Thanks muchly, Melime and Queen Isis! You are wonderful people for actually reviewing *coughs, trying to be subtle* *gives up on subtlety* C'mon, you guys, what happened to everyone? You gotta review, it's what keeps me going...

Anyway, I feel accomplished because people are getting just what I intended from the characters - you're right, Queen Isis, I intended for Tai to be a kind of class-clown character, and I want him in my school! And also, the Prince IS a brat, you'll see more of that in this chappie. Melime, even I don't know what makes Sir tick. :P Sometimes I like him, and sometimes I don't.

No, I am NOT insane!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Seven: Worthy

They were lead out another invisible door to what appeared to be a practice arena for swordfights. The King followed behind at a stately pace, guards on either side of him, which was perhaps a smart move since Reni was so obviously out of patience with the ruler. The arena was, unlike the rest of the palace, nothing special, it was outside in the sun, filled with sand, with a fence around it.

The Last Prince looked at Saali once they got there with a sort of condescension that would have had the widow's blood boiling were she not so nervous. She grasped the hilt of her sword with a sweaty palm, as if to reassure herself it was still there. The jewels looked dull compared to those in the throne room.

"Are you sure this is not a joke, Father?" the Prince drawled.

The King ignored his son. "Prepare yourselves to fight," he commanded, gesturing to two small structures, one on either side of the arena, which appeared to be dressing rooms of some sort. Saali gulped, which felt awful in her paper-dry mouth, and nodded, hurrying into one of the structures and slamming the door. Peering out over the top of the door that was much too short for any sort of privacy, she caught glimpses of noblemen and women arriving and milling around the ring with an excited sort of tension. The woman had no idea how they knew what was going on, and wished they didn't so she could save herself some public humiliation.

Kentai's face appeared over the door. "Hello." Emreni's head popped up for just a moment before he descended from his jump.

"I could be dressing, for all you know," Saali informed them crossly.

"You are not," the tall soldier pointed out, which Saali could not debate. "Hair all set?"

Saali touched her head-wrap nervously. "Do you think it will stay in? I am as good as dead if it moves at all," she asked him nervously.

"I have no idea. But is Sir - Captain Nineyi, is he not going to tell the King you are a widow?"

Saali shrugged, not wanting even to attempt to explain the Captain's motivation not to kill her, since she wasn't sure of it herself.

A hand appeared over the door, holding a pad of paper. THEY SAY ROYALS BLEED SILVER. Silver, in Harad, was much more valuable than gold, which they had in excess.

"Make him bleed, Saali," Tai grinned encouragingly. "I could use the money."

Saali gave a smile that looked more like a grimace and returned to checking her clothes. Her mail-coat was set, her boots laced tight, her head-wrap hopefully would not move...

On Reni's paper: CAN YOU FIGHT?

"I think so," Saali croaked. Her heart was pounding, her adrenaline telling her to run, run, RUN! "Fairly well... it has been a... a while..."

"Want one of my bracelets?" Tai offered. Rolling back his sleeve, he showed her a thick brown wrist encircled by at least ten pure gold bracelets, some with patterns on them, some plain, one with a blood-red jewel in the center of the band.

Saali wondered absently why she had not noticed them before. "Why would I want one?" she asked, confused.

"They are not just bracelets," Tai said proudly. "They are my lucky bracelets."

"Lucky?"

"I have not died yet, have I?" the tall soldier shrugged.

"I suppose not. But they are too big for my wrists, anyway," Saali informed him matter-of-factly. "Where did you get them all?"

"I am a blacksmith by trade, or I was, before all this," Tai said, his grin growing bitter for a moment. "I made them. Whenever someone gave me gold to forge something for them, a necklace or something fancy like that, I would pinch a bit off and make myself a bracelet. And now I am lucky."

"I shall take your word for it," Saali murmured as she stepped out into the glaring sun. Reni nodded respectfully as she passed, Tai gripped her shoulder for a moment before she continued on towards the fight and, perhaps, her self-condemnation. Her skin tingled where his hand had been.

The Last Prince waited impatiently by the gate to the arena. A murmur ran through the crowd: "... a woman..." "...why..." "...will not last two minutes..." "...what?"

"Shall it be death, or first blood, then?" the Prince sighed.

"Er... can I choose?" Saali wasn't quite sure why he was even asking her, or even precisely what he meant.

"The match shall end," the King said loudly as if the Prince had never spoken, "when the first blood is spilt."

Not very comforting, but better than death, Saali decided.

"Take your places," the King ordered. Saali and the Prince filed into the arena, the Prince walking to the far side with a cocky air. "Swords at the ready." They drew their weapons, Saali with sweaty hands, watching the bright steel glint in the sun. It gave her confidence, rather, to see the sword glint the way it had every day when she was a girl, every long, sweaty, grueling day of routine that made her arms ache and her father proud...

Kentai leaned on the fence, clenching his fists, Reni's eyes blazed...

"Begin," the King said casually.

Saali and the Prince circled each other warily, sizing up their opponents. He was strong, Saali decided, and looked to have the reflexes of the cat he called Cat. He also looked practiced. She would have to be quick, and use his size against him, or he would beat her by force.

