South-Eastern France, 1079

As the moon managed to pierce the cloud covering it illuminated the shilouette of a little castle that sat on the outcrop of the surrounding hills. The moon shone brightly through the gap between the castle proper and the small village of Mont-Fierra that hugged the mouintainside. The drawbridge was up and there was no way to get in or out of the castle, or so it seemed.

Simon was a little worried that the moon would glint off the armour of his men and give his position away. He had waited a long time for this overcast sky. The days of siege had dragged on and as eldest son to the Count of Mont Pierre he had been responsible for coordinating the defences. Like the castle it was all a rather small affair. He had thirty five men under him, not counting those that would pick up anything should it come to a last stand. Made up of Archers and Knights they were just slightly outnumbered by their enemy. They were led by Gerhardt Manconi. In these mountains where the allegiance often changed with each valley it was easy to get pulled in to some conflict or another. Manconi had been sent to secure provisions for his uncle the Count of Bardonechia, who was fighting against the German Count of Cesana. Simon had met Gerhardt one year ago at a tournament near Torino and knew the man to be a fair fighter.

That's why the siege had been a bloodless affair so far. Gerhardt had set up his command in the middle of Mont-Fierra and was confident to starve Simon and his men. That's what Simon wanted to prevent with his nightly sally. The drawbridge was not the only access to the castle. There was a hidden door that led to a narrow path that wound down the steep slope of the rock the castle stood upon. Simon had selected his best men as it took courage to scale that path at night.
They had made it safely to the bottom though and had circled around the town and were now coming up on Gerhardts forces from behind. All his sentries had been placed towards the castle it seemed and they could now see the small inn that Gerhardt had chosen for his command.

Simon raised his hand to give the signal. His men drew their swords and stormed forward their shoes clattering on the asphalt has they stormed towards the inn. Bracing himself Simon slams his whole weight into the door which gives way immediatelly. Instead of crashing to the ground Simon lands softly and hears a grunt from below him. Gerhardt's men had been sleeping on the floor of the common room and were slowly coming to their senses.

Not wasting any time Simon hurries on up the stairs. He knows the inn has he has spent many times here drinking. And once when he was too drunk to walk back the few paces to the castle the landlord had insisted he stay in his largest room overlooking the little town square. That's where Simon was headed now, sword in hand. As he burst open the door, a surprised looking Gerhardt was sitting on the bed and just pulling on his right stocking. Beside the door, right next to Simon the swordbelt lay propped up on a table. Only hesitating a short moment Simon grabs the sword and throws it at Gerhardt.

Abandoning his stocking Gerhardt catches the sword midair and begins to draw, acknowledging the gesture with a small nod. Simon was already locked in concenctration, sword half-raised. He knew from Torino that Gerhardt had a tendency to drift towards the left and so he concentrated his attacks on the right, dealing his first forceful blow. The movement was restricted, as the room was quite small despite being the largest room available. Twice the opponents tripped on the furniture and there was a small pause as each fighter gave the other time to take up their position again. Finally Simon breached the defence of his opponent and a nasty gash appeared on the right shoulder of Gerhardt, he wouldn't hold out much longer.

Lowering his sword slightly Simon steps back a little. "It doesn't have to end here. Take your men and leave Mont-Fierra and never come back again!" Gerhardt leaped forward in response but his blow was weak and easily parried by Simon. The exertion seemed to have convinced Gerhardt of the extent of his injury, as more blood began seeping out of the gash. Dropping his sword he nods grimly.

Simon had not paid attention to anything besides his duel with Gerhardt and so was surprised to see his men standing over twenty prisoners as he made his way back to the common room Gerhardt close behind him. Apparently the defenders had been too surprised to put up much of a fight let alone warn the archers stationed throughout the town.

And so it came to be known that Simon de Montpierre had ended a siege by one strike of his sword, dealt in the middle of the night in a Fair Fight between two Knights.