Capítulo 6: Chapter 6: Dirty Tactics
~Sin-Vira's POV~
"What exactly are you looking for?" Queen Juliana asked as she watched her son struggling to attach his sheathed sword to his belt while dressing himself improperly. He wore a crimson blouse with the buttons unaligned with the proper holes.
He looked at her with a panicked look. "I agreed to duel in the Gardenia kingdom! I forgot how early the first bell rings! If I miss the second bell, I'll lose by forfeit!" He exclaimed with irritation in his tone. "I apologize for not informing you sooner!"
The Queen only looked at him, not even showing annoyance. "Represent our kingdom well…" was all she said before walking towards the corridor to the dining hall. A maid came from the dining hall, holding something close to her chest as she hurried past Vira.
After fixing his hair and shirt, the door to the lobby was swung open by his driver.
"Lord Sin-Vira, the carriage is ready," the driver informed him.
Hearing this, Sin-Vira bolted through the door and entered the carriage on his own. Slamming the door behind him.
"C'mon! I'm in a hurry!" He urged as the driver ushered his front seat. Sin-Vira's head jerked a bit from how sudden the ride was.
The air was still bitter cold, with the morning light casting eerie shadows from the barren trees. Vira turned down eating to make up for the lost time. As a result, the continuous rocking made him feel nauseous and head spin.
He was never the type to be up at the crack of dawn. It was something he should've informed Sibylla on before agreeing to the duel.
"Keep it together, Vira. Mom's expecting a lot from you." His eyes looked to space beside him to rest for a bit, until something bright pink caught his eyes.
On the red velvet seat, there was a peach sitting on a white handkerchief. The corner had the initials 'QL' embroidered into it. Reading it made Vira smile slightly.
He gleefully enjoyed the pleasant surprise to pass the time. Savoring each bite until he had the pit rolling around in his mouth. Growing fruits in his region were impossible, which meant the fruit was imported at a high price.
So long as nothing happened, he would arrive on time and not get in ear-full of Sibylla shouting at him.
To his misfortune, the carriage abruptly stopped as the horses began whining loudly. It nearly caused Sin-Vira to choke on the seed. Annoyed, he opened the door and went out to see the situation.
A few medium-sized dogs were snarling and barking at the horses. Dogs of this breed were never in this region and doubted they'd wandered into a barren wasteland like this even in desperation. Upon closer inspection, they wore yellow bandanas with a hyacinth imprinted on them.
"That dirty little– I'm off!" Sin-Vira declared before bolting down the path. He disregarded his driver's desperate cries for him to return to the carriage, but all he did was keep running down the steep hill.
~Arika's POV~
Arika paced in her booth as she bit into the tip of her gloved thumb. The first bell had already rung and available residents were already taking their seats for the duel.
Prince Beka was the first to arrive and sported a cocky grin on his face. When she greeted him earlier, he asked where her knight in shining armor was. She was asking herself that same question.
"The second bell will ring soon… if that idiot doesn't show up– No! He will! He was so smug he has to–" Arika mumbled to herself as her pacing quickened. "Right!?" she shouted at Suni. To Suni's misfortune, she was subjected to Arika's ranting ever since she arrived. "I told the king I could handle on my own- this is just a mess!"
"For the last time: he will be here. Now sit your royal butt down before I throw you over the edge!" Suni begged in an exacerbated tone.
Arika reluctantly sat down as her eyes continued to look at all the entrances. Even though she lacked a stomach, she felt something in her torso tying in knots. She looked down at the arena where Prince Beka stood. Once they made eye Contact, he blew a kiss to her with a wink.
"Augh! That's it! I'm going down there and tearing him a new one!" She grit her teeth.
Suni sighed and held Arika's hand. "You didn't challenge him, so it would only make that Snapdragon prince lose anyways. Just. Wait." She gave a reassuring smile that made Arika settle down more.
She looked up at the bell tower and saw the ringer appearing by it. The moment it rang, Beka would be pestering her in sickness and in health, for better or for worse--
"I'm here!" A deep-voiced man shouted. It rendered the entire audience silent.
Arika felt something in her chest that made her feel relief. She looked down at the entrance, where Vira stood. His arms wrapped around his sides. He fell to his knees and looked up where Arika was seated. He gave her a weak smile and mouthed what seemed to be an apology.
