The trouble with being an 11-year-old princess is that it's dead boring most of the time. You'd think that living in a castle would provide endless avenues for entertainment, but when you have not only your mothers and grandmother breathing down your neck all the time, but an endless stream of bodyguard as well, it tends to cramp your style a bit. Or anyway, that's what Emer Lohan will tell anyone who asks. So when a warrior named Zal dropped by Cearnach Kingdom for a visit one day, Emer saw the opportunity for some excitement at last. Deirdre was always pushing her to practice her sword drill or to skip seconds on breakfast in favor of more exercise. So the chance to test herself against a real fighter was too good to miss.
The next morning, Emer slipped out of the castle before dawn and sneaked out of the city to visit the training grounds located in a little forest not far away. The Cearnach Army had several such sites scattered here and there, but this was the only one open to visitors. She mooched around for an hour or so, and she was just about to go back home when she saw Zal stride into the clearing, trailed by a tall lady in blue who look for all the world like a dragon, to Emer's eyes. She waited for them to warm up and watched Zal practice a few moves against wooden dummies with a variety of weapons.
When she was sure a match would be fun, and that she could take him, she walked into the middle of the clearing and picked up a practice sword. "You're pretty good at fighting those dummies. How about you try it out with a real fighter?"
Zal looked at her in surprise, but at least he didn't laugh. "Sounds like a challenge to me. Are you sure that's what you want, kid?" he said.
"You bet your stripey butt. Come on, I haven't had a good fight in ages," Emer said.
Zal's companion nudged him and lowered her voice, thinking Emer couldn't hear. "Go easy. She's a princess, you know. Remember what happened the last time you had a queen mad at you."
Emer waved her sword at both of them in the sort of theatrical gesture her grandmother despised. "She won't get mad if she doesn't find out. What do you say?"
Now Zal did laugh, and he picked up one of the blunt practice swords with a bow. "I'd say that if your mother's half as feisty as you, the rest of the world is in big trouble."
The fight started out slow and easy. Zal dodged every strike Emer made, but every one of his attacks clanged against the blade of her sword or stabbed into the dirt rather than come anywhere close to her. He knew every trick and countered every feint she made, but somehow never managed to press any advantages home. In spite of herself, and all her training, Emer found herself growing frustrated. "Are you taking this seriously?" she said.
"You should know better than to talk," Zal said, and he swatted her on the leg with the flat of his blade. It barely stung, but it made Emer furious and she launched herself at him with a will.
The next few moments went by in a blur, and it was lucky that they were only using blunt training weapons. Emer was sure that she struck Zal several times, and she felt his blade hit home more than once, but she didn't care. She didn't stop until she felt a large hand gripping her shoulder and looked up to see Zal's companion glaring down at her while she twisted Zal's ear in her other hand. "That's quite enough from both of you," she said.
"She started it," Zal said.
Emer stuck her tongue out at him and put her hands on her hips. "I'd have finished it, too, if we hadn't been interrupted."
The larger female growled and squeezed harder, making Emer wince. "We're going home, right now. I think you two need time to cool off," she said.
She herded the two of them out of the clearing like naughty children, but, to Emer's surprise, she saw Zal smile at her and wink. "That was fun, princess," he said "We should have a rematch sometime."
Emer smiled, and gave him a little salute. "Meet me here tomorrow, without your chaperone. It'll be more fun without her!"
zwerewolf who owns Zal (right) and Marinka (center)
