“...Sure you don’t want to fight, Cessi?” muttered Tessandra. “You don’t have to be scared.”
“...I’m n-not scared to fight, T-Tessa,” muttered Cessi. “...I’m s-scared of what I’m c-capable of.”
“Fair enough.”
The first clash of blades came from Ashen and Rohin. In a moment she had missed, the two former siblings had jumped on each other, starting their duel and the battle in the cave. This threw everyone on the stairs into even more panic. The other families’ people began to shout and try to run to the exits, only to be blocked by the Yekara people. Swords swung, and fights began all around the cave. Those who had weapons had decided very quickly to fight their way through, and even those without were trying to force their way to the exits, or attack the Royal Guards and Yekara people somehow. However, the number was overwhelming. With so many Royal Guards switching sides, the Yekara were almost as many as everyone else.
“You damn dragon bitches,” hissed Yebekh. “I’ll get rid of you two and send your heads back to the Empire, along with that wretched dragon of yours!”
“Just you try,” retorted Tessandra.
She let him attack first, easily blocking his first attack. Yebekh was as good of a fighter as his niece was, despite his skinny appearance, but Tessandra didn’t have to be shy with her skills, either. In fact, now that she knew that man was the enemy, she was fighting unrestrained, using her full strength and moving quickly in the arena.
Meanwhile, Cessilia retreated to grab Naptunie’s hand and make sure the only non-fighter of the group was staying behind her. Sabael had also begun a fight with one of the Royal Guard traitors, fighting with two new dual swords. Cessilia’s green eyes landed on Yassim’s body, feeling a pinch in her heart. The old Counselor didn’t deserve to die like this.
Suddenly, a movement on her left made her raise her arm to protect her face. Three long and thick needles stabbed her forearm, piercing through, the ends appearing in front of her face. Cessilia grimaced in pain. She had never seen those kinds of weapons before, but just looking up, she immediately found who had sent those. Jisel.
The King’s former mistress was standing up on one of the lowest seats, more of those darts between her fingers and a smirk on her face. So she really was the one responsible for those, as Cessilia had suspected. Perhaps she had even used a smaller one to murder Ashra. She was staring at Cessilia with almost an amused expression, as if all the commotion around was none of her business.
“What are you going to do, now?” she said.
Cessilia had read her lips more than she had actually heard Jisel’s voice because of the chaos around, but that was enough. She already hated that woman, but now, it was clear Jisel wasn’t surprised by the situation at all, and perhaps she had even planned some of this.
Jisel smirked again, and sent a new wave of her darts. Cessilia raised her forearm, and felt one more pierce her arm, but the rest bounced back on the scales that had appeared from her previous injury. Cessilia took the four out and sent them toward Jisel. To her surprise, that woman didn’t try to dodge them. Instead, she raised her arm, exactly like Cessilia had, and let them pierce through. Then, she lowered her arm, revealing her smirk behind it, and took those darts out.
“N-no...”
Red scales appeared on Jisel’s arm. A shiver went down Cessilia’s spine. She had always had a gut feeling about this. That Jisel was something else, someone more dangerous than she appeared to be. There really was no mistake. This was the very same phenomenon that had scales appear on Tessa as Lord Yebekh managed to inflict some minor injuries on her. Jisel had dragon blood too. But how?
However, her enemy wasn’t ready to let Cessilia ponder much longer. She prepared a new wave of darts and threw them. Cessilia protected herself immediately with her arms again, but this time, no pain came. She realized her mistake one second too late. She wasn’t the target. Ashen was.
The darts had stabbed the King’s exposed arm and nape, making him lose his focus and grunt in pain. This was the opportunity his enemy had been looking for.
In front of Cessilia’s eyes, Rohin’s sword violently impaled Ashen.
Chapter 20
Everything else suddenly disappeared around them. Her horrified eyes could only see the blood streaming out of the injury, and the two men who had stopped moving, one’s sword plunged deep into the other. A vicious smile appeared in Rohin’s eyes as he thrust his sword a bit deeper, making Ashen grunt in pain. The King was trying to hold on, still glaring at his rival, but the pain had to be unbearable. The blood was already dripping at their feet, soaking the soil like Ashra’s had before.
“Your Majesty!”
People screamed in horror as they discovered the scene one by one.
Cessilia was the first to react. This time, her vision was blurred except for one thing: Ashen. She had to save Ashen. Ignoring Jisel, all her questions, and her pain, she ran like hell toward Ashen and his brother. Sabael appeared right at the same time as her, on the other side. He swung his sword at Rohin, forcing him to back off, while Cessilia grabbed her lover to pull him away. Despite Rohin releasing the sword’s handle, the weapon remained lodged in Ashen’s abdomen as he fell back into her arms.
He was still conscious, which was a miracle given the large injury he had just sustained. Most people would have passed out already, either from the shock or blood loss. It only took one look for Cessilia to know he was in critical condition, though. He was pale, and the injury was as bad as she had thought. It was obvious he wasn’t able to continue fighting; he’d be lucky to survive this. She glared at Rohin, who, amused by his win, was now fighting Sabael and trying to get past the Royal Guard to finish the King.
