by W. C. Jasper
The Prince now had far too much respect for her. This was not only someone who was incredibly intelligent and greatly skilled in battle, but this was someone heroic - as virtuous as a woman could be. These were the qualities he perhaps respected the most. He also knew very well that King Jeraash must have already decided to award her the military division she requested. But he was enjoying the fight far too much, and so he said with a devilish smile, “Okay, let us start this. I can barely contain my excitement, My Lady.” That was the first time someone had addressed the future Queen of Jerudia with that title. A commoner was being addressed as a noble lady. Was it divine prophecy that performed this utterance through his tongue that day? Or was it just a coincidence since the Prince liked to address women that way? No one will know. But he certainly did not know at that moment that she would one day become his favourite queen.
As she readied herself for her final chance, Maomi had realised that due to his superior speed, he had a tremendous advantage. She needed a solid strategy to manipulate his reaction into forcing him into a position where she can finally land a hit. She waited for about 15 seconds as he also decided to let her make the first move this time.
This time, she charged at him with a speed greater than she had been employing until now, probably her utmost. For the first time, Prince Jared took a proper fighting stance with his left fist in front of him at about shoulder height and his right fist below his chin leaning to the left. His feet were about shoulder-width apart and his torso faced a little to the right. She started off with a right hook, but instead of waiting for him to react, she anticipated the moment of his reaction and timed her left hand to grab his right hand at the exact same time. Maomi’s right hook, while extremely fast, was still restrained. She held back speed on her right hook and instead used maximum speed for her left hand. The sudden switch in speed certainly caught the Prince by surprise. But even though the Prince might have been slacking in reading his opponent, switching speeds was his own speciality, and not to mention the fact that his reaction speed was still in play. As soon as she caught his right hand, he moved to twist both her arms downward. Maomi had read the Prince quite well by now. She predicted exactly this reaction from the Prince. As soon as she had grabbed his right hand, she had already launched a head butt with maximum force and speed. With the Prince’s attention being engaged on twisting her hands downwards, his reaction was delayed just enough for her full-speed head-butt to connect. As soon as her forehead smacked into the Prince’s forehead with a thunderous bang, General Thayman and King Jeraash’s entire body tensed up and their faces contorted as if they could feel the pain themselves. They had realised that Prince Jared was going to take serious damage from that hit, but also that Maomi, not possessing the supernatural durability of the Royal Household, was going to take just as much damage from that attack.
Nevertheless, this was the first time that a stranger had been able to inflict any hurt on Prince Jared. This was something that deserved a significant spot in the history books. The headbutt was so powerful that Prince Jared fell back with a serious whiplash that put tremendous tension on his neck. Prince Jared’s mind was rocked out of consciousness; and before he could regain control of himself, she unleashed a vicious right hook to his face followed by a powerful left fist to his rib cage, followed by a straight right punch to his face with a ridiculously deep wind-up. The final punch sunk into the Prince’s face like a boxer’s fist sinking into baking dough and sent him flying over 13 feet, flipping over many times like a rag doll.
King Jeraash jumped in at once and spoke calmly in his typical composed voice, “That will be enough. I can see that both you and my brother are having too much fun. But I cannot have two monsters battle it out inside the city. Your point has been made, let us get moving before civilians start crowding this place on account of all the thunderous noises you two have made. We will speak further when we reach the palace.”
Prince Jared rose to his feet with a devilish smile on his face. A smile that was quite similar to the smile Maomi was wearing - one that expressed his disappointment in being bested as well as his respect for his opponent. But there was more delight and joy on his face than anything else. As Maomi walked over to the old man to check up on him, Prince Jared walked over to King Jeraash and whispered, “Brother, this was probably the most fun fight I have ever had—” when King Jeraash interrupted him, “Jared, thank you for pulling your punches, I am going to marry her.” Prince Jared’s eyes widened with joyful surprise as he looked into King Jeraash’s eyes and started hopping with delight like a child who had been promised sweets and yelled out, “Woo hoo!” as King Jeraash knocked him on the head and signalled him to quiet down. Prince Jared let out the widest grin expressing his joy and proceeded to hug his elder brother.
With General Thayman carrying Akini on his shoulder, everyone started moving out of the arena. When the King and Prince reached Maomi, she said, “Do not think I am unaware of the fact that you held back on your strikes. I am well aware of the supernatural durability you possess on account of your royal blood. I know that you realised that while I have as much strength as you, my body did not have the same durability as yours. Accordingly, you decided to hold back your strikes to avoid fatal damage to me.” She continued as they started walking, “I am actually disappointed in myself. I should have been more careful with my first two exchanges. It was quite uncharacteristic of me to misjudge my opponent. But I assure you, it will happen never again, My Prince.”
Prince Jared smiled with great delight as he replied, “Ahh… Well, I will be honest, you are undoubtedly one of the most formidable warriors I have fought. I would love to someday battle you when we both do not have to hold back. Truth be told, if we both did not hold back, I myself am not sure what the outcome would have been.”
