Blood Moon's Paroxysm

Chapter 2

The prince was shocked. He hadn't been defeated ever since he'd been born, he'd never been beaten.

He put on an awkward smile though she couldn't see his face, "So, what's your next plan?"

To that, he heard the voice of a doll answering his question, "What was your first plan?"

"I came here for a dance," He answered. The girl was surprised to hear that, she released the dagger but did not stagger back, allowing the prince to turn around.

The prince glanced at the dagger he brought which was now in the girl's hand, then complimented, "Nice weapon you have there."

The girl raised her gaze up to him, "I stole it."

Casteel revolved around, his back against her as he pretended to leave, since he wasn't satisfied with his defeat.

Within a flash, the prince gripped on his sword and spun around briskly to land his sword beside her neck.

The girl didn't flinch at the brisk motion, instead she drew the dagger and crashed it against his sword, blocking his blow efficiently.

The comparison of the dagger to a sword is largely considered unfair in a duel, but she doesn't seem to have noticed a nuance in that fight despite the weapon's size.

She gripped the dagger and drove his blow out, the sword sliding to the right as she raised her leg for a kick. Before the prince could react, the kick locked in and flew towards his hand, knocking his clenched fist open and disarming the sword from his hand.

The prince stood still, a marginal smirk on his face which shows his calm upon facing a defeat, he would have reacted in a colossal way to deal with this, but he chose a nonchalant gesture and spoke, "Shall we talk?" he said, then added, "in peace."

The girl smiled, raising a hand to retrieve the sword on the ground, "Sure."

The prince walked forward, despite the risk of being killed off within a single slice in his neck, but to his surprise, the girl handed him his weapons back in a gentle way, leaving herself weaponless.

"What's your name?" The prince asks, lingering down the path without a destination in mind.

"Rebella," She enunciated, "And you're Casteel."

Casteel's brows raised, "What an exquisite name, it suits you, really."

She didn't think that it was a true compliment rather than a sarcastic comment. Either way, she responded, "That's the name my mother gave me."

It's strange to be chatting with a rebel to his throne, but her being a worthy competitor is much more interesting to him.

"How did you learn to fight?"

The girl elaborated, "My mother was supposed to instruct me, but she was killed during a raid by the bandits." she said, her cold tone not changing to show any misery, "She said that someone would instruct me to do so, but till this day there was none. So I learned it on my own."

"Very well, very well," The prince said, looking at the young girl strolling at his side he asked again, "How old are you?"

"I'm 23," she said, then asked for his age as well.

"27," the prince answered.

A brief moment of silence later, the prince began a question related to what he came here for, "So, what are the rebels up to?"

She chuckled to that question and glimpsed at the prince beside her, "I don't owe you an answer."

The girl was a mystery to him. He could neither read her, nor get information out of her.

After that day, the prince would appear every once in a while in surprise to attack her, to attempt to capture her like he did on the first attempt.

However, it failed every single time as the girl was unpredictably better than him in some way. It turned into a game soon after the first few attempts. They would fight each other, sometimes prepared, sometimes waking up from her sleep to a man crawling in from her window with a sword drawn.

Regardless, she has never failed to evolve victorious in those training duels.

Except on one occasion when the prince was extremely close to taking the win.

They were dueling in the wilds, the forest filled with the incessant metal noises.

When the prince caught a chance to swing towards her, she saw that blow coming and knew that she wasn't capable of blocking an attack with such speed.

The girl launched herself up, and leaped to the side. Her jump was elegantly performed, as if it's used to captivate her opponent's attention rather than to dodge the upcoming blow. She had done it so naturally that for a moment, he thought that they're in a dream where floating is possible.

However beautiful she'd managed to pull off that trick, she wasn't able to make the landing as perfect as she'd expected it to be.

She landed on her feet but failed to find her balance in time.

This had been his chance to win against her for the first time. He could pin her to the ground as she fall and slip his sword under her chin to claim his long-awaited victory.

No matter what way his mind had told him to end the fight, his instinct tells him a rather contrasting and unique way.

He dropped his sword promptly and reached out both of his arms to catch her without a second of hesitation.

He followed his instinct, and this is what he ended up doing.

The girl's back was warm on his arms, he brought his gaze to the girl's immediately to read her indecipherable expression. But she showed no reaction towards their current interaction.

When their gaze met, the prince couldn't resist the inevitable grin on his face while the girl's lips remained on a dull thin line. Since seeing her fail to do something made him realize that she isn't perfect after all.

"Mind-"

The girl broke him off by moving her sword to the side of his neck, declaring victory on herself though he'd given up on the fight to save her from a fall.

"I just saved you," the prince spoke. He moved his hand towards her hand till her wrist was within his grip, "you needn't-"

The girl ripped her wrist off his grasp and threw herself away from his arms. She stood within his arm's reach and replied, "I'm not one who can't handle pain."