Riona twisted and turned her hands, preparing her joints for the sparring match ahead. "Alright, Princess, how about this: winner gets to choose the punishment. Deal?"
Lisbeth scoffed, lunging at Riona with her sharp claws extended. "Please, I don't need a contest to determine your fate. I'll choose your punishment regardless."
Riona leaped backward, ducking to avoid Lisbeth's claws, her breath quickening with each evasive move. "Always a buzzkill, aren't you?"
"Why were you training in the forest in the middle of the night?" Lisbeth demanded, pausing their attacks as they circled each other like predators, eyes locked, muscles tense.
Riona smirked, raising her shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. "Win a round against me, and maybe I'll spill the beans. Spoiler: it's more thrilling than your coffin time."
She knew it was a risky move, sparring and betting with Lisbeth.
How long had it been since their last showdown? How much had her adversary's power grown since then?
If she lost, she'd have to spill the beans about her plans to join the Nightwarden.
What would that petty princess do if she found out about Riona's intentions to take the test? She couldn't afford to lose. But then again, Riona had never tasted defeat at Lisbeth's hands, and she wasn't about to start tonight.
Lisbeth's eyes narrowed, her voice dripping with venomous refinement. "Your arrogance will be your downfall, Fangless. One day, you will beg for mercy."
The princess whipped out her signature move—blue stakes, straight out of a vampire's art class—and flung them at Riona, who danced around like a bat whose wing was injured to dodge the pointy projectiles.
Riona laughed with a wild glint in her eyes. "Mercy? From you? I'd rather take my chances with a pack of werewolves. At least they don't suck as much."
Well, actually, they do, but let's keep it from her, Riona thought.
Lisbeth growled under her breath. "You and your insufferable arrogance! Must you always go out of your way to make my life intolerable?"
As if fueled by sheer annoyance, Lisbeth's power surged, releasing bigger and faster blue stakes at Riona. Suddenly, dodging became more of a frantic ballet.
"Excuse me?" Riona deflected a blue stake that nearly grazed her with a swift slash of her red arrow. "Shouldn't I be saying that to you? You're the one who started calling me Fangless, and in case you didn't notice, it is my nickname now."
Irritated by Lisbeth's twisted version of events, Riona pressed on, bombarding the princess with her red arrows. "You never miss a chance to torment me and my brother. You'd do anything to keep me from living in peace!"
Lisbeth snarled, deflecting the red arrows. "Peace? With you around, peace is as mythical as a unicorn."
"Oh, come on, Lisbeth. You'd miss me if I wasn't around to spice up your dull, royal life," Riona taunted, dodging another volley of stakes with a grin. "Admit it, I make your undead existence a little less boring."
Lisbeth vanished with lightning speed, reappearing right in front of Riona. In an instant, her palms were around Riona's neck, slamming her against the wall with superhuman strength.
If she applied just a bit more pressure, Riona's neck would shatter.
Hissing close enough for Riona to feel her breath, Lisbeth sneered, "You, my dear, are the stain on my perfect existence."
Riona struggled to escape Lisbeth's grip. How in the fang did she get so strong so fast? While Riona was barely managing to stay conscious using level two of her power, Lisbeth's progress had somehow skyrocketed.
Riona had to grudgingly admit that Lisbeth was no longer the little, whiny girl she used to be.
Filtering her energy, Riona focused on warmth instead of ice, summoning arrows soaked in flames. Lisbeth's sharp cries echoed throughout the hall as the fiery arrows stung her.
"Your Highness!" the knights called out, clearly worried, but Lisbeth's pride kept her from accepting any help.
"Silent! I can handle this. I can handle her."
Riona silently coughed, finally able to breathe freely, suppressing the urge to rub her sore throat and reveal just how effective Lisbeth's new choking technique had been.
"Don't kid yourself, Lisbeth," Riona taunted, even though deep down she was still rattled. "You know I always enjoyed letting you believe you were winning before I showed you who really holds the power."
Lisbeth's eyes blazed with fury as she lunged at Riona. "I will tear apart your fangless teeth and make you a lab rat because we still need to see why Eira could produce a defect like you."
She extended her claws toward Riona, just barely missing her. Riona smirked, darting past Lisbeth with a speed that outmatched her by a hair's breadth.
Riona leaped off the wall and landed gracefully, dusting off her skirt. "Oh, yeah, that's a great idea. I'd love to know why a 'defect' like me keeps kicking your royal backside. Maybe I'm not a defect, but an upgrade from your version of 'vampire.'"
Lisbeth landed and charged forward, her face twisted with rage. Riona defended herself with fiery arrows, but Lisbeth transformed into a bat, dodging the arrows with her small form.
"You couldn't even turn into a bat. You should stop calling yourself a vampire!" Lisbeth scorned, slipping through the arrows.
She shifted back into human form, claws aimed at Riona's neck. But Riona spun around, grabbing Lisbeth's wrist with a strong grip.
With a swift motion, Riona yanked Lisbeth and hurled her into the wall. Before Lisbeth could hit the ground, Riona was there, delivering a flurry of punches to her stomach.
Lisbeth's eyes widened in terror as Riona drew back for a final blow, an arrow poised to strike.
Riona paused, a smirk playing on her lips. She let go, watching Lisbeth crumple to the ground, gasping for breath and battered.
"This is no fun anymore. Let's call it a day," Riona said, her tone dripping with mockery.
As Riona walked toward the door, she suddenly felt like a huge rock had been thrown at her from above. She collapsed to the ground, struggling to breathe. Gasping for air like a fish out of water, she saw a shadowy figure standing by the door.
"Your Majesty!" Everyone bowed deeply.
All Riona saw was the menacing glint in his eyes, looking down on her as if she were nothing more than an insect.