Fantasy Royalty's Fate (Lycoris x Red_Rob)

[Lycoris]

Royalty's Fate

[IMG='width:455px;']http://i.imgur.com/3qS4ypk.jpg[/IMG]
A tale of a prince meeting a swordsman
but nothing goes as expected
​

 

[Lycoris]

It was pretty early in the morning when Leah woke up. The sun was just beginning to peak up over the horizon as Leah sat up in bed and got ready for the day. She did her usual morning routine which consisted of eating breakfast and getting dressed. The young woman attached small armor pieces covering parts of her legs, arms, and torso. After pulling up her long, wavy brunette hair, she finally completed the look with a silver helmet she wore hiding her identity. As a woman, she would never be taken seriously as a skill swordsman, so hiding her identity was the best option she had.

After the girl was done getting ready, she headed out in the village as people were just starting to get up and moving. Walking near the town square, the girl began setting up a small arena where the duels would take place. She had been doing this for a couple of weeks now and word had already spread. Everyone would talk about the mysterious swordsman that was unbeatable. Despite the swordsman small size, he was very quick on his feet and even the strongest opponents stood no chance against the reigning champion.

As Leah was finishing setting up, people already started appearing as a few men were already waiting for their shot to duel Leah again. It didn't take long before the duels began. Each time, the challengers lost one by one, all unable to keep up with Leah as she used their weaknesses against them in each battle.

Red_Rob

 

[Red_Rob]

That's when another candidate entered the homemade arena. He was wearing some black attire, his long hair tied in a ponytail while the black hood covered his recognizable prince's long blonde hair. He brought one of his swords from the royal's armory just for protection but now observing this formidable opponent, the young prince named Robert wanted to step in and fight this other knight. Of course, the prince's piercing blue eyes observed cautiously the opponent's movements from previous duels, memorizing its patterns in case it would come in handy. Then, clearing his throat, Robert stepped after the previous opponent was dragged away from the arena.

The young prince remained with his black hood up and yelled, using another tone within his voice."You there! I take up your challenge to this duel! Prepare yourself!" He got en garde as he slid his left foot forward, while keeping his right one in position, soon extending his right hand holding the sword forward also, as his left hand remained on the side to keep a steady balance.

The sword was made from the finest metals found within these lands, plus its balance was perfect and well made for a one-handed long sword. Its sharpness came from the royal's forges themselves, the handle perfectly grasping its beholder's hand. Robert kept a steady, controlled and relaxed breathing while he prepared for the next offensive move of his target.

 

[Lycoris]

As the last duel ended, another opponent had stepped into the arena. Leah looked at the man standing in front of her, his clothes were all black as he kept a hood hiding his hair. As he spoke challenging to a duel, Leah nodded as gave a small nod. "Very well, I'd love to see what skills you have." She said wisely as she took a second to prepare taking a deep breath before getting in an offensive position. The grip on her blade tightened as she observed the man in front of her as brought his sword forward.

Once she was ready, she quickly lunged forward going with a side strike to the man's side testing how quick the man was on his feet and seeing how he would react.

 

[Red_Rob]

The hidden young prince jumped backwards, in order to evade the incoming attack. The jump, as if it was calculated, will allow the sword of his opponent to simpy cut through emptiness. At that exact moment, Robert took a swing from his right side and with incredible speed, he threw his attack forward. The attack was being circular one since coming from a swing and it was aimed towards the opponent's side also, the aim was to destabilize Robert's foe and not to kill since this was not a deathmatch but a rather simple duel between two strangers.

The breathing was steady, calculated just like the trainers back at Robert's court trained him to be. His own father taught himself these lessons and they were pretty valuable plus effective in the previous battles.

 

[Lycoris]

Leah kept a tight a grip as the man in front of her jumped back avoiding her attack. She was quick to shift the weight of her feet as he aimed an attack at her side. Being quick, Leah moved her feet backing away from the man's strike as she went to strike at him again this time in the legs. She was well prepared to change her attack if he dodged hers once again.
As they fought, Leah kept her breaths silent as she had to be careful not to let the pitch of her voice give away the fact that she was a female instead of a male.

The opponent in front of her intrigued her as we was well skilled and was better than every other man she had previously fought him. She was very curious about him as his sword showed that he did have a lot of money as no normal person had a blade such specially crafted as the one he was wielding. Leah wondered just who exactly who this man was and what kind of rank he had. Surely he must have a much higher ranking than a normal commoner living in the village.

