Her title, the Lioness Knight, is a matter of some debate.
There are times in her story that some claim she literally turned into a
lioness, and that she is a shape-changer. However, the royal chroniclers of
Arkathorne dissuade that theory, though they may not be the most objective
witnesses. If one does not know why they would wish to keep such a secret, it
shall become clear as we proceed.
In days not so long ago, the kingdom of Lidor and the
kingdom of Arkathorne battled one another on the fields of Bloduunar. In that
field is the Ridge of Kings, which marks the border between them. Yet the
humans of Arkathorne and the madorns of Lidor went over that ridge daily,
sending skirmishers, foragers, and cavalry. On the edges of this green field
were villages on both sides, and there the tale begins.
A fortress was overrun by Lidorids, and the lord of the fortress was killed. His young son managed to escape the onslaught, guarded by five knights, and came to the village of Jiunar to hide. Lidorid warriors came after them, thinking to capture the lord’s son and hold him for ransom, and demanded the village give up the young boy. The villagers were too afraid of these warriors to protest, all their strong men being in the army rather than in their homes, but they made it clear to the invaders that they would not aid in the capture either for fear of the knights. So the Lidorids came to the inn to take custody of the young lord over the corpses of the knights.
The knights battled them in the doorway, and held them off for three hours without losing a man. Valiantly and mercilessly they fought, for the Lidorids only wanted one prisoner and the knights could not take any. At the end of those three hours, a knight was felled from a thrown spear, yet that was their undoing.
Inside the inn were some people who did not know of the coming of the Lidorids, and so were trapped inside, and among them were women of great note. Mailil the farmwife was there, coming to visit her friend Nirel the innkeeper’s wife, yet put to shame they were by the third. Igonle, a woman who before had but served food and drink to travelers at the inn, now took up the heavy spear that had pierced the knight and joined in the inn’s defense. Inspired was Nirel, and she convinced Mailil to take up the knight’s sword while she took up the bludgeon behind the bar. The three of them joined in the battle, which lasted another eight hours.
Reports from wounded Lidorid warriors were strange, that though they had wounded some of the knights, it seemed that many more fought there than they originally guessed. Some said that the knights had donned women’s garb to confuse them, yet others contradicted that. But after the eleven-hour battle, into the deep of night, they stopped. No knights still stood, either being wounded or dead, and the Lidorid’s party had too few warriors to consider the battle. So the Lidorids retreated from two village goodwives and a barmaid.
It was not long though that the Lidorids sent another force across the ridge, believing that they could not recover so quickly. And this is where confusion and conjecture begin, for it is said that Igonle hunted them like a lioness. She and other witnesses said that she took a warhorse with yellow coat and golden mane that had belonged to a knight, while the Lidorid survivors said she took the form of a lioness. In either case, Igonle stalked the Lidorids at night and slew many, but whether she did it with sword or claw, spear or fang, is unknown. By morning, the Lidorids retreated back towards the ridge, and Igonle returned to the village of Jiunar to rest from her hunt.
When the threat had passed, the young lord, named Lord Gelin, with the remaining knights said that they would provide witness to the nobility of the three women and ensure they would become knights. Nirel said that she couldn’t leave her husband and business, while Mailil admitted that she had no taste for battle nor wished to gain one. Yet Igonle was excited by the idea and accepted their offer.
Igonle was brought to the camp of Arkathorne’s army and presented to the king as worthy of knighthood. Now as one might know, it was unheard of at the time for a woman of Arkathorne to join in the bloody trade of knights. Lidor accepted women into knighthood, but they did not go to war, defending the home and only fighting if their household had enemies in it. While she had passed a test of valor, the king judged that she should be tested additionally.
So they brought forth tests befitting a trained knight. She fought against a swordsman and jousted a lancer. Every trial of arms they put her through she failed. So she was brought before they king again, and he declared, “Such courage to be put to shame. How could you fail at such tests that even the average squire could pass? Tell me why.”
Igonle did not straighten her neck but remained bowed as she gave the king her response. “The average squire has been given his trade, learned the sword, lance, and horse. Any one of your men-at-arms could have passed these tests, but I am not a man-at-arms. I am a village woman, whose greatest physical trial, apart from the recent battles, has been getting a new keg of ale from the cellar when one runs dry. I have never needed such skills, so I have never cultivated them. Yet there is a great difference between a knight and a man-at-arms; I displayed that difference when I joined for no reward in the protection of Lord Gelin, and when I allowed the Lidorids to flee from my hunt. If I need name it, then I would see that being a knight in your service is no honor, and I shall go back to cleaning mugs and serving roast mutton at harvest.”
