A failure

Riekan and Julkhar circled each other, the prince clearly having a hard time moving because of the armor. He wasn’t used to wearing such heavy equipment, and he suspected the pieces brought to him were bigger than his size. Since he couldn’t move properly, Riekan decided to wait for the soldier to attack him.

He didn’t have to wait long, Julkhar quickly charged at him with his sword and the green-eyed prince just moved out of the way, letting the soldier run past him. Some of the other soldiers and knights cheered, but he knew that support wouldn’t last long if he kept dodging. That notion didn’t stop him from dodging a few more times, though, until Julkhar wised up to his strategy and changed the direction of his attack at the last second, forcing the prince to bring up his shield to block it.

The sound of metal clanging against metal drove the observing soldiers crazy and they cheered louder, a fact that seemed to encourage Julkhar. The soldier attacked Riekan again and again, and each time the prince blocked it with his shield or dodged it entirely. The youngest Lionwell even wondered how he was being able to successfully defend himself so often, then he remembered he was fighting only a soldier who probably was just a bit less inexperienced than he was.

Riekan wanted to counter attack, but the heavy armor was making him slow, and more tired after every single one of his moves. It was only a question of time for his physical condition to make him fall. Still, he was able to make a lone strike against his opponent’s sword, the steel shallowly cutting into the iron, before his guard went down and Julkhar was able to push him on the chest with his wooden shield, causing the young prince to fall in a sitting position on the grassy courtyard.

Julkhar bowed at him and then at Roghan before walking away to join the other soldiers, under cheers and applauses from them. Roghan went to his younger brother and helped him get up as Riekan removed the helmet.

“As I expected, you cannot beat a mere soldier,” the older Lionwell scolded in a volume that only his brother could hear. “If only you did as I told you to.”

“And I’m running out of ways to tell you that I don’t want to be a knight,” Riekan retorted before proceeding to remove the borrowed pieces of armor on his body.

Nearby, Radus, Vestia and Zaax had watched the brief combat as well. The knightess turned to her fellow Crimson Lions. “It’s time for me to go,” she said. “Zaax, if prince Roghan asks, tell him I needed to join the princess.”

The 22-year-old man nodded, his blue eyes unwavering as he observed the knights and soldiers resuming their training. “Okay.”

The old General cleared his throat. “The prince was defending himself well, although…,” he let the sentence hang in the air.

“It was almost as if he didn’t like doing it,” Zaax finished it, receiving a positive nod from Radus.

“Exactly, he also preferred to dodge Julkhar’s attacks instead of using his shield to block them,” Radus finished his assessment. “Quite a curious fighting style.”

“Dangerous as well,” Zaax added, reaching for shield on his left arm and briefly touching it. “He would have to have some appropriate armor fitted for his size too, the set they gave him was simply too big.”

“Indeed, but considering our prince does not wish to become a knight, it is all a moot point,” Radus commented as Riekan nodded respectfully at the two Lions before walking back to the castle.