Chapter 34 – Fight
EUNICE’S PERSPECTIVE
She picked a wooden staff.
Of all things, a staff.
The crowd murmured as Marcia stepped back into the arena, her blade left behind at the edge of the ring. In its place was a simple dark oak staff, worn at the ends but balanced in her grip like it weighed nothing.
I stared at her.
She didn’t even flinch.
Didn’t second–guess it. Didn’t hesitate.
I’d thought she might try to save face with a short blade or dagger, something that still said she was ready to fight.
But this?
This was mockery.
She thought she didn’t need steel to beat me.
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The laughter from the soldiers shifted. Still amused, but now there was something else beneath it. Surprise. Interest. Even curiosity.
I could feel their eyes drifting between us, measuring.
I gripped the hilt of my sword tighter.
She wanted to play noble. Hold back, make me look like the aggressor. Let me cut her and take the blame for going too far.
But there was no fairness between us. Never had been.
She had power I didn’t understand. Allies I couldn’t manipulate. She’d been granted favour by Dravic, by the King, by the entire damned court. And still, she acted like she was above it all.
No.
If I was going to win this, I had to use everything I had.
So I didn’t drop my blade or ask for a new weapon.
Let them say I had the upper hand. Let them say I fought a girl with a stick.
Because losing was not an option.
Kael stood at the edge of the ring, arms folded. His face was unreadable. Maybe that was the worst part. He used to wear
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every emotion plainly around me. Now, I couldn’t even tell if he
was hoping I’d win.
“Start!” someone shouted.
The crowd fell silent.
I stepped forward, circling slowly.
Marcia mirrored my movement, her staff held low, body relaxed. No armour. No spell. No fear.
She was trying to look harmless. Or untouchable.
I lunged first.
A diagonal slash, meant to catch her off guard and make her stumble. Not a killing blow, but close enough to send a message.
She blocked it.
Effortlessly.
Wood met steel with a sharp crack, her hands steady as the staff deflected my blade and redirected its momentum away from her body. Before I could recover, she stepped in and jabbed me in the ribs with the blunt end.
Not hard. Not painful.
Chapter 34 – Fight
But sharp enough to let me know she could’ve done worse.
Gasps echoed through the ring.
My heart raced.
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I stepped back fast, re–positioned my stance, gritting my teeth.
She didn’t follow. She just stood there.
Waiting.
“Again!” someone from the crowd called.
I slashed again. A faster, more aggressive strike.
Blocked. Again.
Then another.
She ducked and swept my legs. I jumped over it, barely keeping my footing.
Damn it.
Why wasn’t she cracking?
I had strength, speed, and a sword in my hand. She had a training weapon. Yet every movement I made, she answered with calm, with control.
Chapter 34 – Fight
Like she was toying with me.
I could hear it now—whispers rippling through the crowd. Shifting again. Sliding away from me.
“She’s holding back.”
“Eunice is on the defensive.”
“No way she’s going to win this…”
No.
I wouldn’t let that happen.
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I tightened my grip and charged again, this time putting all my weight into the strike.
Marcia met it mid–swing. Her staff turned vertical, catching my blade between both ends, and she used the momentum to twist and force my arm sideways.
Pain shot through my shoulder.
I yelped and yanked my arm back, retreating several steps, chest heaving.
She didn’t even look tired.
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I had fought with that sword for years. I’d killed with it. Carved paths through enemy flanks with it. And now, a witch with a stick was driving me backward.
I glanced at Kael again.
He wasn’t smiling.
He wasn’t cheering.
He was just watching her.
Not me.
Her.
My blood boiled.
“Fight me seriously!” I snapped.
Marcia’s eyes narrowed.
“I am,” she said.
And she meant it.
She wasn’t toying with me. She was simply better.
The realisation hit me like a punch to the gut.
Chapter 34 – Fight
My heart pounded. Beads of sweat slid down my neck. My stance wavered.
I could still hear Dravic’s words from before.
“If you lose, there will be consequences.”
And Kael’s voice too, softer.
“You don’t have to prove anything.”
But I did.
I had to win. I had to.
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Because if I didn’t—if I lost here, in front of all these soldiers, in front of Kael—I wouldn’t just lose a duel.
I’d lose everything.
And somehow, in that moment, I realised—I might already be losing.
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