Between two fires 2

I stand up when I see Sebastian approaching me. Although his face is expressionless until he sees me, I already know that he succeeded. I know that victorious walk of his.

“So?”

“Done.”

“Should I ask how you managed that?”

“One of the candidates withdrew from the competition due to unforeseen circumstances,” he says, suppressing a smile. He doesn’t have to tell me that he is those unforeseen circumstances.

I laugh. “Thank you.” I kiss him on the cheek, slowly and thoroughly. “You’re the best.”

“I know. But that’s not all.” He winks at me. “The Duchess has just arrived to inspect how the preparations for the tournament are going. I thought you might want to meet her?”

I smile. “You really are the best.”

“Come on.” He leads me back toward the place he had previously come from, and where I had been only a few minutes before.

“What can you tell me about her, besides the obvious?” I ask him so I can prepare myself.

Duchess Cordelia Cortona is the only daughter of Duke Cortona, who is the richest and most influential man in the kingdom after the king himself. She is his sole heir, and after all these years, they finally bestowed the title upon her, even though she was unmarried, because they had no choice.

The Duke was important to the kingdom’s politics, and for quite some time they had been trying to find her a husband in order to strengthen political alliances with yet another wealthy bourgeois.

She herself was a classic example of a wealthy bourgeois woman: arrogant and full of herself, causing trouble for both her father and everyone else who happened to be around her. Although there was no proof and no one dared say such a thing publicly and aloud, it was rumored that the Duchess liked women. She dressed provocatively, behaved provocatively, and paid no attention to any of the norms they tried to impose on her.

“Actually, I’ve spoken with her a few times. You might even like her,” he says, surprising me. Me, liking a rich, arrogant bourgeois woman?! As if he doesn’t know me at all. Although, I did root for her to disrupt the plans of other rich, arrogant male bourgeois. “Of course, you two are almost completely different, but... You do have some similarities: she has a fiery spirit and a sharp tongue.

“Anyway, there she is.” Sebastian nods his head and points forward with his chin toward the stands where the noble box is located.

“Can we just approach her like that?”

“I announced you,” he says. Of course he did.

“Have I ever told you that I adore you?”

“More than once, but there’s no harm in hearing it again.”

I pause for a moment. I pull my braid forward, then ask him how I look. He simply winks at me and gestures for me to follow him.

The Duchess is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen; that is my first observation. It is a fact.

“My lady,” Sebastian addresses her. She breaks off her conversation with one of her officials to turn toward us. Her face is heartbreakingly beautiful, and I instinctively frown.

Aside from Sebastian, I don’t particularly like people who are so beautiful and attractive; they make me uneasy.

“Ah, is that Octavia?” she asks with a dazzling smile, standing in front of us. She is slender, charismatic, and magnetically attractive. She looks at me with greenish eyes radiating mischief. I feel uncomfortable under her gaze.

Although autumn has long since begun, she is the only one without a cloak, wearing a corset that leaves her neck, shoulders, and arms bare. Her cleavage is something difficult to look away from, even for me, a woman.

Her skin is like alabaster, flawless and white.

“Yes, my lady.”

“Octavia Blackthorn,” I introduce myself with a quick bow.

She approaches me. She takes my braid in her hand, looking me straight in the eyes. “You’re too beautiful to be a warrior,” she says in a nonchalant tone. She seems to be having an immense amount of fun. She still doesn’t let go of my braid, which annoys me, but I don’t react.

“Thank you for the compliment, my lady, especially when it comes from probably the most beautiful woman in the whole world,” I reply, accepting her game.

She tilts her head. “Probably?” she asks, pretending to be offended. She still hasn’t let go of my braid.

“All right, definitely the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“I like her,” she says to Sebastian, still looking at me. I’m the kind of person who never looks away from anyone, but her gaze is so intense that I blush. For the first time in my life. Me, who never blushes for anyone, not even for Sebastian.

She still hasn’t let go of my braid, but I don’t want to show that it bothers me.

“The captain is certain you’ll win,” she finally lets go of my braid and steps back half a pace. I inhale the air I hadn’t realized I was holding in my lungs.

“Octavia is the second-best fighter the kingdom has,” he assures her.

“Second?”

“I’m the first, of course,” he says. Show-off.

She laughs. “Well, since I’ve seen you in action, I’m sure that’s true. After all, the best fighter deserves to be the Crown Prince’s personal guard. I suppose I’ll be satisfied with the second-best fighter, should you win.”

“I will, my lady.”

“So confident.” She widens her eyes, which flash toward me, tilting her head again.

“For me, it’s simply a fact,” I reply.

“Then I look forward to it.” She touches my braid again, then turns toward her guards. “I’m ready to go,” she informs them. She gives me one more mischievous look, then leaves without any particular formal farewell.

I look at Sebastian.

“What was that?” he asks me when we are alone again.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you!”

“Did you just blush because of the Duchess’s touch?” he asks, visibly surprised.

“Maybe I should have met her first and then decided whether to enter the tournament,” I say, smoothly avoiding his question.

“You’ll handle her,” he assures me, rolling his eyes.

“Am I crazy, or was she flirting with me?” I want to see whether he also thought her behavior was strange and somewhat inappropriate.

“The real question is why you were flirting with her,” he narrows his eyes at me.

“I wasn’t.”

“I know you better than anyone. You were.”

“She provoked me.” I don’t know why I’m defending myself.

“That’s not an explanation. I don’t remember ever seeing you uncomfortable. I’ve done many unspeakable things to you, but I’ve never seen you embarrassed,” he says again as if accusing me, and I don’t know how to get out of it.

“Do you think it’s true that she likes women?” I ask, changing the subject. He is aware of it.

“So what if she does? It’s not the first time you’ve encountered that, but it’s the first time you’ve behaved strangely,” I see that I can’t avoid his interrogation.

“Come on, you saw what she looks like. I wasn’t lying when I said she’s the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“I didn’t particularly pay attention.”

“Of course you did! She’s so attractive that even I would sleep with her.” The words fly out of me before I think, but I am known for my impulsiveness.

He raises an eyebrow, questioningly, almost in shock.

“You know what I mean!” I hit him on the shoulder. “Besides, that’s irrelevant now. I’ll have to deal with it only after I win, and I’m not exactly in the best shape,” I admit. “How much longer are you here? Do you think you can spar with me?”

That brings the familiar smile back to his face.

For some reason, I breathe a sigh of relief.