To the Sun, To the Stars, To the Sky

12: Dueling Only So I Look Hot

NPOV

The rebellion seemed to have literally no formal training, which was absolutely ridiculous. In its place, however, there was a bunch of rowdy rebels in the woods hacking at the trees and each other, and the occasional duel would break out during lunch.

According to Thalia, the duels were helpful. Something about rebels getting a chance to see what an actual fight looks like before we enter the battles, which were rumoured to start soon. I hadn't asked Will about that yet. Was he going to fight? A prince? I doubted he'd ever been taught how to hurt or kill someone. Was he going to be fighting alongside me? The thought was horrifying. He'd be torn to shreds.

At lunch one day, another duel broke out and Will nudged me. "You should duel sometime. You'd win for sure."

I laughed. "I don't think so, your majesty."

Octavian entered the dueling grounds to fight Annabeth. Octavian had gained quite an impressive number of enemies since the whole debacle with the letter. Annabeth had challenged him to a duel over it. This was going to be fun to watch.

Will watched it with wide eyes. Every movement Annabeth made, his eyes followed with curiosity. He was completely awed.

Shit. Was he into women, too? If I didn't duel, would he still be interested in me? I wanted him to look at me like he looked at Annabeth right now: enthralled. I pushed my food around on my plate and bit my lip.

Annabeth pinned Octavian to the ground, but he was shouting something about dishonorable fighting. Maybe she'd done something not allowed in the rules of dueling. I wouldn't know; I hadn't been paying that much attention.

I had been watching Will's face. He was breathless.

God dammit. I was about to lose the hottest guy I'd ever met.

I stood up and approached the dueling grounds. Octavian was seething. There was a rack of swords of different weights. I took a lighter one for today. I was fairly certain I could beat Octavian with any sword. Octavian stopped his furious ramblings about Annabeth's fighting style when his eyes landed on me.

"Sir, I'd like to challenge you to a duel, if you are still motivated enough to fight," I told him coldly.

Octavian stilled. His reputation was on the line. On one hand, he'd been telling me to act like a soldier around him since we met and I was blatantly disrespecting that by both not going into form and by talking to him. On the other, we had a crowd and if he turned me down, they'd assume it was because he thought he'd lose.

He picked up his sword and a smile tugged at my lips.

Annabeth left the grounds so we would have space. In the corner of my eye, Will was watching with huge eyes. He was leaning forward in his seat, hands flat on the table. I let my smile grow.

I narrowed my eyes at Octavian. We practically circled each other. He wanted me to make the first move, wanted to see how I fought. Well, Octavian, I fight like a soldier. That is to say: with perfection.

I ran my sword forward, through the hooked handle of his own and pulled upwards. My blade sliced his hand. His sword was still hooked on mine by the time I drew back. Swordless and bleeding, Octavian had lost the duel in under a minute.

He glared. "That⁠—you cheated."

I tilted my head. "Well, then, why don't we go again?" I held my sword out, and he reluctantly took his off of it. We readied ourselves again.

He took the first move this time, stabbing directly towards my chest. I blocked it. It occurred to me that his intent was not to win the duel (which happens if he can get me to yield); it seemed his goal was to actually kill me. Huh.

I swung at his arm, and he took a step back as he blocked it. Back and forth, back and forth. He was tired from his fight with Annabeth. I checked how Will looked out of my peripheral vision. Excited as ever. Good.

I saw an opportunity to make Octavian lose his sword as his grip slipped, and it clattered to the ground with one graceful hit. I quickly kicked it behind me. "Do you yield?" I asked.

He was infuriated. "No."

I put my sword to his throat. "You're sure?"

Fear sparked in his eyes for the first time. I let my face remain calm. Finally, "Fine! Fine! I yield."

I smiled. I looked back at Will. His eyes were basically heart-shaped. I put my sword away and grinned as I returned to my spot. My soup was cold, but Will's hands were warm as he touched my shoulders, my hands, my face. We both looked proud. He was ecstatic.

"Can you teach me to fight? That was so awesome, you don't understand, you make it look easy."

I thought about kissing his forehead, but his rank worried me and at the last second, I decided against it. "Your majesty, you do not need to learn how to fight."

He put his arm around me. "You're probably right, considering I have the fiercest boyfriend in all the world!" He cheered and raised a glass with the others at our table. They didn't seem to notice what he'd just called me, or that my face was very, very red. Boyfriend?

But Will was so happy that he didn't seem to notice anything at all. I guess I'd let it go.

Word count: 913