Page 41 of Tears for a Broken Sky
“What?” she growled.
His friends nudged him, egging him forward. He stepped into the circle, spinning his practice sword like he thought it made him dangerous.
“Didn’t realise the new princess knew her way around a blade.”
Big mistake.
Elle went still. Her eyes narrowed, calculating. Then she tilted her head and swung her sword once, clean and sharp through the air.
“I can show you, if you like,” she said. Her voice was almost sweet.
I stiffened. I knew that tone.
The soldier laughed, loud and careless. “Wouldn’t want you to break a nail, Your Highness.”
And there it was.
The idiot had just signed up for a lesson he wouldn’t forget.
Elira didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch. She just stepped forward, raising her blade in a casual, almost lazy stance.
The soldier rolled his shoulders like he thought this was a game. “Alright then, princess. Show me what you’ve got.”
She moved before he finished the sentence.
A blur of motion—blade to his side, then up across his chest. She didn’t wait for him to react. She stepped into his space and drove the hilt into his gut.
He grunted, staggering.
The crowd shifted, laughter fading.
Elira spun low, sweeping his legs out from under him with a crack against his shins. He went down hard.
And she didn’t stop.
She brought the wooden blade down against his ribs, once, twice—each strike ringing out like a war drum. The man tried to roll, to block, to breathe—but she was already behind him, the tip of her sword pressed to the back of his neck.
The crowd was dead silent.
The soldier froze, panting hard, hands splayed on the dirt.
“Still worried about my nails?” Elira asked, voice flat.
He didn’t answer.
“Didn’t think so.”
She stepped back and scanned the crowd. Her breath was steady now, her voice cold as steel.
“Anyone else want a go?”
A few of the soldiers glanced at each other, more hesitant than before. No one moved.
Then a voice rang out—smooth, clear.
“I’ll fight you.”
Heads turned. I looked up to seeCaelenstepping forward, shrugging off his jacket as he approached. His companion—an older man in aqua green—reached for him, alarm etched into his features.
