Ursula had an ugly name, an ugly reputation, and an ugly little brother.  One might even say she had and ugly life.  At least, Ursula thought she did.
     “It’s all Ulysses’ fault!” she would say when somebody would ask her.  “If it weren’t for him going to that stupid tournament and epically failing, my life wouldn’t suck so bad.”
     Of course, this wasn’t completely true.  But it was partly her brother’s fault that she did end up the laughing stock of the village. 
     It began when she was sixteen, and Ulysses was fourteen.  He had just received a letter from his best friend, Thomas, inviting him to the annual tournament, where all the best knights gathered to see who was truly the best.  Of course, being a young boy, Ulysses couldn’t deny it, and his family thought it would be fun to go, anyway.  They needed family time.
     So at the tournament, which was held in the king’s courtyard, Ulysses and Thomas went off, with instructions from their parents to meet back at the entrance when the tournament was over.   Ursula and her parents went a separate way and sat down to watch.  Soon the fighting began.
     At first it was going really well.  The king’s knights were constantly overthrowing the opponents, and everyone was having a great time.  Until Ursula’s mother cried, “Oh God, is that Ulysses?” pointing to a small figure climbing over the barricade between the audience and the knights. 
     Ursula screwed up her eyes to see better, and it didn’t take long for her to realize that it was, indeed, Ulysses.
     “Get him out of there!” her mother screamed, clinging to her husband’s shirt.
     “He’s on the other side of the field.  There’s no way I’ll be able to reach him before something happens!” Ursula’s father replied.
     “Should I go?” Ursula asked, hoping for a chance to be a hero.  But her mother said, “No! For heaven’s sake, that is not a job for a woman!”  So Ursula sat down, disappointed, and watched her little brother as he picked up a sword that one of the knights had dropped.
     “Hey, Ugly!  Come and get me!” Ursula could hear Ulysses screaming at the remaining knight.  “Bet you can’t beat me!”  From the stands, Thomas was laughing and shaking his fists at the knight.  Ursula wondered what made them act so.
     By this time Ursula’s father had finally agreed to get Ulysses out of the arena, and was now racing across the stands to get to where Thomas was.  Suddenly Ursula sat bolt upright in her seat.  The knight, who had been sitting calming on his horse, now charged at Ulysses, making as if to draw his sword.
     “Yeah, that’s right!” Ulysses cried.  “Fight me!” 
     “Mother!” Ursula cried, clinging to her mother.  Her mother, in turn, clang to her daughter and didn’t say anything.  Indeed, she could not – her mouth would not let her. 
     The knight unsheathed his sword, and while passing Ulysses, knocked his sword right out of his hand.  Ulysses stared at his bare hand, not being able to process what had just happened, when the knight came again and picked him off the ground, setting the boy in front of him on his horse.
     “Let go of me!” Ulysses screamed, trying to desperately to loosen the knight’s grip on him.  “Legolegolego!”
     The knight rode up to the stands and gently handed Ulysses to Ursula’s father, saying, “Does this boy belong to you?”  Ursula’s father nodded, too embarrassed to speak.  As soon as Ulysses was back with his father, the whole crowd erupted in laughter, and Ursula’s father, dragging both Thomas and Ulysses by the ear, gestured with his head to Ursula and her mother that it was time for them to go.
     Ursula, eyes filling with tears, walked with her head down as the people around her laughed and pointed fingers, eagerly waiting to tell there friends about this.  As they left the arena, Ursula could here a chant begin to start: “Let Ulysses the almighty armor up!”
     One might imagine that Ulysses got a good spanking after he had sobered up, and although Ursula’s parents wanted to do the same to Thomas, they just left him at his folks’ house, and let them do the dirty work. 
     A month later, things still hadn’t cooled down, and Ursula’s parents wouldn’t let Ulysses hang out with Thomas anymore, since Thomas had first suggested the drink and then suggested the fight.  And after another month, Ursula got engaged in spite of the fact that people still mocked her family.  Maybe my life isn’t so ugly, she thought as her fiancé, the knight who gave her brother back to her dad, kissed her lightly on the cheek.