When to speak and when to be silent...

[threadwalker]

I have been pondering the finals at Crown. Titus bounced up to me after finals and told me why he did it.(1) Since he once said he appreciates my honesty, I took a deep breath and was honest. I told him I appreciate his reasons and applaud where his heart was, but on a gut level, disagree with his actions and felt the kingdom was cheated out of finals tourney as it was meant to be. Well, not everyone cares about such stuff... the mood of apathy towards tourneys grows as Jade and Uther pass the Crown back and forth, which is too bad because I know I care. But there it is: those that care do, and those that don't don't.

Since talking to Titus my gut-feeling is more solidified into this thought:

Sovereign by Right of Arms

There will be fall-out. The chivalry meeting was quoted as 3 hrs long. It was evident that some of the chiv had their say and then beat-feet during the meeting. Since I'm not in it and was eating dinner (with an incredibly gracious household!! who I need to thank properly!!!), I ignored it.

So I have my own ponderings about oaths, fealty and my role as a peer. I believe that if I do not swear fealty to Jade and CL, then I have no business sitting in council or going up when peers are elevated or wearing my regalia.

I think the part that is MOST upsetting is how it will affect CL, who I care for deeply. She is gracious, generous, hard-working and really doesn't need the drama barfed all over her.

And what sucks is I was so excited about this event. The best part was seeing friends I miss, seeing a BFF take a student, seeing the newest Pel in her fancy coat, volunteering for some needlework service, and congratulating Ob on being the first to slay Jade in a tourney. (Although I was there when Fabian killed Jade in finals years ago but then they refought that battle... days gone by..) But it's all overcast by one well-intentioned fighter who yielded finals and unwittingly messed with the expectations (and maybe the "dreams") of the Kingdom.

Bah. I hate the impending sense of tension. I hate feeling like my Kingdom is in turmoil.

I'm reminded of a sheep dog the neighbor had. He'd get so excited, he'd wag so hard he'd knock you down or trip me when we went running together (he was my ever present running buddy). I feel like I got knocked down like that. And there's nothing to do in this case because what's done is done and I don't believe there was any intent of malice.

Edit (1) For those who missed it, Titus and Jade were in finals. They did not fight; Titus immediately yielded the finals to Jade. My error - orginally I said that after Jade and CL were crowned with the wreaths, Jade and Titus did a few "for show" fights. The wreaths were after the fights, not before. And I'm not sure if Victory was announced to Jade before or after those fights.

Comments

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

This is sure confusing for those of us who were not able to attend Crown. What happened?

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Yes, what happened?

[xrian.livejournal.com]

They did all the ceremonial announcements for Finals, and then Titus walked up to Jade, embraced him, made a flowery speech and said, "I yield."

Polite pandemonium, heavily laced with "I can't believe he DID that," ensued.

They did, eventually, fight a token round. But boy, was it weird.

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

The fight was after the wreathes were placed on Jade and CL. The fights were not related to determining tourney results.

[answers-within.livejournal.com]

Interesting foo to read about from afar!

I am not doubting you for a second - you were there! - but I do find it interesting that Jade's post from the West list gives a different order of events. I don't think you read the list, but in any event here's the relevant bit:

"
For the record, here's what happened next.

As much as I personally lauded Titus' intentions and desire to make a
powerful, positive statement, I felt uncomfortable being proclaimed
Crown Prince in such a fashion. Those who know me, know I love the
competition and crucible that is Crown Tournament, and this was
outside of my personal way of doing things. I immediately conferred
with my Consort, Mistress Catherine Lorraine and asked how she felt.
Her response was simple - "We can't do it this way - you guys have to
fight".

So, I went to Titus and the King Uther and said that, as much as I
venerated Titus' intention to yield the field, and as much as I
honored his desire to make a statement that winning isn't everything,
we absolutely needed to fight the Crown Finals, best 2 of 3, as is
our tradition. I further indicated that my Consort could not accept
being Crown Princess without the traditional trial by combat.

King Uther agreed, and Titus acknowledged that he would take up his
arms again, and fight the Crown Finals as normal.

We met on the field and fought, and I won two straight bouts.

The investiture on the field then took place as normally occurs."

I'm curious why he would be presenting it as such? Not trying to stir the pot, just interested as it's an unusual situation, to put it mildly.

[maryanneg.livejournal.com]

The wreaths were placed on their heads after the fights, but Ascelin is correct in that the fights between Titus and Jade did not actually affect tourney results.

Crown

[sir-titus.livejournal.com]

Just to set the record straight we did go ahead and fight finals at the request of Catherine Lorraine. They were not token fight sand i have the bruises to prove.

Re: Crown

[ysabella-dolfin.livejournal.com]

I didn't see the herald's announce a lay on or the salutes? But I had a very nice wine buzz! Did anyone video the finals?

[kaar-insurance.livejournal.com]

to clarify: the fights were *not* after the wreaths - Titus gave his speech then Jade came over to Catherine (I was standing right there) and said (not direct quotes, but in essence) "Are you OK with this? I'm not." and Catherine replied "I'm not either - you need to win by right of arms" and he smiled and agreed and asked Titus to fight finals. Titus agreed and they fought. THEN they were declared Crown Prince and Princess.

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

I suspect that the token round happened only because of Uther's words.