The Dragon's Prize Page 3

  “It… umm… involves a lot of punching.”

  “Punching?” He looked incredulous.

  “It’s hard to explain.”

  “Try.” He looked almost like he was pleading. “This dancing that Wu is teaching me is all well and good, but I love to learn new techniques.”

  This was not going how Sandra intended, but at least they were talking instead of trying to hit each other.

  “Well, most styles treat the sword as the only thing that counts in a fight.” She swished her sword through the air a few times. “Like the be-all, end-all of the fight has to do with hitting the other person with your sword.”

  “But it does, doesn’t it?” The prince held out his own sword and looked at it. “Even the thin weapons Wu uses are honed steel. Hitting someone with that is deadly.”

  “I agree. But in battle, your sword is not the only dangerous part of you. You wear metal armor, you often carry a shield… the sword is just another tool at your disposal. An important one, of course, but not the only one.”

  “Show me.”

  “My prince…”

  “Show me!” The prince was back to looking mad. Had his temper always been this mercurial? “Fight like you mean it.”

  “My prince…”

  “Fight me, or I’ll see you banished!”

  Sandra gulped, her heart was lodged back in her throat. Maybe now she could fake getting hit by him? That might not stop him, though. He might insist on continuing the fight until she succeeded…

  Wu didn’t announce the moves he wanted the prince to use this time, so the next portion of the fight started off eerily quietly. The prince came forward, his face set in a grimace of anger, and launched into a series of ‘lotus’ maneuvers. They were quick and precise, floating around in a complicated pattern meant to break down the opponent’s guard and tire them out, rather than going for a quick kill like the ‘thunder’ techniques. Sandra thought to herself that it was a good thing the prince had Wu’s help. Without it, he launched the same move too many times. He was too predictable.

  Sandra blocked the first few salvos, fending off his attacks with ease while trying to think of the best way to hit him.

  “Do it!” His anger made his next attack hasty and off-balance, but powerful.

  If she kept doing this, his greater strength might start injuring her, and would he stop? She’d never seen this amount of fury in his eyes before.

  She had no choice.

  As usual, he was favoring her right side. It was a good strategy, it kept her sword occupied and if he scored a hit it would take her out of the fight quickly. Well, if they were using real swords it would. Even wooden swords could really do some damage, though…

  As she blocked the next attack, she stepped forward into his guard and punched him.

  The entire crowd gasped as her hard leather glove met his unprotected face. Even Wu dropped his pipe on the ground as he watched the prince’s face snap to the side. Blood, royal blood, sprayed in ropy globs from the prince’s mouth.

  Even Sandra gasped.

  She immediately backed away, holding her hand in shock and letting her practice sword fall to the sand.

  The prince spat more blood to the ground, she must have cut the inside of his cheek on a tooth, and then laughed. Tentatively, the spectators started to laugh too. It was unprecedented. A commoner punching the prince?

  Well, she had warned him. Being defensive wouldn’t help her case, but she never wanted to do this in the first place dammit! This was exactly what she was afraid of. At least he was laughing. That was good, right? It had to be good. Anything other than good would be terrible…

  “See? That’s what I wanted!” The prince straightened up and worked his jaw gingerly, then felt around inside to see if there were any loose teeth. “Good show! The captain was right, there’s someone on this guard force worth having!”

  “Thank-you, my prince.” Sandra smiled in relief. He seemed actually happy. Happy that she hit him?

  “Wu!”

  “Your soon-to-be-majesty?”

  “Why haven’t you taught me that?”

  “It’s… barbaric, my lord.” Wu shook his head. He was busy brushing sand off of his pipe and wasn’t looking at either combatant. “The desperate gambit of a hack who can’t fight.”

  “Well. It worked, didn’t it?”

  “Your majesty?”

  “If this was a real fight, she threw me off-balance. She might not have done much damage, but it was enough to throw me off my guard. She could have run me through before I even knew what was happening.”

