In his rooms, prince Xander exchanged his training suit for one more fit for court. The court ladies approved his choice with hidden giggles and he rewarded them with a smile, which left his face when he entered court. In front of him was a full house, including prince Aurel and his emissaries. Xander filled a heavy breath as he strode forward with a plastered smile. In his mind he braced for Catarina's outbursts when she were to appear. Xander gave each royal their due respect and found a seat across prince Aurel. He flashed a smile to the other prince knowing Caterina would especially have a word or two to say about her intended. He dared to steal a glance upward to the mezzanine where Princess Caterina sat fuming in her corset confinement.
The proceedings began and important announcements were made. Princess Caterina's wedding was announced for the 4th day of the next month. Next, the crown prince was anointed: loan Belmont, with Xander as his vice. The announcement came with majority applause, but was deafened by Caterina's vocal chagrin.
''No! This is unjust! Not right at all!"
The court fell silent and she earned death glares from Belmont and her mother. Her father though, expected and allowed his daughter to be the character that she was, always open to speak her mind, never to stay silent on injustice. Prince Andrei had wanted Xander as his heir, even trained him to be so, but the votes were against the young prince, most notably, Prince Aurel's.
"Princess Caterina! Know your place!''
"No! You've stolen the seat once before, and this time Xander had even proven himself worthy of it! Prince Xander is-"
She finally shushed when the court doors burst open and in walked a troop of soldiers. They wore red armor and proud smiles as if they were above everyone else. On their backs was a dragon emblem, the undeniable symbol for the house of Dracul.
"No need to argue, my lords and... lady." the man smiled cheekily at the princess who had made her way down the mezzanine.
"You will soon be relieved of the burden to elect."
"You dare barge into my court!" Prince Andrei led the court men to their feet.
"My apologies, your Highness. I am but an emissary from the house of Dracul. I have a message to deliver:
This decree has been sent by regent prince Emilian Lupei! Align your kingdom within a month to the Dracul Empire, and as a loyal subject, pay the tax. If you reject the Emperor's decree, then you will face Lupei's wrath! This disobedience will be deemed a crime. Offenders and their kingdoms will be annihilated. By decree of the prince of Transylvania, Emilian Lupei!
The Transylvanian emissary stood proudly after he was done reading, sure that the court would heed. But Prince Andrei spat at his feet and Prince Aurel strode forth, slaying every other intruder but the messenger. He sheathed his bloody sword and tore the papyrus scroll in one rip and grabbed the proud man by the collar.
"I am just the messenger, sir." The man said still with a smile.
"Now take my message to your prince. We Danesti are unused to such orders. You will not have Wallachia. If your prince is so bent on taking it," Aurel threw the intruder past the door, "tell that little prick to come get it himself!"
As Aurel turned back, clean up was already in progress. The bodies were being taken away and the floors scrubbed of evidence. The silence that had fallen the court for the past five minutes had now disappeared among the chatter that had consumed the room. Prince Andrei caught sight of his future son in law, and made the court quiet.
"There will be repercussions of your actions, prince Aurel. We will have to be ready for war."
"Then that is exactly we will do, your Highness. The proud Transylvanians will not live down their humiliation. I'll be seeing you on the battlefield." Prince Aurel nodded to his father in law and led his entourage to exit.
After his departure, all of Walachia made ready for battle. While everyone was either worried or angry, one person was more than elated. This was to be the first battle to occur when princess Catarina was of age.
In Transylvania, the messenger was met by death at the hands of Lupei himself. The Danesti had dared to rebuke his treaty, embarrassing him. It was war they wanted, war was what they shall receive. And now, Lupei had new war dogs to experiment. He happily interrupted "Vlad" at his fitting.
"My prince, if you please?" Lupei feigned begging at the door.
"Enter, Lupei."
Both Vlad and Lupei rolled their eyes as he entered.
"Speak!" Vlad commanded, ignoring the regent as he fixed his armor chest in the mirror.
Lupei addressed himself to the reflection of the prince in the mirror.
"My prince, as I have done so with many other nations, I had sent out a decree to the Danesti kingdom of Wallachia to peacefully align their kingdom with Transylvania."
