Page 7 of The Princess’s Pet (Soul Match #1)

“My next class is physical and requires a change of clothes,” the Princess said as we walked through a busy gym.

“I thought your next class was Warfare Tactics?” I asked, confused, pulling the class schedule from my pocket and double-checking as we walked.

“It is,” she answered as she held open a door and I walked under her outstretched arm.

I stopped in my tracks when I looked around the room. The walls were lined with varying types and designs of armour?

“What in the... is this, are these costumes?” I asked, even more confused.

There was a delicate laugh from the Princess as she walked past me, and began selecting pieces with an ease that suggested she had done this many times.

“For some, this is nothing but dress up,” she said amused.

I watched her as she selected a pair of leather gloves and some sort of body armour that offered cover only to her chest and back. She also selected a tactical-looking arm-and-elbow guard combination.

She turned to me holding out her chosen items.

“Carry this for me,” she commanded, and I put my arms out for her to transfer the items.

I then followed her through another door to a changing room area with lockers and stalls. She walked over to a locker with a combination lock and opened it, pulled out a sports bag, closed it behind her, and walked over to a stall.

She turned to look at me where I stood, and impatiently said, “Are you going to stand there or bring the armour and help me?”

“You mean to go into the stall with you?” I asked stepping forward cautiously.

“Yes,” she answered simply.

“O-okay.” I followed her into the stall, and the Princess locked the stall door behind me.

She set the sports bag on a bench and shrugged out of her red blazer before her fingers began to unbutton her shirt. I turned my head away, looking at the floor, my face flushed.

“You’re not even tempted to look?” she asked, and I glanced to see her in only a tight-fitting workout top and her panties. I looked away again quickly.

“You don’t mind, Ma’am?” I asked, my mouth very dry and heat rising up my neck.

“Your concern for my modesty is endearing,” she replied without answering me. “Pass me the chest guard,” she said, and I looked up. The Princess wore all black from her sports tank top to her leggings, even her designer gyms shoes were black .

I stepped forward and set the armour I held on the bench carefully and held up the chest armour. It wasn’t light, and my arms burned from the few minutes I held it while she changed. But the Princess took it from me and placed it over her head strapping the sides in place with ease.

“The arm-and-elbow guards now,” she instructed, and I handed them over one at a time and watched her strap them securely onto her forearms.

“Gloves,” I handed her the supple leather gloves and watched as she pulled them on her strong hands.

She was striking standing in her skin-tight black clothing and silver-grey armour, which paled in comparison to her eyes. She was a strong figure. My eyes were pulled to her shoulders, softly defined biceps, and her thighs, my mind wandering to how it might feel to have those thighs wrapped around me.

I looked up, meeting the Princess’s glowing eyes when she cleared her throat.

“Having dirty thoughts, pet?” she whispered, stepping closer to me. I tried to speak, but made no sound.

Her gloved hand lifted my jaw, angling my face upwards. She bent down, glowing molten silver never leaving my eyes, and pressed her lips against mine gently. It was a simple peck before she pulled away, her hand still at my jaw. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the time or privacy to investigate what’s got you so hot, my pet,” she spoke softly, dropping her hand. My face was flushed, and my lips tingled where hers had touched mine.

“That was nice,” I murmured to myself, feeling dazed.

The Princess only hummed, amused, in response before unlocking the stall.

She led me into a large hall that was painfully loud with shouting and the clashing of metal. All around the room purebloods in more armour than the Princess wore swung weapons at each other.

“My Royal Highness, Princess Selene Borealis, thank you for joining us,” a man in no armour walked over to us, greeting the Princess. “Flynn is fetching your preferred sparring sword.” And as if on cue, a door across the room flung open and a young man rushed out carrying a large sword.

He bowed his head, holding the sword out towards the Princess.

She took the weapon, which was far too large and sharp for my liking, smoothly.

“Pet, look at the floor, do you see how there are sparring boxes marked in red?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” I said, looking at the floor, and noticing how all the sparring couples stayed within large marked-out boxes.

“Under no circumstances are you allowed to pass over any red lines, am I clear?” she commanded.

“Very, Ma’am,” I answered.

“You are to stay in spaces blocked off in green. These are the viewing areas and are the safest zones in the room,” she explained, and I looked down to see that we were standing in a green boxed space. “I will be sparring there.” She pointed with her free hand to the nearest red box. “You will stay here and not move unless I tell you to,” she said sternly.

