Chapter 200: Making Friends
The fight on the platform finally came to an end when the serpentine patron managed to catch his nimble opponent’s ankle with his tail, pulling the other man’s feet out from under him and claiming victory with the point of his sword pressed against the fallen man’s neck.
Cheers erupted from the group of people the young man had been eating with and the woman he had called out to raced down the steps, rushing to the fighting platform and nervously examining the man’s wounds.
"Jus’ like dat, you see, cher?" Jacques said, pointing at the couple on the stage and grinning widely. "De gentleman done proved his love. Ain’t dat a sweet ting?"
"I don’t think that fight proves anything," Heila said, shaking her head. "Real battles aren’t like that," she added, frowning in thought. The duel might not have been scripted but there were clearly limits in place. Each man fought hard to subdue his opponent but they clearly weren’t fighting to the death.
"Virve," Heila said, turning to the woman who had stood silently at her shoulder since their arrival. "What do you make of the fight?"
"As my Lady says," the bearish veteran soldier said. "Real battles are different from this. I’ve watched fights in the main arena as well," she added. "Things are more serious there than what we’ve seen here."
"Oh? So dis, in your eyes, don’t count for noting’ much," Jacques said, giving both women an evaluating glance. While the guardswoman who accompanied Heila seemed both competent and experienced, Jacques wondered where the little maid servant formed her opinions about what real battles were like.
He knew that Zedya, despite being a lady’s servant, carried heavy blades that she could fight with in a pinch but this serving girl carried nothing more than a simple two inch blade at her waist. Useful as a tool and for cutting food but hardly the sort of thing that could turn her from a lady’s maid into a hidden bodyguard.
"Still, de gentleman at least done right by his lady, non?" the witch said, raising a scaly brow at Heila.