The king smiled and took up his sword. He tapped Igonle’s shoulders with the flat of the sword, and said, “You are now Dame Igonle, knight errant of Arkathorne. Now rise and claim your arms.”
So Igonle was fitted with armor and taught the sword. In battle she joined, her surcoat displaying a lioness’s muzzle upon it. The Lidorids were pushed back across the Ridge of Kings and into their own territory. Yet all was not well.
The king of Arkathorne was slain in combat, and the crown prince, Prince Talsairn, was captured and held for ransom by the Lidorids. The king’s brother, Prince Volith, declared his brother lost and would not pay the ransom, naming himself king of Arkathorne. It was a terrible time, but it did not last.
Dame Igonle rode out on her yellow horse to rescue Prince Talsairn. The fortress he was held in was great and powerful, yet Igonle was brave and prepared her attack. Though the Lidorids, being madorns which are of greater size and strength than humans, guarded well, they were not prepared for so aggressive an opponent. Though not well experienced or trained, Igonle stormed the drawbridge and slew many in the bailey and keep as she searched for Prince Talsairn. Yet she fell to a spear in her side, wounded but not slain, and was taken prisoner with Prince Talsairn. It should be quickly noted that the Lidorids believe that she stormed the castle as a lioness, and only turned back into human form when she was felled, yet that and other things would be inconsistent with how most shape-changers—apart from the Ildyana—function.
As prisoners, Dame Igonle and Prince Talsairn were allowed to speak with one another. Prince Talsairn admitted that he had an escape planned, but the presence of another prisoner required things to change. So together they planned an escape.
Prince Talsairn convinced his guards to leave early to get some ale, and they assumed that he couldn’t or wouldn’t escape in the middle of the day. He then made his way to the armory stealthily, and took up his own captured arms and armor, putting Dame Igonle’s in a bundle and carrying them out. Prince Talsairn then came to Dame Igonle’s quarters and dispatched the guards before entering and giving her the armor and weapons she’d come there with. So they made their way a stealthily as they could with chainmail on, having to slay many guards who heard or spotted them. Eventually the alarm was raised, and it became more difficult.
Dame Igonle and Prince Talsairn then made their way to the wall to escape. There was a moat, so one at a time they removed their armor and prepared to jump. Dame Igonle was first to change, so Prince Talsairn would not have to hold off enemies without armor, a risk she was willing to take for the royal. Together they tossed their armor and weapons towards the shore and then leapt in themselves, swimming to shore and then retrieving their gear, which would have made them sink otherwise. They escaped into the woods then, and after a harrowing chase, Dame Igonle and Prince Talsairn evaded their pursuers.
Many leagues they walked, and there they could not retain their roles. Dame Igonle, as a knight, was sworn to serve Prince Talsairn, but he himself was also a knight and could not help but be courteous to a lady. As such, they had arguments about everything they did, from whether one or the other should set up camp to who should carry their gear. Inevitably, they decided to discard such pretenses for they sake of their fellow escapee, and each shouldered their share of responsibilities.
Acting as equals, they began to speak as equals, and learned much of each other. Dame Igonle learned that Prince Talsairn was not all that royalty claims to be, just as he learned of the woman behind the deeds which are now being written. It was then that they began to feel affection for one another, yet they were not sure if they should.
When the two returned to Arkathorne, they discovered that Prince Volith, now called king, ruled terribly. When Prince Talsairn confronted him and demanded his throne back as older son and named successor, his plea was ignored. Then Prince Talsairn took off his glove to reveal the Oliand of Arkathorne, and spoke of how with his last breath their father gave it to him. Prince Volith demanded the ring, but Prince Talsairn wouldn’t give it up. So it came to blows, and Prince Talsairn was wounded. Dame Igonle retrieved the true king and fled.
They escaped to Cithur, and there they prepared for Prince Volith’s downfall. Yet other matters soon concerned them, matters of marriage. They were married, the true king of Arkathorne marrying the first woman knight of Arkathorne, and one of their most noble knights as well. Though perhaps it was sorrowful to lose the kingdom, they were too happy to know it.
Five years were spent in exile, until Prince Volith was slain by his own wife. Then Prince Talsairn and Dame Igonle, with their two children, one of whom was yet unborn, returned to Arkathorne. Prince Talsairn was named king of Arkathorne without a struggle, and Dame Igonle was his queen. Such began the rule of King Talsairn, a fair rule where peace and plenty abounded.
In the closing years of King Talsairn’s reign, a fear spread over the court. King Talsairn and Queen Igonle had never had sons, only daughters, so a male heir might only be found among cousins. Yet King Talsairn named Benewil, their firstborn daughter, born in Cithur, his heir, for she was fierce yet kind. Much controversy arose in their court because of this, for they had never had a woman as a ruling queen. Yet when they remembered Queen Igonle’s title as dame, their defenders said that if Princess Benewil had inherited half of her mother’s spirit, Oliand or not, she would rule all of Camadorn if she wished. So it would come to pass that the daughter of the first female knight of Arkathorne became the first ruling queen of Arkathorne, and she was a good and chivalrous queen such as her line, both past and future, might be proud.
