A Friendly Match

A few days had passed after the celebration. Dominick was making his way to the west side of the castle. He had a summoning sent to Iyana to join him out on the daytime room on the west side.

The day time room was this large yellow theme room that faced the sun. The area was open to allow the fresh air from the waterfalls, where it faced out into, to float inside. Besides the white chair, Dominick sat in, there was another chair nearby. Along one side of the room were swords, wooden ones that lined the wall for anyone to practice spar outside near the uneven grounds of grass and water, which lead to the waterfalls.

Iyana had just finished cleaning, to the best of abilities, several of the guest rooms when she leaned on the window edge. Since coming here, she could do nothing except remember the look of distraught in her mother's face and the pained hurt in her father's eyes as they were cruelly separated. From time to time, her thoughts returned to a carefree Dominick.

Taking a break, she returned to her room to rest her eyes for a few quiet minutes, letting the darkness consume her. She fumed silently with rage that terrified even herself. All she could think of was hatred, no light shone within her at all.

A knock at her door snapped her out of her trance, and she pushed all of that anger down inside her. "Come in," She said, not bothering to make an effort to sit up.

"You are wanted in the daytime room, Princess." A servant said, bowing as he did so.

"It's just Iyana!" she snapped, rather harshly, closing her eyes, she continued, "Where is that anyways?"

"West side, princ- er, Iyana," He stuttered, surprised by her sudden outburst, "Big yellow room, you can't miss it."

She shooed him away with her hand and took a deep breath before heading to the room where Dominick sat.

With a book and a large umbrella hanging over the chair he occupied, anticipation had him shifting in his seat as he waited for his next encounter with Iyana.

The dancing shadow of a moving individual drew his gaze to the entry of the room, for he had been glancing at the door every few minutes. Hiding his smile behind his book, he pretended to not see her slow approach.

The plan for today is to steal a kiss. Should be easy...I hope.

As she walked in, she looked around at the breath taking room. Lowering his book, his eyes shifted to her form as she approached him. She stopped a few steps from where he sat.

"Nice place, very beautiful." She said pleasantly as if nothing had happened days ago. "So why exactly am I here? I'd rather be helping with dinner preparations," She said, taking a deep breath. "Smells nice in here as well. It�s a pretty room." She then muttered, "Doesn't match the person sitting in it...now does it?"

Setting his book down on the floor, he sat up in his chair until he was testing his elbows on his knees. A smile slowly spread over his face with her small insult. "You're here." He rose to his feet. "Because I need a sparring buddy."

Turning his back to Iyana, he made his way across the room toward the wooden swords. Taking two from their stand, he judged them for the right size.

Let's see how mad she is at me. Returning one of the swords, he took down another. Looking back at her, he took a quick look at her arms before nodding. "This will do."

Walking back over to her, he held out the wooden sword to the princess. "You're my partner. I expect you to come at me with everything you got because I will do the very same."

Iyana took the wooden sword in her hands and examined it. He turned his own sword in a circle with a swing of his wrist. "You could use this as a chance to beat me without any punishment."

She smirked slightly and flipped the wooden sword over in her hands. "Well, I studied more in small amounts hand to hand combat with my father, but we did do sparring every so often. Maybe the skills will come back to me...maybe not." Her gaze returned to Dominick. A burning determination blazing behind her once sad eyes. "I won�t back down from a challenge. I was never as dainty as you thought I was." She let the sword drop to her side and she walked over to the sparring mat.

After she took hold of the sword, Dominick lowered his own to his side. "O'course not princess. I would never call you dainty just fragile." The smile grew bigger as his eyes danced with a hidden secret.

He remembered seeing one match of her with her father. The match was intense, as intense as any sparring match could be. Princess Iyana definitely took after her father, as far as physical skills went.

She waited for him to step on the mat and she got into her starting position, skipping the friendly exchange of handshakes that usually happened before spar matches.

She may have looked confident on the outside, but she felt a pang of nervousness in the pit of her stomach before she started. She had second thoughts run through her mind, she thought of backing out due to fear, but she shook those feelings off and let a little bit of the trapped anger lose. She swung the sword to get a feel for the weight and smirked. "Besides..." She added, "A chance to beat you without getting punished? To think I wouldn't take that offer. Hah!"

As he looked at her now holding the sword at her side, he began to think that maybe this wasn't a bad idea.

I can handle her. I just need to remember the teachings of Master Chase.

