I heard a soft knock on the door to my room. I felt myself twitch in my sleep. A second knock came.

"Alexandria?" Asked the small voice that could only belong to my younger brother. He must want me to play. I slowly opened my eyes to find my room dark. The doors to my balcony were still shut and the sunlight had not woken me. I lay there, still in bed, staring up at the ceiling. "ALEXANDRIA!" He yelled once more banging his fists against the thick wooden door.

I jumped and sat up. I quickly ran to the door and flung it open. My brother had a large smile on his face but it soon turned to a look of horror. I was one of those people who didn't… wake up pleasantly. People would often walk into my room and cringe at the sight of me.

Usually all my covers where thrown around my room and my hair was a huge tangled mess.

My brother had learned to not enter my room in the mornings. He tried jumping on me once and I accidentally punched him in the nose, causing it to bleed. He cried out in pain and he ran into my parents' room. I assumed that I would be punished but I heard a bellowing laugh from down the hall. My father had found it funny that I had struck out and injured my little brother.

But he never did it again. If he really needed something, he would have father come wake me, still fearful of my strong fists.

He quickly ran off and I couldn't help but smirk. I quietly returned to my trunk and started to pull on my normal robes when an idea struck me. I then slid off my robes and pulled on another halter top that revealed only a few inches of my stomach and a combination of a skirt and shorts.

I would erase the rumor of me giving up fighting.

I slipped on my cloak over the top and stalked down the stairs and out through the kitchen to pick up an apple for breakfast. I had strapped my sword to my waist. There was no noise in the house and I figured that everyone was off doing their daily errands already.

I glanced around the corner and found the courtyard empty. I made a break for it and ran quietly through the sand and out the front gates.

I slowly made my way to the training arena were the Spartans would spar when they were not at war. I pulled my hood up as I walked in and pulled my cloak tighter around me and took a seat away from everyone else. My hair, still braided, rested gently against my back.

I watched two of the older warriors spar and soon one of them took the upper hand and pinned the other down. I laughed when the loser had his face pushed into the stand.

Slowly rising from my seat, a few heads turned in my direction. I descended the stair case and I could feel the eyes of many staring at my back. I pulled the string to my cloak and let it slide off into the course sand beneath my feet. A wave of gasps rang through the arena. I looked around remembering the days of when I was young.

"Does anyone dare face the lovely Princess Alexandria!" Said a voice from the shadows. A figure stepped out and I smirked when I saw Dilios's handsome facial features rise in a smile.

"Yes, does anyone?" I asked turning towards the crowd. They remained silent, my last fights replaying quietly in their minds.

"I will battle the fair princess!" Said a man rising from his seat. I did not recognize him. He had dark hair and blue eyes. He walked down out of the stands and stepped into the sand across from me.

"Before we begin…" I held up my hand to stop him form attacking me. "I would like to know your name…" He smirked.

"Marcus." He said flashing a large smile. I had heard the housemaids giggling and talking about him as they cleaned. He was quite the lady's man. His looks did not appeal to me at all, just another Spartan man.

"What weapons are we going to use?" I asked raising an eyebrow. He walked over to the weapons laid before us and picked up a spear and shield. I smiled as I thought to myself.

His memory must be strong if he remembers that I am deadly with a sword… I thought to myself as I picked up another pair of weapons and took my position opposite of him. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I slightly turned my head and saw my father take a spot right next to Dilios.

Oh no… He found me… I sighed in my mind. I tried to refocus on the battle and look Marcus in the eyes trying to read him.

Dilios's POV

The boy was extremely cocky. You could see it in the way he walked.

She fell into a low stance, getting as low to the ground as possible. The boy just smiled and he suddenly ran at her, spear held high. He let out a loud battle cry but the girl got underneath the boy and flipped him behind her with her shield.

He landed on his back with a loud thud. He remained there for quite some time. The girl stood confidently above her opponent, circling him.

I shivered as I thought of how she looked so much like one of the large mountain wolves and how they toyed with their food instead of killing it right away. She stood with a smirk on her face and paced in the sand, waiting for her prey to get back up.

The boy slowly climbed to his feet, still amazed that the battle was not over.

This time, Alexandria took the advantage. She knocked the boy off balance with her shield, but only slightly. The boy rocked back on his feet and Alexandria threw her shield away from her. A very dangerous thing for a Spartan to do in battle.

She used his backwards momentum and swung the blunt end of the spear at his ankle. It connected and he did a flip in the air and landed on his back again, the air rushing from his lungs. His spear and shield flew away from him and he lay there looking up towards the sky, the princess skillfully spun the spear around and pointed its tip at his throat, signaling that the battle was done.

The princess was done with her prey; he was too easy for her to beat. She wanted another predator.

From my side, I heard her father let out a small laugh but the rest of the arena was dead silent. Everyone still had their eyes on her, figuring out exactly how she did that move. No one had ever seen that move before. It was a combination of grace and speed but it was still very deadly.

