Chapter 4
I have always been a competitive person, more so after Ace and I met but something about this guy has lit a fire right under my ass! I want nothing more than to put him right in his place merely to prove my worth. Or his on that note.
I start to remove my jacket and throw it off to the side. I didn’t want anything limiting my range of motion.
“Careful love, I’m not so easily distracted by a woman stripping her clothes.”
My head spins around with a mix of absolute disgust and shock written on my face. Is this guy serious?! There is no way he is seriously this arrogant. He just smiles and begins stretching his arms. I grab my sword and hold it in my hands. I’m standing closer to the edge of the circle because I don’t know how he fights so I will need to study his movements before I go in. Staring at his face, his eyes are focused right on mine. He holds out his sword, which is unlike any I’ve seen before. The guard is jagged and sharp, and there are emeralds throughout the middle of the blade.
“Ready?” He asks in an almost playful tone. Not nearly as daunting as before. “Are you?” I responded back confidently.
Ezra shouts “On my cue, ready... Set... Fight!”
I stand still just watching my opponent as he starts to slowly walk around the edge of the circle moving in on my right side. I keep my eyes on him as I start to mirror his movement, keeping him diagonal from me. He stops walking and then bolts at me with his sword raised up high. I kneel down and swing my sword at his waist just as he gets close enough to hit. He lowers his sword to slam down into mine, stopping it mid swing. He's quick and can pivot his actions in a moment's thought.
I slide myself just around the circle enough to create some space between us and then run at him holding my sword in front of me. I have no plan, I’m just hoping to see how he is reactive versus being the one attacking. He smacks my sword up from the bottom, grabs my right arm causing my left arm to hold on tightly to the sword, Leaving me wide open for him to attack. But instead he lets go of his sword and yanks my arm, pulling my body right into him. I try to swing my left arm towards him but extends his left arm, grasping firmly as he holds tightly to mine.
I feel his breath on the back of my neck as it moves up to my ear. Chills run up my spine and then I hear him take a deep inhale and whisper, “Come on now, Abby. You can do better than that.” He then pushes me forward, not giving me even a moment to process and grabs his sword. I can hear the others in the room talking and giggling. Embarrassment rings in my ears turning my cheeks a shade of pink.
He could have easily ended the round, he's taunting me. Well, I sure as hell will not be made to look a fool.
I grab my sword again with both hands. I will let him come to me as this seems to be my best chance against him, I think loudly. I continue watching as he holds a satisfied grin on his face. The more I see that look, the more I want to knock it off of him. I don’t care how perfect his stupid face is .
He then tosses his sword out of the circle and pulls out two long daggers from his belt. What the hell is he doing? “ You can't possibly expect to fight with only daggers.” I scold
“I’m quite sure I can, Abigail.” His eyes moving up and down, sizing me up.
I keep my sword tight in my hand but this time keep my arm more loose and ready to navigate around him. We stand on separate sides again and I wait for his move. I clearly can not go in first and he is using daggers so I should take advantage of my distance.
“Oh, not rushing this time Abigail?” He taunts with a full on smirk this time.
I just stare at him, focused. I refuse to play into his banter this time.
“Staying silent now, are we? Don’t worry, love. I'll come to you.” He slowly starts walking with both daggers placed by his side. I turn my body to the side and extend my stance to add more power behind my swing. He continues stepping towards me and just as he is within reach I slide toward him and swing my sword just enough to graze the side of his thigh leaving a small cut. I feel completely satisfied that I hit him, even made him bleed a little bit.
“Still think daggers are the way to go?” I smirk. His eyebrow raises and I know I’ve only made this more of a game for him.
He chuckles, “You get one good graze and your ego is beyond you, Abigail. We haven’t hardly started.”
My face is now beaming red. Did he seriously call ME the egotistical one? Me?!
“Oh, so you just let me cut you? Who do you think you are, exactly?” I should be quiet, but I can't get past my pride on this one. I turn back to my side holding my sword in position but almost as soon as I get into this stance he throws his daggers. I look up just in time to move over enough that it misses me but slices through the front of my shirt.
“Did you just throw a dagger at me when I wasn’t looking?!” I’m now enraged. “You asshole! I’m done, I’m not here to play games. I don’t know who you are or who you think you are but I’m absolutely not continuing this.”
“Oh, come on Abigail. I didn’t even scratch you.” He says with the wildest grin. Then suddenly I hear the rumblings of everyone in the room. I look right at my opponent and notice he isn’t just smiling at my frustration, he is looking right at my chest. I throw my hand up to my chest faster than he threw the dagger and let out a loud gasp. He didn’t just slice through my shirt. The dagger cut enough of my top that my cleavage was showing.
Embarrassment fills my mind and my face turns the darkest shade of red. I can feel the heat in my cheeks as I bolt over to my bag and grab out my favorite white tunic with dangling sleeves. Thank God I brought this with me today! I shout in my head in pure panic. I quickly throw the tunic over my head and onto my body in one swift movement. I grab my sword and put it back into its scabbard and rush right through the doors of the room. I run down the hall to the corner just before the stairs, place my back up against the wall, and just let out a few deep breaths.
I have never been in this scenario. The complete audacity, what an arrogant asshole! I am completely fuming, every inch of me is frozen. I feel the sudden shake in my palms as my nerves and embarrassment consume me. The deafening sound of silence pounds in my head as I repeat the scenario over and over in my head.
“Hey, Abby. You okay?”
It doesn’t take much to calm me down, It honestly never has. Just hearing Ace’s voice has always been my instant calming melody.
“Abs, what's wrong?”
I look up at him and smile, releasing the last big breath I needed.
“Just some arrogant man playing games during lessons today. I’m okay.”
Ace looks up at me, putting his hand up to my neck cupping my chin. He doesn’t believe me but he has always been keen when I’m lying.
“Yeah.. Okay.” He says in a confirming but low whisper. “I could use some help picking out some new boots before we finish loading everything up, you wanna join?” His eyes continue to hold my gaze. “Yeah, sure. Let's get out of here.” I force a smile and add a slight bat of the eye. I could honestly use the distraction and I think he knows this too.
Ace opens the door and holds it, waiting for me to follow him out. As soon as I pass through the doors he holds out his arm for me to grab onto. “Forever a gentlemen” I tease.
“Only for you, Abigail.” His chuckle follows his words.