Page 126 of Lady Knight and the Thief

“Loyalty! You want to talk about loyalty, Cade?”

“Where is he!” Cade shouted, then ducked under her sword and out of the corner.

“Who?” Cypress demanded, though she knew full well who Cade meant.

“My fuckingbrother,” Cade spat, then charged her with his sword raised over his head.

“Oh, I ditched him down below for a good time up here,” Cypress said, and raised her sword to block his blow.

Cade was so easy to goad, to nettle his anger.

“LIAR!” Cade yelled.

While he was distracted, Cypress swept his feet out from beneath him.

Cade managed to roll at the last moment and kept his blade.

“What’s the matter, Cade? Are you jealous that your only friend found someone else to play with?” Cypress asked and danced away from his slashing sword.

“You’re not my only friend,” Cade growled through gritted teeth.

Cypress laughed, their blades kissing once more in rapid succession. “Keep telling yourself that.”

Then, Cade lunged for her side, and Cypress blocked the attack with one of her own.

The edge of her sword was now tinged crimson, and a line of blood flowed from Cade’s side.

“You bitch!” He shrieked, his free hand pressed over his ribs.

“You could always just let me go,” Cypress tried once more, and danced out of the way of his careless attack.

“Just like your bitch of a mother died within these walls, so will you,” Cade said through gritted teeth. Then, he attacked once more.

“Mymother?” Cypress demanded. Her sword met every one of his strikes with ease.

“That got your attention, didn’t it?” Cade wheezed while he circled the column in the middle of the room.

“What do you know about Aithlin Iilrona?” Cypress asked and allowed him the brief respite.

“Put your sword down, and I’ll tell you how she died before I kill you,” Cade offered, his sword arm outstretched.

“Not a chance.”

Cade grinned. “I was hoping you were going to say that.”

Then, Cade lunged for her, sword held high above his head. Cypress raised her sword, meeting each blow to parry it away.

And, wherethe fuck was Torren?Had he abandoned her at the first sign of trouble?

Again and again their blades kissed, cross guards clanging when they met. Cypress kept pushing him off, but he would rush back in in a reckless attack.

He’d always been this way. He would become more and more reckless and dangerous the more he went without getting what he wanted– in this case, beating Cypress.

She needed to disarm him before he injured himself even more than he already was– and quickly. Cypress still had to come up with a way out of the Keep. There was no time to think, though. She needed to focus on the fight.

Cade swung his sword in a great, sweeping arc once more, dangerously close to her middle. Cypress easily parried it and sent an attack of her own toward him.

The Prince blocked, but badly. What would have been a small slash was turned into something far deadlier as the move sent Cypress’s blade straight through Cade’s middle.