She couldn't stop grinning as she stood up and placed her hands on the railing. Sin-Vira wasn't as unreliable as she thought he was. Though she was still annoyed how close he was to be late.
"Our second challenger has arrived–" She began before a loud chiming interrupted her. Once the ringing stopped, she resumed. "As he arrived before the second bell, the duel remains! Challengers, take your places!" Arika instructed, raising her hand above her head.
The two princes exchanged words she couldn't hear, but it didn't matter. He arrived. Once they took their places, both men drew their swords.
"Subdue your opponent or forfeit! Let the battle begin!" she swung her hand down to signal the fight to begin.
Even though Sin-Vira looked exhausted, he reacted first and charged at Beka, who hesitated.
Vira's sword swung down at Beka's head which was blocked. But his follow-up move to swing it at his opponent's side made a clean cut into his shirt.
The audience roared with excitement as Vira's swift moves pushed Beka back towards the wall as he desperately blocked.
"Either he's good at this, or Beka was full of himself. Regardless, this is fun!" Suni exclaimed.
Beka managed to take a few swings at Vira as well. However, she was unsure if Vira was wounded by him. All she could hear was the screaming from the crowd cheering for Beka to win.
Not a single voice was for Vira unless it was to mock and boo him.
As the battle dragged on, her champion appeared to grow weaker while Beka began to push back. Which only excited the audience more. As though they were hoping Vira would spill blood.
"Take him down, Prince Beka!"
"Don't let that cheater win, Beka!"
"No snapdragons play fair!"
The crowd began to hurl insults at Sin-Vira's way as he struggled to keep up. He barely dodged Beka's disorganized attacks aimed at his chest and head.
Arika grit her teeth at the unfair bias. "Vira isn't the one they should be booing…" she spoke before cupping her hands around her mouth and took a deep breath.
"You can do it, Vira! I believe in you!" She shouted as loudly as she could. "Don't let that corny-jerk beat you!" She continued. Shouting isn't something she ever did. Even her hollow chest vibrates slightly with her volume. They were meant to help each other out, the least she could do was show support.
Suni smiled and joined her. "Yeah! Take him down, Prince Vira!"
Even though she doubted he could hear them over the crowd, he started blocking more effectively and even fought back. He swung his weapon up at Beka's face before thrusting his blade deep into his shoulder.
His scream of agony and falling to his knees made it apparent that this was nearing the end.
Sin-Vira held his blade to Beka's throat as he looked down at him.
There was a moment of silence before Beka kept his head down but raised his arm to signify a forfeit.
"Prince Beka of the Hyacinth kingdom has chosen to forfeit! Prince Sin-Vira of the Snapdragon kingdom has won!" She announced.
The crowd's reaction seemed mixed. Both cheers and boos mixed as Beka was taken away by the guards. Likely to be treated by her healers.
Suni placed her hand on Arika's shoulder."Go and meet your champion! You two can meet me at the bakery. He looked famished."
"Really? I never noticed. I'll do just that then!" She waved before running down the stairs towards the arena.
Vira was busy arguing with a healer who seemed to be attempting to heal him. He wearily pushed her hand away from him every time she tried to touch his face with a golden spoon covered in a transparent fluid.
"I said I'm fine, dammit! Leave me alone!" He snapped at the poor girl. Nearly making her fall back.
"Settle down you brute! Please make sure Prince Beka is alright," Arika snapped at Vira before speaking kindly to the healer. She handed over her things and hurried off.
"Don't… touch me with that…" he glared at her as he swayed slightly.
"It's just medicine, don't be a child, Vira.." She raised the spoon to his cheek, which he slapped out of her hand.
"I hate the sight of… g-gold…" he spoke with disgust.
Arika assumed it was due to their origin being from the mines. Resentment must run deep, which she understood. To compromise, she used her handkerchief and dipped it into the medicine. She then applied it to his wounds with care. Thankfully, he did this without fusing.
Vira leaned forward and was caught by Arika. He was heavy, but it was manageable. "I'm so hungry… I think I might puke," he joked with a sheepish chuckle.
"Do it and you die…" she warned.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Scourgie
Scourgie Any support for this story is appreciated! Thank you for reading!
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder