Page 46 of War Bound

Julien backed away, putting distance between him and Farrendel. Of Essie’s three brothers, he was the best with the cavalry sword. Thanks to modern weaponry, sword-fighting was quickly going out of style for everything but practice fights and dueling in the various human kingdoms. The hand-to-hand fighting taught by the army now focused more on the use of the bayonet, knives, and fists as a last resort.

That put Julien at a disadvantage when fighting Farrendel, who had trained not only more extensively with swords but also in a style humans couldn’t match.

Farrendel stalked after Julien, not giving him space or time. Farrendel struck, first with one sword, then with the other. Julien parried the first few strikes, but with his one sword to Farrendel’s two, he couldn’t block indefinitely.

On his next strike, Farrendel followed Julien’s parry and brought his other sword up, trapping Julien’s sword. With a spinning kick, Farrendel swept Julien’s legs out from under him while ripping his sword from his hands.

Julien landed on his back in the dirt.

Thirty seconds. Even shorter than Essie had guessed.

For a moment, Farrendel stood tense and battle ready. Then, he slowly straightened, lowering his swords to his sides, his gaze wary, as if he expected Essie’s brothers to be mad at him for defeating them so quickly.

Surely they wouldn’t be, would they? Essie tensed as well. All three of her brothers still sat or lay where they had fallen, having been defeated too fast for any of them to climb to their feet yet.

Then Edmund started to laugh. Within moments, Julien had joined him, followed by Averett sitting upright and chuckling in a more dignified manner.

Edmund rolled to his feet, still laughing. “That was spectacular.”

“Told you Essie’s smirk should have warned us.” Averett held out his hand, probably to have Edmund pull him to his feet.

Julien stuck out his hand to Farrendel. Farrendel stared, unmoving. Julien grinned and waggled his fingers. “You’re supposed to take my hand and pull me to my feet.”

“Like this.” Edmund yanked Averett upright so fast he stumbled.

Averett shoved Edmund. “More gently than that.”

Moving warily, Farrendel transferred both swords to one hand, gripped Julien’s offered hand, and awkwardly helped Julien upright. As soon as Julien let go, Farrendel swiped his hand on his trousers.

Edmund slung an arm over Farrendel’s shoulders as best he could since he stood several inches shorter. He grinned in Essie’s direction. “You’re right, Essie. He’s a keeper.”

“Told you.” Essie’s grin widened at the faint tinge of pink on the tips of Farrendel’s ears. He wasn’t used to being the center of attention quite like this.

Julien draped an arm across Farrendel’s shoulders from the other side. “What do you say? Think we should make it a more interesting fight this time?”

Farrendel had his elbows pulled tight to his sides, as if trying to put as much space between them as he could while being in the center of a brother-hug sandwich. “Yes?”

Averett rested an elbow on Edmund’s shoulder. “What did you have in mind?”

Julien swiveled all four of them to face the crowd of soldiers that had gathered at the far end of the training field. He raised his free arm, still gripping his training sword. “All right, boys! What do you think? Who would like to challenge the four royal brothers of Escarland? The more the merrier!”

Some of the soldiers roared and hopped the fence to enter the training field. Others glanced at each other, as if unsure, while a few glared at Farrendel as if they wanted to fight him, but not in practice.

Essie straightened. What did Julien think he was doing? Yes, it had been fun to see Farrendel take out her brothers so quickly, but to pit him against a horde of Escarland soldiers? That was too much like a real fight, wasn’t it? “Avie?”

Averett said something to Julien, then herded Edmund and Farrendel toward Essie. Julien marched toward the other side of the training yard, still shouting and waving to get more soldiers to join the group forming in the yard.

When Averett, Edmund, and Farrendel were close enough, Essie gestured from them to Julien. “Do you really think this is a good idea? There are probably a few soldiers there who would love the chance to get revenge on an elf.”

“All the better to let them attempt it with practice swords than with real ones.” Edmund jabbed his thumb at Farrendel. “Besides, do you really think they’ll have a chance at hurting him?”

“Well, no...” Essie tried to meet Farrendel’s gaze, but he had gone hard, his gaze focused over his shoulder on the soldiers massing at the far end of the training yard.

“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I think this could be your opportunity to remind everyone why we made this alliance with the elves.” Averett’s lowered tone brought Farrendel’s gaze around. “Word of what happens here will spread. Half the city will hear about it before the end of the day, mark my words. If you want to remind everyone why Escarland might want to consider making Tarenhiel an ally beyond the simple ceasefire we currently have, then this would be it.”

Across the training field, word must have been spreading. Soldiers were piling out of the barracks, and even from here, Essie could spot the shoulder bars of a few officers keeping order. Not all the soldiers were volunteering to fight. Most were simply curious and eager to watch.

But a good fifty soldiers now gathered in the ring, including a few officers, who would keep them organized and provide more strategy than a leaderless horde of men would have.

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