1 Welcome to A Knight's Tale

"Attack!" I gripped tightly on the hilt and prepare myself for a collision between metals. I slightly raised it just enough to meet the blade and sparks flew from the first impact. Then again and again until it looked like mini fireworks between me and my opponent.

Though we were battling, it felt like dancing to the melody of the swords. I remained focus but I was more in a trance with each movement. I eventually had to break this trance and end this dance.

"Now!" I yelled out loud. I quickly stepped to his left side and swept his feet, which I hesitated and charge forward.

"Enough!", a man from the side yelled. I came to a complete stop with the blade of my sword halt right above his head. I took a deep breath and stepped back. I could tell my opponent was furious. He jumped up upset and stomped towards the man. "Why did you stop the fight? I had it completely in control."

The man began to walk closer to us with calmness but firmness. "If you called that control, then you have much more training to do if you wish to perform as a knight here."

You can tell by his hands that he has trained for years. The roughness and scars are his badges of honor from his hard work.

"Oh come on! Don't be a sore loser," I laughed at him. He got even more upset and kicked the dirt up towards me. "You are such a pain, Aubrey."

"Yes, I am. So you could either suck it up or cry, but don't get mad because you got beat by a girl, Eric." I am enjoying this victorious moment. I mean for growing around a bunch of boys who played with action figures, football, basketball, and play swords, I guess it couldn't help that I grew up a tomboy.

"Aubrey that's enough." I turned toward our instructor and can tell I went a little overboard. "Sorry, Master Neal," I said.

Master Neal has been our trainer on the ways of being a knight. Well, it's just supposed to be for the guys, but I became a special exception. It actually feels like it's a dream every day.

I started out as an orphan, who lost all hope in getting adopted, but one night changed it all. The owner of Knight's Tale dinner theatre stopped by and offer tickets for me and some of the children to attend a performance.

I mean we knew it was for charity and to draw attention from the newspapers and tv stations, which worked. I didn't care much about being in the news or photographed, but I was more excited about actually getting out and getting a break from the everyday tasks at Miracle Journey Orphanage.

This orphanage has been around for 56 years and it's long overdue for some major repairs. After a bad storm that hit when I was seven, almost half of the building had to be closed off. We make due in what we receive from the community, and we look out for each other no matter what.

When we arrived at a Knight's Tale, we didn't expect that after that night, all of our lives will change forever. As a ten-year-old being surrounded by people dressed up in medieval clothes and talking funny, it felt like I was in a different world. It made me forget everything that I was going through and enjoy the festivities.

We ate big turkey legs, soup, and desserts without any utensils. We were given flags to wave throughout the night. Then it happened, right before my eyes, the arrival of the knights in all their glory enter the arena.

Their armor was shining bright, and the crest that they each carried was bold in rich colors on their shields. I was mesmerized by how each knight riding on their horse held their head up high with pride. It was that very moment that I realize that I would do anything to be a part of their world.

After the show, the owner asked us how we enjoyed the show. We were so hyped that we didn't care that we were being photographed and filmed at the same time. I took advantage of this opportunity to ask him a question.

"Sir, can I be a knight," I yelled.

He turned and looked at me and gave a smile.

"Well aren't you cute," he laughed.

I felt insulted that he didn't take my request seriously. "I'm serious! I want to be a knight!"

I felt desperate. For once, I never wanted anything so bad. I wanted it so bad that tears started rolling down my face. I couldn't bear the disappointment or rejection. This immediately draws attention away from the owner and all eyes, cameras, and microphones were turned towards me.

The owner quickly tries to defuse the situation and quickly approached me. "Now, now dear," he patted on my shoulder to get me to calm down.

"How about this? How about you can come and work here when you get older?"

I looked up at him to make sure he meant what he just said.

"Really," I sniffed.

He jumped up and turn toward the media press. "Of course you can sweetie. As a matter of fact, I have a great idea. I will start a program here for any orphan child to volunteer work until they reach 17 years. Then they can be officially hired to work as part of our great staff here at A Knight's Tale."

The media was all over him asking him more questions than before and all I can see where flashing lights coming from everywhere. We made headlines and he got so much praise from headquarters that he won the castle of the year awards for his diligent work in the community.

So, now years later, here I am with a few others from the orphanage working here and I will say I love every bit of it. It is like having a family here. We have our moments when we don't agree, but we work hard to make sure that every night the audience gets a great performance.

Eric has been my best friend since we were four years old. He lost his mom due to a drug overdose. He may seem like he is shy, but once you get to know him, you will see that he is very opinionated and speaks his mind. He does suffer asthma attacks every now and then, but that didn't stop him from wanting to train to be a knight. And now he is one of the top knights at our castle.

As for me, well, unfortunately, I could not be a knight because I am female and the company only allow males to be knights. But that didn't mean I couldn't train with them. I would be the first one at the training site and the last to leave. At first, the veteran knights took me as a joke and didn't think I would last one-week training with them, but I proved them wrong in two days. It cracks me up every time I think about their expression they made every time I went to practice.

I do have to to attend to my true role out here, which is a waitress. But every now and then, I do have to be the lady in waiting for the princess due to her expecting. Life is wonderful for me and I couldn't be happier, but it doesn't mean that shadows aren't lurking around.