A fortress was overrun by Lidorids, and the lord of the fortress was killed. His young son managed to escape the onslaught, guarded by five knights, and came to the village of Jiunar to hide. Lidorid warriors came after them, thinking to capture the lord’s son and hold him for ransom, and demanded the village give up the young boy. The villagers were too afraid of these warriors to protest, all their strong men being in the army rather than in their homes, but they made it clear to the invaders that they would not aid in the capture either for fear of the knights. So the Lidorids came to the inn to take custody of the young lord over the corpses of the knights.
The knights battled them in the doorway, and held them off for three hours without losing a man. Valiantly and mercilessly they fought, for the Lidorids only wanted one prisoner and the knights could not take any. At the end of those three hours, a knight was felled from a thrown spear, yet that was their undoing.
Inside the inn were some people who did not know of the coming of the Lidorids, and so were trapped inside, and among them were women of great note. Mailil the farmwife was there, coming to visit her friend Nirel the innkeeper’s wife, yet put to shame they were by the third. Igonle, a woman who before had but served food and drink to travelers at the inn, now took up the heavy spear that had pierced the knight and joined in the inn’s defense. Inspired was Nirel, and she convinced Mailil to take up the knight’s sword while she took up the bludgeon behind the bar. The three of them joined in the battle, which lasted another eight hours.
Reports from wounded Lidorid warriors were strange, that though they had wounded some of the knights, it seemed that many more fought there than they originally guessed. Some said that the knights had donned women’s garb to confuse them, yet others contradicted that. But after the eleven-hour battle, into the deep of night, they stopped. No knights still stood, either being wounded or dead, and the Lidorid’s party had too few warriors to consider the battle. So the Lidorids retreated from two village goodwives and a barmaid.
It was not long though that the Lidorids sent another force across the ridge, believing that they could not recover so quickly. And this is where confusion and conjecture begin, for it is said that Igonle hunted them like a lioness. She and other witnesses said that she took a warhorse with yellow coat and golden mane that had belonged to a knight, while the Lidorid survivors said she took the form of a lioness. In either case, Igonle stalked the Lidorids at night and slew many, but whether she did it with sword or claw, spear or fang, is unknown. By morning, the Lidorids retreated back towards the ridge, and Igonle returned to the village of Jiunar to rest from her hunt.
When the threat had passed, the young lord, named Lord Gelin, with the remaining knights said that they would provide witness to the nobility of the three women and ensure they would become knights. Nirel said that she couldn’t leave her husband and business, while Mailil admitted that she had no taste for battle nor wished to gain one. Yet Igonle was excited by the idea and accepted their offer.
Igonle was brought to the camp of Arkathorne’s army and presented to the king as worthy of knighthood. Now as one might know, it was unheard of at the time for a woman of Arkathorne to join in the bloody trade of knights. Lidor accepted women into knighthood, but they did not go to war, defending the home and only fighting if their household had enemies in it. While she had passed a test of valor, the king judged that she should be tested additionally.
So they brought forth tests befitting a trained knight. She fought against a swordsman and jousted a lancer. Every trial of arms they put her through she failed. So she was brought before they king again, and he declared, “Such courage to be put to shame. How could you fail at such tests that even the average squire could pass? Tell me why.”
Igonle did not straighten her neck but remained bowed as she gave the king her response. “The average squire has been given his trade, learned the sword, lance, and horse. Any one of your men-at-arms could have passed these tests, but I am not a man-at-arms. I am a village woman, whose greatest physical trial, apart from the recent battles, has been getting a new keg of ale from the cellar when one runs dry. I have never needed such skills, so I have never cultivated them. Yet there is a great difference between a knight and a man-at-arms; I displayed that difference when I joined for no reward in the protection of Lord Gelin, and when I allowed the Lidorids to flee from my hunt. If I need name it, then I would see that being a knight in your service is no honor, and I shall go back to cleaning mugs and serving roast mutton at harvest.”
The king smiled and took up his sword. He tapped Igonle’s shoulders with the flat of the sword, and said, “You are now Dame Igonle, knight errant of Arkathorne. Now rise and claim your arms.”
So Igonle was fitted with armor and taught the sword. In battle she joined, her surcoat displaying a lioness’s muzzle upon it. The Lidorids were pushed back across the Ridge of Kings and into their own territory. Yet all was not well.
