“And furthermore, it brings into question your integrity. How do we know that you’re not feeding information to another kingdom? In fact I-”

Varian had begun to tune out the cleric. His words faded out into a blend of whumps and whomps. He had always unfairly targeted her through accusing her of being a spy. Not that he was wrong, but it irritated Varian to no end that he was right without a reason. Not to mention that it also meant her job was that much harder. And he was still going on and on even though it should have been clear she wasn’t listening.

“Silus, stop talking for once in your life. I will not suffer disrespect like this in front of everyone.”

“Oh yeah? And just what-”

Varian put her hand up to silence him. She didn’t say a word. Instead she took her glove off, calmly approached and slapped him with it. She discarded her glove to the ground and made sure Silus knew she was disgusted he had even touched it. The entire ballroom had gone silent, with all eyes on the two of them. It was rare to see such direct challenges at this high of a level in the court. However, it was still a lot more embarrassing for someone of Silus’s position to decline.

“Humble party-goers,” Silus spoke loud but with an even tone despite his apparent anger, “it seems that I have been challenged to a duel. I ask you to bear witness to the terms and I hope you’ll hold us accountable for whatever we agree to. As is custom, it will be a duel by blade until first blood. The challenged chooses when and the challenger chooses where. With that said, I accept the challenge and choose that we do it right now.”

“And I choose that we duel right here. I want everyone to see what happens next.” The crowd gasped.

“Next we determine the stakes. The challenger offers and it's up to me to accept or negotiate. So, Varian, what is your angle on this challenge?”

“I’ll keep it simple. If I win, I want you to leave me alone. I get full rights to be treated like anyone else in the court. No more lectures, no more accusations without actual evidence. If you win, you can search all of my possessions.”

Silus took a moment to think it over. He had tried, and failed, a dozen times to get someone to go through her belongings in hopes of finding out what she was actually there for. He smiled a confident smile.

“I’d like to add that if I win, you will resign from your post and be exiled from the court.”

“I figured you’d ask something like that,” she paused and then let out a sigh, “Fine, I accept your terms.”

Silus reached his hand out to Varian. They both shook and verbally accepted the terms of the duel in front of the crowd. Shortly after, a couple guardsmen approached with finely crafted wooden cases. Once a table nearby had been cleared off, they gently placed the cases on top. An officiator for the duel had arrived as well. They approached the case, undid the clasps and began to inspect the blades in front of everyone.

With everything in order, the two stood in the center of the ballroom. Traditionally, this area was meant for dance and mingling among the guests. She figured this was as good a place as any for a dance older than tradition. She gripped her saber and attuned her strength to its weight. Something this light required more control than overpowering muscle.

Silus stood across from Varian, looking extremely confident in himself. Having lived for longer than Varian, he had a bit more experience than she did. She knew that she’d have to rely a little more on outlasting him. She kept her confident facade and began to clear her mind. Doubts wouldn’t do her any good here, especially not against someone as smug as Silus.

“Are both parties ready to begin?” Both Varian and Silus looked at the officiator and nodded. “Then we will commence the duel. Reminder, first blood wins. Do not aim to kill, only draw blood. Three, two, one.” The officator’s hand fell signifying the start of the fight.

Both fighters dashed towards each other until they were in striking range. Silus brought his sword down in one fluid motion. Varian brought her weapon up and caught his with the flat side of her blade. Despite his age, she could feel his overwhelming strength in action. As he began to bear down on her, she slid her sword along his. Using the handguard to her advantage, she threw his sword aside and went to follow up. Silus backpedaled to avoid the hit.

It was a stunning dance between the two. One would attack, the other would find a way to block or avoid and follow-up. But neither seemed able to get that little extra push they needed to actually land a blow. At the very least, Varian knew the crowd would be entertained by the show. She was aware that the longer the duel went on, the sloppier both of them would become. She just had to keep going, to keep-

There it was, an opening. Varian focused the last bit of her strength and energy she had into hitting him. Just before the sword found purchase in his side, he narrowly slid out of the way and sent her flying past him. As she passed, he tagged the back of her leg, which had lost balance as she fell. The officator concluded the match and the crowd erupted in cheer for the cleric.

She sat in a stunned silence on the floor. The cut on her leg was minor, but even a major one wouldn’t have stung as bad as the shame on her tongue. She didn’t know what to do. Everything she had spent so long working for, the trust, the lies she had built up, were all going to come crashing down and she would be helpless to do anything about it. Silus approached her.

“Remember, this is what you asked for. You fought well but you’re brash in how you handle things. I hope this taught you-”

The words faded from her hearing again. But instead of the normal tuning out she experienced when Silas spoke, everything began to ring. Varian did notice he had reached his hand out to help her up. It was a respectful thing, he thought. As much as he hadn’t wanted to admit it, she fought admirably. Seeing that hand in front of her made everything go red.

She grabbed his hand and stood up quicker than he was expecting. Suddenly, his gloating has stopped. It's like the breath and words were stolen from him. A metallic taste coated his lips, as a crimson red began to peak out from his mouth. The dagger slid out almost as easily as it had slid into him. She kicked him back towards the floor and sprinted to the balcony. Just like that, she had faded out of his sight and into the night.