 

[Red_Rob]

The aim for his legs caught him off guard because in a normal battle none aimed at another one's legs, at least so far Robert never saw anyone do it. This made him fall on the ground but extend his arm with the sword and push it towards her chest, aiming not to kill her but simply threaten her with his attack. However, as much as he did not care about winning, Robert enjoyed spars like these, it made him clearly better. This opponent was someone else, perhaps was it a disguised knight shun in disgrace, proving him worthy of his title once more? Or was he simply a show off man, clearly full of confidence?

Whatever Robert's opponent was, this one was clearly very skilled. Robert realized that the breathing was steady and relaxed just like his. This was becoming interesting really interesting. Maybe after the fight, the young prince would even talk to his opponent for a proposition to join the knights ranks.

 

[Lycoris]

Leah smirked seeing she had the upper hand as he wasn't expecting her attack aimed at his legs. She saw his arm aim forwards to her chest. She quickly blocked his attack as she aimed another at his chest. She wondered how long it would take for their duel to end. She had to admit she was having a lot fun as her mysterious opponent was keeping her thinking and on her feet.

Many people have always suggested that Leah become a knight and protect the royal family, but she always had to politely decline. Everyone was always confused, but she couldn't give them her real reasoning. Women were not seen to be fighters and were frowned upon when wanting to fight. They were also forbidden to become knights as men believed them all to be weak.

 

[Red_Rob]

Robert rolled on the left side thus allowing him to dodge the incoming attack towards his chest. Then, he jumped right upon his feet before taking a left swing this time with his right arm, the weapon doing a circular attack just like before but this time, aimed towards the legs of the opponent. At the same time, the man formed a fist with his left hand before executing a punch aimed at the opponent's stomach. Two attacks in one, a combo of some sorts, aimed to destabilize the adversary. Robert was not the one to use dirty tactics like that but he figured that they were not in a royal court so everything was possible.

 

[Lycoris]

Leah watched as the man rolled on his side before getting back on his feet. She saw his next attack was aimed at her legs which she was able to block. But, she hadn't noticed him also using a fist aimed at her stomach. She tried to move to dodge the attack but ended up stumbling and falling back onto the ground. While she fell, she quickly aimed an attack as his left shoulder.

 

[Red_Rob]

This time, the young prince rotated his body to the side but not fast enough, as the tip of the sword pierced his cloth, scrapping the surface of his skin thus allowing him to loose balance, his sword leaving his right hand before falling onto the dusty ground without breaking of course. Robert stumbled for a moment but managed to stabilize himself, so he will not fall. His right hand instinctively pressed upon the wound upon his left shoulder, in order to stop the blood from coming out of his body.

The young prince smiled and in order to let them all know his true identity, he removed his black hood, before letting go of his blonde ponytail, his blue aqua colored eyes observing the person in front of him. There was a little silence before the young prince spoke, using his usual tone, while being aware of the shocked expression on some of the crowd's participants."You there! I see you are a true skilled swordsman! As the young prince of this kingdom and soon to be king, I want you to reveal your true identity to the crowd! The kingdom is always seeking for new, fresh knights!" The wound did hurt but not a lot and Robert suffered far worse injuries before.

 

[Lycoris]

Leah watched what happened next as the man was unable to dodge her attack causing her sword to graze his skin which then started to bleed. She quickly pulled back as the man dropped his sword signaling the end of the duel. Leah sheathed her sword before she got up off of the ground. Just then the man finally revealed himself.

The woman stood there shocked as the man pulled off his hood revealing to her and the crowd that he was the prince. Leah had just defeated Prince Robert in a duel. She stood there for a moment not believing what had just happened, she didn't come back to until the prince spoke to her directly. He was offering her to become one of his knights and to reveal her identity. Even though this was a great opportunity she was being given, she knew she wasn't able to take his offer.

She gave a small bow to him. "I'm sorry your highness but I can't take your offer or reveal myself. I hope you understand." She said feeling a bit guilty she had just rejected the Prince.

 

[Red_Rob]

A few shocked gasps escaped from the crowd as they all gazed at each other, surprised and shocked that she will say that to.. the prince himself?!?!

Robert smiled warmly to his opponent before nodding and clearing his throat, he said."Well.. Why can't you? Are you afraid? Are you a dangerous criminal? Disobeying a member of the royal family might throw you in jail.. And none would like to see such talent wasted in a jail?"Robert offered a logical explanation and with a more insistent tone, pushed the other warrior to reveal himself. The young prince was always curious, starting from a young age, he was always curious, willing to push beyond his limits and beyond his boundaries. Rules were meant to be broken.