Their circles grew gradually smaller, their paces measured. "Ready to lose, woman?" the Prince hissed.

He was trying to get her angry, to distract her from the fight, Saali realized quite calmly. "As ready as I shall ever be," she replied quietly, to throw him off. Then, she wasted no time in charging him.

He blocked swiftly and skillfully, taken only a bit by surprise. He was good. The clash of steel was deafening as her swipes were blocked again and again. She jabbed low, she jabbed high, he blocked her every time. As she grew more desperate, she put more of her whole body into the blows. He caught one on the edge of his blade and heaved her sword aside. She went with it, stumbling for a moment before catching her balance and leaping back into position, sword in guard position, ready if he attacked. But he did not.

"It seems a shame," he purred, not even short of breath, "to do away with such a delicate opponent so quickly."

"Have it your -" Saali cut off her own sentence by leaping at the Prince, swinging the blade in a downward curve toward his chest. He blocked jarringly, sending bolts of pain through her sword arm and throwing her off balance. And then came his attack, an avalanche of heavy blows that hurt to block. She held her sword so that they glanced off the side at first, but eventually she could not hold up her defense anymore, and spun away, dodging his blow. He ended up driving his sword deep into the sand.

Saali came at him wildly, swinging her sword every which way, fire coursing through her veins and pounding in her head, she was going to win - but with a mighty heave, the Prince dislodged his sword from the ground and swung it into hers with a clang. Saali stumbled, her sword sliding along his until they were hilt to hilt. And the Prince was standing, leaning on her hilt, forcing her down with pure strength, she could not dislodge her sword, the hilts were locked - here was where she always lost - her knees bucked and her elbows gave way, and with a cry she dropped to the ground and rolled, coating herself in sand, frantically tossing and turning as her opponent's sword sliced into the ground right and left of her.

Flipping onto her stomach, she swung her head from side to side, looking for him; she found him and thrust her sword up at his leg in a last desperate heave. Surprisingly, it worked - he had to stoop to block her blow, and she leapt to her feet, ready to block. But the Prince had backed off again, and they circled, sweat dripping into their eyes as they watched each other's every move. "You are a fiery one," the Prince murmured. "More so than I expected. But no matter."

Saali did not answer, as a sudden terror struck her gut like a frigid knife. What if her hair had escaped? She reached a hand up to check - and it was in that moment that the Prince lunged, catching her off guard. She gained only a few feeble blocks before his sword slid up past hers, making a shallow slit in the side of her neck.

She cringed as she felt the first drops of blood trickle down into the collar of her shirt - she had lost. The fire left her veins and was replaced by ice. She had LOST. What would happen to her now, now that she had been proved unworthy? She heard Kentai groan, then let loose with a few choice words from the fence. It wasn't fair; she had not fought anyone in too long; she was out of practice! She had lost...

The Prince smiled smugly, showing perfect white teeth, and withdrew his sword. "An honor to fight you, my lady," he sneered, although Saali could tell he was breathing hard. At least she had given him a challenge. At least her hair was intact.

The sand-crusted widow limped stiffly out of the arena, panting raggedly through a dry throat. She kept her eyes to the ground.

"You had better get a bandage on that," Sir's voice said gruffly from behind her. Was he trying to hide disappointment, or not? Saali touched her wound - it wasn't deep, and it was only bleeding a bit.

"You put up a good fight!" Kentai exclaimed. "I did not know you could fight!"

Saali dared to glance up. Tai grinned at her; Reni just scowled at the Prince as he left, saying cheerfully, "Good day to you, Father." The various nobles scattered around the place began to disperse, some staring at Saali, some acting as if nothing had happened.

"And to you," the King said politely to his son. He then turned and began marching back to the throne room without so much as another word, his guards surrounding him. One, more slight than the others, with upwardly-tilted eyes like Niera's, kept glancing back at Saali, as if he was afraid she would attack him.

They all filed back into the throne room and waited as the King sat and looked at Saali with a drawn-out sigh. Dread was a lead weight in her stomach. Finally, the King said slowly, "Congratulations, Tasaali."

Saali's head jerked up. "What? I mean, I apologize, my liege - but I lost!"

"My son has studied swordplay since he could walk. It is a passion for him, a near obsession, and he practices incessantly, since he has nothing else to do, anyway. It is, perhaps, all he is good for." The King inserted one of his fatigued-sounding pauses.

"Make him join the army," Tai muttered. "That would give him something to do, for certain."

"He is, if I may say so, most likely the best swordsman in Harad. You lasted longer against him than anyone I have ever seen. You have skill, Tasaali, and you have proven yourself. Welcome to the army. You are now, as of this moment, a spy." The King almost smiled.

The ice in Saali's veins turned to bubbles, and she was dizzy with elation and relief. "Thank you, your majesty," she managed to say. Kentai let out a whoop, laughing hysterically, and Reni smiled for the first time that day. Sir just nodded.

"Captain Nineyi and company, you are dismissed," the royal intoned, and the four began their journey back out into the sunlight.