The Dance of the Keepers

Chapter 31 An Uncomfortable Answer

Deciding to give Ranen a shot at becoming my friend didn't turn out to be quite as hard as I originally feared. Mostly because we didn't really spend that much time together. My schedule was fairly limited and Ranen was pretty busy himself with whatever was considered to be his princely duties. It wasn't for another couple of weeks that I finally received a note from one of his servants inviting me over for some sparring practice that I was actually available for.

"Ready to get your butt kicked, Princeling?"
I taunted, strolling up to the training courtyard like I owned it.

"Ah! She does fight in something other than pajamas!"
Ranen exclaimed upon seeing me.

I rolled my eyes and placed my hands on my hips.

"You're going down."

"I do recall being the sole winner of our matches last time."
He reminded me.

"I wasn't really trying."
I responded back.

Ilian appeared with two swords, Ranen's beautiful golden one and a plain silver one for me. As I took it from his hands, the dark-haired second in command leaned forward to whisper in my ear.

"Thank you."

I nodded at him and turned away.

"How about a few warm-up exercises? We neglected those last time and I fear it affected your performance."
Ranen suggested with a half smile.

I rolled my eyes and began a series of stretches.

"I can't say as I need to warm up, but if you think it's necessary, then I can appreciate the benefit. You don't get to use it as an excuse though when I beat you."

Ten minutes later we faced off, all humor gone for the moment, our focus entirely on the battle at hand. I was determined this time to best him, now that I had dealt with my emotions regarding my first kill, nothing was holding me back.

Ranen advanced and I easily deflected his blow. Watching him closely, my mind raced from the adrenaline, taking note of every detail.

He was good though, almost as good as Kyle. He didn't give away his moves with eyes, and he reacted quicker than most. That didn't mean however that he didn't have his tells. I devoted any energy I didn't need for the fight into discovering what it was that gave him away. Our battle dragged on and I had a feeling he was attempting to read me the same way I was attempting to read him. Perhaps we were too evenly matched for a winner to emerge right away. We'd have to wait and see who tired first. In accordance with the last time, that would probably be me.

Then I finally found the pattern I was looking for. There was a slight tightening of the muscles in his jaw, right before he made his move. When he went left, the left side of his cheek was a hair tighter than the right. The opposite could be said for going to the right. It was so minute it had taken me the better part of a twenty-minute battle to catch it. He was fast, but that split second warning gave me the edge I needed to be able to beat him. 

Ranen faded back and I took the opening offered to me, lunging forward with all the energy I could muster in a second. His jaw muscles tightened on the left side but I was already there to block him. Surprise was evident in his eyes for one split second and I took advantage of that, attacking him in a way that caused him to step right in a low patch of sand. It was just enough to momentarily make him wobbly and I pounced like a cat knocking him to his knees and holding my blade at his throat. To his credit, he never loosened his grip on his sword. He stared up at me for a moment, breathing heavily. Then a slow smile spread and he chuckled.

"Someone's been practicing."

I stepped back triumphantly, perfectly good with calling the practice there, now that I had finally beaten him. I offered him my hand up as he had done for me, more as a mocking gesture than anything. I was surprised when he took it as he stood, quite different from what my reaction had been.