The Game of Cat and Mouse

He lunges, his blade aiming towards my chest.
I meet his parry with my own, blocking it just inches before it pierces through. I imagine the sword plunging into the depths of my heart, and the image is enough to make me flinch when he strikes again. The metal whistles through air as I dodge.
"You'll never win this. Just surrender." he taunts, eyes narrowing.
"What more could I lose?" I gesture to the space around me. It is filled with lives and souls that should not have been there.
"Exactly. You only have yourself." He steps forward and leans down. "Which I'll take too," he whispers.

✶

Dahlia Adelisa, Princess of the kingdom of Xotrecaea, doesn't want to marry her enemy. But the war has taken a damaging toll on her kingdom, one that she can't undo herself, and she has no choice but to take the Prince of Krioria's hand in marriage.

She bears a strong hatred for him after all the damage his kingdom has bestowed and abhors the mere thought of the Prince, but royal duties call, and Dahlia takes every chance she can get to annihilate the new King and get revenge for her people.

But in every failed attempt, she finds a new piece of him that makes her bitter heart thaw, and soon, Dahlia can't seem to stop the feeling deep inside that seems to have rid itself of hatred and instead, replaced it with something a little different.

𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 @𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐚-𝐤