smiled and confirmed their decisions. Possibly, both men considered the girl to be the easier opponent, who had advanced so far due more to good fortune than exceptional skill. Thus, each might have wanted to best the other one without risking that one would be using up more energy on Adaria, while the other would be resting to regain energy. Either that, or they were just being courteous gentlemen.
The duchess shrugged and bounced over to Arya and Accalia.
"Such nice guys to let me take a break, huh?"
Arya looked like she was glaring at the Arcaean.
"What's the matter, hun?"
No response came, so Adaria followed her (figurative, if you don't count that time sneaking together through the palace of Nahad with an angry widow [Selene] gathering up her late husband's [Markus's] belongings) partner-in-crime's gaze to its destination: Gaar.
"Why are you--Oh wait! Is he the one who..."
Arya shot her a quick look of possibly mild irritation and then resumed staring holes into the knight. Adaria displayed a (:/) face and then tried to cheer her best friend up.
"If he wins, I'll beat him up for you! Umm, in the final round, I mean... and not literally, but you know... But anyway, I hope he loses for being mean to my Honey Wolf!!"
Adaria leaned over to give Arya a sideways hug, but it was cut short by Accalia. The she-wolf happened to be situated between the two ladies; she tossed her furry head against the girl because Adaria was blocking her view of the match.
Final Round
[...]
"Duchess Adaria Lightstar of Idapur, Marshal of the Barely Understandable Regional Officials, is the tournament champion!" announced an official.
"Wait, what?" Adaria blinked in confusion for the second time that day. She... won? "Oh sparkling Aenil who bake perfect cookies, really?! I'm not dreaming? Quick, someone pinch me? Woo--OWW!! That hurt!!"