The king of Arkathorne was slain in combat, and the crown prince, Prince Talsairn, was captured and held for ransom by the Lidorids. The king’s brother, Prince Volith, declared his brother lost and would not pay the ransom, naming himself king of Arkathorne. It was a terrible time, but it did not last.
Dame Igonle rode out on her yellow horse to rescue Prince Talsairn. The fortress he was held in was great and powerful, yet Igonle was brave and prepared her attack. Though the Lidorids, being madorns which are of greater size and strength than humans, guarded well, they were not prepared for so aggressive an opponent. Though not well experienced or trained, Igonle stormed the drawbridge and slew many in the bailey and keep as she searched for Prince Talsairn. Yet she fell to a spear in her side, wounded but not slain, and was taken prisoner with Prince Talsairn. It should be quickly noted that the Lidorids believe that she stormed the castle as a lioness, and only turned back into human form when she was felled, yet that and other things would be inconsistent with how most shape-changers—apart from the Ildyana—function.
As prisoners, Dame Igonle and Prince Talsairn were allowed to speak with one another. Prince Talsairn admitted that he had an escape planned, but the presence of another prisoner required things to change. So together they planned an escape.
Prince Talsairn convinced his guards to leave early to get some ale, and they assumed that he couldn’t or wouldn’t escape in the middle of the day. He then made his way to the armory stealthily, and took up his own captured arms and armor, putting Dame Igonle’s in a bundle and carrying them out. Prince Talsairn then came to Dame Igonle’s quarters and dispatched the guards before entering and giving her the armor and weapons she’d come there with. So they made their way a stealthily as they could with chainmail on, having to slay many guards who heard or spotted them. Eventually the alarm was raised, and it became more difficult.
Dame Igonle and Prince Talsairn then made their way to the wall to escape. There was a moat, so one at a time they removed their armor and prepared to jump. Dame Igonle was first to change, so Prince Talsairn would not have to hold off enemies without armor, a risk she was willing to take for the royal. Together they tossed their armor and weapons towards the shore and then leapt in themselves, swimming to shore and then retrieving their gear, which would have made them sink otherwise. They escaped into the woods then, and after a harrowing chase, Dame Igonle and Prince Talsairn evaded their pursuers.
Many leagues they walked, and there they could not retain their roles. Dame Igonle, as a knight, was sworn to serve Prince Talsairn, but he himself was also a knight and could not help but be courteous to a lady. As such, they had arguments about everything they did, from whether one or the other should set up camp to who should carry their gear. Inevitably, they decided to discard such pretenses for they sake of their fellow escapee, and each shouldered their share of responsibilities.
Acting as equals, they began to speak as equals, and learned much of each other. Dame Igonle learned that Prince Talsairn was not all that royalty claims to be, just as he learned of the woman behind the deeds which are now being written. It was then that they began to feel affection for one another, yet they were not sure if they should.
When the two returned to Arkathorne, they discovered that Prince Volith, now called king, ruled terribly. When Prince Talsairn confronted him and demanded his throne back as older son and named successor, his plea was ignored. Then Prince Talsairn took off his glove to reveal the Oliand of Arkathorne, and spoke of how with his last breath their father gave it to him. Prince Volith demanded the ring, but Prince Talsairn wouldn’t give it up. So it came to blows, and Prince Talsairn was wounded. Dame Igonle retrieved the true king and fled.
They escaped to Cithur, and there they prepared for Prince Volith’s downfall. Yet other matters soon concerned them, matters of marriage. They were married, the true king of Arkathorne marrying the first woman knight of Arkathorne, and one of their most noble knights as well. Though perhaps it was sorrowful to lose the kingdom, they were too happy to know it.
Five years were spent in exile, until Prince Volith was slain by his own wife. Then Prince Talsairn and Dame Igonle, with their two children, one of whom was yet unborn, returned to Arkathorne. Prince Talsairn was named king of Arkathorne without a struggle, and Dame Igonle was his queen. Such began the rule of King Talsairn, a fair rule where peace and plenty abounded.
In the closing years of King Talsairn’s reign, a fear spread over the court. King Talsairn and Queen Igonle had never had sons, only daughters, so a male heir might only be found among cousins. Yet King Talsairn named Benewil, their firstborn daughter, born in Cithur, his heir, for she was fierce yet kind. Much controversy arose in their court because of this, for they had never had a woman as a ruling queen. Yet when they remembered Queen Igonle’s title as dame, their defenders said that if Princess Benewil had inherited half of her mother’s spirit, Oliand or not, she would rule all of Camadorn if she wished. So it would come to pass that the daughter of the first female knight of Arkathorne became the first ruling queen of Arkathorne, and she was a good and chivalrous queen such as her line, both past and future, might be proud.
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