He watched her walked toward the mat and fell into steps behind her. "Too bad for me. I was hoping you wouldn't accept the match, Princess," Dominick happily said sarcastically while he made his way onto the mat, moving to a spot opposing Iyana. He took the first move. A move that resulted in Iyana stepped back a few steps.

"Such a fragile princess should watch her footing. You may trip over your own feet." He taunted swing the sword again as he settled into a defense position. Moving forward, he swing his sword down in a slashing way to cut her down the middle. Since they wasn't following the normal routines of a sparring match, he decided to play a little rough to hopefully discourage her.

She scoffed at his attempt to insult her. "My feet should be the last of your worries. I may be clumsy in everyday life," A small laugh, "But when it comes to swordsmanship..." She smirked and rearranged her grip on the handle. It wasn't a half of a second later that she saw his foot slide forward and his sword come crashing down. She drew in a sharp breath that resembled a gasp and raised her sword horizontally above her head, halting the swords movement roughly.

She has an eyes for spotting weaknesses like her father. Dominick watched as she deflected his sword back, causing him to stumble off balance a bit. Seeing her stepping to the side, he saw her next attack. Her sword coming fast. She's fast.

As she swung toward his rib cage, Dominick knew he couldn't allow her to hit him with that swing. He could hear the force behind her swing through the wind. He shoved his sword between his rib cage and her attack, stopping her attack. Pushing back, he turned on his footing to catch his balance. "You almost had me Princess. Too bad you weren't fast enough" He taunted once more as he pushed against her sword. Once they were separated, he came at her again, this time he aimed for her sword with the attempt to break her sword by smashing his against hers.

"Ah, the classic surprise attack," she smirked, "You almost got me there, but I expected as much from you."

Almost had her. He muttered a curse as she rolled away from him. Watching her regaining balance quickly, he searched for a way to disarm her. He smiled in response to her comment, knowing he didn't have much time to think. As she launched forward, he took a quick inhale of breath before he duck down. Once again, he blocked her sword with his as he glanced up, seeing her unguarded stomach.

She stepped off to the side and tilted her sword so it slid off the right, throwing him off balance. "But try to make your footing less obvious, it gives it away."

Finding an opening, he punch toward her unguarded stomach. Stop! His inner voice commands him. He stopped just inches from actually hitting her when he realized that he was sparing with Iyana, not some other guard. Instead he pushed against her sword and stood up.

Before he regained his balance she swung fast and accurately toward his left rib cage as to cut him in half.

"You're one tough opponent, but I'm tougher," the prince muttered through clench teeth. With his leg, he pulled her legs from under her just as he hit her hand with his sword to knock the sword out of her grip.

I'm tougher. "No..." She said, her smile gone, "You may be tough, but you are not strong. Not mentally." She stood up and walked over to grab her sword knowing he wouldn't do anything.

Dominick expression remained neutral as he watched her walked over to retrieve her sword. Remaining where he was, he chose not to attack her, despite being taught to attack at any chance he got.

Walking back over to him, she dropped her sword to her side and stood just a foot away from him. "You couldn't even strike me with your hand... you stopped. Were you afraid of hurting me? Are you too weak to handle me in pain?"

A small smile formed on his lower face. "Maybe I didn't want to hit you, Iyana. Ever thought about that?" He retorted back as he caught his breath. Not blinking an eyes, he wondered just what her game plan was. The air seem to crackle with the coming of something.

She remained silent for a second, staring into his eyes. Then, without any warning signs, she swiped his feet out with her sword, causing him to fall to the ground.

I didn't see that one. He eyes had closed tight during the fall. His mind remembering the last move she made. An image of her swiping his feet from under him floated in front of his mind. "You used your sword," he muttered as his eyes opened.

Before he could recover, she walked over and stepped on his wrist, just hard enough to cause a small amount of pain for him to let go of his sword. She bent down and picked it up, taking a few steps away from him to give him room to get up. "You don't need to adopt a god complex, Dominick. You're not almighty, not any more than I am in your eyes. So are you going to take the sword and fight fair?" She held out his sword to him and a taunting smile slowly spread across her face and lit up her eyes, "If you refuse, I win. And if you use any more cheap moves, I won�t hold back, and I will win."

