Lady knight

Cassandra tugged roughly on the helmet crammed on to her head until it flew off, smashing into the wooden wall and leaving a discernible dent in the shape of her visor. She sighed as she ripped the chain maille coif down from around her head, and pulled her red hair out from inside her leather jacket. Her hair was a complete mess, drenched in sweat with a little bit of blood mixed in, but that was something for her to worry about later. She had some planning to do for the coming events in the tournament.

Which wouldn't be easy, as was evidenced by the knight she would be facing next heading her way at that very moment. She rolled her eyes and leaned over the table to get a good look at the bracket. She really should have expected the slap on her ass standing like that.

"So, you're Cassandra, huh?" His voice was deep, and she could tell he was putting it on to make an impression. "Doing pretty good in the ranks. Must be because your opponents have been blinded by your beauty." He had a massive, shit eating grin on his face that said it was supposed to be a compliment.

"Yes, because it couldn't be that I'm just better than them," she muttered under your breath. "I'm afraid I can't recall your name. Must not have made much of an impact."

She could see the flinch in his eyes, but the grin never wavered. She wagered it was either too much practice at being dejected, or too much confidence. Probably the latter. "The name's Alfred," he offered with a bow that was just a little too low and a little too close. "Your next opponent out on the field. Been watching the brackets?"

"Trying to, but some people don't seem to quite understand the concept of space."

"You tell me who's getting in your space, and I'll make sure they never touch you again."

Cassandra sighed and leaned on her sword. "Is there something I can do for you... Albert, was it?"

There was that flinch in his eye again. She had to try very hard not to grin at that. "Alfred," he repeated. "And I just thought that... perhaps we could make a deal."

"Another deal. Of course."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing. Go ahead."

Alfred looked her over, increasingly confused as their conversation continued. It was apparent that it was not going the way that he had planned for it to go. "Let's make a good show of the fight," he finally said. "I'll beat you either way. So let's make it look good, and after I win, we can split the money. I'll take you for dinner. We can..."

Cassandra cut him off with a punch to the gut that he wasn't expecting, doubling him over. "Here's the deal, Alexander. We're gonna go out there. You're gonna hold back because I'm a woman, and you're a pussy. And then I'm going to kick your ass. You want to win? You're gonna have to prove me wrong."

Alfred's eyes were wide as he looked up at her as she went to pick up her helmet. "Pricks," she muttered to herself as she headed out to the field.