What Once Was

2

As it happened, to everyone's surprise, and perhaps dismay, the final duel was between Kristijan and Aliana. Some of the Neamirians who knew of who she was expected the king to put a stop to it somehow. They did not want their princess harmed by whom they thought of as the strongest warrior. Those who had no idea of who she was either expected her to forfeit or withdraw because she was a woman and her opponent is a prince or were cheering for her because she was a woman and had become the tournament's favorite. Both of them were undefeated and showed extraordinary skill on the field with any weapon thrown their way. Kristofer debated whether to tell his brother of who she was or not, but he decided against it because he had finally seen the way his brother saw her when he disagreed with them earlier. He would not harm her... fatally. At least, he hoped.

The time came for them to fight and it became obvious neither one would step down and nobody would interfere with respect to the warriors. Both chose the sword, something they were similar in skill at. They clashed and fought. Neither backing down or allowing for any weakness to slip in. It was the highest form of respect they could give each other. Kristijan might be stronger with a longer reach, but Aliana was the quickest and lithest warrior among them. She dodged his attacks easily and made him concentrate to try and parry her attacks that seemed to come out of nowhere in quick successions. She knew his stamina was one to be admired, so she allowed him to attack her first in an attempt to tire him out before making her move.

The crowd gasped when his sword sliced her left arm. They were breathing heavily at this point. The fight had gone on far longer than anybody expected. They thought Aliana would surrender, but she took several deep breaths, took a quick survey of her opponent's stance, and went in with her moves. Her attack took Kristijan by surprise and she managed to catch him with a slice across his right shoulder, which sliced his leather armor open on the right side. She was momentarily distracted by the amount of blood that poured out from his wound and he took advantage of her distracted state to go in for his final attack. Before she could blink twice, she found herself lying on her back, his foot on her sword, and his sword at her throat.

The crowd went wild. It was the longest and best fight they had ever seen in a very long time, and it was one between a male and a female warrior. The King of Neamir and Nestorian King congratulated each other on such capable warriors. At this point in time, none of the other kings, including the Nestorian King, no matter how close he was to the King of Neamir, knew of who Aliana really was. The Nestorian King knew of her existence but the last he saw of her was when she was 12, and knew her by her second name, Princess Alexandria, the name all outside of the Kingdom of Neamir knew her as.

Kristijan helped Aliana to her feet and unconsciously hugged her. He did not realize how scared he was of hurting her accidentally. That slice he gave her on her arm cost him 10 years of his life, he was sure.

It was when Kristijan was hugging her so tightly she could hardly breathe and when Kristofer and Ivan were running towards their friends that the two boys saw the truth revealed. Kristijan was in love with the queen of their hearts. Whether they realized it or not, that was the moment their future was set. For it was then that Kristofer took on a role he was unfamiliar with, that of a shield for his brother. Whereas Ivan was even more set to protect his cousin, and her now first love.

Aliana, still as innocent as she was of her own feelings or of Kristijan's, pulled him away from her and started fussing over the wound she inflicted on him. She shouted for the medic and gave strict instructions for them to treat him first. He tried arguing but it was like going against a roaring lioness so he finally relented, though not without some grumbling. The two boys could only, barely hide their laughter. They could just see the future that was in store for those two.

Time passed and it was almost like nothing had changed, but somehow something did. Aliana was becoming more aware of these stirrings inside of her. At first, she was more than confused about the sensation, but then she started to evaluate it like any other symptoms of an illness. She knew, though, that it was not an unpleasant feeling – uncomfortable perhaps, but not unpleasant. She scratched off food from the list of potential causes. Then she took excitement for the training off the list because she felt it even when she wasn't training. She was surprised to note that the one constant factor was a person and it was Kristijan. He was a man of few words, but she had learned that his every gesture had intent behind it.