Page 15 of Fit for a Prince (Fit For A Crown #1)
Chapter fifteen
“ T he lady surrenders.” The attendant’s voice rang through the air without ever reaching anyone’s ears. Lochlan curled his fists, his arms tensing until he was far more terrifying than any simple sword. “The match is over.”
Was it?
I stepped back from the fallen weapons, emphasizing my surrender with a simple lift of my arms. The handkerchief meant nothing to Lochlan; every piece of him was still locked in battle, itching to tear my throat out with his bare hands if he had to.
Steam rolled off of his sweat-slickened forearms and face, melting snow flurries before they could even touch his fevered skin.
He leaned back on his heel, just as he’d done before the start of our fight.
“Do you think you’re clever?” His gravelly voice reminded me of glass scraping on stone, shattering more with each syllable .
“I think our match has ended.” I forced my voice to remain level, but every nerve was firing in my body, warning me of the danger in front of me and reminding me that the weapons were out of my reach. “You won, Your Highness.”
He lifted his chin, raising his fists to his gritted jaw with a piercing glare that could penetrate stone.
“Not yet.”
He ran forward with the speed of a thunderbolt, but it felt like it was in slow motion. I could have darted for the broadsword, but picking up the weapon outside of the protection of a proper match would be just as lethal. That, and I was still weak.
They’ll stop him, won’t they? They saw me surrender.
My body didn’t respond to my commands. My broken rib was screaming in pain, and the last of my reserved strength had been burnt out dodging Lochlan’s attacks. I braced myself, preparing for the blow to face or the crushing grip on my throat that he seemed to be aiming for.
I didn’t move, and time moved more slowly than I thought possible. Or maybe it hadn’t been moving all along, because when I opened my eyes, Lochlan was still out of reach. His brothers had stopped him.
Perfect .
“Get off of me!” Lochlan fought against Atlas’s hold, struggling to break free while Cedric twisted his arm. “I’m not done here!”
“Yes, you are,” Atlas growled in his brother’s ear, the sound more animal than human as he pinched a pressure point in his brother’s neck to subdue him more quickly. I could already understand why he was ranked higher than Lochlan. I’d need to study that move.
“She surrendered.” Cedric released his grip, letting Atlas wrestle Lochlan back enough to get in between him and me.
Cedric rushed to my side, his breath catching as he saw my bloodied cheek.
He didn’t look for long, instead taking the opportunity to scoop up the abandoned weapons and remove them from Lochlan’s view.
“That doesn’t matter.” Lochlan ripped himself away from Atlas, rubbing the spot on his neck Atlas had pinched.
Atlas stayed in front of me, shielding me from his brother as if he’d decided to play the role of knight in shining armor.
“She’s Ivalonian, so our customs don’t apply to her.
I can rip her apart as much as I please. ”
“ Lady Diaspro is a guest of the king.” Atlas using the title the king had given me sent a ripple through my broken core.
I took in an icy breath, the cold soothing the torment within me.
Every piercing pain was worth it, though, for that title alone.
“If she’s a lady in our kingdom, then our customs apply. You cannot lay another finger on her.”
Lochlan looked like he was ready to combust. Veins bulged in his forehead, and his dark eyes gripped me like a black sun doing everything in its power to make me go blind. His hands were tied, but he’d still fight with his teeth.
“This isn’t over, princess ,” Lochlan said with an icy huff. “Cheap tricks won’t beat me again.”
“I didn’t beat you, Your Highness,” I said calmly, matching his anger with a balanced level of elegance even as blood trickled down my chin. “I surrendered. You have won this battle and should be honored.”
We both knew that was a lie, but I couldn’t resist rubbing his handsome face in it.
He stormed toward me, pushing past Atlas while still casting him a nasty glare as he stopped a few inches in front of me. Atlas and Cedric both watched intently, preparing to step in again if needed.
Lochlan looked me up and down, his gaze lingering longer on my slashed cheek as suspicion floated through those dark eyes. He couldn’t possibly have realized that I’d let him get a lick in on purpose, but the longer he looked at me, the more his body shook with rage .
“Listen closely, because I’ll only say this once.
” He leaned toward my ear, his heat radiating off on me as his coarse voice rattled my bones.
