Back inside the manor, they gathered around the dining table.
Evelyn spread the parchnt out flat so everyone could see it, though Aegis noticed that Scarlett was squinting at the text like it had personally offended her.
"I’ll summarize," Evelyn said, apparently noticing the sa thing. "First condition: no personal weapons. Both combatants will be provided identical swords by an unbiased third party selected by the Noble Consortium."
Aegis nodded slowly.
[Called it.]
"Second condition: no potions may be consud within twenty-four hours of the duel."
"Wait, how would they even verify that?" Aegis asked. "It’s not like they can check my stomach contents."
Rosalie, who had been hovering near the back of the room, raised her hand slightly.
"Actually, there are ways. Certain diagnostic spells can detect active potion effects in the bloodstream. It’s similar to how healers check for poison, just, you know, in reverse."
[Kinda like drug testing back on Earth, I guess.]
"Annoying, but I guess they’ve heard of my cute alchemist. What can I do?" Aegis shrugged and sighed.
"Third condition," Evelyn continued, "no outside interference. Any attempt by either party’s allies to intervene during the duel will result in imdiate disqualification and forfeiture."
That one made sense. Couldn’t have Scarlett jumping in to help if things went sideways. Not that Aegis would want her to, but still.
"Fourth condition: the duel will take place in an enclosed arena with anti-teleportation wards active. Neither combatant may leave the designated area until a victor is determined."
So no running away, then.
"And finally," Evelyn said, "the first combatant to yield, or be rendered unable to continue fighting, loses. There is no ti limit."
Aegis leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling for a mont.
So that was Darius’s ga. Strip away everything that made her dangerous, the daggers, the potions, the ability to escape, and force her into a straight-up sword fight. No tricks. No gimmicks. Just skill against skill.
And honestly? In a pure contest of swordsmanship, Darius probably had the advantage. He’d been training with blades his entire life. Aegis had been at it for, what, less than a year? She was good. She was getting better every day. But she wasn’t delusional enough to think she could match soone with a decade-plus head start.
But...
The rules said nothing about magic.
[They’re letting us use magic. Which ans I can be clever. I can use Aether Step for mobility, Aether Pulse to create openings, Aether Whip if I need range...]
A thought crept into the back of her mind.
[Can’t use Shadow Magic though. Right?]
Right. Too risky. Too many witnesses. If anyone saw her casting forbidden spells, the duel would be the least of her problems.
Probably.
"Anything you’d like to contest, my lady?" Evelyn asked.
"Nope. Send them confirmation of our agreent. I’m good."
Evelyn nodded and left.
"So," Scarlett said, cracking her knuckles, "sounds like we need to get you training. Like, a lot of training. Starting now."
"Actually," Kanna’s voice cut in from the doorway, "it might be better if I handle this."
Everyone turned to look at her. Kanna stood with her arms crossed, expression as stoic as ever.
Scarlett blinked.
"Huh? Why you?"
"Because you’re too soft on her." Kanna walked into the room, stopping beside Scarlett. "You hold back when you spar. I don’t."
"I do not hold back!"
"You do. Every ti she makes a mistake, you give her ti to recover instead of punishing it. That’s not how real fights work."
Scarlett’s face was turning red.
"That’s, I an, I just don’t wanna hurt her!"
"And that’s exactly why I should be the one training her."
Scarlett opened her mouth to argue further, but Kanna leaned in and kissed her. Not a quick peck, either. A real kiss, the kind that made Scarlett’s eyes go wide and her whole body freeze up.
When Kanna pulled back, Scarlett just stood there, mouth still half-open, brain clearly struggling to reboot.
Everyone in the room stared at her.
"I..." Scarlett managed.
"Training starts in an hour," Kanna said, turning to Aegis. "Don’t be late."
She walked out of the room without another word.
Aegis looked at Scarlett, then at Rosalie. Both of them were staring at Scarlett with varying degrees of amusent.
"So," Aegis said, grinning, "when exactly is your engagent?"
Scarlett buried her face in her hands.
"Shut up."
---
Kanna did not, in fact, hold back.
Aegis found this out the hard way about thirty seconds into their first sparring session, when Kanna’s practice sword smacked her across the ribs hard enough to make her wheeze.
"Guard up," Kanna said. "Again."
They went again. Aegis tried to keep her guard up this ti, really tried, but Kanna moved like water. Every ti Aegis thought she had an opening, it turned out to be a trap. Every ti she tried to create distance, Kanna closed it before she could blink.
Smack. Ribs again.
"You’re telegraphing your lunges. Again."
Smack. Shoulder.
"Don’t overextend. Again."
Smack. Thigh.
"Better. Again."
By the ti Kanna finally called for a break, Aegis was pretty sure she had more bruises than skin. She stumbled over to a bench at the edge of the courtyard and collapsed onto it, breathing hard.
"You’re improving," Kanna said, walking over.
"Doesn’t feel like it."
"That’s because you’re comparing yourself to ." Kanna sat down beside her. "Compare yourself to where you were a few minutes ago. You’re faster. More precise. Your instincts are getting sharper. Even if you don’t see it."
"My instincts are telling to run away and never fight you again."
"Good instincts."
Was that a joke? Aegis couldn’t tell. Kanna’s face was as unreadable as ever.
They sat in silence for a minute, catching their breath. Well, Aegis was catching her breath. Kanna barely looked winded, which was honestly kind of annoying.
Then Kanna reached down, grabbed the hem of her shirt, and lifted it up to wipe the sweat off her face.
Aegis’s brain short-circuited.
Because Kanna wasn’t wearing anything under that shirt, and now most of her tits were just out there, on display, glistening with sweat in the afternoon sun. They were bigger than Aegis rembered. Full and round and honestly kind of hypnotic.
[God, I wouldn’t mind a taste of that myself...]
Kanna lowered her shirt and caught Aegis staring.
"Sothing wrong?"
"Nope. Nothing. Everything’s fine."
Kanna’s lips twitched. Maybe. It was hard to tell.
Before things could get any more awkward, Evelyn appeared at the courtyard entrance, another piece of parchnt in her hand.
"My lady. The Goldspires have replied."
Aegis stood up, grateful for the distraction.
"That was fast. What did they say?"
"They’ve accepted your acceptance." Evelyn glanced down at the letter. "The duel has been scheduled for one week from today. Noon. At the Whitestone Arena in the Noble Quarter."
One week.
Aegis let that sink in. One week to prepare. One week to train. One week until everything she’d been working toward ca down to a single fight.
No more audits. No more assessnts. No more parades or salons or political maneuvering. Just her and Darius, two swords, and whoever was still standing at the end.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
[Alright. One week. I can work with that.]
"Kanna."
"Yes?"
Aegis picked up her practice sword.
"Break’s over."
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