Worlds of Waves and Shadows

Sixteen

Kaenisa caught the sword mid-air, grunting at the sudden weight thrust into her hands. It surprised her. Her body seemed to be acting on its own, like catching the blade had been but a reflex.

Maybe because the sword was lighter than it looked, but Kaenisa could not shake off the feeling that she had done this before.

Her eyes scanned the length of it, widening as they examined its point. It was sharp enough to draw blood with even a brush against the skin. One wrong move....she could kill someone with it.

"Zaira, don't you think-" Kaenisa barely had time to duck before a dagger whizzed past her ear.

"What the hell!? Zaira-"

"Lesson number one," The Princess began, cutting her off as she looked them in the eye, one after the other, "Always be prepared."

'So that's how she wants to play at it huh?' Kaenisa thought, eyebrows pulled down.

"And lesson number two," Zaira raised her sword, pointing it directly at her, "Watch and learn."

Kaenisa braced herself as The Princess began to pace before rushing towards her with unimaginable speed.

Without understanding what was happening, Kaenisa's body acted, her focus sharpening, honed onto her opponent as The Princess brought down the weapon, something between a spear and sword, onto her.

Kaenisa blocked the blow just in the nick of time, raising the blade Zaira had tossed her over her head.

The clash of metal on metal bounced off the walls, reverberating throughout the room until she could feel it in her bones. But before Kaenisa could even blink, Zaira was already moving.

She lurched backwards, barely dodging the blow, rolling away before springing back up onto her feet as she gripped her sword tighter.

All the while, silently thanking her mother for all the excruciatingly long fencing lessons she had made Kaenisa undergo.

It made her wonder if her mother had somehow known that she would end up here like this, thousands of feet underwater, trying not to get stabbed.

"You're good," Zaira panted, pausing.

"Thanks-" Kaenisa began, lowering her sword.

Big mistake.

The words had hardly left the tip of her tongue when Zaira leapt forward while letting out a feral cry, arms raised above her head.

And then the next thing she knew was getting the wind knocked out of her chest. Kaenisa felt herself fall, tumbling to the floor, sword flying out of her hands.

For a moment, Kaenisa just laid there, gasping for air. Then she groaned, coughing a little as the stars swarming her vision began to clear.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spied The Princess walking up to her before, a moment later, the cold blade of her weapon came to rest against Kaenisa's neck as she propped herself up onto her elbows, lips parted.

"—But not good enough." The Princess asserted, turning to two extremely terrified people, if you were to go by their expression, sitting on the sidelines.

"Lesson number three. Never. Ever. Let your guard down."

Kaenisa knew she should have stayed down, but she couldn't help take the opening.

Without thinking, she swiped her leg from below the Princess, causing her to lose balance.

And before Zaira could react, She pinned the Princess to the floor by the wrists, both of them breathing hard, "Lesson number four," Kaenisa heaved, "Never miss an opportunity."