Page 28 of Tarnished Crown
His eyes sparkled with amusement. “What kind of master would I be if I didn’t play with my favorite pet?”
I lunged at him, but he sidestepped, so I tracked his movement and tried again. And suddenly, we were dancing, our blades crashing into one another and echoing through the large space while we arched and ducked from each other’s blows.
Well, mostly I arched and ducked. He didn’t seem to need to employ any real acrobatics to evade me, nor was he too out of breath to critique me.
“You’re dropping your elbow.”
I picked it up, scowling as I went in for another hit.
“Watch your footwork,” he barked, just as I overstepped and faltered.
The worst part was that I had heard all of these things before, from Fia or my father or even Gwyn, so I knew they were true.
All you need is one good opening.My father’s advice had been sound, but Evander wasn’t inclined to give me any openings, let alone a good one.
I picked up my speed, ready to attack him full on.
“Careful, Lemmikki. Your expressions give you away.” Evander’s pompous voice broke through my thoughts and I rolled my eyes.
“And what exactly are they telling you, right now, LordAalio?” I panted.
Evander chuckled and spun around, switching sword hands before knocking me in the back of the knees with his wooden blade. “That you’re flagging already.”
I growled as my legs buckled ever so slightly. Recovering myself, I spun farther from his reach, using the large room to put a little more space between us.
Our cat and mouse game continued for several more minutes, but he never bothered to reach the speed I knew he was capable of. And still, I was nowhere close to winning.
“Why are you dragging this out?” I accused.
“We need to test your stamina.” He shrugged.
I stumbled, earning me a solid thwack in the side. Still, I got several good hits in, landing one on his shoulder, another on his lower back and finally on his shin. All of this was worth the hits he got in return, of course.
I couldn’t deny that it felt good to spar, even when my opponent was Evander. I had been idle for too long, and the adrenaline of exertion was settling over me like a glass of well-aged whiskey.
Which was the only excuse I had for what I said next.
“Maybe you should worry about your own stamina.” I grinned at him wickedly.
Much to my delight, his eyes widened and he momentarily faltered, giving me an even better opening than before. I didn’t waste any time before taking advantage of that and landing three solid blows.
He recovered quickly, though, and in the end, he was infuriatingly right.
My stamina was waning, my movements slowing, while he wasn’t so much as breathing hard. A fact which he didn’t hesitate to rub in my face.
“Well, Lemmikki, it would appear that my stamina is perfectly intact.” His features didn’t so much as twitch to betray his emotion.
I opened my mouth to respond, but he surprised me by picking up his speed just enough to knock my sword out of my hand with embarrassingly little effort.
“Stars-damned son of a mother-loving whore!” I spat out, my chest still heaving from exertion.
Evander raised both of his eyebrows for a change, choking on something that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “Indeed. Let me know once you’ve recovered yourself and I’ll ask that question.”
I glared at him, shaking my head bitterly. It wasn’t that I had genuinely expected to win, but he didn’t have to be such a smug arseling about me losing my only chance to feel protected when the Unclanned were roaming the countryside.
“By all means,” I gritted out, gesturing for him to go on.
“What were you really doing in the tunnels that day?”