Untitled - Chapter 21 - The Soldier - Seg.2

{segment 2 of chapter 21 - Garn}1

I’ve almost forgotten the audience surrounding us completely. I really have to try to suppress the feeling of enjoyment I’m getting from this.2

Exhaling sharply, Avi shakes her hands once by her sides as if to steel herself. “Right.” She runs at me again.3

I block her first kick at my side and a swift sequence of punches, watching her body language and staying a move ahead at all times. This is easy; I’m not even trying. Avi can defend herself well enough, but it’s just a fact: she can’t beat me. After grappling for a while, I catch her wrist and twist it behind her so that she’s forced to turn around. She struggles for a minute until I catch her other wrist and restrain her completely. Breathing heavily, she ceases. 4

This is another reason why I didn’t want to fight Avi here. I don’t think it’s a good thing for her subjects to see her beaten in physical combat. “Do you give up?” I ask her.5

She shakes her head. “Do you know me?” 6

The only way she can go is up, so she jumps, kicks her feet up to somersault backward over me. Not wanting her to get hurt, and a little out of surprise, I let go of her wrists as she flies over my head. “Yes!” I hear her breathe as she alights. I turn to face her again and already she has another kick for me to block. “Did you see that?” she laughs amid a bout of strikes that I counter smoothly. “Did you see that, Garn?”7

I grin. “I did. Tricky.”8

“Perhaps if you stopped holding back, that wouldn’t happen,” she teases, jumping back before attacking again. She pushes my arm away and tries to kick me in the stomach, but I stop her foot, pull it past me to make her lose balance and then shove her back with my shoulder. She falls to the ground with a thud. Of course, I don’t try to hold her down for the count of three, and she quickly scrambles back up and retreats a few metres before turning to face me again. She’s holding her side.9

“What’s wrong?” I frown. “I didn’t—”10

“For the last time, you didn’t hurt me,” Avi laughs breathily. “I’m just a bit winded. It’s good,” she insists. “I expected to do worse.” For the first time in a while, I become conscious of our audience again. A low murmur looms among the crowd. “At least I can be sure that you’ll be a good bodyguard,” Avi says dryly, still catching her breath. “But if I want you to stop holding back, maybe I should too.”11

This catches my interest; I give her an amused smile. “You’re holding back? Alright then. Give me all you’ve got, and I will return the same strength. Your Highness.”12

For some reason, this seems to make her very happy. She bites her bottom lip and grins at me, eyes alight. “Then you’ll have a lot to match.” Her breathing slowing, Avi sets her feet firmly on the ground and pushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Once more, she rushes forward.13

This time she leaps into the air and tries to kick me with both feet at once. I catch her attack and easily push her feet away, making her flip backward. I think she’s landed badly as she falls to the floor, but she crouches where she is and her foot lashes out at my ankles to make me stumble. I dive over her completely, landing on my hands and flipping back to my feet before she can attack again. 14

But as I land I suddenly realise that she’s somehow managed to get behind me before I’ve even returned to my feet. I’m completely caught off-guard—I had no idea she could be so fast. She kicks me in the small of my back, but I only stumble slightly and she has time to grab a handful of my hair and pull me backward. Realising what’s happening, I twist out of her grasp before she can make me look like a complete idiot. Stepping back, I stare at her in astonishment.15

She’s not half as fragile as she looks. Rather, she isn’t particularly strong, but she makes up for it by relying heavily on her speed. I’m beginning to understand how she managed to survive on the Outside for so long. However, I’ve never seen her use such swiftness before. Why?16

“I underestimated you,” I say, surprised at my own words. I thought I knew everything about her.17

“So match me,” she says. I return her smile, shrug my shoulders to stretch the muscles a little better, and run at her. A few cheers and laughter rises from the crowd.18

*19

{Jonn}20

“Jonn, move over. I can’t see!” Mathieu complains, jostling for a better view. I barely grasp that he’s talking to me. “Hey, I happen to be shorter than you. It’s common courtesy to let me in front.”21

“Oh,” I blink, reluctantly looking away from the fascinating fight between Garn and the Empress. “Sorry, I forgot you were short,” I laugh, letting him past me.22

“Not short; just shorter than you,” Mathieu corrects irritably.23

I turn my attention back to the fight. Those two are the most mysterious people I have ever met. Apart from Logan, perhaps. They both give me a feeling that they know more than I know; that they’ve seen more than I have. Well, that’s not hard, I suppose. I’ve barely been outside the City walls.24

Today, I discover that the Empress is probably the only woman in the City who can fight. I guess since she’s the Empress, she had to learn a little self defence. She has a strange technique; it seems sort of wild, as if she’s never been formally taught, but she’s still amazing if she can hold out against Garn. Spies are always elite combatants. It’s obvious Garn is still not really trying too hard to beat the Empress, but since he’s matching her skill, she’s able to show a lot of her ability. She’s so... fast.25

As I watch these two clash, I marvel at the balance Garn is maintaining; meeting every blow with his own so that it looks like some strange dance.26

“I think I can safely say,” Mathieu murmurs, “that this is awesome. Empress Avalia is ten times better than Duvavi. He never came down here to train with his subjects.”27

“Honestly, would you really care if he did?” I ask.28

The man considers this for a moment. “Good point. I have no interest in watching an old man fight. Man, why haven’t we had an Empress before?”29

“We have,” I say incredulously, eyes still on the fight. “We’ve had many Empresses. Their time was over before you were born, that’s all.”30

He rolls his eyes. “They don’t count if I don’t remember them. Anyway, I think we should definitely have more of these Empresses. We should have a whole gang of them.”31

We can only have one Empress, I’m about to say tiredly, but I can’t even be bothered trying to argue with him. “Just watch, Mathieu,” I moan. This is why most people ignore this guy. You can only take so much of Mathieu. In short bursts, he’s perfectly tolerable, but... he would go on talking all day if he could.32

I watch as Garn anticipates the Empress’ movement, however fast, and catches her out every time she tries to find a weakness in his defence. But he never attacks back unless it’s to push her away. Really, his control is remarkable. I wonder if I could do that? They actually seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, too. They’re like old friends. I frown. Or... is there...?33

Blinking suddenly, I notice something that makes me forget my entire train of thought. It seems as if the Empress is gradually slowing down. Her reactions are getting later and later and Garn is gaining ground. So apparently she can’t maintain this incredible speed for long... She probably tries not to use her full capacity too much because it exhausts her so quickly. Ducking out of Garn’s reach, she steps back a bit and they slow to a stop.34

The Empress is breathing heavily, yet Garn looks ready to keep fighting for the next week or two. So her weakness is endurance? She has such great ability; it must be frustrating that she can’t use it too much. “One more time?” the Empress asks.35

Most of the men around me cheer at this. Of course, they’re all going for her. Garn smiles and opens his mouth to answer, but a cold voice interrupts from somewhere behind me. 36

“I don’t think so, your Highness.” 37

We all look around, moving out of the way to see who this is. I gape at the man moving toward the centre of the gathering as the soldiers part for him. I’ve never seen him in person until today. Duvavi.38