Page 44 of Crown of Hearts
It was wishful thinking and we both knew it. But it was nice to think about the possibility of someday.
Chapter 13
Elara
My grip tightened on the hilt as I took a swing at Rhen.
He stepped back and my sparring sword struck nothing but air. “Too predictable. You need to exploit my weaknesses.”
I stretched my neck by tilting my head side to side. “Well, that would be a lot easier if I knew where your weaknesses are.”
“You’re too focused on where you’re aiming and not observing where my lack of defence is.” He was right. “Let’s go again,” Rhen said patiently.
We’d been at this for most of the afternoon. I needed somewhere to channel my frustrations.
It felt good to be in a pair of breeches and out of a dress again. Not that I minded the dresses as much anymore. It was a lot better now that they were specially made to fit me and I could request the seamstress make them as comfortable as possible.
I gathered my strength and struck towards Rhen. He parried.
“A little better. Again.”
“You don’t have to talk to me as if I were a child who’s never done this before. I do have some swordsmanship skills.” I attacked again and again. He managed to block each blow, and I looked to see if I could find him off balance when he countered my attack. I noticed a slight wobble in his sword when he made a swing from the lower left.
“I’ll stop talking to you like a child when you stop fighting like one.”
“Hey!” I grunted and pressed forwards, my hands moving as if to attack from the right.
“What about your time with the King yesterday?”
“What about it?”
I saw him commit to defend and then swivelled, my sword aiming low and left.
“Has he accepted your proposal yet?”
“It’s not that simple,” I begrudgingly quoted Cai.
Rhen was momentarily taken by surprise by my move but managed to defend just in time. He was completely off balance now.
“You don’t have that much time, you know.”
“I’m trying!” I argued, no longer giving Rhen the opportunity to strike me as he tried to defend against each swift blow.
“Well, maybe you should try harder.”
That did it. I gripped the hilt of the sword tighter than ever before, and with all the strength I could muster, I hit the sword out of his hand. We both watched as it fell to the sand.
“Interesting,” he said, more to himself than to me.
“What is?” Sweat started to gather on my back. All these weeks of eating expensive foods and not exercising properly had left me out of shape.
“You fight better when you’re angry.”
“What do you mean?”
“There was a short period of time when I was responsible for helping train the palace guards in Levernia. I would tell them not to let their emotions get the better of them when fighting. I’ve told you the same thing, many a time.”
“I’m aware,” I said, teeth almost clenching.
