Chapter 14: Lost

Did I get beat up?

Hell yeah.

She moves too fast for me to follow, it is like trying to catch the wind. Or maybe run faster than my shadow. With every hit she lands on me, the crowd cheers louder and louder, and the bet points rise higher and higher.

I barely dodge a punch when another lands in my belly. I don’t feel pain. I become one with pain.

She doesn’t stop hitting me, expecting me to yield to her. I can’t have her beat me to a pulp and still beg for mercy. Double jeopardy. Goddess forbid it. All I think of as she hits me is how to pay her back in kind.

When I am curled up against the wall with my hands shielding my face from her, a voice cuts through the shouts of excitement. “Enough!”

I crack an eye open and see Rune cutting through the crowd. I have never been happier to see him.

“What is this?” He asks and Ginevra turns away from me to face him, giving me enough space to breathe. My ribs ache. Goddess. This really isn’t my week.

“She challenged me to a duel—“

“You could have