Chapter 13: dirty little tricks

Her sword sunk deep into the dirt of the training ground. Both Kiera and the Head Knight looked at each other, neither of them speaking until the Head Knight let out a scoff.

"Clever Beast. You've bested me, but only because you used your tricks." He pushed off of the ground, patting away the dirt on his white uniform as he got off from the ground.

As soon as he spoke those words, his Knights all let out their indignation over the result of the fight. Their anger was met with the equally indignant Beasts who were not about to let their leader be disrespected in such a way.

"She used her dirty tricks to win!"

"What dirty tricks? Our General won because she's the better fighter!"

Shouts from either side resounded through the training grounds. The noisiness of the heated argument made Kiera want to drop her sword and leave this foolishness behind, but she was afraid of what her warriors would do if she left.

She didn't think they would shift into their animal forms as her soldiers were typically good at reining in their emotions, but it did seem as though their emotions were more ferocious as they aimed their own frustrations at the Knights. She watched her people as they growled, some of them baring their teeth to the other side.

For the first time in a while, Kiera didn't know what to do to cease the rising conflict. If she failed to act, this was sure to bubble up into an even bigger problem.

Kiera looked to the Head Knight but found he did not seem to care in the slightest. He truly looked as if he had no intention of stopping the situation from spiraling out of control. Perhaps he even wanted something bigger to come out of this.

She gritted her teeth, glaring at the Head Knight for not taking his loss with dignity. Then she opened up her mouth to put an end to the fighting.

"Enough!"

"Trickster!"

"Beasts have no honor!"

Her shouts were drowned out by the Knights as they shouted towards her.

"What is this I hear? Beasts and no honor?" A familiar voice rang out, making all the Knights stop their incessant cries. All heads turned in the direction of where the voice came from. Their eyes landed on the golden splendor that was the prince's head as he walked down the stairs of the wooden platform that overlooked the entirety of the training grounds. Beside him walked a man Kiera had never seen before. He wore a monocle over his right eye.

"Prince Sam." The Head Knight quickly bowed his head as the Third Prince approached them.

"You may rise Sir Pavel." The Knight did as he was told, raising his head only when the prince told him.

"I was watching since the beginning of the fight." He smiled, green eyes twinkling with the same playful glint he always shows. "I was wondering what sort of tricks you were all referring to."

"My Prince, the Beast General knocked me off balance with her blade." Sir Pavel brought his hand over his chest, attempting to explain the situation.

"Yes. Like I said, I was watching along as was everybody else here." The prince's eyes made a clean sweep around the grounds, gesturing to the others with his hand. "We all saw you fall after the Beast General managed to catch you off guard."

Sir Pavel's face began to heat up. His dark eyes flashed with rage as he looked at the smiling-faced prince.

"Your Highness the rules of a dual are that you must fight with honor!"

The prince tilted his blond head slightly to one side, his eyes creasing at the corners.

"Honor? Where was your honor when you raised your silver sword towards a Beast, knowing full well Beasts are sensitive against such a metal? It seems like you were the one not fighting with honor Sir Pavel." The esteemed Knight looked flabbergasted, opening and closing his mouth as the prince peered at him.

"What do you have to say for yourself Sir Pavel? You could have seriously injured one of our precious guests." The iciness of the prince's voice surprised Kiera, but that wasn't the only thing that surprised her. How did the prince know the sword Sir Pavel had fought her with was made out of silver? It was hard to tell such a thing unless you were knowledgeable with the different types of metals.

"I apologize your Highness." Sir Pavel got on his knees, bowing his head down in shame.

"What are you doing?" The prince's voice changed back to his normal, cheery tone. "General Kiera is right here. The one you should be getting on your knees apologizing to is her, not me."

"Forgive me General Kiera." Sir Pavel gritted out with much difficulty. Kiera knew he did not sincerely apologize to her, nor did he want to bow his head down to her.

"Take your Knights and leave the training grounds Sir Pavel. Your training ends here for today."

"I will do as you command your Highness." He rises up from the ground, not bothering brushing off the dirt on his uniform and storms off. His Knights cleared the training grounds as well.

