Chapter 22
The Evernean Forest
Cai
Alastor swung his sword towards my torso and I ducked away, rolling over to block his next swing, which would be for my neck. Over the years we had become familiar with each other’s fighting patterns and it had become a betting game, of when one of us would break the routine and surprise the other.
I pressed forwards, forcing Alastor to take a step back and give me a slight advantage, which only lasted a moment before he jumped at me, dodging my sword as he knocked the air out of my stomach with his fist.
I let out a slight huff and the crowd, which had formed around us from the camp, clapped at his advantage. Alastor gave me a moment to catch my breath before advancing on me with full force, his jabs swift and precise, and the muscles in my arms started to protest as I defended myself.
Our dance went back and forth until the sweat trickled from our foreheads, though no winner was apparent and the audience seemed to enjoy our banter. We agreed to call it a tie in the end and shake hands.
I quenched my thirst with a cup of water as I heard the small crowd start to murmur once more. My eyes followed their whispers until I saw Lara step into the ring. The sight of her made my stomach twist. I knew just what was about to happen.
“My turn.” She raised a brow teasingly.
“I’m done for today,” I replied, still attempting to catch my breath.
“Are you scared of losing?” It was more than a challenge.
“No.” I took another sip of water. “Just trying to save you from embarrassment.” My words lit a fire in her eyes and I knew I had awakened a sleeping beast.
“Winner gets a favour from the loser. Any favour.” She pulled a sword from its sheath. It was sharp and dainty, just like her. I wiped my forehead with my shirt and stood up, grabbing my sword from on top of the rock next to me.
“Deal,” I agreed, though only heaven knows why, as there was no reason this was a good idea.
“And lastly—” she flicked her wrist, swinging the sword around — “there are no rules.”
I snorted. “Then you’re lucky I’m a gentleman.” The crowd had been forgotten and there was only her. I watched her approach me. She wore tight-fitting leather breeches and a short-sleeved shirt.
The air had become dense and silent and she didn’t give me time to gather myself before jumping forwards and jabbing straight for my stomach. I jumped back a little, quickly blocking her, but she smiled, knowing that I had already been thrown off somewhat.
What she didn’t know was that the element of surprise was a dangerous game to be playing. We started going back and forth and I quickly realised why she was so fond of daggers. Not only were they easy to hide but also she had much better control over the smaller weapons, as her balance was slightly off with the sword. It wouldn’t take too long to get her empty-handed, but I was enjoying myself almost too much to want it to end.
She turned, putting all her energy into the next swing, but she had too much momentum and too little steadiness in her footing. I struck back hard and her sword fell to the ground, causing panic to rush into her eyes.
I held my sword up to her throat with arrogance and smirked. “Surrender?”
She met my expression with equal playful ferocity. “Never.” I wasn’t prepared for her to dodge my sword and jump at me. She kicked me off balance and I fell. When I rolled to get up, Lara was ready to attack again. She went for my shoulders and I used her body weight against her, by turning us around so that I could pin her to the ground.
She fought against my grip, but I held her down by her upper arms.
“You’re not playing fair,” she said, trying to kick at me.
“You said there were no rules.”
“You said you were a gentleman!” She placed her feet on my thighs and pushed back with all her might. I was forced to pull myself back into a standing position and she pulled out a dagger — which I should have seen coming.
She lunged at me. Her only mistake was forgetting she wasn’t the first person to swing a knife at my throat and thus I knew exactly how to disarm her.
I grabbed her wrist and yanked her closer. Forcing the dagger out of her hand, I pinned her hands behind her back. She squirmed, and with her pressed up against me, I could feel every heavy breath she took. For a moment, I forgot we were surrounded by watching eyes. She tried to twist away but I held firm. “Face it, Princess. You’ve lost.” I couldn’t help but inhale the sweet scent of her, like she’d recently lain in a field of wild thyme.
Lara surprised me by kicking my shin. “Ow!” My body jerked with the pain, allowing her to push herself away from me.
“No rules, right?”
I shook my head at her. Oh, it was on now.
She picked up the sword, which had been lying in the sand, and held it up.
“On your guard, Prince.”
I refrained from smiling and moved into a defensive position. Lara was quick to attack but I could tell she was still not entirely comfortable with the choice of weapon. It was too heavy and not made for her.
I countered her strikes one after the other, but Lara was determined, and I found myself taking a few steps back.
“Don’t hold out on me now,” Lara challenged.
“If I don’t, you’ll be too injured to come through on that favour for me.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but someone else called her name. Lara and I looked at Ray, who stepped into the circle. “Arthur wants to see you,” he said and Lara pulled herself free.
“This isn’t over,” she threw over her shoulder as she walked away.
* * *
“I think you’re right about not trusting Arthur,” Jack said later as we had a quick lunch. “He’s definitely up to something.”
“The problem is figuring out exactly what,” I replied. “The important thing is remembering that all of this affects Norrandale. And no matter what you do, somewhere, somebody is going to be angry.”
Alastor shoved a piece of bread into his mouth.
“What’s your father going to say?” Conner asked.
“Magnus’s death isn’t exactly a loss for Norrandale and neither would Lance’s imprisonment be. However, if Everness no longer has a monarchy, we have no idea what that could mean for its relations with Norrandale. If Arthur decides to rule, there is a chance of a peace treaty, but he could always decide to turn against us. Everness has a much larger army than Norrandale. It was part of the whole reason for our alliance.”
“But the people of Everness are starving,” Alastor said. “They need the farming lands of Norrandale. They need the grains and to be able to trade across the border.”
“Another war isn’t worth getting thousands of people killed.”
“What about Lara?” Jack asked.
“What about Lara?” I repeated.
“You and I both know all of us could be out of here tonight. We could sneak across the border and be back in Norrandale within a couple of days. But you won’t, because you’ve taken a liking to her.”
“It’s not that.” I tried to ignore Conner smiling like a child behind his food. “I suspect something and if it’s true we cannot leave Lara behind.”
“Suspect what?” Jack asked.
I sighed. “I can’t tell you.” They all looked at me in confusion. Even though I trusted these men with my life, I only had a suspicion and little to nothing to back it up. I could be very wrong about it all.
“Look, for now we stick with Arthur, at least pretend we’re aiding them in this rebellion. Until I can find out the truth, for certain. Then we’ll make a plan. There are dangers both in leaving and staying.”
“Just be careful,” Jack warned. “She betrayed you once. She might not hesitate to do it again, if her life should be in danger.”