"And?"
"Well, the Danesti as you may recall are a proud clan. There has always been bad blood between the house of Dracul and the Danesti. And as you may have assumed correctly, the Danesti have humiliatingly refused an alliance with us."
"Were any and all peaceful approaches made?"
"I'm afraid our only approach had been to send emissaries, and only one had come back alive to report that they had demanded war."
"Well then," Vlad reached for his newly fitted helmet and shoved it on his head. "They asked for war, then war they shall get."
Her aim was true, her sword touching blade side on her nose as she readied herself for battle. Her eyes opened and her sword arced high behind her back, then with a spin of her body, the silver blade cut through the air and a hack echoed through her hiding place. As Caterina stood still with her sword by her side, her melon fiend fell to the floor, diagonally halved.
Her enemy might have only been a fruit, but the juices dripping from her trusty sword made it felt truly like a real battle. With a yelp of joy Caterina twirled around, brandishing her sword. She held up the blade, letting its surface catch the sunlight as the milk of the fruit dripped in her mouth. A much deserved drink after a long battle.
"I thought you'd be here." Xander's voice made the drink catch in her throat as she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth.
She turned to face him with a smile, laughing at herself.
He stood cross armed, watching her with a cocked head.
Caterina rolled her eyes and turned away, going to wipe the her sword clean. She felt him following her and her brows raised in his direction as mischief boiled in her head.
"And how fares your practice?"
"We're good. But we're going against the Draculs. We need to be better. Need better warriors."
Xander knew her well enough to know he wasn't gonna leave here without a fight.
"Good like me?"
"Sure."
"Is that an invitation?"
"Well that would depend..."
Separate from each other, both Caterina and Xander smirked, and Caterina arced her sword back, and the hit of steel on steel rang in her ears as she jumped back to face her opponent.
The air was lit with metal music as the swords clashed and the challengers danced their swords.
Xander rasped a breathy laugh, pressing his sword against hers, forcing her to push against the weight. "It's a bit more of a challenge when your adversary can fight back."
His hazel eyes shone with mirth that made Caterina want to laugh, instead she gritted her teeth through a smile. She grabbed the hilt of her sword with both hands, and rather than push straight up, she twisted her wrists and knocked Xander's sword away and immediately made a strike, not giving him time to recoil. Before her next swing landed on him, Xander had rolled to grab his sword and he blocked, deftly wielding his blade to parry her swing. Caterina met his blow and slowly edged her sword away from his, forcing him to keep coming forward. When he came to the point where he was exactly where she wanted him, she smirked and Xander knew something was up. He tried all his might to gather himself, but he couldn't resist reaching forward further, and Caterina reached out, swinging her sword out and jabbing the hilt of her sword in his back, sending him tumbling forward on the hay floor.
At the least he could brace himself and tucked his vitals and tumbled into the glide.
He let out a yelp as his head banged against the wall. Caterina dropped her sword and ran to him.
"Oh, Xander! Are you alright?! Do pardon me, I got carried away."
His shoulders protected his head and she gripped them, leaning down in hopes of peering at his face.
"I truly didn't mean to hurt you."
His body shook and Caterina was about to cry, but when he lifted his head laughing, all that guilt and sorrow turned into anger and embarrassment.
"You're horrid." Caterina's cheeks were hot with embarrassment. "I thought I'd hurt you."
"Only my ego, sweet cousin,"
Caterina pushed herself off her cousin and came to her feet, storming like a caged lioness.
""Your skills are perfected, Caterina. You are one of the best opponents I've had."
"Mother will forbid me to partake in the battle."
"Well, inarguably, you are a woman. But rest assured, should the war spread back to our doorstep, you have the complete jurisdiction to fight."
He'd meant a joke, but only infuriated her more.
"That is not fair! I am the best soldier you have. I'm certainly better than that sword wielding monkey you call Prince," Xander didn't need to hear his name to know she meant Aurel.
Caterina was almost to her knees, her voice and eyes begging.
"Please, let me join you in battle."
"We shall see."