Contest Entries, One-Shots & Random Bits

Round Three - Orange Belt

 The arrival of an uninvited guest was signalled by the low whirring of the door opening.

Malayra didn't turn around. She intentionally refused to let any part of her body physically react. She didn't flinch. She didn't reach for her weapon.

"You just can't resist me, can you?" Her voice, when she finally spoke, sounded amused - just amused enough to hide the enchantment she'd cast previously. An attempt unlikely to work, she was aware, but why not let them think she'd done what was expected of her?

"Well who can blame me, my dear? You are the most... enchanting woman in the province."

So predictable, Malayra couldn't help thinking as she turned to face her foe.

"Just the province? You insult me so, Your Highness."

Princess Keyta Di'Grael of the Saashi kingdom seemed tense, agitated in a way Malayra assumed she would be too, if the survival of her father's reign rested on her success in the next ten minutes.

"You've come here to arrest me, I assume?" Malayra raised an eyebrow, suspecting no such thing.

As Keyta stared her straight in the eye, the differences in the lives they'd led had never seemed more obvious to Malayra. The six months between them could've been six years - the Princess had the look of a frightened animal about her, looking for a way - any way - out of her situation and finding none. Panicked wasn't a word anyone could apply to Baroness Malayra Marci.

"If by 'arrest', you mean 'end', then you'd be correct."

Correctly predicting the course of events, Malayra had drawn her mana-sword possibly before Keyta had drawn her own weapon.

Adopting a defensive stance, Malayra raised an eyebrow, "Of course. The right to a fair trial is only given to those who struggle to articulate skilfully. Forgive me, I forgot."

Keyta's nostrils flared at Malayra's barbed comment. It did the trick, angering Keyta enough for her to forget who she was dealing with. She leaped across the desk, swinging a wild blow at Malayra's sword arm. Blocking the attack with ease, Malayra twisted around, putting enough force behind her move to send the Princess stumbling backwards into the corner.

"So much for the famous Di'Grael manners." She shrugged, twirling her mana-sword around in a gesture of confidence, before swinging a shot of her own, designed to disarm the other woman. Keyta blocked it and tried to kick Malayra's legs out from underneath her at the same time. Malayra tutted, wagging an item she'd drawn from her belt in a show of ticking off the other woman.

She took a greedy pleasure in the horrified shock appearing on Keyta's face at the sight of her wand.

"That's not real! I don't fear your pretence!" Her voice betrayed her real emotions, as did her face.

Malayra couldn't help it, cliché as it was - she cackled. "Your face tells me otherwise, my dear."

With a single wave of the wand, Keyta was disarmed and defenceless.

"How did you get that?" A fear-strangled voice asked, its' owner trying to back away slowly but finding nowhere to go.

"You think I'd be fool enough to give it up?" Malayra was in her element - she'd been planning a variation of this moment for over a year, and it was every bit as sweet as she'd imagined. "The Di'Grael's underestimated the Marci's this time."

"Th-this time?" Faltering but curious, Keyta's question sparked a thought in Malayra's mind that she hadn't previously considered. About to drop the bombshell, a bleeping sound from one of the monitors on the wall distracted her briefly.

Smiling at what it showed, she sat down on the edge of her desk, fastening both her own and Keyta's mana-sword to her belt.

"Look at that. You're too late to save your thieving, murdering father. What a shame."

"You're lying!" Keyta roared suddenly, jumping to her feet in a bold move that finally surprised Malayra. She wasn't quick enough - Malayra caught her by the wrists and managed to pin her back against the wall.

"Lying?" Malayra raised an eyebrow and let out a dark chuckle. She stepped right up to the woman she'd pressed against the wall and traced one finger across her cheekbone, down her jaw, before resting it underneath her chin and lifting her head up and staring her straight in the eye. "You're the one who has lived a lie your entire life. Your legacy is a lie. I'm no Baroness. I am the rightful Queen of this nation, sweetheart."

AN: Around 750 words this time! Really enjoyed this challenge, best of luck to everyone entering. Remember to support each other :)