The room Leif was taken into was not as big as the one he had been given at the castle he had been living in since his mother became queen. Before the night set he went down to the training ground and did his routine, but once it was too dark for him to be able to see, he went to the room and sat down on the bed. He didn't bother with taking a bath as he didn't think he smelled that bad. He took the medallion he was given before he left the castle and opened it.
"What is it?" asked Isolde when her face appeared in the reflective surface of the inside of the medallion. Both she and Leif preferred to use her magic, but this castle was making her magic useless thus magic relics from other people came in handy.
"There is a problem."
"A problem?" asked Isolde and raised her eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Charlene has a fiance," said Leif hesitantly.
"Auberon?!" yelled Isolde.
"How did you know?" asked Leif and leaned back onto the headboard of the bed. "Have we already spoken?"
Isolde rolled her eyes. "She is engaged twice. This means you must beat him in a duel and you will."
"I know! I remembered it!" proudly exclaimed Leif.
"Good job, sweetie. And you will beat him. He is nothing without his magic." Isolde's smile died. "Was he fine? Physically?"
Thinking, Leif frowned. "I think so. Why?"
"Because someone can switch places with him if he was hurt."
"He was perfectly fine," said Leif and grinned. "He will fight and I will get Charlene."
"Great," said Isolde with a smirk on her face before she disappeared from the medallion.
Beatrice dragged Auberon and Emmet to Charlene's room after she had calmed down enough not to be dangerous to claw someone's eyes out. Emmet had no idea what to think of the situation thus he just sat by the door on a cushioned bench. Charlene was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed under her and was hugging one of her large pillows to feel grounded. Beatrice was sitting behind her, but not touching her; giving her support and space at the same time. Auberon, the subject of everyone's anger, was sitting on the floor on a black fluffy carpet with his legs crossed under himself.
"What did you think you were doing?" asked Beatrice. "You literally pushed her to get married to that... that man!"
Auberon ignored her and continued to play with gentle lights that he was letting run over his hands.
"Who do you think you are? You literally storm into our lives and you..." continued Beatrice.
"Talk," said Charlene and nodded in Auberon's direction, interrupting her aunt's attacks, making her stop talking. "Explain what... what was that."
"He has to fight tomorrow. And if he loses, he will step away thus you will be free," said Auberon calmly. "Then you will be able to do something about Isolde without a threat of marriage."
"Ronno, I appreciate it, but..." said Charlene after taking a deep breath, "you are terrible in combat. Don't get me wrong, but... you can barely block a few hits."
"I can barely block a few hits, true." Auberon stood up and walked towards Charlene and squatted down by her. "But you can kick pretty hard."
Charlene's eyes met his and he was able to tell the exact moment she realised what he meant. He smiled and nodded.
"I... alright," she said and smiled.
Auberon took her hand, pressed a kiss to it and walked to the door. "If someone needs me, I'll be in my room." He threw a quick glance around the room and left it. He walked down the hallway, smirk vanishing off his face when he walked into the room Beatrice gave him and Emmet to share, but Emmet hadn't stepped in it since they came. Auberon took off his cloak, threw his gloves off and walked up to a body length mirror and opened his shirt to take a look at the burns there. The room was dark thus he waved his hands and made a hundred little lights appear in the air around him. He turned his head and his body a few times to get a better look at all the burns.
Once he couldn't stand to look at them, he made the lights disappear. He thought if Isolde would grant him his wish if he were to bring her her niece. But he did not know what was more important to him: her or his skin. If she freed herself from Leif, he would have the time to think.
The arena in the back of the castle had tribunes, but there were no people on them. The knighting code dictated two witnesses to the fight thus Emmet and Beatrice were both sat in a special lounge. Both of them were fiddling around nervously. They knew that their plan was almost unable to fail, but something could happen. Something could go wrong.
Leif was the first to walk into the arena. He wore full armour except from the helmet. His stance was relaxed and yet it was practically oozing arrogance. "Where's Charlene?" he asked, looking at Beatrice and deliberately ignoring Emmet. "Is she too scared to watch?"
"She is not going to watch," said Beatrice and crossed her legs. "It was her decision."
"That's too bad," said Leif and fixed his blonde hair. "She should be here to support her future husband."
"Which you are not," said Auberon from behind Leif as he entered the arena.
"Why are you not equipped?" was the first thing that came to Leif's mind.
Auberon was not dressed for the fight. He wore the same pants and shirt he always did with a difference being his shirt that was not tucked in his pants like it usually was. "According to the knighting code each of the parties is allowed to pick another person to fight in their place if the party is injured, meaning they have a physical representation of it such as open wound or huge bruise," recited Auberon.
"But you have no injury..." said Leif, who was growing confused and irritated at the same time.
Auberon lifted his shirt to show those present a dark bruise that was spreading over his ribs and stomach where Charlene kicked him the day before. "Big enough of a bruise?" he asked and tilted his head, a smirk on his lips.
"This is getting good," whispered Emmet to Beatrice, who gave him a judging glance.
Leif ran his fingers through his hair and pressed his lips together in frustration. He turned his blue eyes back to Auberon and squinted his eyes. "Who will fight in your place?"
"Charlene," said Auberon and walked to the tribunes and sat down by Emmet.
As if on cue, Charlene walked to the arena. She wore tight leather pants, a chainmail shirt that had clearly been made for her as it fit her perfectly. "Hi, Leif," she said and took the sword out of the holder, holding it up in an invitation for a duel. "Shall we?"
"I refuse to fight you, love."
"First of all, I am not your love," said Charlene and held up a gloved finger of her free hand, not breaking the pose she was in. "Second of all, the code does not forbid the subject of the duel to replace the injured party, which makes me qualified to participate."
Leif thought for a moment and took the pose himself. "Mother should be able to fix your injuries for the wedding."
"Good. You're going to need it," said Charlene and gave him a brilliant smile. She turned to look at Beatrice, her face a facade of calmness.
Beatrice stood up. "Are both opponents ready?"
Charlene nodded and looked at Leif, who nodded as well.
Beatrice nodded and took a deep breath. "Fight."
Leif attacked Charlene right away, but Charlene threw herself to the floor and made a flip over her shoulder. It threw Leif off balance and allowed her to gain some quick footing. She attacked him from a lower angle and he blocked it.
"Where did you get that bruise?" whispered Emmet to Auberon.
"You saw it happen," whispered Beatrice, annoyance and concern clear in her voice.
"Wait... how does she know?" asked Auberon, looking at Emmet with a knowing, smug expression.
"Shut up," mumbled Emmet and turned his eyes to look at the duel.
Charlene tried to kick him, but he grabbed her ankle and pulled. Charlene hit the floor and got pulled closer to Leif. She quickly swept her free leg to get him to the floor as well. Both of then quickly pulled themselves up and jumped apart to take a breather. Charlene was the first one to attack again and Leif managed to block it. He tried to tire her out with high powerful hits with the sword, but she quickly ducked and twisted under his arm and it was himself who he was tiring. This made him trip and his weight pulled him down.
Charlene quickly managed to throw him on the floor, stepped on his arm and threw his sword away. Leif tried pulling her down again, but she held her sword to his throat.
Beatrice stood up and clapped after counting down from ten. "Winner!"
Charlene moved back and held her hand up for Leif to grab. "According to knighting code, you have no claim over me now."
Leif sighed and accepted her hand, standing up. "Thank you," he said and bowed. "Congratulations. You are free of me now."
Charlene smiled and bowed elegantly, her smile even brighter.