Ghastly Glass by Joyce and Jim Lavene

where we’d ended up confronting each other. “If you two want to put on a show, let’s do it.”
    I hadn’t realized that we’d drawn a crowd of visitors. The flashing cameras finally gave me a clue. Sometimes it was hard to remember that anything you did could be completely fascinating to the people around you. We were in Renaissance clothing (at least I was). That meant we were doing something that could be seen only in the Village. I supposed Tony would stand out anywhere dressed as he was.
    “What did you have in mind? ” I asked her.
    Daisy was a large woman with muscled arms from her time as sword and weapon maker to the Village. She wore a breastplate with an image of a phoenix on it. Her badly dyed blond hair was wild on her head, giving her the look of a Viking war goddess. No one ever argued with Daisy.
    She held out two wooden training swords. Tony snatched one, and I took mine, too. I suspected I was more reluctant than Tony to actually battle, even with a fake sword. But the crowd was really pressing in with the possibility of a show. I guessed we’d have to oblige them.
    “I’ll keep score,” Daisy said. “Whoever nicks the other three times with the sword is the victor. Are you ready, gentlemen ? ”
    Until then, I’d forgotten I was dressed like a man in the Craft Guild. I wondered if it would make any difference to the crowd. They looked fairly bloodthirsty. Probably not. Who wouldn’t want to see a good fight with the Devil?
    “It’s like on TV,” one little boy close to me said. “Who do you think will win? ”
    His friend grinned and said, “I’m betting on the Devil. That other guy looks like a girl.”
    Before we could take up arms, Chase and two security guards arrived to see what was happening. Daisy explained that she was in charge of the pseudo-match and would coordinate everything.
    Chase glanced at me. “Are you sure about this? ”
    “Not really, but my stupid brother seems to be.”
    “Is that you, Tony? ” Chase laughed. “I’m not surprised. I always thought you had a little devil inside you.”
    Tony gave his evil Devil laugh. “That’s right. And I’m betting gold I can best this craftsman. Then we’ll talk.”
    “Okay. Let’s make it a fair fight,” Chase reminded him.
    “Oh, it’ll be fair all right,” Daisy said. “Or I’ll take something out of someone’s hide.”
    “If I win, you confess to Chase,” Tony snickered.
    “And if I win, we never talk about this again,” I rejoined.
    So my twin brother and I faced each other, with the crowd from the Pleasant Pheasant and the joust that had just finished watching us. I’m sure we seemed equally matched to the visitors’ eyes. We were both right at six feet tall. Tony was broader in the shoulders and chest. I’m sure I appeared more lithe.
    Before anyone could say go, Tony swooped in and nicked me with the point of his sword.
    “Hey! That wasn’t fair. That shouldn’t count. Daisy didn’t say we should fight yet.”
    Daisy shrugged. “It’s not a running match, Sir Craftsman. No one has to tell you it’s time to fight the Devil.”
    That made me mad. Or madder. The whole thing was stupid. Unfortunately, I tended to forget that when at the Village personal issues should be dealt with behind closed doors. Anything outside in the street was fair game to be turned into faire entertainment. “Cheater!” I taunted him.
    “What did you expect? I’m the Devil. I don’t play fair.” He tried to get past my guard for another nick.
    I moved away quickly and spun back to catch his arm with my sword. It reminded me that during the Renaissance fights like these were all too real. These nicks meant nothing to us, but had this been a real sword fight, we’d both be bleeding, possibly dying, before the cheering crowd.
    “A point for the craftsman!” Daisy called out. “They are fairly matched.”
    The presence of the bailiff and his security men meant an ever-growing crowd of watchers. Not only