‘I am so sorry! I’ll drive you to the hospital! That’s going to need stitches!” Amanda grabbed his hand and tried to pull Dunc up.
“No, my mother will take care of it. Get me something to hold over it so I don’t drip blood all over your house.” Dunc brushed his hands off as he got up. He leaned over to let the blood drip off his face onto the ground. He didn’t want to get any on his clothes. Amanda ran inside to find something to help stop the bleeding.
“That looks awful! Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” Sallie and Dew ran up to Dunc to get a better look at what Amanda had done.
“We should have warned you.” Dew glanced at the back door. “Amanda competed in HEMA for a few years.”
“HEMA?” Dunc stared at them like they were speaking a foreign language.
“Historical European Martial Arts,” Sallie explained. “Real competitions where they fight with long swords. She wasn’t particularly great at it, but uh, yeah… good enough.”
Dunc smirked, then he tilted his head toward the ground and began laughing. Dew and Sallie stared at him, hoping he was okay. “Did she hit your head?”
“No. I’m fine, just losing a lot of blood.” Dunc smiled and stared at the growing pool of blood in the grass beneath him. It was dripping in an almost steady stream. Amanda came running out of the house with a clean cloth and held it out to Dunc.
“I am so sorry!” Amanda reached out and touched Dunc’s shoulder. He took the cloth and pressed it to his face, and held it there.
“That was not nice, Amanda.” He scowled at her. Then it slowly turned into a smirk. “If you wanted to actually fight, I would have brought my padding out for us.”
“I don’t think I want to do that again with or without padding.” Amanda worried. “Please, let me take you to the hospital! I’ll pay for it!”
“No, I’ll be fine.” Dunc walked toward her back door. “Better follow me in case I drop anything.” Dunc detoured to retrieve the box with his free hand. “Not leaving this here. I bet you’d peek.”
***
“Mom!” Dunc set the box down on the bench in his entry and closed the door behind him. “I need you to get out your sewing kit.”
“Why? What did you rip?” His mother called from the living room.
“My face.” Dunc replied. “Meet you in the kitchen.”
“Duncan James McCormick!” His mother yelled as Dunc grinned at her with blood smeared all over the left side of his face. “Heal it before you get blood all over the place!”
“I can’t. Just a wee little accident, and it has to stay, so I need you to sew it up.” Dunc grinned, still holding the cloth to his face.
“At least make it stop bleeding!” His mother hurried off to retrieve needles and waxed thread.
Dunc couldn’t describe what he was feeling. Ridiculously amused and happy came close. He got what he deserved for not asking Amanda if she would like to spar with him. If he had asked her, this wouldn’t have happened. He had assumed he was introducing her to something new. He had wanted it to be a fun surprise that they could enjoy routinely. Now his mother was going to jab a curved needle into his face to close the gash in his cheek. It was only a couple of inches long, but it would leave a scar.
***
Dunc returned to Amanda’s house half an hour later, with a big adhesive bandage on his face. He had the box under his arm and gave Amanda a mock dirty look when she opened the door. She grimaced and invited him inside, apologizing again.
“You should have told me you knew how to use a sword, so I didn’t make a fool of myself.” Dunc grumbled with a slight smile.
“You should have asked me if I knew how to use a sword.” Amanda countered nervously. “Are you okay?”
“It will heal.” Dunc replied, then grinned, “Hey, do you watch Forged in Fire? Because it will keel.” He handed the box to Amanda. “This is for you.”
Amanda took the box and walked into the dining room to open it on the table. “Why did you get me something?” She wasn’t sure what to expect. The box was heavy and at least four feet in length.
“I saw it, and it reminded me of you.” Dunc shrugged, standing next to the table. “I wanted you to have it if you had to uh move.”
Amanda gave a little gasp when she opened the box. Inside was one of the most beautiful swords Amanda had ever seen. The ornate blade was at least 3 feet in length, with the hilt adding another foot. Amanda giggled, reaching into the box and tracing the design on the wide grip.
“Why?” Amanda stared up at Dunc in astonishment. “You shouldn’t have! It must have been expensive!”
“Don’t worry about it.” Dunc shrugged, turning aside from her. “I just wanted you to have it. A friend of mine forges things like this. It wasn’t that expensive. It’s a real weapon if you need it.”
“I can’t accept this,” Amanda stated mournfully. She pushed the box across the table.
“I’m not taking it back.” Dunc smirked and started walking quickly to the front door. “A princess should have a sword!” He called, ducking out the front door and running back toward his house.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Amanda yelled, chasing after him. “You can’t call me, princess! I know what you think of princesses!”
Chapter 6
A manda smiled and ran her fingers over the designs on the sword Dunc had given her. It was sitting on top of her dresser, sitting on a stand
