I smiled. “I’d love to.”
“No.” Ericen stepped forward. The blond Vykryn’s attention snapped to him, and Ericen stared him down. Something silent smoldered between them.
Razel raised an eyebrow. “What was that, Eri dear?”
“Yeah,” I growled. “What was that?”
“I’ll fight you in her place.” Ericen didn’t even acknowledge I’d spoken. He’d angled himself so his back was toward me.
Razel chuckled. “This isn’t a duel. No one needs to fight in her place. We’re just going to have a friendly spar.”
“With weapons,” Ericen said, and something dangerous glinted behind Razel’s eyes. This was a different Ericen altogether. The hard, angry one, who had looked like an imposter in his mother’s embrace.
“If you insist,” Razel said. “Sorry, Thia dear. He’s so demanding sometimes.”
Ericen didn’t spare me so much as a glance before stalking over to one of the fighting rings. I watched him go, scowling. Razel followed after the prince, the two Vykryn on her heels.
Someone stepped up beside me, and I flinched.
Kiva raised an eyebrow. “Jumpy. Guess that’s to be expected when you challenge death to a duel.”
I rolled my eyes. “She just wanted to spar.”
Kiva gave me a long look. “Don’t be naïve. Razel would have laid you out just so you knew she could.”
I gritted my teeth as we followed the group over to the sparring ring Razel and Ericen had entered. He had his dual short swords in hand, she a pair of curved, dome-shaped blades with small spikes sticking out from the edges of the grip. Jin moonblades.
Anyone else, I’d have said she used the moonblades because she liked them. But this was Illucia. Using those blades sent a message:I own these.
The soldiers who’d stopped to watch stood at Razel’s side of the ring, clearly staking their support.
“Shearen,” Razel said, indicating the blond guard. “If you would.”
“On one!” Shearen called. “Three, two—”
Razel lunged before he finished the second number. Ericen had anticipated it, catching the first strike of both her moonblades on one sword. They executed swift and merciless attacks, metal ringing in a shrill call. Razel clearly had an edge in speed, Ericen in strength.
People started to gather around the training ring, forming a circle. There were calls of support and whistles for the queen, Shearen’s voice rising above the rest. My guard pressed closer to my back, hand on the hilt of his sword.
The fighters struck and parried, twirled and dipped, each avoiding close calls from the other’s blades. Ericen barreled through his attacks like a man dead set on proving himself, while Razel’s every strike made it clear she aimed to injure. Her eyes gleamed with a strange dark fire, as if Ericen were a demon she fought for her very soul.
As she blocked one of Ericen’s attacks, she ducked under his follow-up strike and sprang up, driving her elbow into Ericen’s chin. He stumbled back, barely bringing a sword around to knock aside the thrust of her blade. The ferocity of her attack struck the sword from his hand, leaving him with one.
Off balance, it was all Ericen could do to keep up with her torrent of strikes. She struck high and low, forcing him to cover a wide range and expose new targets. Right as she sliced at his neck, she swept low with her foot, catching him in the knees. He struck the ground hard, and she leapt over him, driving her weapon down.
Ericen just managed to get his sword around to deflect the blade. It shot down and away, the metal screaming. The blade sliced across his cheek. He didn’t make a sound. Razel straightened, hovering over him like a wolf over a fresh kill, blood dripping from the curve of one blade. They held each other’s gazes, unmoving. Then she smiled, stepping off him.
Ericen rolled to the side as the crowd clapped. His eyes met mine for half a second, the cut stretching from his jaw to cheekbone leaking blood. The realization of what I’d nearly gotten myself into slammed into me, and I sucked in a ragged breath.
The prince shot to his feet and grabbed his other sword. He sheathed them both and slipped out of the ring. I started to go after him, but Kiva seized my arm before I could move an inch. Then she casually slipped in front of me. “Razel’s watching.”
“So what?” I hissed.
“Do you want her to challenge you again?”
The tension washed out of me. “No.” Not after what I’d just seen. If she could take down Ericen like that, I wouldn’t last a second, as rusty as I was.
Razel exited the ring, sliding her moonblades into their sheaths on her back with smooth precision. She hadn’t even cleaned the blood. She caught my gaze, the challenge pulsating in the air between us. Then she smiled and turned back for the castle.
