ALL US VILLAINS

Chapter Six

These boys should have known better than to have challenged Rosalie to a sword fight, though she did aggravate them into going against her. She has always known that she wants to be a guard, despite the many attempts made by her family to dissuade her.

"Women don't become guards," her father had once claimed. "Leave that job to the men."

Her father may be the retired guard captain, but he is far out of practice. He does not understand that Rosalie is better and far more capable than any of the men in the guard— including her two brothers who work directly at the palace in the prince's primary entourage.

One of the men gently swings their sword at her in a move that is far too easy to block. Though they want to prove their point and shut down Rosalie's dream, they do not want to hurt her.

She quickly disarms that man, sending his sword out somewhere into the trees by the barracks. Rosalie smiles at him before cocking her head toward the woods. "You better go get that."

The guard-in-training looks pissed as he storms off to retrieve his sword. He mutters something to himself as he goes but Rosalie isn't focused on him.

Now that his friend has seen her cockiness, he really wants to prove her to be a bad swordsman. The young man draws his sword. He does not waste any time before he charges at her.

This man's swings are sloppy and uncoordinated. She can tell that most of his moves aren't well thought out. He only wants to teach her a lesson by using his brute force against her.

Dodging one of his swings, Rosalie spins closer to the man and elbows him in the gut. He stumbles back a few steps and makes the mistake of place a hand to his stomach.

Her sword brushes his neck. "And just like that, you're dead," she states. When his brown eyes meet hers, the man glowers at her. "You leave yourself far too open."

"Perhaps you should go against someone who's a guard," a familiar voice says from behind her.

Lowering her sword, Rosalie turns to face her twin brother. His hazel eyes are lit up with amusement while he studies her. His dark, curly hair is much longer than it was two months ago when she had last seen him. His brown skin is much darker, seeing much more sun.

The two look very similar to one another, aside from their skin tone. Where her brother is a rich brown, Rosalie is a lighter shade. During the winter, she turns pale and loses any sort of pigmentation that she gains in the summer.

"Wasn't I the one who helped you get there?" She asks.

Ezra playfully furrows his eyebrows. "I don't believe so. It definitely was my hard work and efforts." He pulls his blade from its sheath, challenging her. "Allow me to show my students proper techniques in sword fighting."

Happiness blossoms through her chest. She grins at her twin and slowly lifts her sword. Since Ezra is going to be teaching at the barracks, Rosalie will be able to visit him as much as she'd like. She'll have excuses to get out of the house that won't cause her parents to panic.

It will also give her an excuse to learn other sword fighting techniques.

As always, Ezra strikes first. His swing is more aggressive than the two men she had fought earlier. He knows more about her limits and is aware that she has more skill than most women. His blows are more difficult for her to block or dodge. She has many near-misses with his sword. Ezra moves fast, as though he is trying to prove a point to someone.

His sword gently grazes her arm, cutting through the material of her shirt. The stinging pain is felt seconds later. It makes her next swing sloppy and too predictable.