The Crown's Entrapment

At Ryder Manor, Midnight Pack Territory

“Would you kindly put some effort into this?”

Gilas knew that he was playing with fire the moment he practically mocked Clara’s attempts at hitting him. He was training her in the use of a sword, and while she was remarkably more skilled than the average soldier, she was still no match for some like him that had more formal training. She could move, sure, but he was way too far ahead for her to even attempt to fight him.

“Are you suggesting that I’m weak?” Clara coldly glared at him, levying another flurry of attacks at him. “How about this, huh?!”

Gilas almost let off a smirk as his goading got the desired effect, his sparring partner going into a fit as she delivered a series of haphazard slashes. Deftly, he dodged the first few swipes, parrying the rest with his blade. From there, he swung in an arc, their swords sparking with one another as he directed the point of her blade up high.

“What the-“

“Eyes on the enemy, Clara.”

Moving quickly, he moved forward, his sword aimed into a thrust as he aimed just by the space over her right shoulder. Clara had little room to move, but it seemed that she wasn’t completely out of tricks just yet.

Almost suddenly, his opponent kicked up a small cloud of dust, obscuring his approach just enough for him to hesitate for the slightest of seconds. And that was just enough for Clara to aim a hard overhead slash.

“Got you!”

Acting swiftly, Gilas raised his sword up high, intercepting Clara’s strike despite his impaired vision. He would have to blink the dust off his eyes, giving her just enough leeway to maybe catch him off guard.

Not that he was ever planning to do so, of course.

“You’re overconfident.”

“Wha-“

Taking advantage of Clara’s confusion, he gave way to her blow, her momentum almost making her lurch forward as Gilas ducked below. With his eyes still closed, he then delivered a leg sweep, catching her legs underneath her and making her fall to the ground.

“Oof,” Clara grunted.

Sensing his opportunity, Gilas quickly stood up, rubbing his eyes with one arm while aiming his sword with the other. It was over…

“Yield,” he commanded.

With his sword aimed at her heart, his eyes gazed squarely at hers, his chest thumping wildly at the recent exertion. Their gazes lingered, multiple beats passing as they seemed entranced by one another’s souls.

He could feel the rising tension in the air the longer he stared at her. He could feel the Pull exerting its effects on him, his eyes landing on Clara’s heaving chest and flushed face as opposed to looking at her sword arm.

Gilas knew that he was getting distracted, but he just couldn’t-

“Not yet!”

Gilas’s eyes widened. This time, it was him that had his feet swept off the ground as Clara copied his move. He was surprised, but it wasn’t enough for him to give the round.

No… He would surely win if only to see her panting before him once more. At the very least, he could pretend that she was flustered at him instead of at his skills. Besides, it would teach her a lesson to never leave herself open to attack.

“Pray tell, come at me then,” he smirked, a plan of attack already forming in his head. “Show me what you’ve got.”

******

Clara clicked her tongue as she barely managed to pull the feet out of Gilas’s stance. She didn’t know why, but that extended eye contact she made with him made her body tingle in places that she never really expected. It was weird; her heart hammered in a way that she thought only happened whenever he was near her beloved.

“How about this?!”

Swinging her blade, she honed in on Gilas’s floating legs, hoping to deal enough damage that he’d be unable to use them.

However…

“Clever.”

To her dismay, her opponent had somehow twisted his body around, turning his legs around to deliver a kick on her oncoming sword. He then landed on his hands, flipping himself back up on his feet with a slight push.

“But not clever enough.”

Clara rolled onto the ground, the taste of dirt making itself common in her tongue before she managed to stop herself from moving. She managed to kneel back up, but before she could even put up a guard, Gilas was already on top of her. She barely managed to raise her sword up in the air to intercept the incoming swing, however, her guard was easily broken.

“Ugh…”

With a clang, Clara’s sword went flying through the air, landing just behind her, stabbed into the ground. From the sound of it alone, she knew that she was too far from it to even try and retrieve it. And sure enough, she looked up to see that Gilas had his sword aimed straight at her once more.

“Again, yield.”

She couldn’t help but click her tongue in dismay. Still, she knew that she had more to learn in using a sword. That was the reason why she agreed to be trained by him in the first place, to be able to stand on her own in close ranged combat without her trusty bow.

“Fine. I yield…”

Letting out a sigh, Clara shrugged as she found herself looking at the victor of their match. He was still staring at her, seemingly looking down on her from on high as he aimed his sword straight at her heart. Still, she couldn’t help but feel… excited? Why?

“A good showing,” Gilas nodded, sheathing his sword before offering his hand. “Here.”

Clara raised an eyebrow at his offer before she acquiesced, taking his hand in hers as she let him pull her up. And again, another strange jolt entered through her body… somehow radiating from where her hand was holding onto his…

“Something the matter?” Gilas asked.

“I-It’s nothing,” Clara quickly replied. “Just thinking how I could’ve had you surrender before you pulled that stunt on me.”

“Said stunt was simply me applying my strengths to my advantage,” Gilas coolly replied. “You ought to do the same as soon as you’re able.”

Clara blushed, both in indignity and in some kind of indescribable feeling as she quickly came up with more words to fire back at him. She couldn’t help but feel tingly all over, her body reacting strangely to the extended contact she had with his hand.

Then again, why in the world was she still holding onto him anyway?

“Are you just going to hold onto my hand or are you going to let go in the nearest future?” Clara sharply chided, her cheeks still flushed red despite her attempts to look away from him.

“I’m of the opinion that you were the one that didn’t want to let go,” Gilas scoffed. “If you look forward, you would see that I’m telling the truth.”

Clara fought the urge not to look. Why in the world was her body acting like this? For some forsaken reason, she had a strange compulsion not to let go of his hand, to keep him near her as if he was hers to begin with…

“And if you’re lying then me pulling on my hand would end with you being pulled in with my hand,” Clara fired back. “Now if you’ll excuse me…”

With great effort, she barely managed to pull her hand free, a burning sensation lingering in her palms even as she shook it beside her.

“See? I wasn’t lying,” Gilas pointed out.

“So it would seem,” Clara begrudgingly agreed. “I still would’ve probably beaten you earlier.”

“You’re still in training,” he quickly answered back. “There is simply no way that you could’ve beaten me.”

“Oh? How then would I be able to beat you?” Clara mockingly challenged. “You’re supposed to train me, right? How then should I defeat you?”

Gilas scoffed before he enumerated, “For one, you need to work on your awareness. You have a tendency to tunnel vision on one specific weakness, leaving yourself open to attack.”

“Fair,” she nodded. “What else?”

“It goes without saying, but you need to work on your technique,” Gilas replied. “You might already have the foundations, but you still have plenty more to improve upon.”

Clara found herself nodding along. As much as she wanted to deny it, every single word he just said was true. She had always been more of an archer than a fighter, her previous position making it required for her to be exceptionally skilled with a bow.

“I’ll keep that in mind then,” Clara noted.

“You better,” Gilas raised an eyebrow. “You have a few fights to win, correct?”

“Yes,” she promptly replied. “And from there, I’ll be able to stand by Darius’s side where I rightfully belong.”

She let out an indignant huff. Still, her declaration somehow didn’t sit well with her just now… But… why?

No matter… Her body was simply acting up again. Nothing a good bedrest wouldn’t fix, surely.