A Priestess for the Blind God (Legends of Rahasia Book 1)

Chapter Sixteen

"Today, you and Ryu shall spar. We will see what you've learned."

Ryu and I stand at opposite sides of Prince Elio's "private" arena. It is already the third day of our training. On the first day, we went over basic hand-to-hand combat. It was easy for me since my father taught me basic combat already. I pinned Ryu to the ground in only three moves. On the second day, Elio handed us staves and told us to wield them like swords. I left Ryu with bruises all over his body. But he was determined that I give him no favor.

"You won't be embarrassed to be beaten by a girl?"

Ryu smirks at me, "you're bloodthirsty, pup. I'm just a dancer. You're the soldier."

Yeah. A dancer with actual power.

Elio visited our tent during the night, went over basic battle plans of how Ryu could better wield his illusory power while I made do with my spear. Elio just clasped me on the shoulder and wished me luck, and then he drew the curtain between us when he wanted to talk to Ryu. Judging by the laughter and muffled whispers on the other side of the tent, the men had something between them that I could only dream of. Sometimes, they compared their brands, one bore a mark of honor, the other a mark of shame.

Both men belonged to other people, other worlds entirely.

Yet when the prince and Ryu were together, they belonged only to themselves and each other. When Elio left in a flash of gold, the sun was peeking its weary head over the horizon line. Ryu was slumbering with a dreamy smile on his face, Elio's name dancing along his cherry-red lips. Sunlight stained his fingertips.

Back in the present, Ryu and I stand at opposite sides of the arena. Though Elio is positioned evenly between us, it's no secret that he watches Ryu more attentively than me. That's okay. I'm used to having no allies. As for this fight, I leave my worthless mirror at my belt, my aching arms hanging onto the spear with all my might. Elio tried to buckle a shield onto me, but I decided that was worthless. It's no use for me to have a shield for these contests. I'm a soldier competing in a Diviner's contest. If any magic hits me, I'm dead anyways. The shield will just hinder me.

Elio shouts, "go!" and the heavens light up in response.

I run straight for Ryu, the spear pointed toward his shoulder.

Ryu holds his glass beads in front of him, a simple blade in his other hand. He crosses the blade and the beads, muttering words beneath his breath. And just like that, copies of him rise from the dust. Disoriented, I spin around, trying to make sense of where the real Ryu is.

Elio's ingenious. He took a seemingly useless power of illusion and turned it into tactical strategy. I'm surrounded by copies of Ryu, distracted so that I cannot fight the original. The illusory clones attack me, turning to dust when I dodge them.

When I'm busy with the clones, the real Ryu slashes at me repeatedly. Blood dribbles down my right side. I see Ryu's clones grin, the bruises on his face lending his entire demeanor a ghoulish type of satisfaction.

"Gotcha, pup." He teases me, laughing. And he's not the only one laughing. A crowd has gathered yet again. This time, they hope to catch a glimpse of the bastard defeating the stupid girl, putting that useless female in her place.

I won't let them laugh at me any longer.

I grit my teeth and shove my heels into the dust, "that's it!" I stop evading the attacks.

No more running.

I refuse to dodge when Ryu's clones come after me. Instead, I stand there and wait. Elio starts yelling at me to fight back or run or do something. But I refuse. I wait to get hit by those fake swords. Finally, I feel a very real rush of air as Ryu slashes clumsily at me. But this time, I've caught him. I lift my spear just as his clumsy attack goes for my other shoulder.

Ryu screams as I shove him back. His clones vanish. I lift my spear...

"Stop the fight!" Elio goes between us, holding his hands up, the sun blinding us all momentarily. "Lady Ode, a word."

The Diviners watching our fight grumble that all the excitement's been paused.

"Lady Ode," here Elio lowers his voice so that only I can hear him, "you've won the match."

I snarl, "it's not finished yet." I wave to the crowd, "have you seen what you wanted to see? The mad girl fought back. She won't let you laugh at her any longer!"

Elio ignores me, helping Ryu lean against his shoulder. His larger arm wraps around Ryu's smaller frame. I drop my staff in horror as I see how bloodied Ryu looks. He clutches his eye with one hand, his fingers stained with red, his grin fading into a coppery grimace. His arms are covered in lacerations that will scar horribly if left untreated. With all the adrenaline coursing through me, I couldn't see the damage I'd done.

"It was just a practice fight, pup." Ryu winces as he leans into Elio's shoulder.

The crowd looks to me with pity, my blood and Ryu's dribbling down my hands. I clench my fists and the skin rubs together, the blood making my grip slick.

Monster... I put my bloodied hands over my ears, not wanting to believe that I'd hurt a friend like that, all for pride.

"There will be no more laughter, Lady Ode. We are finished for today." Elio tells me, and Ryu avoids my gaze as they hobble mournfully away.

***

Hello my Champions!

Ode, darling.

What have you done?

-Sophia