The Angry Mermaid 110 or Y Morforwyn Dicllon 110

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10th century armour (Actual examples.)
10th century helmet.png
typical northern European helmet.

10th century plate armour.jpg

Typical 10th century plate armour.

10th century chain mail.png

Typical 1oth century chain mail.

10th century femal breast plate.jpg

A typical 10th century female breast plate as drustina would have worn. (Yes, women fought in those times.)

The Angry Mermaid 110
Or
Y Morforwyn Dicllon 110.

The pair stepped onto the field and took positions at the required distance apart. When Carl signalled, the pair advanced and in seconds Dorvan realised he was fighting what seemed to be a wraith. As the Lioness had foretold, he found it impossible to land a blow upon the seemingly ethereal creature that constantly tormented him with sharp taps on his helmet or noisy rapping upon his breast armour and leg plates as her deadly blade moved with lightening speed. Finally, as Dorvan tired inside his suit of plate, she brought the thickened backbone of her blade down hard onto the back his mailed fist and numbed the hand so that his sword fell from his nerveless fingers.

“Ow! Bloody hell Lioness, you’ve deadened my hand!”

“You are disarmed Dorvan, do you yield?”

“Yes of course. Where did you learn that?”

“Truly your highness, I cannot remember. I think it was in Constantia but it might have been Egypt, I honestly forget.”

“Huh, you remembered it well enough to disarm me.”

“Such tricks become second nature. I never forgot it; I just forgot where I learned it. Now do you think I have a better chance to fight this earl?”

The young prince had previously indicated to Drustina that he was a quick learner and he showed the same aptitude as he bent to recover his sword.

“You’re in another league Lioness; your Saxon hardly needs to ever worry about your honour. I don’t think there is a warrior in Hibernia who could safely best you and sully your name.”

Drustina smiled then wagged her head signalling caution.

“There is always somebody better Dorvan, the thing is, that someone doesn’t usually make a song and dance about it. Don’t worry about the loud-mouthed bullies; it’s the quiet ones you must watch.”

“That I know Lioness but I still warn you the Earl of Gorvan is a powerful brute. Be careful. If you slip once he will be upon you without mercy. Now to another thing. Will the ladies be watching this fight?”

“I don’t see why not, they attend the butts don’t they?”

“Why yes Lioness, but those duels, like our duel, are just competitions. Rarely is a combatant killed, though some do receive injuries.”

“Then let the king rule on the audience. I’m sure he’ll consult your mother.”

“I’ll ask him.” Dorvan decided.
~o00o~

“The women!” King Dal shifted uncomfortably then did exactly as Drustina had predicted. “This isn’t some sporting duel my son, if the loser refuses to yield or the victor refuses clemency, blood will surely flow. I will consult with your mother.”

So saying, Dal indicated he wished to speak privately with the Lioness.

“Are you confident about this Lioness?”

“I try never to be confident your majesty for there lies carelessness and error, but I honestly think I can best him. Short of accident I think I can defeat him but I do not intend to kill him. I have an agenda here and if the gods will favour me, I will send out a loud message. I have one final request, the earl chose to duel with noble weapons, I therefore have one request that we duel no earlier than noon and preferably an hour after.”

“Your request is granted. Do you think the women should watch?” Dal asked her.

“If they have not the stomach for it Majesty, they will either not attend or turn their gaze and leave if the fight becomes too gruesome. Let each woman choose for herself. They have free will after all and they see plenty of blood when bearing their children.”

Dal nodded then shrugged.

“I suppose you’re right. Very well, I will run it by Gwynlen.”

The queen just happened to enter as Dal was speaking.

“Run what by me darling?”

He turned and shrugged.

“Drustina was wondering about you ladies wanting to watch the duel.”

The queen turned and frowned.

“So you’re definitely going through with it Lioness. Don’t you think you’re being a bit irresponsible?”

Drustina realised Gwynlen’s concern but she canted her head and made a wry, slightly apologetic smile.

“I have my reasons. If I die, I die, I am not indispensible.”

“Begging your pardon Lioness, I’m sorry to tell you that many of us feel you are indispensible. How will we rid these islands of the Viking oppressors without your generalship?”

Drustina shrugged again but avoided making it look as though she didn’t care.

“Whatever my functions as a leader or warrior are, I cannot allow those responsibilities and burdens to prevent me from righting a smaller wrong that I personally feel very strongly about. Righting the little wrongs can have as much impact on we women’s lot as changing the fates of nations. The Earl of Gorvan needs to learn a lesson and I’m hoping I’ll be able to teach him without recourse to killing.”

“And that lesson is ...?”

“Women are not cattle! ... Beasts to be traded like meat in the market!”

