The Red Death

chapter one

If it weren't for the fact that Katreena had training at five in the morning she would not have been up as early as she was. Normal people tend to take it easy on the weekends, sleep in a little more than they usually do, but no- for her that was not her life. Instead of relaxing like everyone else in her kingdom, she was up before most of the castle was and was outside dreading her training session.

Standing on the training ground with sleep still in her eyes, hair thrown up into a messy bun that looked like she had quite literally just rolled out of bed, and her armor poorly draped over her body, she waited for her trainer and body guard to come meet her outside. One would think that the trainer would be out their before their student but Katreena knew if she wasn't out there before him then she'd be running laps around the castle grounds. That is something she did not want to do on her Saturday morning.

"Oh look who's here," Katreena's personal body guard and trainer walked out onto the field, a playful grin already etched onto his lips. "At least now we all know that the dear princess herself can wake up before breakfast." His taunting was not welcomed this early in the morning, especially by the princess herself as she was not at all a morning person.

Katreena rolled her eyes as she strained her posture and adjusted the metal armor that adorned her arms. "Your sarcasm is just oh so great to hear at the ass crack of dawn." She watched as the man chuckled, his whole body moving with the small movement. "Are we going to get started or what? I have a lot of stuff to do today."

"Oh really? Like what? Frolicking through the flowers? Visiting the towns people? Or perhaps meeting up with a secret lover?" Her trainer wriggled his eyebrows jokingly, very much knowing that his choice in words were going to rile her up and set up for a pretty aggressive sparing session.

Pulling out her sword from her side she twirled in her hand, her ruby colored nails catching his attention. "Seriously Thomas? Making fun of me this early in the morning? You must really want to get your ass beat today." There was a hint of humor in her voice, but the rest was filled with annoyance and the urge to shut him up for the rest of the day.

Thomas wasted no time in revealing his own sword, getting into their sparing stance and beckoning her forward. Without hesitation, the princess lunged forward and engaged in the practice combat. Since it was so early in the morning and Katreena's brain was just barely functioning, her first movements were pretty predictable. A lung to his chest, an arrogant move if you truly believe you can get your opponent in one move or less, a swing to the head which can be easily dodged, then followed with another aggravated swing of her sword from her side which Thomas skillfully blocked. He looked rather unamused that she wasn't taking this session seriously, which is how most training sessions begin anyways.

"Stop rushing into things and letting your emotions take control, I know I've taught you at least some tactics." Twirling his sword in his hand again he went back to the beginning stance, "Do it properly this time." He watched and waited and Katreena took a deep breathe, closing her eyes and then releasing it. When she re-opened her eyes she was focused and ready to beat her guard at his own game.

Thomas knew that look in her eyes, the way her dark brown orbs seemed to grow darker, resembling a pit of darkness that no one can find their way out of. She was determined, and he was utterly screwed. Instead of attacking first, Katreena waited for her opponent to make the first move, walking back and for slowly in front of him while she twirled the hilt of her sword in her hand. She may have been rushing into everything earlier, just wanting to get this stupid training session over with, but now? Now she wanted to make a point, telling him that she knew exactly what she was doing in a fight, no matter who it was against.

Finally after a moment of watching the princess, Thomas went for his first attack. The attack didn't even start with a move using his sword, instead he used his abilities of teleportation to get behind the young royal and catch her off guard. That was the plan at least, but that is not what happened. Instead, Katreena had turned around so fast to counter act his attempt at throwing her off that she blocked his first strike, the metal of their swords clanging against each other. Thomas pushed his weight on his sword, causing it to grind against Katreena's sword and making her dig her feet in the ground beneath her.

In one swift movement Katreena had pulled herself under her guard's arm, causing him stumble forward as she turned around and kicked a leg out from underneath him. Thomas had no time to catch himself, so instead he readied himself to hit the ground and rolled till he was able to stand back up. The princess let out an annoyed grunt as Thomas stood back up, a cocky smirk gracing his lips.

Somehow at the same time, the two had managed to cast separate spells at each other, knocking themselves to the ground with the small blast they had created. While Katreena stumbled over her feet to regain her former stance, Thomas was already teleporting behind her and locking his arms around her head. Her sword was dangerously close to the skin of her neck as he pulled her back flush against his chest, their armor clanging together in the most annoying way possible. Katreena had no choice but to drop her weapon and try to pull Thomas's arm away from her.

"Just give up, you aren't going to win this time." Thomas's breathe fanned against Katreena's ear as he tightened his grip just enough to try and stop her from escaping in some way.

The feeling of her held so tightly against him had both parties losing a bit of their common sense. They had known each other since they were children, they watched each other grow into beautiful adults, and they'd both be lying if they said they didn't have some sort of feeling for the other.

Katreena had some sort of idea about how Thomas felt about her though, the longing looks, staring at her from across the dining hall and watching her eat peacefully. He was mesmerized by her, and she knew it.

Grinning mischievously, the princess pressed her ass against Thomas's crotch. Since neither of them were wearing armer below their waist line, besides some on their knees, she knew that the slight sensation would catch him off guard and she'd have the perfect moment to flip him onto his back and beat him in the match.

Thomas's eyes widened, his pupil overtaking the green of his eyes. His body went rigid in shock, arms loosening up as his brain to comprehend what he just felt, but in the midst of his blindness his weight was shifted in the blink of any eye and then he was on the ground. His back hit the grass hard, his body reverberating against the armor he wore, the air in his lung forcefully taken from him. He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to suck in a breathe but was only met with pain.

While on the ground and stunned, Katreena had pinned him down with her heavy booted foot pressing on his front chest plate, her glimmering sword pointing directly with his line of sight. When the man underneath her finally looked up he saw the tip of her sword first and how close it was to the edge of his nose, and then followed the line of the sword to see a triumphant princess standing above him, smiling in victory. Thomas couldn't help but stare at her, her eyes crinkled at the edges because of her smile, her hair now even messier than before with a few of the dark strands framing her face. No matter how he looked at her, she was absolutely stunning and he was amazed how much she had grown.

"Looks like I win," She teased with a heavy breathe, still trying to catch her own as her chest heaved up and down.

Not saying anything just yet, Thomas took a page from her book and swiftly kicked her legs out from underneath her, causing her body to go flying backwards. Thankfully he was able to catch her body just a smidge before she hit the ground, the sudden fear in her face as he stood up and held her body in place with the magic. "Never think you've won until you know your opponent is down, always make sure they can't get back up." With a wave of his hand her body fell that last centimeter and she groaned as her armor caged her in.

Thomas walked away a bit, bending down to grab her sword before turning back to her. "Let's do it again."