Checkmate

The Players

I raised my head slowly.

And tried not to doubletake.

Standing in front of me was one of the most beautifully riveting males I'd ever seen. 

There was a strength to his tall, lithe physique, emphasised by form fitting cloths on long, lean legs and a gloriously bare expanse of muscled chest and defined abdomen, glistening with a faint sheen of perspiration. He looked older than me by a few years, the experience was in his face -  a face that was a perfect balance of edges and softness, both masculine and gentle, his hair the lightest blonde I'd ever seen, almost platinum white.

But what made my mouth go dry were his eyes.

Clear ocean blue-green, they appeared fathomless, changing colour, at once both dark and light. As I met those eyes, they searched mine, seeming to look deep into me. 

That's all it took for me to snap back and lock it down. 

I focused instead on the crossbow he was aiming at me. 

"You're off by about three inches if you're aiming for my heart." I said, glancing quickly at his face, but carefully avoiding that intense gaze.

"I'll keep that in mind." His low voice rippled through me and I had to make an effort not to shiver. "Name and Clan."

"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing." I said, unable to keep the sardonic tone from my voice. 

"A smartass. Great." A female voice said from behind me. 

"We'll ask the questions." Another male spoke, his voice hard.

"Alright, but I'm going to stand, if it's all the same to you." I said, and began straightening up before they answered, feeling the pain radiating from my spine and knee as I did. I could feel him watching my every movement and kept my face carefully blank, showing no emotion and none of the sharp pain I was experiencing. I took my time dusting off my robes and adjusting them before finally looking up at him again. His face was impassive but his ocean eyes were amused.

"I trust you're done delaying?" He said, a small smile on his lips.

I inclined my head but said nothing.

"So. Name and Clan."

I stayed silent. 

"Come on." The female said impatiently from behind me. "Don't make us trot out the old 'easy way and hard way' speech."

"That was going to be my line." Jax said evenly, from somewhere in the trees above. 

The male in front of me reacted, snapping his head up, giving me the opening I needed. I leaped at him, knocking the crossbow from his grasp and slamming him onto the ground in one swift move, all I could do before he recovered and fought back. He was surprisingly strong and we were evenly matched, I had my hands full keeping him from pinning me down and had to hope that Jax was keeping the other three occupied. I could dimly hear swearing and shouting, no-one came to heave us apart, so I assumed Jax was being useful and focused my energies on avoiding the jabs and punches of the male I was wrestling with. 

He was clearly Warrior trained and very skilled, using his more muscular physique to his advantage, putting his full weight into trying to subdue me. If I hadn't also been Warrior trained, he'd have succeeded, I was lighter than he was, more wiry than muscled. But I'd learned to use my body's so-called deficiencies to my advantage and was able to adroitly evade being pinned while simultaneously hitting him where it counted, much to his evident surprise. 

He'd landed a few perfectly aimed blows to my solar plexus and face, as well as a dirtier attempt to go for my injured knee, when I decided enough was enough. The pain in my back had gone from sharp to unbearable and I knew I wouldn't last much longer. I had to end this. Now.