Maomi did not turn her face at the least as she smiled, “I would enjoy that too, My Prince.”
The party reached the palace as the evening was falling. King Jeraash had called ahead for the meeting of the three Generals and the Council of Elders. As the King’s party reached the royal court, the rest of the meeting’s attendance had already arrived. King Jeraash commenced the meeting, “Let us begin. We have gathered for an extremely unique situation today, to say the least… We will first address the little troublemaker here. This amazingly talented little girl here, is the winner of the tournament. I award her 500 silver coins and the legendary twin swords of Naathosu.”
The entire room fell into a state of complete shock. Their surprise was justified as it was a most treasured weapon, even one of the most sought-after weapons in the world. General Feniro decided to speak, “My King, I would never mean to disrespect you. And everyone here respects your wisdom greatly. But, may I ask why we would be handing such a treasured weapon away to a nobody? I would understand if it were being handed to a warrior who has proven themselves in battle, but giving it to a young girl who has no battle accomplishments troubles me.”
General Feniro was 5 feet 10 inches tall with brown, rough skin and built like an intimidating warrior.
King Jeraash replied with no discernible emotion, “She is actually going to be trained under the tutelage of my younger brother, your Crowned Prince. It is the shared opinion of your King and your Prince that she is going to be an elite warrior and that she should wield this weapon.”
“As you say, My King,” answered General Feniro.
The Prince and Lieutenant Hana were always included in such meetings at the King’s pleasure. Quite a few people in the meeting were unhappy about their presence in the meeting, but General Feniro was probably the one most displeased about it.
Akini spoke out in her signature hostile demeanour, “I never agreed to be anyone’s pupil, and I do not intend to either… My King.”
Prince Jared who was standing at the side behind General Thayman slipped out a laugh. As he laughed, some of the chips in his mouth spilt and he spoke, “We shall see about that,” and continued to laugh as he proc
eeded to pick up the mess of chips with his bare hands and hand it to a guard to dispose of it.
General Eraami: “What kind of creature carries around chips in a bag? A prince of the House of Rash-Yaph doing such unheard things… Quite unbecoming of a prince.” General Eraami was 6 feet 5 inches tall with fair skin, dark hair, and a broad frame; and was built like a mighty force of nature.
General Thayman laughed uproariously at that comment as Prince Jared replied, “In all honesty, General Eraami, I believe one day the entire world will be following my glorious example. I consider myself a visionary if I am being frank.”
King Jeraash put an end to that conversation by moving the meeting forward, “The champion of the tournament did, however, cause quite the ruckus. The punishment for which I shall decide later.” King Jeraash waved his hand as the guards took Akini away and continued, “There is a more serious matter at hand here, and that would be regarding Miss Maomi here. There will be no discussions regarding this matter, consider this only an official notice. Miss Maomi is going to head a special division of the military consisting only of female warriors. Only 25 warriors at a time will be allowed to be a part of this force. She will hold the rank of General Advisor. Whether her rank is equal to the Generals will be discussed in the future when we have a better understanding of her role and the dynamics are better developed and I have had more time to think about it.” Standing in her typical, dignified and graceful stance, she made no reaction. Her eyes stayed as serious as ever. There was no doubt that everyone in the room was absolutely entranced by her unmatched beauty.
While the entire attendance was all the more perplexed at this point, it was only General Eraami that spoke, “Would I be correct in assuming that we will not be receiving any information about how this person was recruited or why we are suddenly trusting a complete stranger with an entire division of the military?” King Jeraash knew very well that what was happening here was extremely queer and answered, “I understand that I have announced two things that seem to be beyond all reason and rationality, but after having proven myself to be a trustworthy king for almost six years now, I am asking you all to trust your King.” General Eraami and General Feniro both desired to protest this decision, but they knew that most of the Council had absolute faith in the King and hence chose to forego it.
Towards the end of the nineteenth hour of the day, King Jeraash ordered for Akini to be brought to his presence. The King was in one of the bigger living rooms with General Thayman and Prince Jared when she was brought to them. After all this time, she had still not calmed down even the least bit. She was as hostile and anxious as she was when first tied up by the Prince. The guards who escorted her to the room left the room right away, closing the door behind them.
King Jeraash: “The Prince would like to have a conversation with you.”
Prince Jared spoke with a stern expression now, “Lady Akini, I understand that you do not wish to train under my tutelage, so let me make you an offer that will be impossible for you to refuse.” Akini stopped wriggling as Prince Jared continued, “Your bonds will be undone, and you will fight me right here and now. You will have 300 seconds to land one straight hit on me. That’s all. Just one hit. It does not even have to be a clean hit. Decent enough contact shall count as a hit. If you can manage that; then in addition to the 500 silver coins and the legendary twin swords of Naathosu, you will also be awarded three more weapons of your choice from the Royal Armoury.” Akini found that impossible to believe and looked over at King Jeraash, who nodded in confirmation. Prince Jared continued, “When I win, you will swear absolute fealty to me as your master for the next 15 years.” Akini agreed to the terms without even a second of thought.
