Abigail pov
He was going all out yet his father was saying that he had taken a liking to me. Ha! If a person could attack this way while he was in love then what would he do when he would be filled with hatred! Gerard was such a calculative man, he could never love anyone.
I moved back and turned to stop his attack, and then bent down to hit his torso.
"That was a wonderful defense." he said with a smile. That smile was cold and ruthless with the bloodlust filled in it. It reminded me of the time when he had killed me mercilessly with the same sword.
Cold wind started blowing on my skin, and I suddenly felt very hot too. 'You need to focus, Abi. you can not lose to him.' I reminded myself again and again, and finally it worked and I defended the attack on my chest at the last second.
He was much stronger, physically and in his skill but I have one advantage. I know all of his tricks. The moment I came out of the past and started paying attention, I could see all of his tricks.
And before he could move the sword, I already knew how and where he was going to attack. And with my new skill of Sir Seymour training and my experience, I was easily able to handle all his attacks.
He looked at me shocked when he was not even able to touch me, but I have already hurt time twice. His hand was red from bleeding and so as his torso had a long mark and even his shirt was torn.
"That is it. The time is over." I heard Sir Seymour shouting. I looked at Gerard who gritted his teeth yet nodded.
We both descended the temporary stage and walked towards our prospective seats when I asked him.
"So, who won lord Gerard?" I asked him not because I wanted him to decide out of respect, I asked him because I wanted him to accept his own defeat from his own mouth.
For a proud man like him, accepting his defeat publicly was the biggest insult he could bear.
"It is you who won, my lady. I must say I am quite impressed by your skills." he said trying his best to smile yet his eyes were brooding.
"Ah, no. I am just at the learning stage. I still can not defeat all the knights of my palace" 'it means that you are worse than them since You can not even defeat me.'
"You are underestimating your prowess, my lady." he said with a darkened face.
"I would prefer if you call me, sir Abigail, lord Gerard." I pressed and he nodded but did not say anything further and sat on his seat.
For now it was enough, after an hour or two I will remind him about my prize.
"My lord, you need to go to the physician" said his aide and he finally looked at his injuries. He was so blind with hatred that he did not notice the pain at all.
He nodded and left the ground giving a final look to me.
I just smirked when he left when my eyes met Noah. he was looking at me with complicated expressions. Darn! I forgot that he knew my level of training and I have used many attacks that were still not taught to me.
Why the hell did he keep an eye like a hawk on me all the time! I turned my head away and started looking at all the competitions. I was hoping that soon Josephine would come and roast me. But surprisingly she didn't even spare a glance at me.
"Your royal highness, if you would come with me, I can suggest you better knights." said Nick when Josephine was coming towards me. She gave a side look to me but nodded and walked away with him.
The whole evening went surreal as I kept thinking about the results. When the ground emptied I wanted to go too.
"How did you know each of his attacks?" The question that I was trying to run away from was the first word Noah asked when he stood in front of me.
"What are you talking about?" I feigned ignorance when he asked me, but he was not ready to let it go.
"You are average at the start, but in the mid of the competition, your speed increased and you fought like you already knew what he would do? Like you have fought with him so many times or seen him fighting. You were able to guess every attack just by looking at his face!" He explained each and every word, not because he thought that I did not get it.
It was because he wanted to show me that he knew each and everything.
"You are thinking too much. In the start I was trying to decipher his tactics so I was not that fast. But his face was indicating what he was going to do. Like his eyes kept looking at my neck when he wanted to attack it. So, i start getting the hints and fought accordingly.`` I told him and he tilted his head.
Though he was not that convinced but even if he spent his whole night thinking, he could not find any other reason. So he nodded in the end.
"But it still did not explain the steps you used. They were not the one I have taught you and so was Nickolas. Even the way Sir Seymour uses the sword is different from the way you used it. It was like the way, the family of archduke fights, it's their personal art which they have never shared with the knights." he asked again. I really want to curse at him.
Why did he pay so much attention to me!? Did he not have any other work!
"What can I say! I am a genius when it comes to fencing. I can copy steps of my competitor just by looking at them"
"..."