The Dance of the Keepers

Chapter 17 Hard Headed Woman

"Again!"
I snapped, pulling myself into an upright position.

Ranen cocked an eyebrow.

"What, are we just going to keep doing this until you win or something?"
He asked.

Yes.

"No, I just need to push myself to the next level, have to be ready for the arena."

Ranen looked entirely unconvinced.

"We've been at this for almost an hour, I think that's good for today."

I opened my mouth to protest but a servant appeared around the corner.

"Prince Ranen, his Majesty has summoned you to his chambers, he has a matter to discuss with you."

Ranen looked like he would have rather eaten nails but he dutifully nodded and handed his sword to Ilian. Even the Crown Prince was still subject to the whims of the King.

"It's been a pleasure training with you Astrid, you're stinking stubborn, it makes you a good fighter."

I might have enjoyed the compliment more if I hadn't lost to him six times in a row. I nodded grudgingly though, not wanting to be a total jerk.

"Thanks for the invite."

"Oh you're very welcome, I should hope you will come again."

"Certainly."

And next time I will kick your butt.

"Ilian, would you escort Astrid back to the Magna Complex?"

Ilian bowed.

"Of course, my Prince."

Ranen gave me a little mock salute and his signature cocky smile before striking off across the manicured lawn. My entire body was sticky with sweat and despite how much I had enjoyed the irony of showing up in sweats and a T-shirt, I made a mental note never to fight in them again unless absolutely necessary.

Ilian took my sword and returned it to the weapons room, then came back to babysit my return to the Magna Complex.

"What is it that holds you back?"
Ilian asked as we crossed the manicured lawn.

I paused and glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You may be hard headed, but you aren't stupid."
Ilian chided.

"You had more than one opportunity in which you may have beaten Ranen if you had only made your move right. But every time you got close to winning, you would sabotage yourself."

"Well it's not like it was intentional."
I muttered.

"Whether you wanted it to happen or not, it did. So what caused it?"

"I don't know, maybe I just didn't want beat the Prince on our first day of practice."

"That's rich coming from the girl who wore her pajamas just to spite him."

"They aren't pajamas."
I grumbled.

Ilian was silent, waiting for my response to his original question.

"Maybe I'm just not good enough to beat him."

"You obviously have a great deal of natural talent and on top of that I can tell your Keeper has trained you well. Despite your lack of experience, you're a good fighter. You have at the very least the potential to win against Ranen and you fight like you want to, right up until the moment you need to win, then you freeze."