Illyanna's Purple Favor

by Jon Cable

Illyanna ignored the awkward pull of her green silk dress across her body as she stretched to pluck another dandelion just out of her reach. The ground beneath her trembled, the crowd shouting and stomping on the hastily built wooden stands, deathly silent at the precise moment of impact. She gathered her blossoms, throwing the imperfect away, ignoring the baking heat of the midday sun, and the trickle of sweat on the tip of her nose as she frantically strung them together; she knew she had very little time before her suitor would make his way to the field, looking perhaps to catch sight of her wave in the boisterous crowd. Illyanna finished her flowery necklace, lifting her head to take notice of her beloved's banner, a silver crescent in a purple field, next in line at the lists. She looked over at the entrance to the field, where her gallant was standing with his lavender ribboned horse waiting his turn behind a knight with a feathered helm and intricately embossed, silver armor that gleamed in the bright, clear sunshine of the day. The combatants charged, the chain of flowers falling forgotten to the dusty ground at her feet watching feathers explode from the helm of the jouster as the tip of his opponent's lance slid past his shield, up under his chin and deep into his throat, sending her gaze back to the lilac hued favor tied to the grip of her knight's own lance.

6S

Jon Cable, in trying to escape, is tangled up in rusty swords and cloudy-eyed dragons.