The Third Prince turned to her, his eyes lighting up with warmth and admiration. Kiera fought the temptation to turn away from him, as the sight of his glittering eyes stirred an unknown emotion in her.

"I've heard of your skills General, but to see them in person is nothing short of impressive." She stared at him, unsure of what to say in response to such a compliment.

Then it dawned on her that her soldiers were still around them, looking at the two of them with unblinking eyes.

"Everyone, back to training!" She yelled out, and all the Beasts hurried back to their sparring. Her Captains went back to observing their squadrons, but Kiera knew they strategically placed themselves where they would still be able to hear their General and the Third Prince's conversation.

"Thank you for your praise your Highness." She turned back to the patiently waiting Prince whose smile brightened considerably more as soon as their eyes met.

"I do hope you know that I am not just giving you empty praise, my dear General. Your skills are truly exceptional. Sir Pavel has been fighting for many years as our fifth squadron's Head Knight. For him to be so easily caught off guard by someone less than half his age shows how capable you really are."

Again, the way he easily complimented her rendered her speechless. Her mind searched for a way to redirect their conversation to something else so the prince would stop looking at her with such awe.

"That's nothing," from out of nowhere, Cody interjects, "you should see her when she really gives it her all." Cody smirked at the prince. "Your Head Knight never stood a chance against our leader." She glared at her Captain, and was about to tell him to get back to his squadron, when another voice popped into the conversation.

"Not to mention, our General graduated early and at the top of her class at the Academy. Her battle strategies impressed our King so much that he quickly promoted her from Captain to Beast General." Jade joined in, proudly listing off her leader's accomplishments. Behind her, Bryan nodded his head.

Kiera pinched the bridge of her nose.

As she felt the sting of embarrassment, the Third Prince looked on, unfazed by her three Captains' sudden intrusion.

"I understand how delighted you all must be to have Kiera as your leader." He chuckled. "I only wished our Kingdom had someone as outstanding. Although, I'm sure there's no one else on this world quite like her." His eyes met her eyes when he spoke, and she instantly felt the warmth that radiated from his eyes.

Cody opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Jade who jumped on the opportunity to speak to the Third Solomon Prince.

"Prince Samvel, if I may ask, how did you know the Head Knight used a silver sword? I thought silver was not commonly used by Humans."

"That's right. We don't normally, but with the rising monster attacks we've found that using silver helped tremendously in their subjugation. We've had to learn how to tell silver apart from our steel." He cleanly answered her question, smiling down at the dark haired woman.

"Now it's my turn to ask you a question." Jade nodded, wholly excited with the prospect of conversing with Human royalty.

"What is your name?"

At his question, Jade smiled widely. She bowed her head and introduced herself.

"I am General Kiera's second Captain, Jade Trotter, your Highness." She elbowed the Bear Beast standing next to her.

"I also like to introduce myself to your Highness." Bryan hurriedly said. "I'm General Kiera's first Captain. Bryan Stonewall." He bowed his head to the prince.

Prince Sam smiled at her two Captains before his green eyes settled on Kiera's most troublesome Captain.

"I assume you are General Kiera's third Captain?"

Cody haughtily looked at the Third Prince. Kiera knew the smile on his face usually came with some bratty reply.

"That is right. I am also the future twelfth Ge- "

He is stopped short when the hilt of Kiera's sword jabbed him in the stomach. The Third Prince's eyes widened when Cody doubled over.

"Show some manners. You are speaking to Solomon's Third Prince." Kiera bowed her own head towards the prince. "I apologize for my subordinate's rudeness your Highness. His name is Cody Howler. He's my third and final Captain."

"You don't need to apologize Kiera. I wasn't offended in the slightest."

Kiera rose her head and Prince Sam gestured over to his side to the silently observing monocled man.

"Let me introduce to you all my aid, Kepler Thornton." The raven-haired man bowed his head, and spoke in a deep voice a few greeting words. He seemed to be a man of very few words.

"Now, for the main reason why I came to the training grounds," Prince Sam returned his attention back to Kiera.

"I would like to formally invite you over to my Palace for dinner."

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