  “I suppose so, your majesty.” Wu was bristling now. “Perhaps we can work it into your next training.”

  “See that you do.” The prince nodded crisply, then turned to Sandra. She flashed him a tentative smile. “Thank-you for your time, warrior.” He nodded at her, then strode off the practice yard.

  Wait.

  She wanted to yell at him, to shout that he had to stay. He had to take her away from here. He had to protect her…

  “Well.” The captain’s voice. Right behind her. “That was fancy.”

  “Captain…” Sandra turned and shrank away. He was a big man, and at least a foot taller than her with muscles that she swore could lift an ox. His chest was less than an inch from her nose…

  “I warned you…”

  “You gave me no choice!” Desperation fueled her anger. He could have just kicked her out quietly, without this spectacle. Did he really want her dead that badly?

  The heavy chest of another guard pressed against her back. Apparently he did.

  “You could have taken a dive.”

  “And disgrace your name?” Sandra spat at his feet. “You need all the honor you can scrape out.”

  “And you need humility. Is he gone?” That second comment was directed at the crowd of guards closing in around Sandra.

  “Yes.” A voice. Sean? Were they all in on this?

  “Now. Why don’t we try out your technique a little, yes? It seemed very effective a moment ago.”

  “Stop…” Sandra was having a hard time keeping up with the emotions flooding through her. Anger had given way to cold desperation. There was no way out. If she tried to fight, they’d only be crueler. If she didn’t try to fight her way out, she’d go down without her dignity…

  Strong arms like iron bars grabbed her from behind and locked her arms behind her, taking that choice away. A gauntleted fist, the captain’s, struck Sandra in the gut. She groaned as it knocked the wind out of her and doubled over in pain, but those arms kept her from falling very far. Another gauntleted fist hit her in the temple.

  It was a stupid hit if they meant to prolong the ordeal. The world titled sideways and grey spots bloomed all across her vision. Darkness crept in at the edges, and she could hear a distant ringing like a bell. Another hit like that and she’d be unconscious.

  The blows came faster, most of them aimed at her stomach. In the distance, she heard someone screaming. Was it her? No. Mira!

  “Mira!” She tried to shout, tried to warn the maid away. There was nothing she could do to help, and anything she did would end badly for her… Sandra's words were slurred from the unconsciousness creeping up on her, and she didn’t have the breath to make her voice very loud. “Stay away!”

  Another punch to the head and the world was gone.

  *

  Reality came back slowly. Sandra fought against the grogginess that gripped her mind. Staying asleep right now would be the worst thing for her, even if it seemed like a great idea. Head injuries and sleeping should not be combined.

  Head injury? When did she get a head injury?

  “Unnggha?” Apparently she was still working up to speaking coherently.

  “Sandra? Sandra!” Mira’s desperate voice cut through some of the fog and gave her something to cling to while she tried to wake up. “Are you okay?”

  “I… ow. No. What happened?”

  “You don’t remember
?”

  “Let’s… unnh… let’s pretend I don’t.”

  “Well, the guards started beating you after the prince left. It looked like…”

  “Right!” Events flashed back into her mind’s eye. The pain of the blows, swiftly replaced by the blessed oblivion of unconsciousness. Someone had been a little too zealous about hitting her in the head. Maybe they did it on purpose? It seemed crazy to think about someone knocking her unconscious as an act of kindness, but who knows when the captain would have stopped otherwise?

  “So, uhh, are you okay?”

  “Mmm… let me check.” Sandra closed her eyes, which were still fighting to try and focus anyway, and thought about where it hurt. Everywhere was a good start… but it was an achy, bruised pain that permeated her body. Nothing felt broken, and besides what felt like a gash on her head, nothing was cut either. “I’ll live…”

  Would she?

  “Wait. Why are you here?” Sandra opened her eyes again. She still couldn’t focus, but some of the room was appearing before her. It was dark, slimy and uneven. There was something heavy and metal clamped cruelly around her ankle. It smelled… God, it smelled! Her new focus on her surroundings nearly made her vomit from the reek of the place.

