Adventures of Jessa

3

Jessa goes to the equipment room and exchanges her borrowed bow for a staff and hides all the desire she has to drag her feet. She lifts her chin up. If she is going to be kicked out by the prince, then she will do so by doing her best. And dammit her best is damn good. 

She goes to the sparring ring and ignores the prince as he removes his fine shirt in preparations of the fight. She knows that many of the elfling females that she trains with would be distracted by his body. The prince is known as a beautiful specimen of elfhood.

Jessa would have to agree, but since he hates her without even knowing her she can't admire his looks. To her he is her enemy that will be sending her away from her family. That thought alone makes it so that when she starts fighting the prince that she doesn't hold back.

For the first time ever she puts her full energy and ability into the attacks against someone other than Kallen. She puts her anger and frustration and pain into the attack against the prince and in short order she is able to disarm him. Straightaway they break apart and go for their swords. Rather, the prince goes for his and Jessa once more goes to the equipment room and exchanges the borrowed staff for a sword.

"You don't have your own sword?" Dhiren asks more than a little shocked by that.

Jessa shakes her head no, "Kallen asked me if I wanted my own weapons, but I told him it wouldn't be right for me to have my own, when the others don't have their own yet."

Her answer bothers Dhiren, but he doesn't show it. Instead he joins her there in the center of the ring. Twice now she has bested him. Him, the best fighter of the elves and she has yet to even break a sweat even after training for several hours earlier. Only the running had her breathing hard, but not sweating.

He enjoins the attack, but Jessa steps back and keeps her eyes on her opponent. There is something dark that seems to take over the prince and for the first time Jessa is more than a little afraid of her opponent. Not because he will be taking her away from her entire world, but because she fears that it's no longer just a sparring match.

The match goes on and the prince presses her more than any of her other sparring partners other than Kallen ever have before. Jessa takes the initiative and starts doing some offense maneuvers. She trips and the prince smiles darkly and straddles her, bringing his knife to her throat.

Jessa doesn't like the look in the prince and so does the counter maneuver that Kallen taught her. She is able to get the prince off of her and disarms him of both his sword and his knife. But there is fear in her eyes as she does so. She doesn't lower her sword even after he acknowledges that she won.

Slowly the battle lust dies in the prince and he is horrified at what he would have done if Jessa hadn't known how to get out from that position. He looks at the young, scared girl, "Forgive me, Jessa and I thank you for allowing me to keep my honor. There is no need to hold the sword on me now, I will do no further harm to you. You have my word and my promise."

Jessa slowly lowers her sword, but she doesn't take her eyes off the prince. For Dhiren this is a low blow for his honor, his word and promise have never been in doubt before and never before has a female looked at him like that before either. It's not something he will ever forget and it will haunt him to his dying days. Has he truly allowed his hatred to grow so much that he would take it out on an innocent young female?

Dhiren is sick and disgusted in himself. Not only has this young human bested him, the best fighter in the moon elf nation, but what he almost did. He never thought he was some one that could do something like that. It isn't permitted in the soldiers and he holds himself to a higher bar than he expects his soldiers to follow.