 

[Lycoris]

Leah glanced away for a moment trying to figure at way out of this situation. He was pushing her even though she knew that if she revealed herself many people in the crowd would become angry not wanting to believe that they were all beaten by a girl. "I'm not a criminal, but if I reveal myself, I believe everyone wouldn't be happy." She explained hoping that he would understand. She always felt that she needed to tread carefully in order to protect her identity and herself.

 

[Red_Rob]

Robert sighed, shaking his head before he took a few steps forward, still bleeding a little from the shoulder wound and announced loudly enough so that everyone could hear."If you do not reveal yourself, you will be thrown into jail! As member of the royal family, I hereby warn you right now with your final warning to reveal your identity! If you do not, you will suffer the consequences! It's a simple thing to do, I wouldn't judge nor will the crowd of my loyal subjects since they respected a skilled warrior! You are growing quite suspicious, I must say." Robert was getting impatient, really impatient thus being one of the perks or curses of being so young like that, patience had its limits with the young prince.

 

[Lycoris]

Leah watched as the prince walked forward and made a huge announcement gathering everyone's attention on the two of them. She stiffened a bit as she was running out of options, surely he wouldn't actually throw her in jail for something so small? She looked back to the prince as she kept her voice low so only he could hear her. "Could you at least give me time to deicde?" She asked as she found it very unfair to risk the consequences of revealing herself just because the prince ordered her to. "Perhaps you could come back tomorrow?"

 

[Red_Rob]

Hearing her request, he cleared his throat before swiftly announcing out loudly."The prince is hungry so I will come back tomorrow for the warrior's reveal!"He clapped with his hands and turned around before walking off towards the castle, still holding his shoulder while elaborating in his head about the identity of his previous adversary.

Tomorrow, Prince Robert, along with his own personal guard traveled back towards the village where the battle happened yesterday. The Prince was wearing a gorgeous white outfit along with some armor just to show everyone the royal blood that slid through his veins. However, after arriving at the village, he heard some commotion and instantly approached the location of the commotion, seeing a huge crowd surrounding the main show. The young man was curious as he approached with his horse, gesturing with his hand for the common peasants to make way.

 

[Lycoris]

As he obliged to her request, Leah felt relieved as she let out a small sigh. She was not out of the woods yet, but at least she had more time to come up with a course of action for tomorrow. After the prince left, Leah ended the duels for today as she wouldn't be able to focus on fighting if she continued them.

The next day, Leah was setting up as normal while she had yet decided what she would tell the prince today when he arrived. Just as she was about to begin the duels, she was caught off guard as many of the royal knights appeared out of nowhere. "Can I help you?" She asked hesitantly.

Before she knew it she felt them grab her arms pinning her to the ground as she struggled. "H-hey what's going on here?!?" She yelled trying to break free. One guard stood of to the side as he looked ahead at the crowd. "We have orders from the king. This mysterious swordsman is being arrested for treason and attempted assassination of the crowned prince." He yelled as many gasped in horror not knowing what to believe.

 

[Red_Rob]

"Jeremy!" Robert yelled as he heard his title being pronounced by one of the royal knights. Stopping on his horse, the young prince got down from it, dusting off his clothes before walking forward, with ultimate confidence towards the scene and once he stopped near the royal knight yelling such nonsense, the young prince slapped the royal knight across the right cheek before yelling."As you can all see, my beloved people! I am quite healthy and standing! This mysterious swordsman was not an assassin, that I can guarantee because if he would he could've killed me yesterday! Now I order you royal knights to release this swordsman! And this mysterious skilled swordsman to reveal its identity!"

Robert glared at the royal knight who was accusing the opponent from assassination, without any solid proof. Knowing Robert, one could simply guess what could possibly happen. The young prince smiled, but it was an evil, little wicked smile, he had some plans. Plans that would be quite imminent.

// I got an upcoming plot twist.

 

[Lycoris]

The royal knight glanced up frowning a bit seeing the prince had appeared from the crowd. Now things were becoming difficult as he was going to intervene despite that he was the king's orders. "Sorry to tell you this your highness, by these are orders by the King. If you have a problem you have to talk to him." Hd stated simply.