  Prison.

  “Well, when they started to hit you…”

  “You should have disappeared.” Sandra tried to shake her head. Blinding pain! Maybe the blows to the head weren’t so kind after all.

  “I couldn’t. Why were they doing that? You did what the prince wanted… it was a great fight!” Mira was beaming, and Sandra felt herself smiling too. She was glad at least someone was entertained. “You looked like you were dancing! You were spinning around and around in the sand, making music with the wood clacking as you went.”

  “They set me up.” Sandra spat blood onto the floor. It didn’t help the pain, but it felt good to get the coppery goo out of her mouth. “But I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  “Set you up?” Mira’s face looked small and confused. “How?”

  “Commoner, remember?”

  “I don’t see… wait… oh my god!” Mira clapped a hand over her mouth. “You punched him! A royal! That… they set you up!” Anger flashed across Mira’s face, and the maid leapt to her feet and started to pace the tiny room. “That’s so cruel! They should never have put you in there with him… just because you’re a guard doesn’t mean you can touch a royal.”

  “See?”

  “That’s… why do they hate you so much?” Mira crouched down in front of Sandra. Sandra was glad to see that the girl was unhurt. They probably couldn’t justify beating her, too. “What did you do to them?”

  “You said it yourself: I’m a commoner. My being a royal guard is a constant source of shame and anger to them.” Sandra hung her head, letting the blood drip off her forehead onto the rough stone below. “How could I have been so stupid?”

  “What?” Unbidden, Mira hugged her. It was good, if painful. “You were an inspiration to us all! To see you rise so far so fast was like all of our dreams come true.”

  “They were just waiting for an excuse… I’m sorry, Mira. I didn’t mean to drag you into this.”

  “It’s alright.” Mira sniffled and sat back on her heels. Now that Sandra’s vision was mostly playing on the same team as the rest of her again, she could tell that the maid’s face was red and puffy and streaked with old tears. Apparently she’d been crying a long time. “I don’t regret anything.”

  “Except being thrown in jail?”

  “Not even that! They were hurting you… I… I tried to stop them.”

  “You what?” Sandra looked up in surprise. “Oh, Mira. You shouldn’t have… I tried to tell you to get back.”

  “You were a little hard to hear over the sound of people pummeling you.” Mira tried a brave laugh. It came out as a scared hiccough.

  They both lapsed into silence. Mira tried to avoid letting her skirts touch the slimy ground while Sandra looked around the cell, wondering if there was a way out. She’d never heard of anyone escaping the palace’s dungeons, but she’d also never heard of an elite palace guard being thrown in there either. Of course, she wasn’t exactly in peak physical condition at the moment. She might not have broken anything, but everything hurt and she didn’t even know if she could stand.

  No time like the present to find out…

  Tentatively, Sandra braced one hand against the wall of the cell. That didn’t hurt too much, so she tried to push herself to her feet. It was slow going. Her legs had made it through the beating relatively unscathed, but they were still wobbly from the cramped position she’d been lying in. Eventually she made it to her feet with her back braced against the wall. The cell was so small that she couldn’t even stand all the way up. The top of her head touched the slimy rocks above and she didn’t want to think about what was getting smeared into her hair. Hopefully just mold.

  “You okay?” Mira was shorter and able to stand up without bending. She stood just in front of Sandra, hands outstretched to catch her in case she fell.

  “Yeah… yeah I think so.” Sandra took a tentative step forward.

  She fell right into Mira’s arms.

  With a cry they both tumbled to the ground. Sandra rolled as she fell to avoid landing on top of Mira, but they both still ended up collapsing into a pile of rotting hay and unidentified liquid. In the dim light of the cell it was hard to see what the ‘water’ might be, and Sandra actually like it that way.

  “Nice catch.”

  “Nice fall.”

  They both laughed and levered themselves back up into a sitting position.