Queen Gwynlen momentarily fell silent for she knew exactly where the lioness was coming from. When she found her voice, she was brief.

“I see.”

Drustina nodded slowly then made her excuses and left. Later she learned that most of the noblewomen had decided to watch the contest. The duel was arranged to begin after the midday meal the following day.

~o000o~

At dawn Carl stirred and studied his bed-mate as she still slept.

By the gods! She sleeps like a baby. You’d never think she faced a duel this afternoon.'

He slid carefully out of bed and sneaked away to wash before returning to dress. Drustina was still sleeping so he slipped away to the refectory and ate his breakfast. After eating he returned to their chambers and marvelled that his partner still slept. He debated waking her then decided instead to gather some food from the refectory and leave it by her bed. This done, he joined Udris, Heliox and their crews down by the far end of the harbour which lay adjacent to the butts. They asked him where Drustina was and he simply told the truth by saying he had left her asleep.

As yet the news of her championing Una’s cause was not publicly abroad. The news of the duel however was and as noon approached, the crowds were beginning to gather. Most of the crowd presumed that Prince Dorvan was championing the Lady Una for even the news of Drustina’s previous duel with Dorvan had not been made public. Carl returned to their chambers to find Drustina dressed for the duel in her usual battle apparel. A soft chemise under a soft leather jerkin that prevented her lightweight cuirass breast plate from chafing her bare arms and shoulders. She wore her usual cotton hose to give her maximum freedom of movement and a pair of leather shorts that allowed her legs complete mobility to jump and leap freely. Carl smiled as her clothing told him that Drustina was going to use mobility against the Earl’s armour. She was limbering up as he entered and noticed her empty plate.

“I see you’ve eaten your breakfast so no nerves then?”

“I’m always nervous at the point of battle. Who cannot be?”

“I suppose it would be useless for me to try and dissuade you and let me take your place.”

“I have a lesson to teach and the butts will be the best school.”

Carl nodded sagely as he shrugged.

“Very well, are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, come on.”

He noted she wore her sword and three daggers, one down each of her soft leather boots and her favourite in its lateral scabbard under the formed breasts of her cuirass. Carl realised Drustina meant business. They stepped onto the field used as ‘The Butts’ and Drustina approached the earl. He turned to look at her and paused as he was swinging his heavy sword.

“What brings you here woman?”

“I champion the Lady Una Dalgliesh.”

The earl gaped disbelievingly and called towards the King’s pavilion.

“What lunacy is this, an un-armed woman intends to stand against me.”

Drustina interrupted softly.

“Oh I certainly don’t intend to stand against you Earl. It is my intention to dance around you and bring you low. And I am not ‘un-armed’ I carry my favoured weapons.”

The earl cursed.

“I cannot fight a woman! The laws of chivalry prevent it!”

Drustina chose to goad the bully.

“What do you know of the laws of chivalry? If you followed those laws, you would have renounced your claim of betrothal when the maid expressed her despair. You would have been properly and fairly compensated with coin just as you initially bought your betrothal with coin. You have behaved as little more than a slave trader purchasing a wife simply to assuage your wants where no decent woman would accept your hand in marriage.”

“How dare you bitch! For that you will surely die!”

He turned to King Dal.

“Your majesty, this woman has insulted me and she bears arms. I believe it is my right to seek redress through combat but first I must seek your licence. Despite my anger, she is still a woman, will you let us fight?”

King Dal felt happier that the earl had recognised the issue of Drustina’s femininity for it legitimised his granting permission for the duel to proceed. He raised his hand and called.

“If both of you are prepared to duel then so be it. This issue must be resolved.”

Drustina nodded and saluted her sword to face the king and the Earl recovered his manners enough to copy her salute. They then retreated ten yards and stood guard as the king brought his arm down to signal commencement.

Earl Gorvan advanced confidently but Drustina had no intentions of trading blow for blow. The earl weighed half her weight again and his sword was immensely heavy. Instead, she simply backed away and parried his strikes as she circled the field seeking the softest ground. Eventually as the earl scoffed at her seeming reluctance to stand her ground, Drustina finally found the softest patch where she had expected it. At the lowest corner of the field down by the quay were the grass was still a rich green because of the ground water draining to that area. There was even a small spring and the ground squelched with a satisfying degree of suction under her feet. She exchanged a few strokes to test her strategy and noted with further satisfaction that the earl was definitely having more difficulty than her in moving quickly and shifting freely from foot to foot.

‘This will be the place I bring him low,’ she concluded as she then moved back up the slopes towards the King’s pavilion.

