I paced the hillside as I racked my brain to remember everything I had said to Evander about Theo’s fighting.
Why did I even engage with him to begin with?
Evander kept his shirt on as he grabbed one of the sparring swords and stalked toward Theo in the ring. I reminded myself that Theo was skilled and immensely powerful.
Then why did a small part of me wish the rain would hurry up and come down? Of course, they would probably just fight anyway, if the way they were looking at each other was any indication.
I forced myself to take a deep breath.
There was no way I could have said anything that would have given Evander the upper hand. Was there?
Their match began, and I held on to that hope for all of thirty seconds into their match. Right up until Evander glanced up at me and winked.
Son of a…
What is he plotting?
It was an effort to think past the pounding in my skull and the tingling on my spine to assess the match.
The two men really couldn’t be more different. Where Theo was a solid force of strength to be reckoned with, Evander was blinding speed and fluid grace. The three times I had witnessed Theo fight before, I had held every confidence in his victory.
Now, though, watching him with Evander made my stomach churn…because he was going to lose.
Logically, I knew this was only a sparring match. It wasn’t a real duel. It shouldn’t matter.
But it did.
Anyone could see the rivalry brewing between them, a dislike that ran deeper than rivaling clans accounted for.
I held my breath as Theo raised his sword and brought it down hard on Evander’s. Instead of meeting his blade, Evander avoided it all together, leaping backward at the last possible second and forcing Theo’s strength to be wasted on the ground.
Theo was clearly stunned, but he kept his head enough to dodge Evander’s attack that followed just after, bringing his blade up to parry. They continued back and forth like this for what felt like an hour, with Evander using Theo’s strength against him and…
My stomach twisted. That filthy bastard had gotten me to give away Theo’s strategy and was using it against him. Theo thought it was Evander on the offensive, wearing himself out, that he was just responding. But that was far from the truth.
Evander feinted several times, lunging forward to draw Theo out. But his blows were clumsier than they should be, and he looked exhausted, overheated, like the last man had been.
The difference was that he was clearly faking, whereas Theo actually was tiring out.
The arsehat allowed Theo to get closer and closer to him, setting him up for a move like the one that gave him his victory before. And Theo walked right into it.
Just like before, Theo switched up his rhythm to throw Evander off before feinting to the left. But instead of falling for it, Evander attacked to the right in an unending frenzy.
I saw red. I had unwittingly been the chink in Theo’s armor, and Evander was hacking away at it before my eyes.
His blows were a blur, becoming faster than I could track as he lunged toward Theo, completely off-footing him.
Theo stumbled backward in the rush, and Evander stuck out his foot to finish tripping him. I cringed as he fell to the ground, his grip loosening on the pommel of his sword enough for Evander to knock it out of his grasp, catching it midair.
He rested both swords at the sides of Theo’s neck, and a hush fell over the audience.
Their eyes were locked in a silent battle raging between the two of them until several ragged breaths later, Theo raised his hands in defeat.
My fist clenched around the gold coins. They were round and weighty. Perhaps I could choke Evander with them.
Just as I had promised, I dutifully waited on top of the hill instead of racing down to the ring. Even if it did take every bit of self-control I had ever possessed. Theo fielded a few pats on the backs and comments before heading my way.
As soon as he caught sight of my expression, his pinched in concern.
“What’s—” He started to speak, but a wry laugh cut him off.
“I’d say two gold coins was more than a fair price to pay for victory. ” Evander called over Theo’s shoulder.
Before I could iterate my fury, thunder crackled above us and the sky split open in response, dumping buckets of water on all of our heads. Sounds of shock and alarm rang out, everyone scrambling to get to shelter.
I didn’t bother. The pressure I could feel was minimal. This wasn’t really a storm, so much as a few clouds of rain at this point. Still, I didn’t protest when Theo grabbed my hand and pulled me toward our tent.
Even if it meant we had to leave before I got the chance to stab Evander.
