The Sapphire Tiger

Chapter 8: The Duel

Lief was still in the courtyard, lost in thought about what kind of enemies he was likely to make over the coming days thanks to the bounty on his head and how he was going to deal with them. He didn't want to keep himself shut away in the castle but he didn't want to be forced to show his brutal side to Snow if someone attacked him on the road or in the town. The first couple who came outside retreated as soon as they saw Lief but since then, a number of people had come out into the courtyard to enjoy the sun, some of them even greeting Lief, albeit rather nervously. The once empty courtyard was now quite lively. Just as Lief decided to get something to eat, he was stopped as he heard his name called from behind him, followed by the flopping sound of leather sandals. He turned to see Luke carrying two wooden staves. Before he could ask what he wanted, Luke aggressively tossed one of the staves to him, which he caught effortlessly and without blinking. He wanted to ask what was going on but he knew the answer to that question as soon as he looked Luke in the eyes. He was looking at someone who wanted a fight. 
"Lief, I'm formally challenging you to a duel. Right here and right now." Lief was unsure what he had done to offend Luke but he had lived with a group of traveling bandits and was perfectly aware that people would often challenge him to a duel for relatively meaningless reasons. At the sound of Luke's challenge, everyone in the courtyard turned their heads and watched eagerly, muttering to each other.
"Did Luke just challenge the human?"
"I hope it doesn't damage his handsome face."
"Show 'im who's boss, Luke!"

"Luke, what is this about?" Lief asked. "Whatever's wrong we can sit down and talk through it. We don't need to go straight to hitting each other with blunt objects." Luke smiled, believing himself to have the human fearing him. 
"You're not talking yourself out of this, Lief. You're coming between me and the woman I love and I'm gonna prove to her that I'm the alpha male here, not you!" 
"Wait, you mean Snow?" Lief replied. "I'm doing no such thing. You two are practically children Luke. I know you have strong feelings for Snow and I don't blame you. She's a pretty little thing but you've no idea what love is. This is just a small time crush you have." Luke chose only the worst possible thing about that statement to focus on.
"'A pretty little thing'?" He hissed. "How dare you talk about Snow like that! She's a strong and beautiful woman!" 
At this point, Snow walked around the corner, hoping to meet back up with Lief and talk more about adventure and wielding weapons only to happen upon the commotion that had broken out. 
"Luke, Please." Lief beseeched. "I need you to calm down. I'm not about to cross weapons with you."
"Ha, I don't blame you. I'm about to beat you to a pulp in front of everyone here!"
"Luke, you stupid male!" Snow cried. "Stop this now!" Her concern was purely for Luke's well being. She knew Luke posed practically no threat of injury to the human and didn't want to see Lief forced to hurt her friend in self defense. Lief heard Snow's voice and acknowledged her presence but Luke seemed to have not heard her over his own anger. 
"Luke, I really don't want to hurt you but if you persist I WILL defend myself. Is that clear?"
"Stop being a wimp and fight, human!" Luke's patience for words had worn out and he raised his staff over head and brought it down towards Lief's skull with impressive and surprising speed and grace. Snow gasped, clapping her hands to her mouth, not expecting the human to react in time. Lief caught the staff and gripped it tightly with his right hand, stopping it dead a mere inch or two away from impact. Before Luke could even attempt to pull it back, the human thrust the staff forwards, breaking Luke's grip on it and striking the wolf soundly between the eyes with it. Luke fell over, landing on his backside and Lief stood with both staves in hand. The rules of the duel hadn't even been laid down but it was clear to all present that Lief had won. Luke had challenged Lief to a fight and lost. 

Snow quickly ran to Luke as he sat, holding one hand on the spot of his head that had been smacked by the staff. She offered a hand, much to Luke's delight and she helped him to his feet.
"Are you hurt?" She asked, gently moving his hand away from his head 
"Of course not. I'm fine." He replied.
"Rubbish, you're bleeding, but it's not bad. Come on, let's go and get that cut seen to." As Snow escorted Luke inside to get his wound cleaned and dressed, Luke turned his head and shot Lief a smug smile of satisfaction, feeling like he was the ultimate winner. The only thing that made Lief feel like a loser however, was the looks he received from the surrounding people. Despite his only crime being self defense in a duel he didn't want any part of, they stared at him like he was a brute, a barbarian, a savage. When Lief glanced in their directions, they quickly averted their gazed and only a moment later,  they had quickly filed out of the courtyard as if a wild, dangerous beast had been spotted. Yes, the feeling of loss in the human's heart was heavy but he was thick skinned. Being stared at like a monster was something he'd gotten used to many years ago. The thing that truly worried him was whether or not this little incident had impacted her view on him. But then he began to worry about Luke. He didn't pose much of a threat to Lief but if he wanted revenge for his little humiliation, Lief might only be forced to hurt him again, something he really didn't want to do. 
"I hope you're proud of yourself!" He heard a voice call as the last of the critters scurried off of the scene. 

Lief ground his teeth in frustration, having brought none of this ridicule on himself.  
"Wow, not only do you steal the guy's girlfriend but then you go and nearly break the poor kid's nose." Lief looked up to see a familiar face fluttering down towards him, it's owner landing on the grass in front of him. 
"I'm glad to see you keeping out of trouble, Dusty but Neither of those things happened." Before he could begin his pedantic rant, the bat held up a hand, silencing him. 
"I know, I know. Take it easy, big guy. I'm only teasing ya." 
"Yes, well it just so happens I'm not in the mood right now."
"I'm not surprised. First you get attacked and then everyone treats you like you're a bully to be feared. You're really not popular in here are you?" She said with a cheeky giggle. Lief sighed heavily. 
"It's better than the people who are looking for me out there." A moment of silence washed over the pair before Dusty made a suggestion.
"How about we go and take a walk? Might help clear your head." Lief nodded. A simple walk was his favorite form of meditation.
"I guess I could do with that." He said and they left the castle through the front gates.