Fallen Kingdom

Chapter III - pt.2

And with that, they hugged one last time before saying their goodbyes, and the two of them continued on through the village. Just as they'd hoped, the cloak worked, hiding Roaan's face so they blended in as they headed down the long, winding street and finally stopped in front of the blacksmith where Percy was waiting outside. When he saw them, he gestured for them to come in and closed the door behind them, locking it.

It's strange seeing everyone again after forgetting, Roaan thought to herself. As Percy stood in front of her, shaggy hair and all, it felt like meeting him for the first time. He looked at Roaan with surprise. "Sam didn't mention you were back," he smiled, revealing his quirky gapped teeth. "Glad to see you're joining the rebellion."

"Hey, this is my fight, not yours. I'm still not thrilled with this whole plan..." she crossed her arms.

"Don't worry, your highness," he grinned, "Sammy boy's got it all figured out."

She glanced at Sam and laughed. "Sammy boy, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah," he rolled his eyes, embarrassed. "Where's Miles?"

Percy gestured for them to follow and brought them to the larger room where his father was hard at work. The room was warm from the furnace in the corner, and along the wall sat a rack of intricately crafted swords and armor. His father was standing by the furnace, holding a glowing rod of iron over the coals, but he soon moved to the anvil in the center of the room and began shaping it into a blade. Meanwhile, Miles was practicing in the corner, skillfully swinging his blade at a wooden dummy. Roaan frowned as she watched, afraid of things getting bloodier than they already were.

"So that's your plan...? You're going to kill my sister?" she asked, unsure whether she was upset or relieved at the thought. She had never been the violent type.

"Only if we have to," Miles said between pants, striking the dummy's side and knocking it to the ground. He swung his sword back into the sheath attached to his belt and walked over to them, smirking at the princess. She thought about the kingdom from the legend as she noticed the scar running across his cheek, just under his blue eyes. "Hello, beautiful," he said slowly, admiring her beauty.

Sam rolled his eyes- it was never a dull moment with Miles who was rather arrogant and cocky, unlike Percy who was generally quiet and sweet, but even so, the three of them were like brothers. Opposites attract, right?

Miles reached for her hand and kissed it. "To what do I owe the pleasure, princess?"

"I'm here to help," she responded, unimpressed.

"You- a girl- fight? Yeah right."

She crossed her arms, staring at him.

He looked at the other boys and laughed. "That's hilarious... You are joking?" When nobody responded, he stepped back and looked at Sam. "You know the guards are looking all over for her, right? If we bring her to the castle that psycho is going to kill her."

"My girlfriend's sister is holding her parents captive, so yes, I would say it crossed my mind," Sam said sarcastically. "But if we're going to have any chance of stopping Cersei, we need Roaan. She's the only one who knows how to get us in."

"Roaan knows the castle better than any of us combined," Percy added. "We may need an alternative route in the tunnels if we fail."

"Which we won't," Miles said bitterly, turning to her. "Alright, fine. If you really want to fight, be my guest. But you'll need some training first."

She lifted a brow. "Excuse me?"

He reached down and lifted his sword, handing it to Roaan. She took it from his hands and stood there, watching as he walked over to the training dummy and set it back up. "Go on," he said with his cocky smile, "show us what you can do."

"Dude," Sam said unhappily, "She's not going to physically fight. We just need her to distract Cersei so we can attack."

"Using your girlfriend as bait," Miles shook his head disapprovingly.

Finally, Roaan spoke up, tired of them trying to make decisions for her. "You know what, Miles? You're exactly right. I should be able to protect myself," she said, stepping close to tease him. She looked into his eyes and smirked, seeing the sweat drip down his face. "Grab a sword."

He blinked, taking a moment to respond. "What?"

"You heard me. If you think I'm so weak, put your big girl panties on and fight me," she held the sword up and changed her stance, handing her cloak to Sam.

"Are you sure about this?" Sam whispered, but she ignored him.

Miles scoffed and did as she said, taking another sword from the rack and stepping up, swinging it around like it was nothing. After all, he had a lifetime of experience doing this kind of thing- but no one was prepared when he took his first swing and Roaan ducked, turning behind him and sending her blade down so it collided with his, catching him off guard. He swung backward in response, causing her to lean away and swing from below, and they dueled for a solid minute before Miles made a fatal mistake cornering her, and, without hesitation, she kneed his crotch and he keeled over, groaning in pain. She stepped over him with a proud smirk and handed the sword to Percy, who was staring with his jaw dropped, and Sam laughed. Even Percy's father applauded.

"That's my girl," he kissed her cheek. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"I guess we can skip the training," Percy said, impressed.

She shrugged, laughing with the boys as Miles stood back up, completely in awe. He nodded, accepting defeat. "Damn... that was hot."

"I'm capable of more than you think," she replied happily. "Never underestimate a girl."