"What are you doing here?" Hal stared at Orla in disbelief.
"The same thing as you, I imagine. I'm here to fight."
It could only be a terrible dream. The duellist closed her eyes, willing herself to awake, but when she opened them nothing had changed. A soft rain began to fall, and she shivered.
"I'll not fight you," she said at last.
Orla snorted indignantly. "That's not a choice for you to make. You see, my friend, if you don't fight me, these men are going to hack you down just the same."
"Besides," Léac cut in, "if you won't fight the soldier, my men will dispense with your friends too. So if you want to save them, I suggest you start now. I've not the patience to stand here in the rain and watch a lovers' spat."
"Girls, get out of here now." Hal turned anxiously to the thieves, but Jools shook her head. "We'll not leave without you. We've already told you that. Orla what are you doing? Come back with us, you can't fight Hal."
"I'll fight whoever I want. And as for you two..." Orla addressed them jeeringly. "Look at you. Just following her blindly, doing whatever she says. Have you not got minds of your own? Can you not see she's just one of them?" She gestured broadly in the direction of Cara and Léac. "She's simply another aristocrat. She'll trick you and deceive you like the rest of them, and then leave you with nothing. She's using you, and the pair of you are too blind to see it."
"Orla don't be stupid!" Jools grabbed the soldier's sleeve in desperation, but Orla pushed her backwards and she fell on the grass. Kris helped her up.
"You're mad! Hal in heaven's name get out of here now."
"Just tell me why, Orla." It was raining harder now. Hal wiped the water from her face and hair, turning wildly. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I hate you; don't you understand? Must I tell you such an obvious truth?"
"But we agreed to part: it was your wish as much as mine. You said yourself, it would not work."
"It never worked because you were too selfish to ever notice me. And then, after all that, you had the audacity to bring that bitch with you to The Emperor, as if I wouldn't care. But I did. I do. You can charm these idiots, but it doesn't work with me, Hal. Not anymore. The thought of you kept me going through those awful days in that stinking southern territory. So how should I feel when I come back here and see you with her? It's time you learned what life is about Hal, and I'm about to teach you. It's not about impressing a few punters for the sake of a pretty duel. It's about survival, and the survival of one means the death of another. That's how this world works. But you've never had the chance to see it."
"Even if I had, I would never reach such a conclusion."
"Oh you would, if you'd been to the places I'd been, instead of spending your time up here, drinking and whoring. You could have come with me – I asked you to. You refused, do you remember? If you'd come, my life might have been more bearable. But you were too content with your comforts up here, in Colvé to choose the life of a soldier."
"I came to see a fight!" Léac yelled suddenly. "If there's no duel, there'll be a massacre."
"Alright, Orla" Hal murmured, strangely calm as if her former lover's words had frozen her blood. "If it's to save the thieves, I'll fight you. But just remember this..." she brought her face very close to Orla's, almost whispering. "I loved you once – you're mistaken if you think otherwise. But now I love Meracad. More than I ever loved you. And nothing you do will change that."
Furious, Orla shoved her away and drew her sword. "I'll send you to hell," she snarled, slashing at the rain with her blade. The two women faced each other, and for a few, tremulous seconds the air was silent and hung like a barrier between them. And then Orla leapt and sprang at Hal, who deftly jumped to the side.
"Have to be quicker than that, Orla," she mocked, catching her opponent a blow on the leg. Orla winced and retreated.
"Don't worry, Hal. I've been in training, unlike you. I'll match you blow for blow, my friend."
The two circled each other warily. Then their blades crashed together in a lightning quick volley which ended with locked swords. Hal attempted to force Orla away, but she had forgotten how strong the soldier was. Their fight at The Emperor following their break up flashed across her memory. She gritted her teeth, and they pushed against each other for what seemed like an age, until Hal risked sliding her sword across Orla's to its very tip, and then jumped backwards before the other girl could make a move.
"Retreating already, Hal?" she sneered. "That was a coward's move, if ever I saw one."
Infuriated by the taunts, Hal moved forwards once again, and the next volley of blows ended with Orla scratching a wound across her unguarded left arm. "I've caught you now, girl," she jeered, stepping back to recover. Hal span round in surprise, looking down at the blood which had begun to leak through the torn material of her shirt.
"Run, girl!" Jools screamed, her voice high-pitched and hysterical. "You can't kill each other. Think of the past!" Orla ran after Hal, seizing the opportunity to attack her from behind, but Kris jumped on her back. The soldier twisted and turned in anger, eventually throwing the thief upon the ground, kicking her in the stomach as she lay groaning. Hal tried to help Kris up, but Orla pulled her over, aiming to level her sword at her neck. She struggled free and sprang to her feet.
What Orla lacked in duelling expertise, she made up for in strength. The two women fought on, both tiring, both gashing wounds, their technique becoming more dogged for all that their determination never wavered. When Orla eventually sank to her knees in apparent exhaustion, Hal dived in to take advantage, but was knocked to the ground by a blow which cut painfully across her thighs. Then Orla was upon her, and she was forced to kick her away.
The rain now poured down relentlessly. Cara, Léac and their men had retired beneath the relative shelter of the trees. Exhausted, the two women staggered towards each other, falling together as if in a lover's embrace.
