A Lovers' Altercation

     She stood on the hilltop, wind whipping at her skirts. The lightning formed a halo around her, and the thunder drowned out the beating of his heart. She was perfection, and yet again he felt unworthy to lay eyes on her.

     Slowly her head turned, her eyes found his. Her expression never changed. It never did. But in her eyes was the promise. Best me, and I'm yours.

     He approached, slowly, hands out at his sides, open to show they held no weapon. Soon he was standing close enough to smell the flowers she wore in her hair, close enough to be scorched by the heat of her body. Still she regarded him with her cool, level gaze, never took her eyes off his.

     "I've been taking lessons. I may actually win this time." His self assurance shocked him, but she gave no reaction, only slid her feet into a fencer's pose and waited.

     His own feet felt heavy as he took his stance, his arms like sticks as he reached for his rapier, grasped the hilt. She did the same. They drew, saluted, touched blades, and began circling, searching for an opening. They'd been through these motions so many times before that it had become automatic. Thrust and dodge, parry and riposte. The only dance they had ever done. How he cherished it.

     The clouds broke overhead, drenching them in midnight rain, but they paid no heed. Their minds were on the fight. Their focus only on finding an opening in their opponent's defense.

     Blades clashed. They advanced, retreated, and suddenly, there it was. The barest hint of an opening. It was the closest she had ever come to letting her guard down. He would leave himself wide open for an attack, but if he didn't take this opportunity, another might never come.

     He lunged, made contact, nicked the skin on her cheek. She didn't seem to notice right away. Instead her gaze travelled down to the region of his chest, where she gazed with an air of detachment. Then her free hand went to her face, pulled away stained with crimson. She met his eyes, blinked once, and pulled her blade out from between his ribs.

     The pain came, then. He looked down to see his life pumping out at an alarming rate. Weakness took him, and he fell at her feet, clutching the wound like a treasure.

     As his vision dimmed, he could make out her form as she knelt next to him. She smoothed away the hair from his eyes, kissed his forehead. His breath left him in a blissful sigh.