11
"Spar with me," I asked Gideon in front of some of the assembled nobles. The courtyard was as busy as I'd expected, which was going to come in useful. I'd shown the people I was cruel and cold, but now I could show them that I was also skilled enough with a blade that I should be taken seriously. It might be foolish to reveal my skills, but I needed to act, and now was the time.
"Are you sure, Ka-Your Majesty?" Gideon asked, catching his slip almost before I did. Hopefully, if anyone had heard it, then they'd just assume that it was familiarity caused out of our impending courtship. If not, then they'd just gossip about it.
"Would I have asked if I wasn't?" I drew the well-balanced blade Lucia's father had once given me from the scabbard, getting used to the feel of it in my hands.