“Save the King!” someone shouted.
The news resonated inside the cave. Those who weren’t too absorbed by their duels couldn’t help but glance over, and a lot of the fighters became dispirited by the view of their injured monarch. Their will to fight got drowned by the King’s defeat, and in just a few seconds, the Yekara people were able to secure their win. Only a few of the very best fighters, including Tessandra and Sabael, were able to continue fighting, keeping their opponents back, but everyone else was losing. Cessilia glared back at Jisel, but that woman was still standing there, a smirk on her face as if the chaos around had nothing to do with her.
“You can’t win against me, Princess,” she chuckled.
“No,” retorted Cessilia, her voice filled with anger, “th-this is the last t-time I’m letting you get away with this. Th-the next time we cross p-paths, I’ll kill you.”
Her furious green eyes put an end to her rival’s smirk. Cessilia could be really scary, and right now, she was as frightening as a dragon. She was down on her knees, her injured lover on her lap, but it was as if she was dominating the whole room. No one dared to approach her, either. She was like a dragon protecting its offspring. Jisel stepped back, sensing something was wrong. They should have been enduring a complete defeat, but neither the Princess nor her allies were acting like they were in trouble.
Cessilia quickly tore a piece of fabric from her dress to bandage the wound, applying pressure to prevent more blood from flowing out.
“...Nana, look after him, p-please,” muttered Cessilia, slowly standing up.
“I-I will!” Naptunie nervously stuttered, rushing to the King’s side.
Very focused, she took over putting pressure on the wound, trying to ignore the fights going on very close. In fact, a lot of people had given up on getting out of there and gathered around the King instead to protect him. As Cessilia stood back up and looked around, she spotted Bastat’s father, lying on the ground with his throat sliced wide open. Her heart sank. Not only that but everyone on their side was heavily injured, dead, or fighting to survive. The Pangoja were powerful because of their money, but in this situation, they were also helpless against the skilled Yekara. With the uneven numbers and the Yekara’s skilled fighters, those who supported Ashen were bound to lose. Still, Cessilia was impressed. Instead of trying to run away again, or trying to change sides, all the people from the other families were slowly gathering around them. They were protecting the King like a defensive wall, even if it wouldn’t last long. Opposing them, the Yekara people had received orders to not let anyone escape, thus they were gathering in a semicircle, their backs turned toward the cave’s exits. A few steps behind their ranks, the Yekara Leader was boasting.
“The King is dead!” he shouted. “Prince Rohin is the new King!”
“Not yet,” grunted Sabael.
Given the difference in strength, Naptunie’s older brother was doing amazing against the Prince. He didn’t have as much strength and was losing when they had to challenge one another’s arms, but Sabael was compensating with his speed and impressive movements. He had begun to use Tessa’s signature twin swords style, which was a lot of help against Rohin’s massive sword.
However, he wasn’t meant to win this fight. The Prince was merely toying with him, and although Sabael managed to hold his own for a while, it was clear this wouldn’t last. Rohin was progressively winning ground, and pushing the Royal Guard back, getting closer to his goal: Ashen. However, Cessilia was still standing between him and her lover. While Tessa was doing the work of three men in keeping enemies at bay, the Princess was standing very still, her eyes fixated on Rohin, not even watching the fight but just him.
When Sabael was forced to step back once more, losing his balance, she suddenly grabbed his shoulder, and with a swift movement, pushed him further back. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Sabael himself barely understood. One second, he was about to lose and get sliced in two, and the next, he was falling back, a woman’s hands on his and taking his swords from him. He didn’t even comprehend what had happened until he fell on his ass, and looked up at Cessilia’s back. The Princess now stood in front of him, wielding his weapons. In other circumstances, his ego might have been severely wounded, but right now, he was in complete awe. Even the bystanders like Naptunie who had been able to watch the scene from a different point of view were amazed, and trying to grasp what had happened.
Cessilia had taken Sabael’s spot and weapons, and was now fighting Rohin as if she’d been the one fighting him all along. To her opponent, though, the change was a major blow. Cessilia was stronger, faster, and much more skilled. Rohin, who had been winning one second before, was now frowning and struggling to keep up, slowly stepping back. Cessilia’s hands were animated by fury. She was glaring at him, and forcing him to back off like a goddess of wrath. The Prince’s mighty stance from earlier had vanished, and he was now fully focused on the fight, realizing he had underestimated this woman greatly. Whilst he had been toying with Sabael earlier, he was now unable to hold anything back, lest he fall beneath Cessilia’s attack. The fight was impressive, and the strength used sent chills down everyone’s spines. Those two were beyond the realm of normal humans. The Princess was moving and using her swords at incredible speed, yet not losing in strength, each of her attacks more violent and fascinating than the one before. Rohin was a good fighter, but one could see from his dark expression that he was struggling. Cessilia was rivaling his strength, and bent on not letting him catch a break. Bit by bit, he was forced to back away, and his pride was taking several blows at each step conceded.
