“Interesting,” she said, punching the air. “And sword fighting? When did you start that?”
“When I was ten,” I answered honestly, letting her have a small piece of my past. “Fencing is how I started. I used to participate in competitions and shit. It was an easy transition to swords.” It was a dying art, which was why I had started the underground sword-fighting club. “Have you ever seen a sword fight, pauper?”
She shook her head and I grinned. Well, she was about to. “Will you come somewhere with me tonight?”
Anna eyed me for a moment. “Yes,” she finally said. “I will.”
**
I met Anna at the end of the senior hallway a few hours later, grabbing her hand before she could protest. “You’re late.”
“I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly as I raced down the hall. “I couldn’t get away from Johanna.”
I didn’t answer, taking a series of twists and turns before I halted. “What you are about to see is very private to me,” I told her, seeing her eyes widen briefly. “I have to know I can trust you, Anna.”
She stared at me. “You called me Anna, Royce.”
I gave her a sharp nod. I had debated all day whether or not to bring her here, finally deciding that I wanted her to trust me and see that I could trust her as well. “Yeah, this is important to me.”
“You can trust me,” she said softly, giving my hand a squeeze. Hell, I had forgotten I was holding it.
“Keep your mouth shut and stay close,” I growled as I pushed open the door, not sure if it was a good idea to bring her here.
The sounds of swords striking against each other filled the air and I tucked Anna behind me as the door shut, my eyes adjusting to the dim lighting.
There was a small crowd tonight, mostly juniors and seniors, with the beer and liquor flowing freely amongst them. The ring took up most of the room, causing everyone to pack into every nook and crevice around it that they could find.
I nodded to the guy monitoring the fighting and the money tonight, grinning as I saw the stack of bills tucked in the envelope. With these rich-ass kids, one hundred bucks, or euros depending on who was paying, was nothing for a good sword fight and free-flowing booze. After paying Isauros off, I used the rest to pay for the booze.
But never had I ever brought a girl in here with me.
I chose to put Anna in front of me so that she could see what was going on.
Well, that was what I was telling myself anyway.
My hands found her hips and I felt her jolt in response at my touch. “Easy,” I said in her ear, pulling her against me. “I’m just giving you a better view. See that guy over there? He’s ranked number two this season.”
“Who’s number one?”
I chuckled, my fingers flexing at her waist. “Who do you think, pauper?”
She laughed. “Full of yourself, aren’t you?”
I leaned in until she could feel my breath on her cheek. “For good reason, pauper.”
One of the juniors squeezed in front of us and I pulled Anna flush to my body, groaning as I did so.
God, she felt too good against me like this.
“What are they doing?”
Snapping out of my leering thoughts, I focused on the ring and walked her through every step of the fight, pointing out the high points, and was surprised when she seemed genuinely interested in everything I was saying. When Ian nicked his opponent with his sword, the match was called.
“They actually draw blood?”
I heard the surprise in Anna’s voice. “Yeah, they do. We don’t run each other through or anything, but it is until first blood is drawn.”
She turned and stared at me. “You’ve been cut before in these tournaments?”
There was genuine concern in her voice. “How else do you think I became number one?”
To keep her from asking any more questions, I ushered her out quickly before anyone could stop me. “What did you think, pauper?” I asked, changing the subject.
Anna looked over at me as we walked up the hall. “You started all that, didn’t you, Royce?”
I shrugged, her excitement threading through me. “I did. Isauros hates it but she doesn’t have a problem taking some of the proceeds, so—”
“It’s amazing,” she interrupted, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve never seen it in person before!”
I drew her to the side, ignoring the others as they passed. “Really?”
Anna nodded. “I really want to learn how to handle a sword, and who better than to learn from the best?”
I grinned. Damn, I liked her. “You’re stroking my ego, pauper.”
She pulled away, throwing a smile over her shoulder as she walked away. “As long as it’s working, Royce.”
I watched her go, shaking my head with that grin still on my face. I would teach Anna how to sword fight, and I was going to enjoy every fucking minute of it.
Chapter 9
Anna
It was a week before I saw Royce again.
I went to my classes, hung out with Johanna, and tried not to think about the king that was slowly opening up to me. He hadn’t texted, he hadn’t sought me out, and it was driving me crazy.
I wanted to tell him that I liked spending time with him, even if he still called me pauper. Royce was surprising the heck out of me at every turn and I really didn’t know what to do about it.
In fact, I was a little nervous about my time with Royce. I was having far too much fun with him, honestly, and it scared me
