Nora watched in awe of Ewan’s skill. For a bear, he was quite nimble. He moved like fluid. Graceful. Powerful. He was quite a handsome sight.
And it was quite apparent who the better swordsman was. She doubted if anyone could best Ewan’s skill.
Then Bavel did the unexpected. He ducked beneath one of Ewan’s parries, spun on his heel and handed the sword off to Catarina.
Nora gaped at his actions.
Catarina tested the sword’s balance, then moved in to engage Ewan who backed up in disbelief.
“Afraid of a woman?” Catarina asked.
Ewan shook his head. “I’ll break your arm if I hit your sword.”
“Try me.” She swung, but Ewan didn’t even attempt to parry.
Instead, he ducked and twirled away from her.
“Ewan!” Nora cried, holding her hand out for the weapon.
Nora didn’t really expect him to return the sword to her, but he did.
She inclined her head at him in thanks, then turned to face Catarina. “Shall we?”
Catarina’s eyes glowed. “Let’s.”
Ewan stood back with the men as he watched the women fight. He’d never in his life seen the like. They fought like two champions.
At first, Ewan had almost not handed the sword off to her, but he’d been completely unwilling to hurt Catarina by fighting her. Now he realized he had made a very wise choice in trusting Nora.
“Amazing, eh?” Viktor said, coming to stand beside him. “Catarina is one of the finest swordsmen you’ll ever see.”
Ewan frowned as he looked at the three men beside him, all of whom were watching the women.
He should be fighting the men, but he couldn’t quite manage it while the women were at it. They were fascinating. Not once in his life had he ever seen two women fight with swords.
“Cat was trained by King Phillip himself,” Viktor said. “He always said she had the skill of ten men.”
Ewan agreed. “I’m impressed. She fights well.”
“As does your lady”, Bavel added. “Truly she is Cat’s equal.”
Aye, she was.
“How is it King Phillip trained a Gypsy lass to fight?” Ewan asked.
Viktor and Bavel exchanged uneasy glances. “He’s a friend of the family. Sort of. He’s known Cat all her life.”
Hmmm... how very odd.
“Shouldn’t we be fighting?” Lysander asked.
Ewan unfolded his arms and turned toward the men. “Most likely. Shall we?”
The three gypsies gave each other nervous looks. Viktor and Bavel took a step back.
“Shall we let the women decide this, then?” Viktor asked.
“Aye,” Lysander agreed. “Whoever wins gets...” he paused as if a thought had just occurred to him. “Well, if we let them go we won’t get paid, now will we?”