The other two guards brought the girl back to her feet. "Now it's time to see who this swordsman really is." Leah was struggling as everything was just about to become more complicated when they saw who she was. As they lifted off her helmet, her long wavy brown hair feel down to the middle of her back as she looked to the prince with bright blue eyes. There was a loud audible gasp by the crowd as many started to whisper to one another as they all had mixed emotions about this woman.

 

[Red_Rob]

"OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOD! A WOMAN?!?! AHHHHHHHHH PLEASE SEND HELP!"

The young prince screamed, wailing with his hands in a bizarre but seeming afraid moment before he regained his composition and erupted into laughter, soon giving a wink to the gorgeous lady. Calming himself down, he coughed and cleared his throat as he spoke right after."Everyone calm yourselves! Yes, it's a woman! Yes we are all surprised that it is a woman! Even myself, I hereby assume I lost against a woman! Anyone who finds this hilarious or ridiculous, can raise their hands! Now, I will be taking her with me, towards the castle! It's time to meet the King, my father! Royal knights! Give a horse for this young lady!"

Approaching her and kneeling down near her, the prince asked her warmly and softly."Miss.. What is your name? Please do not lie to me, I'm on your side."He gestured for the royal knights to release her and free her from their grasps since they were hurting her.

 

[Lycoris]

Leah couldn't help but look a bit confused by the prince's reaction before she was realized he was joking. The crowd just watched unsure what to do as they had not expected a woman to be capable of beating all of the men with a sword.

Leah looked at the prince as he approached her speaking gentle to her. "My name is Leah, your highness." She said softly.

The knights looked at one another confused as they didn't know what to do now that they knew she was a woman. Surely they couldn't treat her like some lowly criminal against the kingdom. They hesitated before one decided to cut the ropes that bound her hands together.

 

[Red_Rob]

Once some guard decided to cut her ropes, Robert clapped in a sarcastic manner at her and said."Wow! You're the best! Thank you for your initiative! Okay time to go to settle everything with my father.."The young prince sighed before taking gently her hand and leading her to his royal horse. Being a gentleman, Robert helped her get on the horse as he settled on afterwards with extreme ability, soon taking the reigns of his horse, allowing Leah to be behind him.

Then, the small royal cortege got en route towards the castle. On the way there, Robert kept thinking, it seemed that he had something in mind for himself. Something that kept his facial expression pre occupied, while he gazed a couple of times at the royal guards surrounding him.

 

[Lycoris]

Leah wasn't even sure what was happening anymore. At first she was being arrested for attempting to kill the prince, but now she was holding the prince's hand as he helped her onto his horse before the headed to the castle.

She had her arms wrapped tightly around him as it seemed to be that by his power he was keeping her from being arrested. The poor girl just felt so lost as t the moment as everything was just happening around her while she simply just went with the flow.

 

[Red_Rob]

Turning his head to her, Robert whispered to Leah."Do not worry, Leah. You won't go to jail, I'll protect you! Hell, if you want, you can teach some recruits to wield a sword.."Smiling softly once again at her so it seemed to be his type of personality, the royal youngster led the small cortege back to the castle's stables. Throughout the way, The Brave Kingdom stood tall with its extremely fertile plains, farms, rivers, fishes, wooden areas and The Brave Keep, home to Robert's father, Richard The First, old but well respected, was the jewel of the whole kingdom along with being the only city and a prosperous place.

Robert got off from the horse, helping Leah once again and once she was on her feet, the young prince, using his elegant charm, took the young woman's hand gently, planting a soft kiss on the top of it and looked at her with his blue piercing eyes, like if they were burning with love, confidence and maybe possible romance. "Come with me. Time to meet my papa." Thus being said, the young man walked with her from the castle stables towards The Throne Hall where his father usually spend his days, mourning the loss of his wife who was dead while giving birth to Robert.

The Throne Hall was now filled with a bunch of members from the influential entourage: nobles, high priests from various religions within the city and some military commanders. Robert's foots stomped loudly on the marble floor, but the pace was normal so that Leah could keep up. Upon arriving in front of the King and next to him, his two older brothers Rolland and Ramon were also sitting, all dressed with those purple capes of theirs, since it was a royalty sign. Robert ignored them and walked straight to the King before he said, smiling." Father! I hereby want Leah, this young woman next to me, as a knight!"

This shocked everyone as some people, even gasped and collapsed on the ground from the shock. Robert smiled, as he stood there, like a total badass, awaiting his father's reply.