"Don't do this, Orla," Hal found herself whispering breathlessly in the soldier's ear. "Please, just stop."
For a moment they stood there, foreheads pressed together as if about to kiss. Then, Orla kicked out at Hal, winding her. The duellist dropped to the ground once again, rolled over and sprang to her feet before her opponent could take any advantage.
They circled each other warily, their breaths ragged and frayed. Hal's vision blurred, and she was forced to wipe the rain from her eyes with her free hand. As she did so, Orla leapt towards her, and caught the tip of her sword's handle, sending it flying through the air.
Now unarmed, Hal weighed up her options. She glanced to her left to observe the weapon lying in the grass. With a terrible smile, Orla drew back her arm to wield the final death-blow. As she did, the duellist threw herself down, sliding on her stomach across the wet ground, grabbed hold of the sword and twisted around onto her back, raising it in a defensive position.
She felt weight on the blade which Orla, unprepared, had run onto. She experienced the terrible moment when it pierced tissue and muscle. Groaning, her opponent fell on top of her. Hal screamed in horror, and pushed her away. Orla lay on the ground, half of the sword buried in her chest just below her rib cage.
"Pull it out," she growled.
"I can't"
"You've killed me anyway. Congratulations. Your first death. After this it'll all be much easier."
Tears pricked at the edge of Hal's eyes. "It's not a fatal wound," she whispered.
"Don't be stupid." Orla was rasping now. "It's over. You could at least have the decency to pull it out and finish me quickly."
Hal pulled herself onto her knees. "I'm sorry," she whispered and slid the blade from her former lover's body. Orla shrieked in agony, her breathing forced and erratic.
"I hate you!" She screamed. Her head slumped to one side, and she was gone.
A terrible stillness fell upon The Grove. The only noise was of the rain as it pelted the ground. Jools cried out, distraught, and Hal sank down, burying her face in Orla's chest. Tears of fury and sorrow fell from her eyes, mingling with the rainwater. She raised her head, and howled to the air.
***
She opened her eyes to find four blades levelled at her neck. Hal made no attempt to repel them. She no longer cared. Her death would be justice. She was a criminal after all. Closing her eyes once again, she lifted her face up to the rain, and waited for the end.
"We suggest you lower those weapons." A familiar voice cut through the silence. She did not turn round, but remained kneeling on the saturated ground beside Orla's body. Gradually, one after another, the blades were taken from her neck.
A group of men had arrived on horseback. They were dismounting. Hal observed everything with a strange disinterest, her mind numbed by emotion, shock, physical pain and exhaustion. Yet somehow she realised that she knew these people.
Still kneeling as if rooted to the ground, she laid down the sword, blood mingling with rain, tiny rivulets of red burrowing away into the grass.
"Take your men and leave now." A different man's voice, but also one she recognised.
"The woman has been duelling illegally. We witnessed it. She has killed. She's a murderer." Cara, incandescent with rage.
"And what would you be here for, with these men, if you hadn't arranged the whole thing yourself?"
That was Marc's voice. Her friend, once. But she had caused him offence. Why was he here?
"We were apprised of the situation and came to put a stop to it." Léac was speaking now: stern, business-like. "The woman has already caused us much inconvenience. She was caught harassing my daughter. Now, it seems she is set upon disturbing the general peace as well."
"And you decided to take the law into your own hands? How public spirited of you." That sounded like Beric. She stared at him through the driving rain. How could he have known she was here?
"If the law, Sirs, will take no notice of such behaviour, we must take up the impetus ourselves. That is, after all, what our Emperor means when he speaks of civic responsibility, is it not?"
"Well, Sir, it would appear to be, were it not for the fact that you yourselves are responsible for the disturbance."
"Us, Senator? I would take such an accusation to be slander were it to come from another's lips. Upon what evidence do you base such a claim?"
"Upon the challenge which you sent Hal at my own house. You do not believe such material could pass beneath my very nose without my notice?"
Silence. The two groups now appeared to have reached an impasse. She tried to stand but her legs gave way beneath her, and she sank once more to her knees, hoping her weakness had gone unnoticed.
"It seems that you are in fact the inciters of this public duel, not the girl. And you now have blood upon your hands too."
"She killed the soldier, not us."
"At your bidding!" Kris's voice now: high-pitched and edgy. "They told her that if she wouldn't fight, they would kill us all. She didn't want to kill Orla!"
Hal opened her mouth to speak, but words would not form. Grief-bound, she remained silent.
"I see." Marc's steady tones barely masked the anger he was attempting to repress. "You would have the soldier do your dirty work for you. And if things did not go to plan, you would take even more lives."
"And you believe these street-thieving scum, Senator? You surprise me."
"Having seen what court-dwelling whores are capable of, I can believe anything, Madam."
Silence again. A man stood before her. Léac.
"I'm watching you." His eyes rounded in fury. "I will be watching you. Always. Nérac's wife is his property, as she once was mine. If you steal from him, or me, you will pay."
She stared at him, glassy-eyed, no clever response formulating in her mind, no witty riposte with which to return his threat. He turned and left, Cara following in his wake. The hired thugs disappeared back into The Grove
And still she knelt, staring after him until arms lifted her to her feet, and Beric's face loomed into focus, inches from her own. "By the Emperor himself, girl, I'll..."
She didn't find out what he would do. Everything went black.