Fairy Tale Assassin - Chapter 17

The Duel

Chapter 17

The day of the duel occurred on the day before Ruby and I had our final golem test with Eva. I’m sure the guild master set the dual as part of her revenge. After all, if Hansel beats me, I’ll have little time to recover before the guild master’s final testing. There’s no doubt that Hansel intends to inflict extreme injuries if he can get away with it. I heard this information from Ruby. She discovered my duel will be as difficult as possible, maybe even deadly. Still, I remain confident, since the parameters favored me. Overconfidence has a way of biting people in the ass, and Hansel made the mistake of letting me choose my weapons.

However, I’m worried about Ruby. Her anger came out during our conversation, and it took effort to calm her. In a dark supply room, she was still breathing hard while straddling my lap. As I used my tongue to play with her nipples, I told her how I believed the events would pan out.

“I think Eva wants you to intercede on my behalf. Please trust me,” I said. “Unless Eva interferes, I won’t lose to the son of a bitch.”

She trembled from the suckling I was doing, but she kept her wits enough to state the obvious.

“But if she interferes, you can’t beat them. Why did you bet our…your coins?”

I stopped my entertainment and smiled at her.

“It’s our money,” I gently reminded her. “Anyway, most of the guild members betting on this duel believe Hansel will win. So, we’ll make a small fortune when I beat him. Do you think the loyalty of the members remains with the guild master if she makes things obvious? Trust, not fear, is Eva’s biggest asset inside the guild. I learned a long time ago; you don’t screw with people’s money. It makes them angry.”

I kissed her deeply.

“I don’t think Eva will tilt the scales unless you get involved. The guild master knows she can’t do anything obvious,” I said. “But if you jump in there, we’ll make Hansel the victim. Eva is powerful. She could strike us and things would go bad. Then she’d tell everyone she’s trying to keep things fair. We’d lose too much.”

She looked at me with concern before she finally gave a nod. I smiled.

“I’ll give Rampion credit for helping us. He’s set this up nicely for us to make a tidy profit and a bit of revenge.”

Ruby pressed my face into her cleavage.

“Just don’t die. I can’t live without you.”

“You’re stronger than you think, my gorgeous girl.” My voice came out as a murmur. “But I won’t lose. I need to make a statement that day!”

She brought my head up.

“I trust you, Covan.” She gave me a long kiss.

Her beautiful eyes came to mind while I walked out of the blacksmith’s shop. I was wearing a long, black-hooded cape which was longer than the guild issued clothing. Over my shoulder, I carried my bow and a quiver holding arrows. My sword inside its sheath hung down from my waist. In my dominant hand, I wore the knuckle buster. With each step to the main training area, my rage slowly intensified.

The reason for my anger came from Hansel’s latest stupidity. Before I entered Smithy’s shop, Sorrell stopped me. She told me about Hansel and several of his friends cutting off Ruby and her in a tunnel earlier. Hansel told her Ruby could save me by agreeing to bed with him. Sorrell told me the bastard claimed he would accidentally kill me during our duel otherwise.

“Ruby was so angry, I thought she would attack him,” Sorrell told me. “I don’t know how she did it, but she calmed down and laughed at him. Do you know what she told Hansel?”

I shook my head.

“Ruby told him she doesn’t bother with a pole so small that Gretal couldn’t find it!”

I chuckled at the response, but I fumed inside. Sorrell patted me on the shoulder with a nod.

“Remove that arrogant smile from that bastard’s face!” she ordered before turning away. I watched her for a moment.

Ruby’s got a great friend.