An excerpt.

[matt_doyle]

“These are the rules of our game,” he said. “I will strike at you with a riddle as my lance. If it go unanswered, you are overthrown. If it is answered true, then your wit is the most cunning, and I am overthrown. The knight overthrown suffers the fate of the overthrown, to be trampled under the hooves of his horse, and greatly I thank you for bringing one, for else your fate would have been held in abeyance while we sought for so noble a creature.”

“Gramercy,” I said, and bowed, but no courtesy was in him now and he ignored it, still speaking,

“Should you win, or should you live, then it will be time to tilt with Magpie Eater, whose game may be different than mine, or it may not.” As that covered the options entirely I stayed silent, and after a moment the fey boy cleared his throat – an awful noise, like the scrape of whetstones and the clatter of bones – and assayed his riddle.

“Sir Dinadan has adventured into a lonely wood. He finds a bridge before him guarded by a giant with an axe and cord. Says the giant 'All knights who would cross this bridge must tell me something of themselves. If they speak truly, then I choke them until they are dead. If they speak false, then my axe will take their head. Tell me, Sir Dinadan, what Dinadan must say to save his life?'”