Page 80 of If The Crown Fits
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.”
