Page 30 of Born of Blood and Thorns

"You talk your opponent to death until they give up." Lore shrugged, turning to once again grab a sword. He chucked one to me as well. "Alastair was on his way out and I'm in need of more training. Join me?"

"Pass," I deadpanned, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Oh, come on. I know you are itching to use that mouth on me. This is your chance to…" He trailed off as if searching for the correct term. "Torture and interrogate me."

It was my turn to snort. "Suit yourself. It's your funeral."

"I'll be on my way then," Alastair commented, his lips pressed together as he suppressed his smile. He turned and walked off while shaking his head.

"I thought you hated me and wanted me to stay away from you." I paused, testing the sword's weight in my hand as we walked out to the courtyard where they trained. "That I smelled of death… blah blah blah, you're my enemy and all that fun stuff. You worry I'll do something."

"All that fun stuff?" He raised a thick eyebrow in question. "And no, I worry for you. There is a difference."

"You hate vampires. I'm half-vampire." And more your enemy than you realize, I thought, remembering my grandmother was the reason for his sister's death.

"I may have acted out of turn back then. I wasn't expecting…." He paused, eyeing me. "You."

"What do you mean you weren't expecting me?" I demanded, getting into position as I faced him from a safe distance. "You brought me here."

"No, my dragon brought you here."

"One and the same, buddy." I dipped into the stance needed, already feeling the heaviness of the sword. This would be over quickly and not end in my victory.

Lore moved closer to me, adjusting my hips to make my stance firm and unyielding before he leaned down and whispered, "Not anymore."

His words fell flat. He backed off quickly as if aware that he had lingered, touching me far too long, but I didn’t catch the intensity of his stare, even as his words were sad. I turned my face and studied him, waiting for him to begin. As I digested his words, a realization hit me.

“You are cut off from him,” I stated, and Lore nodded in confirmation, getting into his own defensive stance as he prepared to strike.

“So your dragon brought me here and you were against it when you found out.” Again, I said it as more of an observation. “Well, that’s precisely…” I paused, feeling the disappointment deeper than I should, “peachy.”

I shouldn’t feel disappointed, and I shouldn’t feel anything but irritation for him. Although I was very irritated by this whole ordeal, I had come to think that perhaps I was his one true love. I’d still have to kill him, but the thought of having true love—well, it felt nice—tragic but nice.

“Yes,” he said before thrusting forward, catching me off guard. As his sword connected with mine, I automatically dropped it.

“Fuck!” I yelled, fighting the desire to stomp my foot. “I didn’t expect that to happen so fast.”

“Your upper body strength is weak. To survive here, you'll need to work on that," he commented dryly. "That mouth of yours too. It says such naughty words."

I pressed my lips together, grinding my teeth as I imagined him impaled on the sword I'd dropped like a fool. Suddenly, the idea of killing him didn't seem all that bad. I smirked at the thought.

"I thought you liked my mouth?"

"Liked is one hell of an exaggeration, don't you think?" he said as I picked up the sword. "I'm sure we could find a use for it."

I turned to stare at him, but Lore suddenly sputtered, embarrassment coloring his face as red spread across his cheeks and ears. "I meant—uhm, in battle to distract the enemy."

He tilted his head back and grimaced before running his hand down his face with his free hand.

"What enemy?" I looked around pointedly to indicate the dissolution of the mostly deserted castle. At one time, I was sure hundreds had worked here. Now, there were only four people who now lived the same day over and over again.

“You’ll see.” Lore’s face still flushed, studying me intently.

“Is this another one of those things you can’t tell me, like the rest of you?” I demanded, thrusting forward with the sword, putting him on the defensive this time.

I gripped my sword tightly, praying it wouldn't escape my grasp again. It held true as we met each other's blades and pushed against one another, but again, Lore was right. My lack of strength from too few muscles and the years of starvation meant I was no match for the warrior in front of me, even with him obviously taking it easy on me.

He pushed me back fast, taking me off balance as I fell backward and onto my ass in the dirt. The sword was once again out of my grasp. I went to curse again but clamped my lips together and glared at Lore. He offered his hand, but I ignored it, instead choosing to stand on my own. I brushed off the dirt and faced him again.

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