Glancing up at Iyana with his left eyes closed, he glared at the princess. As she picked up his sword and moved back, he sat up rubbing his wrist. Didn't expect her to disarm me. He chuckled as he pulled himself into a standing position. First one in five years. He stared at her, a smile on his face. "God complex? That's what you think I had. I must disagree. I'm expected to act a certain way here."

Iyana listened, her eyebrow raised as he tried to defend himself. Approaching her, he placed his hand over her. When he took the sword, she smiled and took a few more steps back as well. She looked him up and down before getting into her stance, more on the defensive side since she could tell Dominick was on the offense.

His stared into her eyes. "But I can give you a fair fight. No handicap if that what you are asking for." How is she able to see through me like this? Well I guess I'll see how much she knows me.

Taking the sword from her hand, he backed up a few steps, never taking his eyes from hers as he get into a different position. A more open stand for attack position. His expression collected. "I must warning you. I won't hold back anything. Guard yourself Princess!"

At his warning she smirked and blew a stray hair out of her face, strengthening her stance. "Don't worry about me, Prince, I can take care of myself. But when it comes my time to attack, you best be prepared."

He called and charged forward. His sword low and at his side as he launched forward. Both of his hand holding the handle. Bringing his sword up and forward, he made his attack.

Dominick's attack came expectantly, what with his obvious footwork and the clenching jaw. She defended easily, and, choosing to attack at a later time, stepped back, perfecting her stance, and tightening her grip on her sword. "Is that all you got?" She taunted, her eyes burning with determination. "You're never going to leave a scratch on me if you attack like that."

Dominick didn't say a word to in response to her taunt. His eyes remain unblinking and his hands never left the halt of his sword. He swings his sword horizontally down toward her left shoulder. He expected her to dodge, and so in response to her dodge, he swung his sword vertically to force her to move away. Expecting her to dodge that attack, he when on to slash the wooden sword he used at her torso and then her feet. Rule number one: Exhaust your opponent to the point where they slipped up. Rule number two: Always keep moving. And rule number three:

Iyana dodged his strikes one after the other, constantly moving back and forth, up and down, sometimes using her sword to throw him off slightly. As she fought more, she became slightly clumsier. She looked at him, there was a never before seen determination in his eyes. She continued dodging, surprised at how fast his sword was going.

During one particular swing she blocked with her sword, the counter threw her off causing her to stumble for a second. A whack to the back of her neck sent a jolt through her spine and she took a few steps back, out of the reach of his sword. The playful determination was now replaced with burning anger that would stop anyone in their tracks.

Landing a hit, Dominick's concentration almost broke. The hit he hoped wasn't too painful. That changed when Iyana glanced up at him. The mocking mischief in her eyes now gone only too replaced with a burning rage. Regaining his collect form, he could feel the air sizzling with a riding heat.

"I can see that you're just as tired as me... your eyes say it all. But now, it's my turn." She said in between gritted teeth. "Let�s hope you can dodge as well as you can swing." And with those words, she advanced forward, taking on the offense, swinging her sword quickly and accurately, giving no breaks in between strikes.

He could feel his body screaming at him to stop. The constant moving had always been a major strain on the prince's body, which is why he finished many, if not all, of his opponents in just under a minute. This battle with Iyana had reached pass a minute. The strain caused his legs to feel like purple jelly. However with her attack, he didn't have time to think about his tired vast. Her attack demanded that he moved and move quickly for he could lose an arm in this match. Using his sword as a shield, he blocked her powerful attacks.

Iyana was out of control, she could no longer control her movements, the rage she felt earlier engulfing her. She could see what she was doing, but she couldn't control herself. Her eyes held panic, but one wouldn't know as she was moving too fast.

At this rate, she could break my sword. He stumbled backwards, his feet moving as fast as they could to keep him up righted. Digging his feet into the mat, for she had managed to push him to the edge, he swings his sword just as her swing. The sword hit each other with a large amount of force, causing one to break.

The one that broke had been the prince. Iyana sword manage to hit the prince's left forearm just as he dodged out of the way. He ended falling to the floor, clinching his left lower arm. Glaring, his fighting spirit blazing up in full force, he roughly kicked Iyana feet from under her.

Hitting the back of her head on the floor, she groaned and sat up, her hand clutching the back of her head. Glancing at Dominick, she smirked as she saw him on the ground clutching his arm. "Looks like little Dominick is down for the count... exhausted, prince?" She approached him slowly. The rage only burned brighter as she extended her sword above her head and started to bring it full force on his stomach region.

"Iyana!"