The Rogue Lady

Chapter Thirty Seven

     When you're done reading this you will either be 'Yay! Another character' or you will be like 'Damn Emma, stop adding more characters'. Either way, I hope you enjoy the chapter =D

     **

     Despite what I had told him, I had lost Eric almost as soon as the first wave had hit us. It was fair to say that it was my fault; I had gotten carried away and drifted further and further away from him. Then again, I was doing the fighting; he should have kept up with me and made an effort to stay next to me.

     I was careful with my fighting, making sure to occasionally pause my movements; the last thing that I wanted or needed right now was another takeover. And usually after a recent takeover, I was quite vulnerable to them. Even now, when my fighting was jerky, instead of one flowing motion, I could feel the pull, the relaxing feeling that preceded a takeover. But because of what happened merely a few days ago I was even more determined to fight it. I got a few cuts, I felt them burn, but I didn’t want to waste any time blocking swords if I could kill the soldiers before they hurt me. Most of the time, it worked out well, occasionally I would have to block a weapon to keep from losing a limb but I would strike back only a second later. Aside from the fight that involved me, I had no idea how everything else was going; I wouldn’t know until this came to an end and I could look up and take a deep breath.

     The soldiers coming at us didn’t all wear red; some also wore black, the city’s color. The local Lord was very much like Christopher and Mathias’ parents. He had jumped at the occasion to pledge himself to the Queen. And I didn’t think anyone had been surprised by his action. His wife, the Lady of Blackwalls, had never stood up to her husband; anyone who met her could immediately tell that she was submissive by nature. What had shocked everyone was the son’s behavior; instead of standing up to his father like expected, he had joined him. I knew people at the Court had held this decision against him, and so had I, but the more I thought about it, the less I felt angry with him. He had been sixteen at the time, only a little more than a year older than me. It was always difficult to stand up to your parents and their decisions but when you are only just sixteen it was even harder; it wasn’t fair to hold it against him.

     Nonetheless, if I could get my hands on him, I would hold it against him and make sure he knew it.

     My blade sliced the arm of a soldier off before the other cut his throat open, his armor and chainmail a completely useless protection against my weapons. I had taken care of them yesterday, checking all the spells and replacing them if needed. I sharpened them until they could cut through stone if I wanted to. Armor was no barrier for them. I watched with amazement as they went, brushing aside another sword, before I thrust them forward, watching them dent in the armor before eventually piercing it. Then I pulled them back out and kicked the soldier’s chest, making him crumble.

     “Svana,” a voice called. I should have recognized it, and maybe a part of me did, but I was in fight mode; it didn’t register until I was whirling around, my blades creating a deadly arc only to hit something they couldn’t cut through.

     When my blades hit whatever it was, it was like hitting a wall; the shock ran up my arms and made my entire body shiver until the sensation was gone and I could focus. Looking up, I realized that it was Eric who had called me, and that it was Eric that I had almost cut in half. I dropped the blades as the realization really hit me; I had gotten carried away again. Again. Not in the form of a takeover but I had almost attacked Eric. If he hadn’t used magic I would have actually done it. Wait, he had used magic? The feeling of the magic lingered in the air but there was none anymore. It must have been a short spell, just enough to block my blades and shake me out of the trance that I had been settling in.