There she made a brief stand and presented a satisfactory display of defensive swordsmanship simply to demonstrate to the gathered nobility that she was competent with arms. Basically she danced and skipped to avoid his lumbering strikes until she heard him grunt with fatigue. The earl was slowly beginning to realise he was in a real fight.

After leading him in circles in front of the crowd Drustina decided to change her tactics. Occasionally she ducked inside his guard and rapped the flat of her sword against his cuirass or haulm simply to tell him she was capable of reaching him. In all that time, Drustina had not used the sharp edge of her Toledo blade once. It was nearly an hour now and the earl had been swinging his heavily mailed arm around in a furious effort to pin the wraith that danced before him. The weight of his armour and chain mail under skirt was beginning to take its toll. Furthermore the afternoon sun was proving to be a curse for his armour was causing him to cook. Sensing that he was tiring, she stepped back several yards to enable him to get a clear view of her and she noted with satisfaction that he paused to recover his breath. Then he brought his mailed fist to his own brow in a futile attempt to wipe the perspiration from his eyes. Drustina grinned and took a handful of grass to wipe her own perspiration away.

“Warm enough for you?” She asked.

“Damn you bitch! You’ll tire before I do.”

“We’ll see; on guard!”

She leapt forward just enough to alarm him and force him to react before his brow was clear of sweat. He brought his sword up to defend himself and Drustina noticed a distinct slowing down.

'He’s tiring, or is he faking it?' She wondered for his arm had been unexpectedly slow.

She decided to risk a strike and leapt forward with sword raised then ducked low as he swung furiously with a wide sweep to deter her. His move opened up his arm pit and whilst he was still well protected by his cuirass, the upper leather buckle and strap was clearly exposed. As she recovered from her duck she looked up to see the strap perfectly presented. She easily whipped up her lethal blade and sliced at the strap. Much to her annoyance she failed to cut right through the strap but fortunately the earl had not even felt the action under his arm. Drustina dived sideways and rolled away even as the earl span around and lurched towards the seeming helpless figure on the ground. He had not reckoned with Drustina’s agility as she flipped backwards and came to her feet with legs spread wide before she leapt to the side again. The earl cursed again.

“Stay still you whore!”

Drustina did not respond for talk was wasted breath and breath was precious. Instead she took several steps sideways and placed a post between her and the earl. This prevented him from swinging his sword in wide sweeps and he was forced to jab. She pranced from side to side then paused and he made the error of thinking she had stopped to recover her breath. He lunged forward thinking he might get a strike in but all he succeeded in doing was going too far forward and allowing the post to block his side. Drustina simply leapt forward past the post and the earl was forced to raise his sword over the post as he span to face her. Once again the leather buckle was exposed and Drustina had time enough to finish the job. She slipped her blade forward again and finally cut the upper strap.

Immediately the Earl’s cuirass flopped loosely around his neck but the lower strap still held it around his waist and he cursed as he felt the cuirass snag his shoulder. He went to re-adjust it but immediately, Drustina gave his breast plate a sharp rap as warning enough to the earl that if he let his guard down she would strike.

For the first time that afternoon, the earl felt real fear as he realised the bitch was actually toying with him. The blustering curses and threats stopped as he finally concluded he was the one in danger, not the seeming sorceress with the sword confronting him.
Drustina grinned as she saw the fear begin to reflect in his eyes. Her grin compounded his fear ... it was meant to.

For long moments the earl stood panting though few could see it from the crowds hidden as it was by his rigid metal cuirass and heavy underskirt of chain mail. The earl realised his only hope lay in conserving his strength while hoping his mail would protect him and the woman before him became over confident and made a slip. The crowd however became restless and more women were joining the crowds as word spread rapidly around the city of Limerick broadcasting the news that the Lioness, a mere woman by all accounts, was besting one of the most notorious bullies in all of Western Hibernia. The crowd became impatient with the earl’s seeming reluctance to carry the fight to the woman whilst she at least had the courage to advance periodically and tantalise the earl with her swordplay. The sullen discontent started to erupt into calls and shouts of discontent and then derision as the pitch of the crowd’s noise raised from the sullen tenor of the men to the soprano shrieks and cries of the women as more of their number joined the crowd and added to the tumult. The earl heard the jeers and cat-calls but he was too tired to respond and too aware of the dangers the bitch before him presented. He roared out a curse to the crowd whilst yet refusing to take his eyes of the figure who tormented him.

“The bitch is a sorceress. No man can skip and dance and move like this wraith moves.”

The crowd fell silent and Drustina felt his accusation had gained him some credence; she had to nail the charge there and then. Like the earl, she chose words for skilful sword play might simply reinforce his claim in the eyes of the many uneducated superstitious watchers. She counter-called his claim whilst reinforcing her femininity.

