Crown of Serpents (Book 1 of the Serpent Bloodline Trilogy)

Chapter 4

My father reaches forward and grips my shoulder, squeezing tightly. "Why," he starts, teeth clenched, "did you interrupt the fight?"

I gulp, "I—" I don't know what to say. Why did I stop the fight? No mercy. That is what father tells me everyday, no matter who it is. I don't bother to ask him if it's the same with Mother, or Gio.

"Why." He pushes, and I look him in the eye.

"Because I couldn't just watch my best friend die!" I answer, not realizing I have shouted. He lets go of my shoulder, eyes running up and down my body. He glances at the blue haired girl then back at me.

"Well, it looks like you need to learn a lesson about mercy. See, it could get you killed someday, especially against a, uh, stronger opponent."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that It's your turn to fight."

I hesitate before asking, "who?" I practically whisper.

"Me." He growls. The crowd is still silent, watching intently. Fear flares inside my veins, electric shocks coursing through every muscle. I stumble backwards.

"N—No." I stutter, and he narrows his eyes. Glancing at Brenda her eyes widen and she holds up three fingers. A stable boy hands father his sword—he came out of nowhere—

"Father—No I won't fight you—" I stutter, stumbling back.

"Yes you will." Brenda closes her fist, and my father rushes foreword, using the butt of his sword to hit me in the gut, knocking me on my back. I grunt, and the world spins, but I manage to roll to the side, my body still aching and tired from the lessons. I jump to my feet, drawing my daggers and barely manage to block one of fathers attacks toward my face. "ah, so you have learned something," he says, hardly a pant in his voice. I feel warm blood bubbling on my lip, and I realize he's nicked me there. He pushes his sword harder against my daggers, and I can almost feel the cold metal against my neck. I panic, using my foot to kick up and hit him in the face. He stumbles backward, blood pooling out of his nose, and he smiles.

He comes at me, and I run behind, planning to get a few cuts to his back, but he reacts first, whipping around, he uses the flat of his sword to hit me in the arm, stunning it for a second. I glare at him, and roll out of the way before he can stab me. He throws another jab, and I'm forced to block. He continues doing that, wearing me out by the second. My body is already tired, and I can hardly lift my arm up, let alone block his powerful attacks.

I'm about to finally get a hit on him, when I see a rush of black in the corner of my eye. On instinct, I whip my head around to get a better look. But—

Pain flares in the side of my face, and I bite back a scream. He's staring at the place where I looked, curiosity plane on his face. He looks back at me, clicking his tongue. He kicks my legs beneath me, bringing me to my knees. Reaching out, he grips my chin, turning it to the right where all I can feel is pain. He brushes a finger over the area and I squeak, he smiles, pressing a little harder on the area. Anger rushes to me, and I grip my daggers harder, as fast as possible I reach out to stab him in the leg, but I'm met with a wall, and my daggers have a mind of their own. And apparently my body does too. Orange magic swirls around my hands and daggers.

Father.

The dagger now faces my chest, and I try to fight it, but my arms bring it closer and closer to my heart

"Stop—" I choke out, and it's only now do I realize that I'm crying. "Please, father..."

Sobs crash out of my mouth, but the dagger doesn't stop.