His Shield and His Sword (BoyxBoy)

He left a trail of Blood

Author's Note: Whoo Chapter 5! This was originally supposed to be part of chapter 4 but I ended up splitting them up, hence why I'm posting it almost immediately after haha. Also LOOK there is more art :D  Thanks so much for sticking with the story so far, any comments would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy chapter five!

"HE GAVE ME A TWO!" I saw multiple boys looking at me due to the volume of my voice and I attempted to lower it trying to keep my anger as quiet as possible.

"Out of....out of ten?" Gani looked clearly concerned. I nodded stiffly.

"Yes! That...asshole...my entire ranking is going to drop because of this damnit. He is literally the worst."

"Well...maybe he was just assessing what he assumed to be accurate-"

"Don't take his side! God Gani why do you always jump to defend him?" We stood in the hall outside of the room where our next part of swordsmanship training would soon take place. Gani was currently trying to stop me from going on a murderous rampage. Normally Gerner and Munny would have probably jumped in to help him as well but they had both been unusually quiet after returning from the pleasure training. Gerner's face had appeared almost ashen when the two had come back to join us earlier today. "Fuck." I muttered. "And he's the best swordsman too, everyone is going to be all over him in a couple of minutes like he's some kind of God...WHICH might I add he's going to love." Gani just sighed, clearly done with all of this. Honestly I should have just dropped it but I couldn't keep down the anger that had been slowly bubbling over for this asshole the last couple days.

"He's still only human." The defeat in Gani's voice was evident. "I mean, Nicky, if anyone is acting like he's some kind of God above all human feeling it's you. Honestly your obsession with him is getting a little-" he stopped when the doors to the training room were opened and boys began filing in. A clear wave of relief washed over his face and he grabbed me by the arm. "Come on, this will take your mind off of it."

Oh and it did. We had to change into some light armor and combat shoes first before we were given weapons. I somehow managed to avoid Emery while we changed and didn't even catch a glimpse of him until we entered back into the training arena. I would have thought I would have seen him but I decided to just count my blessings and not think too much on the subject. Orla had brought in a sword fighting instructor from the eastern part of the kingdom and he didn't go easy on us. Again and again we practiced form, attacks, and defense in combat, and time and time again he scolded us, told us we were wrong or our form was off. Of course...there was one person that seemed to do everything perfectly. The entire training section was a whirlwind of criticism mixed with a scattering of:

'Emery well done.'

'Your form is perfect Emery.'

'Emery, go teach the boys over there that move you just performed.'

I managed to hold my own for most of the training. The only comment I received was,

"Nikolai your thrusts don't need to be so strong. You're trying to duel not stab someone to death." This earned a few giggles from some of the boys. Finally it came to a close and Orla stepped forward.

"Your official training period had ended, however, if you would like to pair up and do some dueling for extra practice among yourselves before we close the arena feel free to. Everyone else is permitted to change back into their clothes. A few boys began to pair up while others who were exhausted like I was turned to head into the changing rooms.

"Catch," a voice suddenly called from behind me and I turned quickly enough to grab the sword that was being tossed toward me. I came face to face with Emery."Where do you think you're going?" His expression was unreadable. "You and I are going to duel." I stared back at him, my eyes wide. He couldn't be serious? It was clear he was the best swordsmen amongst us, I didn't stand a chance. Then it hit me. This was his revenge, this was how he was getting me back for punching him last night. He was about to humiliate me in front of everyone. He moved into a beginning stance and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Shit...what was I going to do? My ranking had already taken a hit due to Emery's oh so gracious evaluation of my sexual abilities, if I failed at this there was no way people wouldn't be suspicious if I was selected as a Kingsmen. He began to circle me now as a vulture might a piece of meat.

"What's wrong Nicky?" He cooed making the nickname which sounded so sweet from Gani come out harsh and cruel. I swallowed hard and I could see the corners of his mouth twist into a smirk that turned my stomach to ice water. "That is, unless you're scared Nicky, 'the boy who wants to be the prince's little pet'." I lunged at him. I lunged at him with everything I had. Fuck form, fuck skill, fuck tactics. He blocked me easily. Shit, this was just great. He was going to use my anger as an advantage point, it's much easier to disarm your enemies when they're in a furry and make mistakes. I tried to come at him again but he dodged it with grace, as if he was simply taking part in a dance. It hit me that he was fighting entirely defensively and hadn't even really started attacking yet. Once again I made a futile attempt to strike him. He dodged this blow by adding a little twirl which earned him applause from the crowd that had gathered around us.

"You grew up on the streets didn't you?" He said this in a matter of fact way, not mockingly surprisingly. "You are used to simple survival fighting against untrained assailants. Your strikes are offensive yet you still cover your vitals in a more defensive position and stance." Emery's fighting had the grace that he lacked in his normal everyday movements. Every hit was precise, calculated, elegant and above all for show. He was going easy on me...extremely easy and everyone knew it. This was a performance. Every time Emery would block a hit the audience around us would break out into cheers and applause. I was breathing heavily by now, exhausted and beginning to tire out. Emery on the other hand hadn't even broken a sweat. He fought with his collar still laced up, his hair still perfectly in place, his gaze focused and unreadable. Finally he said loudly, in a completely over top way. "Now my friends, it is time to bring this little fight to an end." He was about to move to offensive, I could see it in the new way his body positioned itself. Shit, he was probably going to finish this fight in one or two blows tops in front of everyone.

That is when the screaming started.

Immediately everything was dropped and we were all running to the sound, the sound of swords hitting the floor echoed around the room. I saw Munny sitting on the floor next to the screaming person, tears in his eyes. The person in question was Samuel. His shoes lay scattered next to him and as I looked I saw the trail of blood leading to his now bare feet. Munny looked up, still sobbing.

"Glass," he said. "Someone put shattered glass into his shoes so when he changed from his training boots into them he...he..." his voice cracked as he let out a little sob. Everyone stood around the horrific site, mouths agape. I suddenly caught a glimpse of someone slipping out and I realized it was Emery leaving the training room without even changing. That was...weird. Gerner stepped out from behind Munny, his face more serious than I had ever seen it.

"This is clearly a sabotage. One of us was targeted by another trainee here."

"But who could of done it!?" A voice cried out from the crowd followed by a few more. Suddenly my mind sprang to last night. Someone had been out last night around the premises without permission, that same person hadn't told a soul that someone had seen him there saying he had simply fallen on his way to his room, that same boy had left the moment the accident was discovered. My eyes widened. Emery...Emery had to have done this.