“Aye earl! You say no man may dance as I, but every woman here can skip and dance as lightly as I do. Just watch them when they dance.”

To emphasise her words she skipped lightly and crossed her feet several times before landing in front of him to present a tempting target. The earl seized what seemed a perfect opportunity and swung out furiously for he had recovered his breath. For the first time that afternoon, his sword made contact; it reached Drustina’s helmet but it was a light glancing blow of little consequence. It made a satisfactory clang however and many thought the blow was telling. Drustina knew better but more importantly she had judged the precise limit of the man’s reach and weight. As she ducked with the earl’s strike, she dropped low to her right and a fearful gasp rose up from the crowd as they thought she was downed. The gasp died in their throats however as, with legs split wide like a ballet-dancer, she rose up to her left and found the earl’s right side exposed as his mighty swing followed through. With a more certain slash she sliced the lower buckle of his cuirass on his right side and the cuirass immediately changed from a useful protection to a confusing hamper as the front plate now dropped sideways and off his right shoulder. The earl was forced to hold the plate if he was to successfully swing his sword again. Drustina decided to use words again to reinforce her superiority to the crowd and let them learn that there was no sorcery involved. She called loudly to the earl.

“D’you want me to rid you of that confounded breast plate as a mother undresses her babe?”

“Damn you sorceress! I will loosen it myself.”

He went to unbuckle his left strap but the heavy mailed gloves caused him to fumble uselessly. Worse still, as he fumbled, it enabled the Lioness to poke her sword under his arm pit and actually prod him hard through his chain mail under-vest. He cursed angrily for the poke was sharp even though it had not pierced his flesh. It also told Drustina that the only viable target was his neck, face and wrists. The chain-mail was of too heavy a gauge. Only the pencil sharp points of her daggers would slide between the links and stab deep enough to draw blood. She stepped back to study his armour and concluded it would be advantageous to cut the cuirass free. The under-vest was a looser garment that would flop about once the security of the cuirass was removed. Furthermore, if the cuirass was removed, she could possibly cut his thick leather belt and that would allow the coat of mail to hang loose from shoulder to shin, a serious hamper to the earl’s mobility. To this end she continued stalking the increasingly frustrated bully until his temper broke and he erred again. The third buckle was cut and the cuirass slid off his shoulder and down his arm to snag on the large cuff of his mailed glove. There it hung like a lobster’s claw swinging and clanking as he struggled to free it.

With his attention distracted to freeing the bizarre appendage Drustina had ample time to step behind the earl and smack his arse hard with the flat of her sword. The blow didn’t hurt the earl but it made a loud smack that echoed around the field and brought a roar of laughter from the crowd. For a brief moment the deadly duel was reduced to farce then Drustina brought it back on track by continuing to circle the earl until she found an opportunity to cut the remaining buckle where it had lodged firmly into the joints of the earl’s mailed fist. She also saw an opportunity to repeat the trick she had played on the young Prince Dorvan the previous morning and brought the back of her sword hard down on the earl’s clenched fist as he struggled to free the buckle. This numbed his hand and the buckle slipped away from his nerveless fingers as Drustina laughed.

“That buckle is too complicated for little boys, d’you want mummy to do it for you darling?”

This remark brought further shrieks of laughter from the women and even some of the men. However several of the men turned beseechingly to Una as they watched the representative of their sex being humiliated. One of the king’s men whispered in Una’s ear.

“Lady, she will do your sex no favours if she continues to humiliate him. Signal to her to offer him quarter or ask her to finish it.”

Una span around angrily.

“What makes you think she is of my sex? Wait and see soldier, wait and watch your fellow male being truly humiliated by a real warrior. Though I will ask her to end it one way or the other. It has been fully two hours now and though the spectacle is hilarious there is no need for further gratuitous insult. I think the earl has learned his lesson.”

So saying, Una called to her champion.

“Lioness, end it I beseech you, one way or the other.”

Drustina waved acknowledgement but Una’s call distracted the earl and Drustina took her chance to prod him hard in the stomach. He cursed and stepped back so Drustina parried his strike then prodded him again. Her splendid Toledo blade was lighter and sharper than the earl’s and it enabled her to make two strokes for one. Each free stroke now drove the exhausted earl backwards towards the swampy corner where fewer crowds had gathered because of the water underfoot. The late comers forced to stand in the water were mostly late-comers and therefore women who had only heard of the duel after it had commenced. Consequently the end was witnessed mainly by women, the working, common women of the city, the women who suffered most at the hands of male and religious oppression. Excited eyes watched with cruel delight as they anticipated noble, manly blood being shed by one of their sex.

