Page 47 of Onyx Cage: Volume II

“She’s faking it,” Avani yelled, confirming my suspicions.

Gwyn glared, picking up her speed once more. She didn’t object, though, so I surmised that these interjections were not unusual.

I also surmised that the crown princess had placed a bet on me, since I doubted she was helping out of the goodness of her heart.

The other two rings emptied out, including the one with Gallagher and Korhonan. They converged in the center to watch this match. And comment on it, profusely.

“She’s weaker on her left,” Gallagher yelled, making it clear enough who he had bet on for the round.

I went harder on the offensive the next time she switched hands, forcing her to cede some ground, though it occurred to me that if she was weaker on her left and hadn’t shown a sign of that, she was likely still holding back with her right.

I took a quick step back, feigning a defensive stance while I prepared to attack when Korhonan called out, “He’s luring you.”

Gwyn smirked, pulling back before her blow followed through. I hurriedly adjusted my footing, bringing up my sword just in time to block her next hit.

I wasn’t sure how long we went on like that, back and forth in the first real challenge anyone had given me in the ring for as long as I could remember. I might have trained relentlessly, but it was clear I wasn’t the only one. After her first failed attempt, she made no pretense of slowing down.

Adrenaline surged through my veins, my mind emptying. For a few minutes, I didn’t think about trade or my father or Iiro or my extremely reluctant feral potential future wife.

I didn’t think about anything at all but where the next strike was coming from until Rowan’s voice rang out.

“You need to end this, Gwyn! His stamina isn’t going to flag.”

I didn’t quite stumble, but I paused for a single fraction of a moment, a smirk rising to my lips at her implication. Honestly, I didn’t even have to taunt Korhonan when she was around to do it for me.

But she was right. My energy was going nowhere.

My focus, on the other hand, had strayed just enough to allow Gwyn to take advantage. Moving faster than I had ever witnessed a human move, she brought her sword down in a series of blows that I reacted a single heartbeat too late to.

I barely saw her blade aim for my neck before I felt the edge along the bare skin of my throat.

“Impressive,” I said honestly. “Again?”

My veins surged with the prospect of another challenge, even as my mind whirled trying to evaluate her fighting style, the weaknesses that could be exploited, the strengths that could be adapted from studying her.

Her hazel eyes were lit up with the same excitement. She darted a glance to the side just as she opened her mouth, brow furrowing when she caught her twin’s eye. Though his featureswere far more impassive than hers, there was something like a warning in his gaze...as it slid ever so slightly to his left.

“I think I’ll ride the high of this victory instead,” Gwyn said quickly.

I nodded, unable to suppress another smirk. Because sitting to Gallagher’s left was my lemmikki, cheeks as red as if she had just left the sparring ring herself. Her jaw was clenched, gaze pointedly averted.

She could pretend all she wanted that marrying me was the last thing from her mind, but for all her jokes about me pursuing her cousin, she didn’t seem to be remotely amused anymore.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The next morning, I didn’t wait until breakfast to leave my room. It wasn’t as though I was a prisoner here, however much I felt enslaved to the whims of a particular princess.

I had no desire to spend another hour pacing or going through my daily conditioning exercises within these four walls.

So I dressed and headed to the barracks to do morning drills with my men, Pavel at my side. I had to admit to a certain amount of curiosity about the training of the men here, too.

There had been an air of carelessness to the soldiers on the road that was entirely at odds with what I would expect from a kingdom ruled by the man who was so feared in my kingdom that even his hair color was taboo, along with his Warrior Queen.

Perhaps our worries of a war had been ill-founded.

It was warm this morning, though the sun was barely peeking over the towering outer walls of the castle. Not for the first time, I noted that the castle itself was certainly defensible, likely due at least in part to my father’s breaching of the former building’s walls only two decades ago.

But a strong castle was not equal to a strong military.

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