House of Darkness and Ice

Chapter 1

"I hate you," I whispered through gritted teeth. My masked opponent lifted his dagger from under my chin and quietly laughed. His curly brown hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. I'm panting, my entire body demanding that I remove my black mask, but I couldn't. Rules were rules. During combat practice, you couldn't identify your partner. The Knights thought that if we knew who our opponent was, we may go too hard or not hard enough on them. We couldn't even ask for names.

"Wish I could say the same, Princess." I groaned. 'Princess' is his pet name for me. We have been paired up many times and the name stuck after a while.

"Round two?" I questioned. "Or are you too tired?"

"Didn't I beat you?"

"You got lucky."

"Alright, whatever you say, Princ-" Before he could finish his sentence, I had pulled out my sword. He took his out equally as fast and we began dueling. I slashed and he parried and would try to surprise me, but I was able to snuff him out every time. I could tell he was tired and I knew exactly how to beat him.

I took a small step back and leaned to the right hoping to mislead my rival. My fake lunge was successful and I swiftly swayed to the left. In one graceful, yet deadly, move, I had grabbed my opponent's shoulder with my left hand and swung my sword so that it was hovering just above his throat.

"O-okay. You...you got me." The brunet panted. I smiled in victory under my mask. Sweat rushed down my face. As tired as I was, I made sure that my sword didn't move. "Hate me now?" I asked. For a second, I didn't hear a response. Then he said weakly, "I hate you."

"Good." I murmured into his ear but I still didn't move my weapon. I could smell the grass in his hazel hair. His locks stopped right above his shoulders and perfect waves were scattered but it almost looked like they formed a pattern that made his hair look like the ocean.

"Are you going to move the sword that is dangerously close to my throat or will I have to fight you again?" The boy's husky voice shook me from my thoughts. Focus, Theadosia, I scolded myself. For now, while we still have these masks on, he is my enemy. "I'd still beat you, so call this a favor," I said as I lowered my weapon. He spun around to face me and his deep brown eyes latched onto my emerald green ones. To hell with focusing. I was frozen like ice in his gaze. Somewhere in my reckless brain, a small voice was telling me to remove my mask and show this boy who I was in hopes he would return the favor. But, the rational part of me was screaming to block out these rash thoughts. I'm a fool for nearly giving in to carelessness.

In less than a second, the boy swept my legs out from under me and I fell to the ground with a thump. He had his sword pointed at my heart. "I really hate you now," I snapped as soon as the air returned to my chest. He laughed and stuck his hand out. "I really thought I would be the one on the floor instead of you. I'm slightly disappointed, Princess." I smirked under my mask. If that's really what you want.

I grabbed his hand and yanked him to the floor. I laughed while he groaned. "Ow."

"Still disappointed?"

"Only in me. I should have seen that coming."

"We're even now. But I don't know how I'll live knowing that I didn't beat you."

"There's always tomorrow." I grinned. This boy is one of my only friends and I don't know his name or even what he looks like without a mask on.

"Sorry to intrude, but I need to steal you for a moment." I jumped up from the ground the second I heard a third voice. I help up my friend and we are met with the horribly handsome face of Damian Blacklock. He is a year older than me and he has already gone through training and is a Knight. The sight of him makes my blood boil. "Who do you need," I asked, not trying to hide the annoyance in my voice. "I think you know," he answers like I'm a stupid commoner who is below him. I sigh and turn to my training partner. "Hand to hand tomorrow," he says. "Should be fun, Princess." I can practically hear the smirk under his mask. "Of course. Until tomorrow," I mumble. I would much rather spend days out here training in trade for being in Damian's presence for mere minutes.

I sheath my sword and walk past Damian. He matches my pace and we walk off . I can feel eyes burning into the back of our heads. "Why do you train like this, Theodosia? Hardly any other women do. It's unlady-like."

"You don't get to tell me what to do!" I snap. After that, we walk on in an uncomfortable silence.

We had almost reached the castle courtyard when Damian stopped. "Aren't you going to remove your mask? You know your father hates seeing you in it." I gasp silently. How does he know what my father likes and dislikes? Who is he to even bring up something like this? But on the other hand, I had forgotten I still had it on and, yes, my father hated seeing it on his only, precious daughter. I remind myself to take it off, just not yet. I can't have someone like Damian Blacklock thinking that I'm following their orders.

"I don't care what my father thinks."

"You should."

"You can't tell me what to do, Blacklock." I hadn't even noticed that I took a step forward. I had to tilt my head upwards to keep our eye contact due to his height. Up close, I could see all of the details on his face. The way his long, black hair curled at the nape of his neck, how his cold, blue eyes pierced mine, and the how the annoyed grimace on his lips makes his chiseled jawline stand out. He makes me feel so small. But, not helpless. He leaned down and I stood my ground. "Trust me, I don't have to say anything." Without warning, the bastard ripped off my mask. I pursed my cracked lips. "That's better, Princess," he sneered and it took every ounce of willpower to not pull out my sword. "I'm sure you can walk yourself the rest of the way to the West Wing. And I hope to see you tomorrow." Tomorrow? "Oh, I hope you didn't forget about the Mid Winter Ball, Theodosia." Oh no. Damian grinned wickedly. "I expect to run into you there. In fact, I look forward to it."

"You make me sick," I sneer. Damian returns back to me. He had almost escaped. His face was mere inches from mine. "I know," he whispered into my ear and every single hair on my body stood ramrod straight. "Leave. Before I pull my sword out and test your skills." Damian smirked as though he got some kind of pleasure out of the exchange. "Of course, farewell for now, Theodosia." I didn't watch Damian walk off. I turned on my heels and headed to the West Wing where the sweet promise of dinner waited. Damian looks forward to seeing me at the ball tomorrow? Well, I'll be sure to give him a show.