General Thayman released her bonds and then proceeded with the King to seat themselves on a sofa on one of the ends of the room. Akini, who was released from her bonds after quite a while, stretched extensively, performed a few acrobatic manoeuvres, and practised a few punches and kicks to warm up. Prince Jared did no such thing. He stood still with observant eyes and gestured for her to begin.
General Thayman announced, “Start!”, turning over a five-minute sand timer in his hand. Like an arrow, Akini launched at once with all the speed she could muster, with all her power focused in her dominant (left) hand. Prince Jared moved his head to the left, swivelling his torso to the right and dodged it with almost no effort. When her left hand had crossed his head, he caught hold of her throat with his right hand. Before she could even realise that she was caught, he threw her into the wall on his left across nine feet. As Akini crashed into the wall as if she were hurled by a catapult, the very integrity of the wall was compromised.
“Do you really think you are qualified to lead a military unit of your own?” asked Prince Jared with contempt-filled eyes. With blood dripping down her mouth, she stood up in visible pain as the wall behind her displayed a mildly visible dent. Without taking even a second to regroup, she was already lunging at him again with a fake right hook followed by a left roundhouse kick. Prince Jared, who was facing the left wall now, saw through the fake right hook and did not react to it and caught her left leg with his right hand; and without turning an inch, threw her into the wall behind him across nine feet. The Prince had employed even more force this time and despite partially shielding herself from the crash, Akini ended up with a broken wrist. As Akini got up, growling like a wild beast, Prince Jared spoke again with a mocking voice and an animated face, “Do you need a hand getting up, my tender damsel in distress?”
Akini was now in a rage hotter than the fires of Mount Naathosu, her eyes were almost popping out and her face was visibly red and vibrating in fury. She once again launched at him with a straight left punch as Prince Jared hopped to his right; and while still in the air, clobbered her left cheek with his right fist, and sent her flying across 12 feet. Akini got up with great difficulty this time, flaunting a bleeding gash on the left side of her face. Her eyes were bloodshot red and her face was about to explode in rage as she wiped away the blood on her face.
She dug her left foot in the ground and launched herself forward at full speed like a projectile knife, winding a straight punch with her left fist. Prince Jared ducked low, and turning around 180 degrees, caught her left hand and slammed her into the ground like beating a dirty cloth on a riverbank’s rock. General Thayman and the King heard cracking sounds as their faces ever so slightly contorted in sympathetically communicated pain.
King Jeraash: “You are not holding back as much as you should, Brother.”
Prince Jared made no response as he proceeded to signal General Thayman to throw him the sand-timer.
Prince Jared held her down with her stomach pressed against the ground and her hands secured behind her back and placed the sand-timer in front of her face. She watched the sand-timer, struggling to break free as the time ran out slowly and sluggishly as if the sand-timer itself were taunting her. Akini wriggled and writhed, refusing to accept defeat as the reflection of her own face on the sand-timer’s glass displayed to her the misery of her current state. With every jerk of her body that failed to free herself from his hold, she watched the upcoming 15 years of her freedom slip away slowly and steadily. The glass prison that caged five minutes’ worth of sand now reflected to her the next 15 years of her life caged in Prince Jared’s hands.
Once the time ran out, Prince Jared released her hands. Akini was not wriggling anymore. She recognised that she had experienced absolute failure for the very first time in her life. She had finally accepted her defeat. As she lay on the ground looking at the sand-timer, lost in a thoughtless mind, Prince Jared spoke, “According to our terms, you now owe me your absolute fealty for the next 15 years. And I will train you sincerely for your own benefit regardless of your attitude. But you see, a pupil who does not trust me is a liability, more than an asset. So, here’s my offer in its stead - You swear to me not only your fealty but also your absolute trust, and I promise to turn you into a warrior greater than
anything you have ever dreamed of. I will give you my word, as the Crowned Prince of Jerudia, Son of King Jahous Ehbed, a Prince of the House of Rash-Yaph, that I will make you a warrior so great, even you would marvel at it. You too know that there is no questioning a word given by the House of Rash-Yaph. It always comes to pass.”
Akini lay on the ground for a few seconds as she processed the Prince’s offer and her body rose and fell with every breath she took. As she got up, multiple creaking sounds were heard, but no pain could be seen on her face, only the fire and the focus in her eyes. Akini looked at the Prince with eyes like fire that burned with a violent resolve. Prince Jared was loving her even more now, if it were possible; he could not have been happier about finding the exact kind of pupil he was looking for. Akini snarled with a voice that was strained with severe injuries, “I wish I had not lost. And let me be painfully clear about this, I hate what I am about to do.” Tears streamed down her raging eyes as she continued, “But, I am doing this because I have a goal of my own. A goal that I mean to achieve at all costs. And what has happened here today has proven to me that I am not ready to pursue that goal yet, and that you are my best means of achieving that goal. I swear to you my absolute fealty and unquestioned, blind trust for the rest of my life, except when it concerns my one personal goal. And in return, you will help me to become as powerful a warrior as I can possibly be.”