Page 58 of Heir of Draga

Chapter Sixteen

Roxy

The Jasmine

Outer Rim

The Draga Galaxy

“Good Roxy!” Varan shouted, pushing her back as he blocked. “Faster! You won’t always be the strongest fighter!”

Roxy wiped the sweat from her brow and attacked again. Still Varan anticipated her move and he stepped aside, her blow missing him completely.

“I want you to be faster than me, now move!” Varan swatted her ass with the flat of his blade and it only served to infuriate her.

Adelina chuckled from the corner of the room and she whirled around, pointing her blade at the princess. “Think you can do better?”

That smirk only grew and the princess stood so smoothly Roxy had to blink to realize she’d moved.

“I don’t think I can do better than you, but I just might be faster,” Adelina admitted.

Nadyah grinned from her seat at the table, sipping her ice water. Roxy glared, but she kept track of the princess in her peripheral. That one was crafty.

“Have you ever seen Adelina fight?” Nadyah asked, raising one brow in question.

Roxy frowned, realizing that no, she never had. She honestly hadn’t thought the princess could fight. Even as the jewel thief Adelina didn’t need that particular skill, only the ability to make a quick escape.

“Are you some prodigy?” Roxy asked, shifting the long knife in her grip, wiping the rest of the sweat from her face with her arm.

“No,” Adelina admitted. “I am merely competent. Now try to catch me.” Her smile widened and Varan’s gaze grew hungry.

Roxy waited, but Adelina didn’t move. She simply stood before her with her hands behind her back. So she lunged forward, faking for the soft belly and then changing direction so the dull knife would slide between the princess’s ribs if it was actually sharp enough to cut.

Adelina hardly even moved but she was no longer standing before Roxy. Roxy couldn’t help the surprise she knew showed on her face, or the pleased smile. Again and again she attacked, but every time the princess slid or dodged or twirled away from her.

She was quicker than lightning when she stepped forward and slashed at Roxy’s face with her claws extended and only a lifetime of training saved her. She leaned so far back she nearly fell over and still she felt the whisper of those claws.

With a practiced twist Roxy got out of Adelina’s range. She appraised the princess again and flipped the knife to her other hand.

Adelina’s fighting style was like nothing she’d ever seen before. “Who trained you?”

The grin dropped from the princess’s face. “Alpha mostly, before him my previous guard trained me. Then Nadyah did.”

Ah, so a style only a select few would even recognize.

“And Varan has taught me a few things over the cycles, and quite a bit during the last few days,” Adelina admitted with a grin. “But the speed is my own. When you are raised thinking you are the most submissive creature known to Draga you learn how to run away as quickly as possible. I was never going to be stronger, because a dominant with equal strength could still force me.” Adelina slashed again, so fast her hand was a blur, but Roxy knew what to look for this time.

“Felix is the strongest and most submissive person I know,” Roxy countered.

Then the air in the room changed. Adelina stepped into Roxy’s guard and that strange, dark jasmine filled her nose. “Yes,” Adelina agreed. “Now kneel.”

The weight of Adelina’s dominance crashed down on Roxy and she hissed in a breath at the pain in her knees. Adelina’s hand wrapped around her neck, nails pricking the skin in warning. One move and she’d rip open Roxy’s throat.

“It would be so easy to kill you and I’m currently only two levels above you in dominance. Imagine five.” Adelina released Roxy and took a step back. “You may rise if you can manage it.”

Roxy fought the weight – heavy and suffocating as Adelina held her gaze, bearing down on her with that Draga dominance. She gave the princess a silent snarl and managed to get one foot underneath her. Roxy had never been as dominant as Varan, but she was closer to the orange blossom than she cared to admit.

“Release me,” Roxy demanded. “I am not your plaything.”

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