As the exhausted earl finally stepped backwards into the deepest stickiest mud, he lost his footing and fell backwards to end up sitting in a pool of muddy water with his sword at his side and staring at the tip of the Lioness’s lethal blade.

“Get up you oaf. I’ll not let witnesses say the ground defeated you!”

He tried to bring his sword around but the Lioness anticipated his move. Sitting on his arse in slippery mud gave him no leverage or stability and she simply whipped her sword sideways as his sword started to come up from the mud. There was a loud clang that signalled one the first real sword strikes in the traditional combat mode but it was the earl’s sword that ended up six feet away while Drustina’s remained firmly in her hand. She seized her chance and prodded her sword under the rim of his haulm thus levering the close fitting rim clear of his brow. His closely shaved scalp was bared and she gently whipped her sword from cheek bone to the crown of his scalp. The normally razor sharp point of her precious blade had naturally suffered from constant impacts and its point was no longer keen. Instead of a clear straight scar, it left a jagged torn rip as the two sides flopped open and copious amounts of blood flowed freely. Drustina had not expected to leave such a ragged cut for it implied poor swordsmanship. She cursed and apologised.

“Sorry Earl. It was meant to be a clean cut leaving a clean scar. That will leave your face terribly disfigured but you can eat and see and hear so be thankful for small mercies. Now, I offer you a greater mercy; I offer you quarter, if you agree to renounce your claim to the Lady Una.”

The crowd of washer women and farmer’s wives were baying for his blood but Drustina signalled to them to be silent as she waited for his answer.

“I’m waiting.” She said softly as she deftly unsheathed his dagger by flipping the hilt with her blade.

This act demonstrated her superior swordsmanship beyond all doubt and the un-weaponed earl sullenly agreed her terms.

“Louder please your lordship." Drustina demanded. "I want the women to hear.”

“Alright! Dammit, I renounce my claim to the Lady Una’s hand!”

“Thank you, now get up, this is no place to be sitting, you’ll catch your death.”

He looked at her and almost saw the funny side but he managed to hide his smile for it was one of relief as well as amusement. Once he got to his feet, Drustina jabbed her blade into the mud filled guard of his discarded sword and proffered it to him. He took it and sheathed it immediately. Drustina nodded ever so slightly so that only the earl saw it as she whispered.

“I’m glad to see that you are at least a man of honour. Lesser men might have tried to stick me as I returned your sword. Come let us return to the king. Oh wait, tarry a while please, I need to piss.”

So saying she lowered the front of her britches and revealed her manhood to piss openly in front of all the common women. A disbelieving gasp went up from the women as Drustina explained to the shocked earl.

“The warrior, who defeated you Earl, is not all woman, though she is woman enough to bear children. But always remember there is man enough in my loins to also do the man’s part. Just remember, your defeat is no disgrace. The scar on your face will be your badge of honour, not a badge of shame. You were torn by the Lioness’s claw. I am not a butcher, remember that lionesses, like wolves and bears, only kill to eat or defend themselves. I had you defenceless so there was no need to kill. There will come a day when I will need men like you if I am defeat these cursed Norsemen.”

The Earl frowned and Drustina asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“There is a problem Lioness, much though I hate the Vikings, I am sworn allegiance to the King O’Niell and he has a pact with the Vikings.”

Drustina laughed softly.

“He only makes peace with them because they are more powerful than him in the east. The moment your king sees a chance to recover Baile átha Cliath and all Leinster, he will rip my arm off if I extend it to help him.”

The Earl of Gorvan silently concurred with the Lioness but he kept his counsel. He didn’t know it, but in keeping it he had learned another lesson from the lioness. ‘Think before you act, or speak!’

~oo000oo~

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Comments

A Ripping good fight

The saga continues to bring delight. About time some of those kinds of men learn a lesson.

Skipper, you are doing us proud.

Joani

I'm trying to figure out

If by the end of this duel Drustina has actually acquired another potential ally.

A little surprised at her display of her duality. Figured she was a bit more private about it.

She had a point to make woody.

Drustina had something of a political point to make. The earl would have felt totally humiliated and therefore possibly irreconsilabley resentful. In pissing publicly, she demonstrated to the earl that he had been defeated by somebody who at least had a dick; thus she ameliorated his sense of shame and total failure. This opens the way to reconciliation and subsequent alliance.

Drustina needs all the allies she can find.

As her legend grows, it is no shame to be beaten in sword play by the Lioness, more a badge of courage to demonstrate one at least had the courage to face her.

Once again, thanks for you comment, I always appreciate constructive criticism and valid points of contention.

Bevs.

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