  “You know, someone should come down here and clean more often.” Mira ran a disapproving finger down the slimy wall of the cell, then wiped the muck off on her apron. At least they let her keep her clothes.

  “Clean?”

  “Yeah.”

  “The dungeons?”

  “Yeah! They’re filthy!”

  “Yeah. They are.”

  “So you agree?”

  “Sure! After all, we wouldn’t want the prisoners not to enjoy their stay.”

  “Right! Oh…” Mira stuck out a pouty tongue. “You’re mocking me.”

  “You’re talking about cleaning the dungeons.”

  “Fine. That’s the last time I save you from a mob of angry guards.”

  “You’re probably right.” Sandra couldn’t keep the sober disappointment out of her voice. They both got quiet after that, considering the depressing thought that they were going to be in here a long time.

  Or: a very short time, and then they would be dead.

  Eventually, Sandra broke the silence.

  “Thanks for trying to save me.” She realized she hadn’t said that yet. She felt bad that Mira was in this mess with her, of course, but it was good to know that she had at least one friend. Apparently the guards hated her all this time, but at least someone liked her.

  “You’re welcome.” Mira decided that resting was worth more than trying to keep her outfit clean, and was sitting down with her back against the cell wall. “Now how do we get out of here?”

  “How? What makes you think I know that?”

  “You’re a guard! Isn’t there, like, a secret passage or something? You know, knock on a brick three times and it will open up!”

  “Err…”

  “Oooh! Or maybe you twist the chain holding the manacles in a pattern and it reveals the secret passage!”

  “No. Sorry, hon. I think you’ve heard too many romance stories…”

  “But! There has to be a way out!”

  “Oh, Mira, do you really think that?” Sandra put a comforting hand on Mira’s shoulder.

  “No. No, I guess not.” Mira shook her head and swiped a hand across her eyes. “It was nice to dream, though.”

  They were interrupted by the sound of someone banging on the door. Why did they need to knock? It was a cell, it’s not like Mira and Sandra were going anywhere… Sandra tur
ned to see the captain staring in through the small barred window in the too-small door.

  “Comfy in there?”

  “Not really.” Sandra could not see any reason to hold back on the sarcasm. “Could you send in a few pillows?”

  “I…”

  “I wouldn’t mind some cleaning supplies. Rag, mop, buckets, lye… do you need to write this down?” Mira giggled. Good for her.

  “You…”

  “While you’re out, I misplaced my sword. Could you look for it?”

  “And I’m actually kind of hungry.” Mira rubbed her stomach for emphasis. “While you’re up, I wouldn’t mind a little cake.”

  “Sausages.”

  “Eggs.”

  “Porridge.”

  “Mmm… bacon? I think the cook was curing some just a few days ago.”

  “Some yogurt too!”

  “ENOUGH!” The captain’s face was red and livid. The guards behind him were snickering and trying to keep quiet about it. “Have some respect. You’re facing death.”

  Mira got quiet. Sandra refused to let it bother her. She’d already gone through being afraid and sad before she stepped out onto the practice field. Now she was angry and ready to take a strip out of anyone who got in her way.

  “No.” Sandra stomped over to the door and pressed her face up against the window, separated from the captain by only the thickness of an iron bar. “You did this. Your disgusting ego and refusal to admit skill where you saw it! You are responsible for this just as much as the man who brings down the axe!”

  “You punched…”

  “No! I would never have gotten onto the field if it weren’t for you! You’ve been looking for a way to get rid of me for years. How long did it take to hatch this plot? A day? A year? You’re a little stupid, so I can see how it might take a while to work it up.”

  “Now see here…”

  “You bastard!” Sandra grabbed the door and gave it a shove. The old wood, molding in the constant damp, shook violently under her assault and one of the boards cracked under the pressure.

  Damn.

  If only she’d thought of this earlier.

  “Stop her!” The captain backed away and the two guards who were with him stormed forward.