Ella - [COMPLETE]

Chapter 15

"Nikola is going to sign me up for a tourney," Ella said.

She had waited to tell Cecil this until breakfast one day, where they were seated across each other at the table, so that she could bask in his reaction. At first, he looked up from his porridge as if she had mispoken. Then his expression shifted to horror, then a timid smile. "And why on Earth would he do that?" he asked.

Ella's eyes narrowed at him across the table. "Because I'm good at jousting."

Cecil set his spoon down and folded his hands on the table. He looked down in thought and then said, "I don't want to cause too much of a stir."

"What are you saying?" Ella asked. She sat up straight, reminding her husband that she was both taller and more muscular than him.

Cecil looked away. He must have been thinking of the various sexual escapades they had had outside of their marriage bed, or perhaps the fact that he took on all of her household jobs while she went and learned fighting tactics from Nikola. "I'm not saying I'm against it," he said. "I'm saying that we're already doing quite a few unconventional things. And in some people's eyes, this may be a bit too bold."

"Your parents?"

"My parents," Cecil said. "And their friends. And their business connections. And so on."

"But I want to joust," Ella said. "I'm not going to live my life doing embroidery just to keep your parents happy."

"Embroidery is a wonderful pass time," he said.

"For you," Ella rolled her eyes. She pushed her food away from her and sat with her arms crossed. "Cecil, I'm informing you now that I will joust. I don't care if I have to go to the next town over, or change my name, or adopt a disguise, but I will--"

"A disguise," Cecil's face seemed light up. "We could disguise you as a gentleman."

Ella wrinkled her nose. "No," she said. "I want to joust, and I want to joust as a woman. That way when I win, it will mean something."

"Fine," Cecil said. "That's a fair point. Alright. I will help you. But not a word of this around my parents. Understood?"

They met with Nikola in secret to develop the plan. Cecil even began to linger at their jousting practice, bringing some embroidery along so that it wasn't a total waste of time. By the end of the month, they decided that they would invent a new name for Ella's jousting personality: Sophia Detrovsky. She would be foreign and would barely speak English and she would rarely remove her helmet. She would be such a mysterious and glamorous woman. Nikola and Cecil went wild with her backstory, while Ella simply rolled her eyes and kept on practicing.

The married couple was soon headed off to Sophia's first tournament, explaining to their parents that they were going to support Nikola. It was natural for them to bring Bryony, as a lady's maid, along with them. For the first few matches, Cecil sat in the stands between Nikola and Bryony, and an odd feeling came over him as he realized how intimate he had been with all four members of their travelling party. He asked Bryony to fetch him a fair bit of wine, which did help with this.

When it started to get close to Sophia's match, Nikola disappeared to help her suit up. This left Cecil and Bryony alone, and it didn't take long before the lady's maid had her hand on his thigh. "It is something," she said. "Being out here with you as if--as if I weren't a maid." As soon as she'd said it, she retracted her hand, looking glum.

Cecil turned to her. "It is, isn't it," he said. "I'm enjoying it quite a bit."

The lady's maid folded her hands in her lap. "Well, it's all fleeting," she said. "It would be nice to be able to talk to each other like this, you know, in the home."

"I don't see why we can't arrange for that," he said.

Bryony paused. "Does she know?" she asked.

"Uh," Cecil's eyes followed the horse that had just walked out of its pen. His beautiful wife, all clad in armor, was seated on top of it. He stood to applaud her and turned to Bryony to give a quick, "No."

The knight and her horse pranced around the ring to accept favors, but since it was her first match, and since she was essentially a fictional woman, no one knew her name. Cecil, however, stepped forward, with a little ring of flowers and ribbons he had made, and slid it on to the jousting pole. In that moment, he looked so proud, glancing up at the small slit in her helmet. "Good luck," he said softly, before she rode off.

It felt like the whole field was silent as Sophia stood ready for her match. Her opponent was a tall nobleman from a few towns over. He had a decent record, but compared to the others he was pretty middle of the road. When the call was made, and the two began charging at each other, Cecil reached for Bryony's hand. He squeezed it tight. The first round nothing happened, neither of them hit each other. The second was a close call for Sophia, but she managed. And with the third--the crowd collectively held their breath as the lance made contact with the tall nobleman's armor--and yes, yes, Sophia had unhorsed him!

Cecil and Bryony jumped up and down, still holding each other's hands. Then, as soon as they could, they scurried out of the stands and raced around to the other side of the field. They soon found Nikola extending a hand to help Lady Sophia off her horse, and the four of them were filled with wild excitement. Once Nikola had removed her armor, Ella ran to Cecil and wrapped him in a hug, gave him kisses all across his cheek.

The four of them were so incredibly happy, practically dancing their way back to their carriage. And at one point, as they were walking, Ella leaned over to Cecil and said, "I feel so powerful."

Cecil smiled, "I'm so proud of you. Really. Couldn't be prouder."

Ella wrapped a hand around his waist. "Really," she whispered. "I just feel strength coursing through me. I feel different."

"Oh?" Cecil asked.

"What I'm saying is," she whispered. "If I could take my energy out on you, I think we'd both enjoy it."

Cecil was so turned on by her speaking like this, that as soon as he sat beside her in the carriage, he had to place his hands in his lap to hide his growing cock. Ella seemed to look down and notice it, giving him a knowing smirk. And then, as soon as Cecil pieced together once more that he was riding in a carriage with three people whom he'd very much like to have in bed right now, there was no calming his erection for the entire duration of the carriage ride.