Page 54 of Gilded Crown

“Some faith you have in me. I think I’ll last at least two minutes.”

The other guards who weren’t sparring bowed. Aurelius acknowledged them, and one spoke out.

“M’lord, why do you have that streak of gold in your eye?” Doubt flashed in his face at the look Aurelius gave him.

“It’s a hereditary build-up of pigment. Haven’t you ever seen a fairy with gold eyes?”

“Sorry, m’lord.”

Some fairies had gold eyes, not a random streak, but Jari wasn’t blurting out anything stupid.

Someone said it was almost time for lunch, and the men started hanging up their weapons on a rack that had been dragged outside.

Aurelius gestured to the training building. “Let’s go in.”

“Don’t you want to eat?”

“It can wait. I might eat in our rooms or the office anyway.”

Jari followed him in, and Aurelius removed his cloak and coat. Jari plucked at the front of his sweaty shirt that was clinging to his pecs and walked out into the center of the room.

“Are you going to fight me?”

“You think I can’t fight?”

“I’m sure you can,” said Jari.

Aurelius pulled a tie from his pocket and smoothed his hair back to put it up. “I haven’t practiced in some months, but it’s not something that you forget entirely.”

“If you take a whack, don’t go whining about it later,” said Jari. “I’m not going easy just because you’re a twig.”

“I don’t want you to hold back.” Aurelius took a sword from a rack by the wall, flipped it, and caught it by the handle in one smooth, fluid motion. Holding it loosely, he marched over with his eye focused on Jari. “I want you to go all in.”

“If you took the post out of your ass, I would.”

Aurelius suddenly came after him, and Jari was forced to parry him. Before he could do anything else, Aurelius ducked, lashed out, and caught him in the legs.

“Ow!” Jari hopped sideways. Thank Elira the sword was made from wood. “You got my fucking shin.”

“What was that about not whining?” The corner of Aurelius’s lips twitched. “Are you going to bitch at the enemy or are you going to fight and keep them from striking you?”

Like a cobra, he attacked again. Jari parried him and danced back as he tried to keep up with every strike, thrust, and slash. The wood of their weapons clacked, and Jari was grateful he’d worn gauntlets to protect his fingers and wrists. Aurelius was stronger than he looked, and a hit could break a finger.

His main power was his speed, and sometimes, the fastest man wins. Jari was driven backward across the room as he struggled to find an opening so he could flip things and advance.

It was also rather distracting to see Aurelius moving so fluidly without the typical rigidity.

The edge was suddenly at his neck, and Aurelius declared his win. Jari stepped away to catch his breath, but the Prince came after him again.

“Give me a second!”

“Nobody’s going to give you a second on the battlefield,” Aurelius snarled as he delivered a wicked swing that Jari barely avoided. If it had been a real weapon and it hit, he’d have been left with a deep gash across his chest. “As soon as one soldieris down, there will be another, and a man must-” He spun to dodge Jari’s attempted strike. “-keep going or die.” His sword met Jari’s throat that time, and he kept it from whacking his windpipe, but he pressed it in a little.

Jari raised his hands. “Okay, you made your point.”

“I don’t want you to last a few minutes only to join the corpses. I want you to live through it and live afterward.”

As soon as he removed the blade, Jari lashed out and forced Aurelius to parry. Jari had him on the offensive that time, and he drove the Prince backward until he was nearly against the wall.

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