Fatal Fairies (Renaissance Faire Mystery Book 8) by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene

champion. They never yell so loudly for anyone else. And who can blame them. Welcome, Sir Chase! Your presence always means a good knight!”
    People were stomping their feet on the wood bleachers. Women were calling Chase’s name. I moved with the standard to his station and prepared for his joust.
    “Today, my champion will face the ominous mystery jouster,” the queen continued her narrative. “He won’t prevail against my champion, but I look forward to seeing him receive the thrashing he deserves.”
    The crowd agreed with their loud Huzzahs! Chase held his sword high as he paraded with around the Field of Honor. And that was when I noticed the mystery jouster.
    He was wearing red and black armor and  a helm that disguised his identity. I’d never seen that armor on the field before. It felt like a sign—he could be the fairy’s killer.
    The crowd booed as the mystery knight took his lap around the field. They were supposed to hate him and want the queen’s champion to take the day. It seemed that they had been well coached by the cheerleaders in front of each section.
    Except that the left section was supposed to cheer for the mystery knight.
    I handed Chase his helm as I took his sword and then gave him a lance. He smiled at me before he put down the visor and advanced on his opponent. I watched him approach the knight, wishing I could see under that helm so I knew the identity of the mystery knight.
    The knight never spoke, never gave anything away about himself.
    They ran at each other twice, neither one able to unseat the other. They seemed well matched. The mystery knight was confident but not reckless. He held his lance in a steady hand, almost as good as Chase.
    “My champion seems distracted,” Queen Olivia called out above the noise of the crowd between jousts. “Oh wait. Fie on me. I forgot to give Sir Chase my favor. Oh, Chase!” She sang out. “Come, good sir. Receive my fortune upon your joust.”
    Chase had no choice but to ride to the Queen’s side in the grandstand. She kissed a white handkerchief and sent it flying to him with red lipstick on it. Unfortunately, her aim was off and it missed Chase’s lance.
    It was my job to retrieve it. I ran to get it out of the sand and give it to him.
    At the sound of a horse galloping toward us, I looked up to see the mystery knight. He wasn’t waiting for the official start of the next joust. His lance was lowered to reach Chase’s midsection where he was most vulnerable. I handed Chase the handkerchief and pointed out the impatient knight. He nodded and turned his horse to face his opponent.
    What I didn’t count on was the rubber battle axe that suddenly appeared in the mystery knight’s hand. It was an illegal move during the joust, but sometimes the riders would toss in a trick or two to get the audience’s attention.
    The battle axe would have bounced off Chase’s armor followed by a lot of booing and hissing from the audience. Everyone loved dirty tricks like these even if they were cheering for the favorite. It kept the joust interesting.
    As I moved out of the way of the horses and the battle, I realized that the hard rubber axe was at a different trajectory than I had imagined. It was far too low for Chase. It might have hit his horse, but it seemed to be coming toward me.
    There was nowhere to hide. I started to drop to the dirt rather than take a sharp blow to the head. Though it wouldn’t hurt someone wearing armor, the hard rubber was painful to unprotected skin.
    But the battle axe seemed to have a mind of its own. Before I could reach the ground, it struck its target—me.
     

Chapter Eleven
     
    Lucky for me the axe wasn’t real. It wouldn’t split my head open. But the rubber was heavy, and it hurt like crazy, stunning me for a moment.
    Chase jumped down from his horse, flinging off his helm and gloves. His lance was in the dirt.
    “Someone call 911,” he yelled as he knelt beside me.
    “Goodness me!” The queen