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I was finally able to disengage when the genius failed at a feint, and I scurried back, panting heavily.

“Come, now. You’ll have to do better than that,” he said. He didn’t even sound winded. “I’m barely making an effort.”

I didn’t get much of a respite. He launched himself at me again, with a swing that came so close it lopped off a lock of my hair. That sword had to be sharper than a razor.

Once more, I could do nothing but stave off his blows. Was he trying to kill me, or had he genuinely overestimated how durable humans were? It didn’t much matter. The outcome would be the same either way. Because he was right; I was guaranteed to lose if nothing changed. He had me entirely on the defensive. If all I did was block and retreat, eventually I’d find a wall at my back and nowhere to go.

So the next time he lunged, I threw myself to the side and stuck the spear between his ankles.

He tripped and went sprawling, the saber flying out of his hands and hitting the floor with a sound like a gong being struck. But I couldn’t keep hold of the spear, either; it was ripped from my grip and went spinning across the room, only stopping when it impaled an oversized divan.

The genius was already getting back on his feet. I couldn’t possibly retrieve the spear before he cut me down.

His saber, however, had landed right beside me.

I grabbed it and hefted it off the floor. It must have weighed twenty pounds; I couldn’t do much more than totter around with it. The genius was still off-balance from the fall, though, so I hopped forward and poked it at his calf.

That murderously keen edge did the rest. When it pierced his skin, a small jet of fire burst from the cut.

“First blood!” Yudit called out quickly. “Or…close enough. Match goes to Jules!”

The genius patted at the fire on his leg until it went out. “Well done, well done! Very clever and manly, sticking your spear in like that. I knew you had to be a male human.”

He wasn’t going to be a stickler about the meaning of “first blood,” thank goodness. I had passed the stupidest gender test in the world without suffering injury, death, or forced marriage. Relieved, I dropped the saber and sagged. “I’m glad we got that sorted.”

“And of course,” the genius said, “as your reward for saving me from an ignominious death in a mud pit, the Spear That Probably Won’t Break is yours to keep. Once we dig it out of the sofa. Unless…” A sly look crossed his face, and he plucked a rose from a nearby vase. Several new blossoms sprang from the stem as he held it out to me, but he was too focused on my face to notice. “Perhaps you’d rather have a flower instead? Hm? A pretty flower instead of the nasty spear?” He wiggled it in a manner I presumed was meant to be tempting.

I’d been wrong; there were tests of gender even stupider than a duel. “Of course I don’t want a flower,” I said, pitching my voice as low as possible. “Ugh! Useless things. Who needs them?” I silently apologized to the rose, which was a pretty Celsiana and didn’t deserve to be demeaned like that.

He tossed the flower aside and clapped me on the back, sending me staggering. “Right you are! You’re a male human man’s male human man, through and through.”

Yudit had climbed off her chair and joined us. She put an arm around my shoulders in a way that could be taken for brotherly congratulations, but her grip was so tight it hurt. “I thought he was going to chop you to bits,” she whispered in my ear.

“What was that?” the genius asked.

“I said, we should probably be on our way now that everything’s settled,” my sister told him, smiling blandly.

“Oh, are you sure?” He looked put out. “You’d be welcome to stay for a few more days. We don’t get a lot of visitors. And we eat most of them right away.”

“Much as we’d love to,” I said, “we’re behind schedule as it is.” The second part of that wasn’t even a lie. If our ship hadn’t foundered, we’d be well on our way to the Crimson City. And we had important business to attend to. Whatever trouble was brewing in the Red Empire wouldn’t wait politely for us to show up. Before we’d even gotten underway, the Levy had been called and imperial wizards were dabbling in outsourced murder; anything could be happening now.

But it also seemed unwise to stay at the genii’s palace any longer. The genius’s mother would return at some point—hopefully empty-handed—and I didn’t want to find out what would happen if she got hungry. Eating a guest might be bad manners, but the duel had demonstrated how flimsy a protection that was. The “no harm” promise had some very flexible boundaries. Frankly, I wouldn’t trust my life with the genii again unless I killed them with the Hatchet of Friendship first.

“Well, then let’s get you set up for a journey!” The genius sounded so jovial I almost felt guilty for my unkind thoughts. Almost. “We’ll gather some supplies,” he continued. “New gear for your horses, some pancreas-based snacks, that sort of thing. Oh, and I’ll draw you a map of the swamp! As best as I can, anyway.” He leaned forward as if confiding a great secret. “It’s rather wet here. Makes mapping difficult. Everything slides around when it rains.”

Yudit and I thanked him profusely. When he headed off to fetch provisions, I went to the stable to assure Sunbeam of our safety. Although the horse might not have had enough time to start worrying; to my surprise, it wasn’t even midday. It had been a very busy morning. And come the afternoon, we’d start across the remainder of the Swamp of Monsters with a questionable map and a lightly enchanted spear.

Which was more than Ilyana had. I hoped she’d make it back to Moersbad in one piece, and would soon be telling her family about the, I don’t know, dirk-shopping face-brickers who’d abducted her.

I wished that I’d had longer to talk with her, to compare kidnappings and rescues, or just chat. To gaze at her grin as it shifted from face to face. Learn more about who she was beneath all those encumbering fairy gifts.

Most likely, I never would. I doubted I’d ever see her again.

Part IV

The Power of a Tourney

Interlude