“Yes, Ma’am,” I answered, nodding my head, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. She grinned slightly at me. I had no intention of going anywhere near any sharp and pointy thing currently being swung or tossed within the room.

“My Royal Highness, you finally arrive,” a man I hadn’t seen approaching, said as he neared. He was tall, an inch or two taller than the Princess, and broad in his shoulders. In one hand he held a sword similar to the Princess, and he ran his free hand through his dark, well-groomed hair. He looked every bit a noble, pureblood shifter, yellow eyes passing over the Princess appreciatively. And I instantly disliked him and his handsome face.

“Lord Halvorsen,” the Princess replied curtly. “Thank you for your patience, I have been looking forward to sparring with you. I hope the rumours of your delicate ego are not true, as I intend on thrashing you mercilessly,” the Princess greeted in return.

“My Royal Highness, please call me Oskar.” He smiled widely, and I hated his perfect white smile too. “I assure you, any ego I have is well earned. I will not go lightly on you, Princess or not. Perhaps experiencing an opponent that does not hold back will show the Princess why it’s so important to have a capable king by her side.”

Did he just suggest he could be a suitable match for the Princess when she becomes Queen? Was he flirting with the Princess?

The Princess responded by laughing melodically.

“And you think yourself a capable King?” she asked, and I heard derision clearly in her voice.

“Perhaps, Princess. Would you wager a date, if I win our spar today?” he asked, confidence dripping from his every word, and the way he lifted his arm wide as he spoke.

“And if I win?” she asked, and I almost choked, I couldn’t believe she would entertain such a wager.

“Hmm.” He thought, rubbing his smooth chin. “If you win, I will allow you the pick of my prized stallions,” he suggested .

“The Halvorsen warhorses are the best in the world,” the Princess mused. “We have a deal, Lord Halvorsen,” she agreed. My stomach twisted uncomfortably.

They moved to the red sparring area that the Princess had pointed out to me. They bowed briefly before straightening, and the older man that I assumed was the tutor for this practical class yelled in a language I didn’t recognise, and the spar began.

Metal clashed against metal, over and over. It seemed to me that they were evenly matched. Even with Lord Halvorsen’s larger size, the Princess did not seem to flinch or struggle when he brought his sword down heavily towards her, and she blocked with her own. It was difficult to watch the Princess fight. I found myself looking away more than once.

It seemed that there would be no victor, but as Lord Halvorsen appeared to be tiring, the Princess did not. He stumbled backward, blocking a heavy high blow towards his shoulder, and before he could recover, the Princess dropped, her long leg swiping out, and sweeping Lord Halvorsen off his feet. She held her sword to his throat in the next moment.

The smile on the Princess’s lips and the way her breath came slightly heavier, a few strands of hair falling from her pleat, and I wouldn’t have minded the Princess’s sword at my throat, if it meant I was the one she was looking down on.

“You owe me a spectacular warhorse, Lord Halvorsen.” The Princess laughed as she let him stand, offering her hand to pull him up.

He chuckled good-naturedly as he accepted her offered hand.

“I should never have doubted your skill, my Royal Highness,” he said, smiling too happily for my liking. “Let me know when you would like to visit my family stables, and you will have your choice pick. There are foals due this summer too, from strong mares and prize stallions,” he added .

“I’ll get in touch,” the Princess replied shortly. “I had hoped for more of a challenge, Lord Halvorsen. You have not proven yourself capable of much and certainly not worthy of being my king,” she chastised, and Lord Halvorsen became crestfallen, a frown marring his handsome face.

“Perhaps not yet, my Royal Highness, I am not discouraged so easily,” he quickly recovered, but there was less confidence in his tone.

The Princess only hummed, turning her back to him dismissively, and I liked the way his face flushed in response.

Flynn came forward and the Princess handed over the sword she used.

She walked towards me, hips swaying with her steps.

“Did you enjoy the spar?” she asked when she reached me, removing her gloves and handing them to me.

“I liked the end, Ma’am,” I told her.

“Do you mean that you found the sparring so uninteresting that you were happy for it to end?” she questioned.

“I liked watching you knock that cocky Lord on his backside, Ma’am,” I clarified, and she grinned knowingly at me.

“Come, I need to get changed; we can eat at home,” she said, and I followed her closely out of the loud and dangerous room, trusting that the Princess would guide me safely past the others currently sparring.