Page 35 of Of Blood & Bone: The Young Queen

He grins. “That would only concern me, my Queen, if I thought you had any chance of landing your blade upon me.” With that he sidesteps to the left and then swiftly doubles back to the right, advancing towards me in one lightning fast movement, whereupon he delivers a deadly jab that just misses my torso. “You don’t have the element of surprise this time, and it’s neither late nor have I consumed a vat of wine.”

He pauses for a second and it's enough for me to spur my feet in a backward motion. “Oh, so that’s what you tell yourself,” I say, “that I only drew your blood because you were tired and intoxicated and I managed to surprise you!”

He places one foot behind the other and starts to circle me in an anti-clockwise direction. “It’s not simply what I tell myself, it just so happens to be true. There’s no way you wouldever have drawn my blood otherwise. I’m an Ellerban prince and we are born with our swords in our hands.”

“Is that right?” I ask, as I carefully track his movements and try to gauge what he is going to do next.

“Yes, it is. On the last moon of the queen’s pregnancy the castle’s master swordsmith is tasked with producing the finest sword in all of the realm, which is then placed by the prince’s hand as soon as he is born. The first thing an Ellerban prince touches in this world is his sword.”

“I dare say it's also the last thing some of them touch,” I retort.

He winces. “Oooh, that's a low blow, Queen, even for you.”

I grin and shrug. “I've seen nothing yet to convince me otherwise.”

The words are no sooner out of my mouth when he lunges towards me and lands a power strike on my sword. It’s all I can do to hold my block and soon I feel my arms start to weaken. I decide to play to my strengths, so I drop to the floor and before he can touch me with his blade I roll away. However, when I look up he is advancing towards me at such an incredible speed that I realise he will be standing over me before I’m able to get back on my feet. Therefore, I decide to stay where I am and let him keep coming.

His expression tells me this is not what he was expecting, which means he's going to be really surprised at what comes next. As soon as he is within striking distance I lash out with my leg and sweep it under his feet, knocking him to the ground.

He lands with a thump and an exclamation, “By the gods you are a tricky wench!”

I start to laugh. “I am an Ardvallan Queen, born of a long line of sharp-minded queens. At the moment of my conceptionthe knowledge of the ancestral queens was passed onto me. You could say I was born with a sword of my own.”

He jumps to his feet, and before I’ve caught my breath he has covered the distance between us and launches a flurry of blindingly fast cuts and jabs that I just about keep up with. At the end of it I notice both his eyebrows are slightly raised as if he hadn't expected me to match him.

“Someone has taught you well,” he observes, as he steps back and stretches out his sword with his right hand, “but perhaps not well enough.” Then he steps back, turns, and throws the sword to his other hand. I've never seen a sword fighting move like it and am just wondering what he's about to do next when he takes me completely by surprise and steps into my space with his left foot and lands a jab to my ribs. The tip of his sword leaves an inch long tear in my warcloth as he stops it just short of drawing my blood.

I look at him, unable to keep the shock from my face. Then, I look down again and clutch at my stomach, double-checking to make sure I'm not bleeding. I can't quite believe he managed to strike me to the extent where he sliced my tunic and yet didn't draw blood. When I look up he is standing only inches from me. He places his forefinger under my chin and lifts my head even further so I have no choice but to look into his eyes.

“Thank you, Queen Elinor, I’m looking forward to tonight like I have not looked forward to a night for a long time.”

“Prince Ronan,” I start to object…

“Ah, ah,” he admonishes me, “there's no wriggling out of it. A deal is a deal, unless you wish me to think of you as a queen who doesn’t honour her word. If so, then I fear I must think carefully upon the deal we have already agreed.”

A sigh of pure frustration escapes from my lips. After the day I've had, combined with no sleep from the night before, I don’t wish to spar with him any longer. “Very well, please dinewith me in my chamber this evening, and afterwards I shall accompany you to your chamber and remain there till dawn.”

His grin broadens into a smile. “That's the spirit,” he declares before swooping in and placing a kiss upon my lips. “And now the deal is sealed with a kiss. I'll see you soon, my Queen.” His fingers fall away from my chin and he hands me Kes’ sword. “Please relay my thanks to Kes for the use of her sword, it proved most useful. Now, I must go and check on my men.”

He walks past me in the direction of the stairs leading from the courtyard, and I’m left standing there as my lips tingle from his touch and the unfamiliar energy I have felt throughout the day surges to a new peak. I'm also left scratching my head as to how I'm now committed to spending the night with him. I was supposed to be extricating myself from any agreement to physical contact, not agreeing to more!

I turn in the direction of the armory with the intention of seeking out Kes, who discreetly disappeared during my duel with the prince, when I find Myreena making her way across the courtyard.

“Good evening, my Queen,” she greets me.

“Good evening, Myreena,” I reply. “I presume you are here to attend to the Ellerban soldiers?

“Yes, my Queen, I am.”

“How do they fare?” I ask.

Her eyes widen and a look of awe comes over her face.

“Their recovery is nothing short of remarkable,” she replies. “The blond-haired one remains unconscious, but he gets better by the day, and the one with the sable coloured hair is conscious for short periods and gains in strength by the hour. They are strong, my Queen, and it makes me realise I haven't seen men this strong for a very long time. Whatever this malaise is that affects the seed of our menfolk, I fear it is affecting usall in more ways than we understand. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Majesty, a baby boy was born in the village of Merwyth last night and is in urgent need of my care.”

“Of course,” I say as I stand out of her way, “please pass on my congratulations to the parents. I hope the child responds to your ministrations.”

She hurries past. “So do I, my Queen, I only wish we had more men like these Ellerban men, then maybe I wouldn’t spend so many of my days making fertility remedies and tending to frail babies.”

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