Those small shields were strong, and studded with metal—Rao had been given a bloody nose by one more than a few times during his training. He ducked his head and brought his blade forward in a sweeping arc that Aditya met with his own. There was a clang of impact that jarred all the way down Rao’s arm, and he let it shove him backward—and brought his saber up in one straight arc toward Aditya’s chest. Aditya blocked that too.
“You’re being gentle with me,” Aditya said. “I know you can do better, Rao.”
“But canyou?” Rao asked. He straightened, and lunged forward again, aiming for the throat. Aditya moved like he’d always moved, swiftly and elegantly parrying Rao’s strike. “A shield to the face, your blade stopping my own—won’t you eventryand hurt me?”
Aditya met his eyes. Smiled, challenge in the curl of his mouth. “No,” he said.
“You bastard,” Rao said, forgetting himself—forgetting they weren’t still the boys they’d been, the friends they’d been. “You’re really going to prove yourself by making me do all the work?”
“I told you to stop being gentle,” Aditya replied, and this time, Rao swept forward, blade high, aiming for Aditya’s head, above the eye line. A dangerous move that left his entire torso exposed for a blow, but effective.Especiallyagainst an opponent that refused to try to strike him.
It was a taunt. A challenge.Will you really not fight me even now, Aditya?But Aditya took it in his stride, lunging to the side and knocking Rao off-balance with the hilt of his saber. Rao released a punch of breath as he stumbled back—lunged forward—
Aditya dropped his sword.
“Fuck.”Rao couldn’t slow his momentum, but he could avoid skewering Aditya through. He flung his arm wide and slammed straight into Aditya, the two of them falling roughly back onto the ground. Flailing, Rao couldn’t get a proper grip on his sword, and couldn’t remove his shield to get his left hand under him so he could heave his body off Aditya’s. He felt like an idiot.
He tried to roll to the side. Aditya slung his shield-strapped arm over Rao’s shoulder, pinning him.
“You can’t fight me by not fighting me,” Rao panted.
“Can’t I?”
“It’s not honorable. And if there’s one thing you value—”
Aditya’s other hand shot up. Rao’s grip had loosened on the saber, and Aditya’s hand grasping Rao’s arm knocked it clean away, out of reach. Aditya kept his hand around Rao’s wrist—so tight that Rao could feel the creak of his own wrist bones, a sharp pain that jolted all the way down his arm, all the way through him. Rao tried to jerk away, and Aditya wrenched him back down against him.
“My honor,” Aditya said, through harsh breaths, eyes bright, “is the honor of a priest. Not defined by my old teachers or by the rules of righteous war. My honor will hold me here, in Saketa, as long as the voice of the nameless guides me,” said Aditya. “As long as my heart bids me to stay, I will stay, and I willfight.”
Rao thought, through a haze of heat he couldn’t quite understand, of Lata’s words when she’d found him in the tent shrine to the nameless god.
If he has the light you seek…
“Aditya,” he said softly. “Let go of my wrist.”
Aditya stared up at him. Whatever he saw in Rao’s face made him nod, once. Release him.
Rao turned his hand back and forth, easing the pain in his hand. Then he curled his fingers into a fist and punched the side of Aditya’s head.
Aditya gave a yelp that made Rao holler with laughter, and then Aditya was grappling with him in return, the two of them kicking like children. “If you—try and fight the High Prince like this—” Rao managed between laughs.
Aditya shoved him back against the ground. Clambered up onto his knees.
“At least he won’t expect it,” said Aditya. “Get up, Rao. Look at you. Did I hurt you?”
Rao was bruised and his knuckles were bleeding. It was the best he’d felt in months.
“Not much,” he said. “I can cope.”
“As you can see, I can still hold a saber,” Aditya said, wiping the sweat from his face.
“You can,” Rao agreed. He was filthy. Before he joined the rest of the war council, he’d have to quickly bathe and change. He was a general now, after all. His appearance mattered more than it ever had.
“You didn’t have to punch me, though.”
“I really did,” Rao said mildly. “I had to check that you remembered real battle tactics.”
Aditya snorted out a laugh.
