Logan's eyes widened in surprise and he got hold of the sword before it could do any more damage. The tip of the sword has already embedded itself in her neck and if he had not held it in place, it would have sliced her neck off.
Blood trickled down her neck slowly, and she stared at him, an expression of shock and horror settling upon her face. "Wh-wh…" she stammered, her face turning pale.
Out of genuine concern and guilt. Logan let the sword clatter to the ground and he rushed forward and held her face, turning it gently to the side to examine the cut. "Getrude I—"
"I am alright," she said, her chest heaving. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes; not because of the pain from the sword, but because he had called her by name for the first time in years.
"Your Highness I mean," Logan quickly corrected himself, clearing his throat awkwardly. Slowly, he retracted his hands from her neck but she held his hands slowly.
They locked eyes and then Logan looked away, forcefully retracting his hands from hers all the while trying to be gentle. "Forgive me your highness."
Getrude sucked in a sharp breath. "It is alright."
"I shall get you treated right away," he stammered. "Some herbs to—"
"I said it is alright," she said bitingly, walking away.
Logan sighed and placed his hands on his head. That was merely a narrow escape. He wondered why and how the sword had turned in her direction.
"Logan," a voice called out from a distance. Delilah stood there, her maid uniform fluttering in the cool afternoon breeze, she had a tight smile on her face. "I did not know you were now training the princess."
"I did not know I would be training her either."
"I am sure you did not," Delilah replied sarcastically. "The two of you seemed to be…" Delilah wanted to use the word intimate— after all, he had held her face romantically. "Very close."
Logan ignored the statement and moved closer to her, holding her hands. "What are you doing out here? Do you not have duties to attend to?"
"I came to watch you train," she said, snatching her hands out of his.
"What is with your behavior?" He asked in an exasperated voice. Everything and everyone seemed to be against him— as usual.
"Oh, no nothing at all," Delilah said with a tight smile. "I shall be off, I have duties to attend to."
"Delilah." Logan gave a short and frustrated laugh that sounded great fun a scoff.
"See you later." She turned round and began to walk away briskly. Logan pulled her back towards him, the distance between them very little.
He stared into the beautiful dark eyes of his only friend and the only one he could trust in Fermyl pack. Eyes that never failed to enchant him. She looked at her feet, refusing to meet his gaze but he gently used her fingers to lift her face. "Delilah," he said again, wondering what the matter was. Females seemed to be very complicated. "What is the matter? You can tell me anything. I am sure you did not just come here to watch me. Something is bothering you, is it not?"
"Not at all," she replied, taking a deep breath. "I shall see you later. I have to get back to my duties."
"I will... see you later? Yes?"
"It depends," Delilah shrugged. "You might be too busy in the presence of your princess."
"Delilah!" Logan exclaimed, moving closer to her. He chuckled slightly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you… I mean not jealous but…"
"I will admit, I am jealous," she spat.
"Why would you be jealous?" Logan laughed, genuinely confused.
"Well, you are my only friend," Delilah said. "And I get jealous whenever you are with other people but it is fine."
"Oh come on!" Logan laughed. "You have tons of friends among the servant girls and I do not get jealous when you abandon me to gossip with them."
Delilah laughed lightly. "You are a man, men do not gossip."
"Well, who knows? I might enjoy a good gossip." Logan was glad Delilah was back to her normal self.
"It is female talk."
Logan laughed and patted her head. "So that was the reason you were annoyed? I was only talking with her because I have to train her henceforth. Believe me, you are my only friend and will forever be."
"Hmm, if you say so," Delilah smiled. "I shall be off. I do have a couple of tasks needed to be completed."
"Hmm," Logan said, pretending to act suspicious. "Are you sure you are not abandoning me to gossip with your female friend?"
"Oh please," she laughed, her eyes crinkling up at the corners. "Goodbye," she waved, hopping away.
"Goodbye," he waved, smiling as he watched her repeat.
Getrude had turned her back to steal one last glance at Logan but she regretted it as she watched the display before her eyes. From the moment Delilah has approached Logan up until when she hopped away happily. They could not see her but she could see them quite clearly.
How dare Logan remove her hands but hold the hands of the maid?
Angrily, she hissed and stormed off— unable to bear the pain of witnessing the both of them that way. The jealousy that enveloped her was beyond what she could control so she took in deep breaths like Madame Fyn always told her to do.
Be calm. Getrude repeated to herself over and over again until she was finally away from the training ground. The cut on her neck still stung and bled slightly. Knowing that Logan was going to get into trouble for hurting her mistakenly, she loosened her hair from the bun she had allowed it to cover her neck.
Just as she did so, the events of the duel replayed in her mind.
How had the sword turned in her direction without him doing anything?