Shatter Like Glass-Cinderella Retold

Part Six

Ashen stared up at him. How had he reached them so quickly? Was this a trick of the mind? Did he have that sort of power?

"Why hello there," she said pleasantly. "Have I met you before?"

"Don't speak," he hissed, holding his sword to her throat. "If you try to cast one of your enchantments, I will slit your throat."

"No enchantments like this?" she asked.

Not all enchantments were vocal, and the summoning spell was one that, fortunately, was mental. Carefully, she focused on the trapdoor in the middle of the floor. It flew open and her sword went into the air. She caught it and swung upward. Peder rolled off her, narrowly missing her attack. He leapt to his feet roughly the same moment she did. She was a tad woozy for a moment. Lucky for her that spell wasn't a difficult one. Based on their fight after the ball, she needed all the strength she had to fight him.

"Nice reflexes," she told him as he dodged one of her attacks.

"Don't compliment me," he snarled. "I'm trying to kill you."

"Yes, and you're not doing very well," she said. She took a swipe at him. He narrowly missed.

They parried for a moment. Then, hoping to throw him off, she swung in the other direction. She sliced his bicep, drawing a little blood. In return, however, he cut her left wrist. She gasped and dropped her sword. He kicked it aside.

"Clever," she said, "aiming for my stronger hand."

Peder said nothing in reply. He held his sword point at her throat. She felt it puncture and a trickle of her blood slid down her neck. She ducked as he lunged forward. A little of her neck was cut, but nothing too severe. With Carminian healers so near, she could have that scratch healed by the evening.

He slashed at her again and she rolled to the side. When he tried to stab her low, she leapt up, his sword narrowly missing her leg. She did a cartwheel to the side.

"You can dodge all you want, pirate," he said. "You're still without a blade."

He jumped forward and kicked her in the gut. She stumbled backwards.

"Bad form," she snapped, holding her ribs. He had definitely broken at least one. The question was how many more.

"Excuse me?" he asked, slashing at her head. She leapt to the side, rolling when she hit the ground. For a moment, his sword was stuck in the hull of the ship. He pulled free though.

"Bad form," she repeated. "In a sword duel, you have to fight solely with blades."

"Well, you seem to be without one," he replied.

He was right, but not for long. She couldn't summon her own sword while dodging attacks from him; she wouldn't be able to concentrate. Besides, the spell would make her too weak to ward off many of his attacks. There was another option though.

The next time he tried to stab her, she let him get close. His sword made a slight grinding sound as it collided with her hidden chest plate. She grinded her teeth and balled her fist, slamming into the inside of his elbow. As she intended, his reflexes worked as they should, causing his fingers to loosen and his hilt to slid from his hand. She grabbed the hilt and turned the blade back towards him. He was too surprised to stop her as she stabbed him left of the heart, very near where she had impaled his brother. When the blade pierced his skin, she frowned. Why wasn't he wearing any armor beneath his uniform? Did his powers allow him to heal? No, he was bleeding far too much for that. There weren't any creatures like that anyway. Anything could be killed.

He stumbled backwards, trying to stop the bleeding. Blood covered his fingers. As she watched his struggle, she wondered if Peder was as ruthless of a killer as Emlen was. She wondered if he hunted pirates and anyone he could get away with killing just as his relatives did.