“You’re not special. I don’t care what Damon or Leopold told you, but you’re nothing more than a lucky Ivalonian who is too foolish to stop pretending to be clever. ”
“I never said I was special,” I said stiffly, my voice low enough that only Lochlan could hear it.
“You never said you could fight, either,” Lochlan growled. “But that just proves to me how dense you really are. If you were truly worthy of being an Aemastian, you would have aimed that slingshot between my eyes and married one of my brothers.”
“How do you know that wasn’t where I was aiming?” I asked as he pulled away, his breath tickling my ear like a hot gust of wind. “I’m just a woman, after all.”
“Because you don’t seem like the type to miss.
” He narrowed his eyes, flaring my heart with a feeling I couldn’t pinpoint as the air seemed to drop in temperature.
“If you were just a woman , this arena would be so much redder. You’re not fooling me with that damsel act. I see now how sly you can be.”
“Yet you still don’t want to be on my side.” I shifted forward, lifting my chin to feel closer to his level, challenging the ego that was twice my size. “You seem like the type to be just as sly.”
We locked eyes for a long moment, the snow flurries clinging to my lashes and stinging my cheek until Atlas finally intervened.
“Go take a walk, Lochlan.” Atlas pulled him away from me, earning another growl from his brother. “Before you embarrass yourself further.”
“You’re the ones embarrassing yourselves.” Lochlan glowered at him and Cedric. “Protecting a filthy Ivalonian...” Lochlan left the arena, still muttering curses under his breath until he was all the way back inside.
Cedric gathered up the rest of the weapons and started handing them off to the attendants, leaving just me, Atlas, and the disapproving scowl that suited his sharp features.
“He’s right to think you a fool,” Atlas clipped.
“Are you claiming you’re wrong, then?” I asked, tilting my head curiously. “Or do you agree that I’m a fool?”
“You can be cunning and a fool at the same time,” he said with that signature fold of his arms. “Antagonizing Lochlan won’t help you win his heart.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged, stepping closer to him with a soft crunch in the snow. “But is it the way to win yours?”
I stopped in front of him, my lungs burning from the frozen air.
He was as unreadable as a book in a lost language.
Those thoughtful grey eyes ate at me, making me itch to know what he was thinking behind them.
I may not have had his heart yet, but surely, I had his interest. He had come to my rescue twice now.
“Like I said...you’re cunning,” he said softly, his breath dissipating in the air with his meaningless words. “But it will take a lot more than humiliating Lochlan to convince me to marry you.”
“Then give me more opportunities to convince you.” I straightened, ignoring the shooting pains in my ribs.
“Allow me time outside of my room to prove my worth to you or your brothers. Give me that chance, Your Highness. Let me prove that I can be so much more than cunning. I can be worthy of a prince.”
Atlas unfolded his arms, his posture both open and intimidating.
“I don’t doubt that you’re worthy of a prince.
” His words stunned me, stifling my pain and luring me into his warm tone in the cold snow.
“You already proved that with Damon. My family will say what they will about him, but I’m well aware of the beast that he was rumored to be.
Earning the trust of a man that powerful must have been no small feat, but here, it means nothing.
You’ve proven to be worthy of an Ivalonian, but can you handle an Aemastian? ”
I wasn’t sure. I had already failed when I let Damon slip away, but that was also the assurance that I never would again.
“Those are some fairly low standards,” I said with an amorous smile as I wiped a drop of blood from my cheek with my thumb. Atlas watched the motion closely, his chest rising a little faster as he studied my injuries. “Sounds like fun.”
He bent down into the snow, picking up the white handkerchief I’d dropped on the ground. He raised the linen to my cheek, dabbing it gently on the scratch with a stone-cold look in his eyes and a blazing-hot touch.
“Nothing about Aemastia is fun ,” he said in a hollow tone, his thumb grazing my face with a calloused touch that made me shiver. “But if you truly like to bleed, then I’ll grant you more freedom. Just know, the longer you’re outside your chamber doors, the more the king will be watching you.”
I lifted my hand, placing it lightly over his to take the handkerchief from him. Our hands lingered for a moment before he finally pulled away from the crimson-stained linen.
“I’ll take my chances.”