Fighting Dirty

Ethyn had been anticipating the punch. He had known Nuall long enough to realize how the blonde man would react to a challenge.

As such Ethyn had leaned to the side so that the blow did not have its full effect as it connected with his jaw. That is not to say it didn't hurt. The pain blinded him for a moment as he fell to his knees.

"I'd like to see you try," Nuall mocked him. In the blonde man's mind, nothing could get in the way of what he wanted. And what he wanted was power and a princess for a wife.

"Not here," Ethyn answered, spitting blood from where his teeth had cut the inside of his mouth.

The pompous man gave him an incredulous look. "What? Are you going to tell His Majesty?…" Nuall's eyes narrowed, "No, you are going to go crying to the princess and hope she believes your sob story."

"Perhaps." Ethyn could see he had struck a nerve. "Are you afraid she will believe me?"

Nuall balled his fist. "No."

"Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?" Ethyn took a deep breath.

The green-eyed knight knew a fight was coming no matter what he did. Nuall wouldn't let him leave until one of them was beaten into a pulp.

That was the reason that Nuall had poisoned him: to weaken his target. Ethyn felt foolish for thinking the vindictive blonde would have left him alone after the knighting ceremony.

Nuall only settled for total defeat of his enemies.

"You think you are so much better than me. How many times do I have to knock you into place for you to stay there?" Nuall pulled back his foot to kick the kneeling knight in the chest.

The blonde thrust his boot forward, ready to break Ethyn's body with the toe of his hard sole. Ethyn had noticed the tip before. It was covered with silver metal that had an inlaid design of a thorny flower.

It was beautiful…and painful. The impact would break Ethyn's ribs and do irreparable damage to his body…

…if it landed.

But Ethyn words were merely a stalling tactic for him to regain his strength…and to find the right opportunity. That time had come.

Rolling back his right shoulder, Ethyn took hold of the flying foot and pulled with all his might. Nuall lost his balance.

All his force had been put behind the blow, and upon meeting no resistance, the blonde went flat onto his back.

"You tricked me!" Nuall growled.

"Still blaming others? You didn't have to kick me." Ethyn stood. His body ached but his mind had never been clearer.

Just because he didn't want to fight did not mean he was unable. The green-eyed man reached deep and pulled from his innate strength as Nuall rose from the ground.

"You don't have to do this," Ethyn warned his companion.

But Nuall was past reason: past walking away. There was to be no talking just now: only violence.

Running at Ethyn, Nuall threw two punches in quick succession. The blonde was furious, which made his punches sloppy.

The redhead easily avoided the first and let the second undercut roll off the side of his body. Ethyn sighed, disappointed.

He had been kicked and punched, and the pincess's honor was at stake. Ethyn's patience had run out.

With grin determination, the redhead bent his knees and raised his fists. When Nuall came at him again, the bulky blonde received a black eye on response.

'His guard is terrible!'

Two more attempts by Nuall to take down his opponent lead to two more rebuffs.

'Seriously, how did he pass the trials for becoming a knight? His hand to hand combat is lackluster.'

"You need to work on your defense, Nuall."

Nuall wiped his brow, where a cut was trickling with blood. He growled, clearly unappreciative of the criticism.

Raising his fists, Nuall burst forward with his torso, but it was a feint. Dropping to the ground and spinning, the blonde swept his foot and knocked Ethyn flat onto his back, his head only nearly missing the stone wall as he crashed to the ground.

Then Nuall pounced on the redhead and let loose a rain of punches. The sheer number of them was more than Ethyn could block.

He groaned, his head beginning to swim with the pain.

But the redhead was not ready to give up. Far from it. Silver never let up in their training sessions. Ethyn was used to fighting from a disadvantage. He was made for this.

The scrappy knight reached up and hugged the other man around the neck. Ethyn's action did not stop Nuall's attack, but it did give him limited range.

Now Nuall's hits could only be to the man's side or he would possibly hit himself. The green-eyed man had impeccable timing and Nuall was unwilling to risk knocking himself out by his own hand.

Wrapping his legs around Nuall's waist, Ethyn forced the larger man to fall on top of him before rolling them both over.

Then with all his weight, he pressed against Nuall's neck, hoping to choke him into submission.

Nuall wheezed and thrashed against Ethyn's vice-like grip, but it was no use. The hug was unwavering.

In a last ditch effort to free himself, the blonde tilted down his chin and bit into Ethyn's soft flesh between the bones of his shoulder and his neck.

Even through his tunic, Ethyn could feel the force of the other kinght's jaws.

"Stop playing dirty!"

Ethyn winced and tensed. It was only for a spilt second, but that was long enough. Nuall broke free of his grip and pushed Ethyn off of his body.

Both men scrambled to their feet.

When the redhead tried to slow the progression of events by grabbing Nuall's arm and spinning it behind his back, the blonde caught Ethyn's hand in his fist and squeezed.

The bones in Ethyn's hand pressed together threatening to break.

'He's strong…I'll give him that.'

Ethyn stomped on the man's foot, careful to avoid the metal tip of the boot. Then he followed it up with a kick in the blonde man's shin.

Nuall shook his leg and backed up. He was annoyed by the underhanded maneuver. "You fight like a girl!"

"How many girls have you fought?" Ethyn tilted his head to one side. "Anyway, you fight like a dog because only an animal would bite like that."

"Better a dog than a rat like you. Nipping at my heels like you can do any good. Why I wouldn't be surprised if…"

The statement had been meant to distract and the abrupt ending came as Nuall came into Ethyn's lowered guard.

But the green-eyed man had not made a mistake. He had left the opening on purpose.. Nuall's fist brushed by Ethyn's ear at the same moment a Ethyn's knuckle bones his him

squarely in the temple.

Staggering backwards, Nuall pressed his back up to the stone wall and slid to the ground. Stars filled his vision, which threatened to go black entirely.

"Leave Her Highness alone. She deserves better than your petty schemes." There was a finality in Ethyn's voice that surprised even him. "Play dirty and you are bound to lose."

He hadn't been sure if he was fighting for himself or Rose—or both. It seemed the princess was at the heart of his battle.

Something rustled outside the alcove, drawing Ethyn's attention from the man who was beginning to rouse.

"Is someone there?" Ethyn called out gently.

Before he could head out and search for the source of the sound, a cold piece of steel pressed against his back.

"The only dirty person around here is you, Sir Hamberg. Everyone seems to know it but you."

Ethyn raised his hands in on the air. 'You have got to be kidding me!'

Despite the palace rules that clearly forbade weapons for party guests…

Nuall had a knife.