A quick swing of the sword, a lunge, a turn, an evasion, a strike, a new lunge.
The rival would not yield. Allura felt that her strength was running out, but she could not give up, so she tightened her grip on her sword and rushed into the fight with renewed force.
It was all in vain. Now she was not attacking, but defending, and with such tactics, it was not possible to win, especially over him.
At the limit of her strength and ability, Allura spun around, swinging her leg, aiming for the man's stomach. But he dodged, and she saw the sharp teeth flash in a grin. That was what enraged her the most about Lotor. He had a good sense of his own strength, he was able to calculate several steps ahead, so he always won over her. There was no way she could overtake her Master. She was absolutely sure that his experience of several millennia affected him. And Allura couldn't help but be angry with her father and fate for sleeping for so long in a cryopod: it was such a waste of time.
The outcome of the battle was prejudged, if not from the very beginning, then now — for sure. But she wouldn't be the Princess of Altea if she gave up so easily.
"Come on, your Highness, let's get this farce over with," Lotor's voice reached her ears, and they twitched as always with pleasure to hear him. This irritated Allura in Lotor, too. Of course, he could hardly change his voice, certainly could not, and she could only pray that the Prince would not find out how much it affected her.
"No way!" she said breathlessly, gripping her sword.
Lotor sighed and made a mock bow. Allura stifled a laugh: as if he were not a Prince, as if he were her servant, and she could do to him whatever she wanted. Although, in fact, it was he who did everything he wanted. And she allowed him.
Allura no longer even defended herself, she only tried to evade his attacks, which he carried out playfully, seeing that she was already exhausted. He knew that the right to decide when to stop the fight was up to him now. Lotor stepped on her playfully until he pinned her against the wall. Allura had nowhere to run, and she could no longer fight him. And it was not just here, in the training arena, but in general. The Prince had completely penetrated her thoughts and dreams. So she stood now ready to give up.
Allura was breathing hard, her usually neatly coiffed hair disheveled, and her cheeks flushed. She lifted her chin, looking into Lotor's eyes. He was smiling a winning smile. Of course, the Prince must have known how he affected her, perhaps even heard how her heart was beating like a dove against her ribs.
"Do you give up, your Highness?" Lothor lowered his sword and came closer to her.
Allura didn't want to admit the defeat, but she had no choice. Her fingers loosened, and the sword thudded to the floor.
"This round is yours," she said, trying not to lose her dignity, but her voice was trembling, and it did not escape Lotor's ears.
"Where's my prize?" Lotor's right eyebrow raised.
Allura swallowed nervously as she looked at his lips. But then she remembered that she was a Royal. The Princess straightened up and looked at Lotor as majestically as possible in her situation. This had an effect, and he took a step back.
"You forget yourself. I won't kiss you just because you won this time".
"I won last time, and the time before that, and…"
Allura made an impatient gesture to stop him and was going to leave, but he caught her wrist and pulled her to him. For a moment she was scared, but he let her go and just tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Thank you for the fight," he said, backing away. "It was... fascinating."
And Lotor left, his heels clicking on the floor of the arena. Allura froze where she stood, thinking that he would at least look at her, but he didn't turn around. She ran her hand over the ear that his fingers had touched when he was arranging her hair, and sighed. Allura already missed the Prince. She would have to admit that it wasn't just this fight that Lotor had won, and it was only a matter of time before she finally surrendered to him.