Royals & Wretches

Mr Loverman

Any other opponent would have been decapitated. It would have been an honour really, to be beheaded by the Crown Prince. Frankly, I found it offensive how instinctively he reacted to an attempted assassination. The sound of steel striking steel rang loudly throughout the arena, he'd infuriatingly used the pommel of his blade to block my strike. Its focus was speed, not precision so it bounced off in a harmless direction over his left shoulder. He used his free hand to grasp my wrist and have it follow my sword past his shoulder. One pinch of his thumb and my fingers involuntarily dropped the sword. He'd squeezed a pressure point. I huffed as he elegantly brought my empty hand in front of him and bowed.

I finally heard the audience applauding enthusiastically. It was easily one of the more exciting duels on display today. I found myself grinding my teeth in frustration.

"You still fight well." I managed to say casually as I tried to keep my chest from heaving. Kyros stood upright once again.

"As do you, your Majesty. It's interesting to see you've learned to incorporate the Zyrin techniques, even with a longsword."

"It's clearly a useless endeavour, what's the point if I'm too slow?" I grumbled. His response to my blatant admittance to attempted murder was simply a sheepish smile. "A smaller sword and you might decapitate me yet."

We both turned to face the royal viewing box. My father stood in the centre, beaming with pride. Next to him, with an equally proud expression was Kyros' father, General Commander Nikolaos Argyros. The attendants and council members stood back to allow my father to address us.

"Mikaela! Kyros! I am sure I am not the only person in this arena with my blood set to boiling after that duel!" The audience roared in agreement. "Your swordsmanship is an example to all of dedication, loyalty and the alliance connecting the crown and the military. Kyros of house Argyros, it is an honor to host you as General of the South. Your contribution to strengthening the border defenses has been praised as tactical genius and is a testament to the hard work you have dedicated to the empire. A good King recognizes the effort of his subjects," My father paused dramatically, I saw an attendant behind him make a motion and another attendant came sprinting from the arena door. He held a black, silk cushion aloft and despite his speed as he sprinted up to us, the golden medal in the center didn't jostle in the slightest. Kyros blinked at the medal as the attendant finally reached us.

"I, Ludvig Forseberg the first, King of the Egreyan Empire, hereby bestow the title 'The Might of Egreya' upon General Kyros Argyros, for his dedicated service to the crown and empire, for his undisputed prowess in both strategy and combat. The title serves as a reminder of the overwhelming strength of Egreya." The audience lost their minds.

The attendant presented the cushion with trembling hands. Kyros looked at me with a smirk. He wanted me to pin it on him.

It was a formality. The old man had to pretend to give him something for beating me in this impromptu duel. The title was probably something he'd pulled out of his rear when I left the viewing box. As far as I could tell it was a completely superficial title, meant to placate the commoners and make it seem as if the duel had a lot more preparation than being the impromptu whims of the Prince.

I gave Kyros a halfhearted sidelong glance before turning to leave the arena without acknowledging the medal.

*

"Why do you get a mech before me? I'm the Prince!" I complained childishly as Kyros walked me through his mech.

"Cause I'll be fighting at the border." Kyros stuck his tongue out as he settled into the command seat, the metal spine immediately latched on to his back. Four electrodes extended from the headrest and Kyros stuck two onto his temples and two onto the end of the metal spine at the base of his neck. He flipped numerous switches, the door closed and the inside lit up. Multiple screens came to life in front of us, a host of gauges, numbers and graphs showed that the mech was in good condition.