I looked towards the stands to see Stelios slowly descending the stairs. He was going to be the other predator.

Marcus walked out of the arena and up into the stands to watch the remaining battles. It was quiet still and everyone's gaze turned on Stelios. Would he be the one to defeat this terrifying beauty?

Alexandria slowly turned, assessing her opponent. Part of her success was always based on her foreground she laid. Alexandria had a gift for reading people and she was trying to read Stelios now.

He stepped down into the sand and her body tensed.

She slowly walked over to her discarded shield and strapped it onto her arm. Stelios slowly walked over to his weapons and prepared for battle as well. It would be a long, tiring battle.

She turned and smirked at her opponent. She gave a slight nod and he nodded back. In the blink of an eye, Alexandria was moving towards him. She swung her spear around but Stelios blocked it. He swung back but missed.

The battle waged on for three hours and they were both feeling it in their joints. Finally, Alexandria took a different tactic. She loosened the strap to her shield and threw it like a discus at Stelios's feet. He easily jumped over it but that wasn't the point.

Alexandria leapt over his head and caught her shield on the other side and thrust her spear where his stomach should have been but he was no longer there. From behind her, Stelios knocked her off balance and she fell down into the sand, her weapons flying away from her. Her spear only a short distance away, she tried to crawl for it in the sand.

Without thinking, Stelios dropped his spear and shield and dove onto her. This would be one of his only chances to beat her and he would use her own weapon against her.

They both reached for the spear, Alexandria was struggling under his weight. There were a lot of grunts as they pulled at each other so that they could reach the spear. There was a time when she pulled his long hair for a chance at the spear. He returned with a tug of his own on her long golden braid. She let out a loud cry of pain and suddenly her body went limp under his.

He looked down, worried that he might have actually harmed the princess. She was lying face up and he was lying on top of her. Without warning she arched her back and then quickly flattened it back against the ground creating space between them. With the little space she had, she managed to get her leg high enough.

She kicked Stelios in the groin and a cry of pain swept over the audience. Stelios himself let out an ear slitting cry of pain and he fell to his side, holding his manhood. She quickly picked up the spear and pointed it at him.

This battle was over.

She tossed the spear down into the sand, exhausted. "And that's what you get for groping me…!" She said out of breath. The audience laughed at her remark and she tossed her long braid over her shoulder and walked over and sat down on a bench. Her father walked over to her and handed her a cloth to rid her face of the excess sweat.

She gratefully took it and whipped the sweat and dirt from her lovely face. Stelios slowly got up from the ground, still clutching his man parts. He had a distressed look on his face. He took his time walking over to another bench and slowly sat down. He glanced over at me but quickly looked away.

Someone in the crowd stood up. "I think it be a good idea to see if our great king can beat the princess!" Everyone turned and looked at him. It was Theron, the politician. That treacherous snake.

Everyone was agreeing with him. I look over to our king and he slightly nods his head. He stands up and walks into the small circle arena. Two major predators, entering the arena. Alexandria waits a minute more for rest but soon joins him. They gather their weapons which consist of more shields and spears.

The battle waged on for an hour. It appeared that it was going to be a stalemate. The king had knocked his daughter to the ground. She looked around on the ground and threw some loose sand up into his eyes, using this to escape, Alexandria tried her move again. She knocked him back with her shield and then flipped him over with her momentum.

She brought her spear down but he broke the head off it was no longer a spear. Alexandria looked down and her father kicked her back, connecting with her stomach. She flew through the air and rolled a few feet and lay still.

A little concerned, the king walked over to her.

She slowly turned over and he pointed his spear down at her and the fight was over. He offered her a hand and she took it. Alexandria clutched her stomach; a nice dark bruise was already starting to form. He lightly touched it and she slightly winced.

"You fought well, my daughter, but I think you should only use that move when your enemy doesn't have a shield or else that might happen again…" He said pointing to the bruise. She just nodded and went and sat down next to Stelios on the wounded bench.

Stelios's POV

"I'm sorry I kicked your…" Alexandria said slightly blushing. I didn't say anything. "If it makes you feel better, I got kicked really hard in the stomach?" She said trying to smile apologetically. I looked at her flat stomach and watched it rise and fall for a moment.

Her skin was flawless.

I shook the thought from my head and turned away. She gently reached down and placed my hand on her stomach.

"See? You can already feel it!" She said with a slight laugh. I pulled my hand away. She stood up from the bench. "I am truly sorry, Stelios…" She said sadness filling her beautiful face.

"No. It's okay, princess! It was just training exercises!" I said in a hoarse voice. She nodded slightly and walked over and picked up her cloak that still lay in the sand. She wrapped it around her shoulders and walked from the arena, her father at her side.

Just before she turned the corner, she took one last look at me before disappearing for the night.