He jumped to join me in the pool, and while he was still in the air, I leaped out of the way and landed unsteadily on the bank. He spun and sprang out of the water like some kind of frog, and I was reminded why it was always a bad idea to fight with a fishman in a pool. His spear lashed out, but I parried it and took another step back.
Labu flowed across the ground around me and didn’t falter for an instant. He pressed harder with high and low spear strikes, probing for any weakness in my defences. I couldn’t afford to give him an opening, but I was starting to tire as hunger and exhaustion wore at me.
Things didn’t look bright in my immediate future.
“You’re just fighting defensively now?” Labu said. “You didn’t get this far by playing nice.”
“I didn’t want to get to this place at all,” I countered as I parried another of his strikes.
His movements kept their flow, and there was never a moment of stillness or a step that didn’t somehow fit the pattern. It was like a duel with a dancer, though one who worked with something more deadly than a quickstep.
I needed to break that rhythm to beat Labu. His fighting style depended on keeping up the flow. Without it, he would lose much of the balance and momentum that allowed him to continue attacking. But I couldn’t break that rhythm myself. I barely had enough gas in the tank to keep up my defense. I had to give him a reason to break the rhythm himself.
I slowed my movements and made it look as if I was wearier than I was. Labu responded with faster strikes as a grin spread across his face. His confidence grew with each tired parry I made.
I stabbed at his chest with my sword as he spun away. My move was deliberately sloppy—good enough to look convincing but not so good that it stood any chance of getting through. Labu flowed out of the way of the blow instead of parrying. The tip of his spear jammed into my left shoulder, and pain raced through me as the blade cut my flesh in a spray of blood.
I brought the Sundered Heart Sword down with all my strength as Labu leaned in and tried to slide the barbs of his weapon into me. My sword sliced through the haft of Labu’s spear and left him clutching nothing more than a nicely carved length of stick.
Labu stared in shock at his weapon. I ignored the pain of the barbed speartip embedded in my shoulder and hit him with a mid-air kick to the head. He fell to the ground with a thud. I landed with my two feet planted on either side of him.
I pulled the spear blade from my shoulder with my free hand and tossed it at the feet of the prince’s friends.
I pressed the Sundered Heart’s blade against Labu’s neck. “You wanted a fight to the death. What would you be doing right now if you were in my position?”
Labu glowered at me, his eyes filled with hatred. “Do it.”
I looked up at the silent spectators. “What do you think? Should I kill a prince in his own palace? Do you think King Beqai would even bat a tentacle at the death of his son?”
Maybe that would finally wake him from his meditative slumber.
Labu’s companions stared at me with faces of stone and folded arms. I hadn’t expected them to applaud my victory, but they weren’t about to leap to their prince’s defence either. It seemed that they took the “to the death” part of this fight seriously.
They weren’t the only ones who caught my attention. Kegohr, Vesma, Faryn, and Kumi were standing at the gateway to the stairs that led down to the city. I hadn’t even noticed them arrive. Their eyes were fixed on me in a mixture of horror and astonishment.
Kumi’s eyes begged me to pull away. I wondered how much she’d guessed of what had happened here. Would she realize that her brother had started the fight, or would she blame me and lay responsibility for his death at my door?
I looked down at Labu. “You still haven’t answered my question. Would you have spared my life?”
“Finish it,” he hissed. “Free me from my dishonor.”
He raised his head, and blood trickled out as the Sundered Heart sliced the skin of his neck.
My hand trembled. To end this now would save me from one more potential enemy. But it would have other far-reaching consequences. Hell, if I was a different man, I might have killed Labu here and now.
“You’re a good fighter,” I said. “I respect that. But you make some fucking stupid decisions.”
“End it!” Labu bellowed as his eyes bulged in their sockets.
“No.” I drew the sword back. “There’s been enough death and destruction in this palace already. I won’t add to it.”
“Coward. Dishonorable scum.”
“No. You’re just too blinded by pride to see things clearly.”
I stood and offered the prince my hand to help him up. He batted it aside and rose to his feet as a petulant scowl crumpled his face.
“Real honor isn’t found just in besting others or being bested by them,” I said. “It’s about how you live your life, how you treat the people around you, and how you conduct yourself in times of trial, whether that’s a battle, a debate, or the burden of standing for what you believe is right. A simple, childish view of honor is nothing more than a crutch.”
Labu’s faced twitched as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. He finally nodded and turned on his heel and strode away. The prince’s companions followed him.
My friends joined me at my side.
“That ain’t over.” Kegohr jerked a thumb toward the gate Labu had walked through.
I nodded my agreement. I didn’t like it. Labu was caught between his loyalties between his clan and the Resplendent
