The Wishing Princess - Chapter 13

13. The Princess and the Army

The Princess and the Old Warrior circled each other warily. They did not immediately attack one another as one would suppose. Each understood that their opponent was very skilled and experienced in sword play. By moving their swords in the air, they judged their opponents reaction time, response action, and above all their skill and familiarity with the sword. Brute force alone is not enough.

The princess did the first attack, but it wasn't aimed at the head or the body. It was aimed at the tip of the sword. She was striking the warrior's sword tip with her blade's body. The old warrior was impressed. There are precious few who could do that with precision demonstrated by the princess. It also showed him that she knew how to handle a sword. The tip is used for cutting and piercing while the body is for parrying and blocking. By attacking the tip with the body, in effect, she was blunting his sword.

The old warrior was a proud fighter. He immediately engaged in a series of thrusting maneuvers. Their distance was such that the thrusting maneuver was ineffective. He did it to gauge the enemy's resolve. Most people would panic seeing a very sharp sword coming to their face, and would attempt to block the thrusts. The princess didn't even blink. She kept her relaxed attitude and blunting the tip whenever it suited her. Otherwise, she'd just acted non-chalant about it. The old warrior was definitely impressed.

Then the princess started to angle her attacks. Her goal was the opponent's wrist. His hand was well protected, but depending upon angle, his wrist and forearm were vulnerable. Normally, in a fight, it is inadvisable to attack those target, but since this was a duel, a scratch there would be enough to win the duel.

It was clear to both combatant that the old warrior had the strength advantage, while the princess had the speed advantage. Yet, her speed wasn't that much faster than the old warrior's while his strength greatly outmatched hers. In short order, the old warrior began a series of strikes that the princess could hardly match and she was pushed backward, desperately maintaining her advantage.

It looked for a while that the princess would lose, but she cleverly stepped back at angles, and the old warrior would stumble and had to reset his approach. The fact that the princess was holding her sword left handed contributed to the disruptions of attack. It was clear, though, that the princess had no strength with her arm.

Finally, the old warrior began to tire, and the princess stepped up the attack. Apparently, the princess did not tire at all. She was as quick and agile as before, while the old warrior kept slowing down. The old warrior decided that since the princess was so weak, he would press the attack savagely and blow the princess away!

But the princess did the unexpected. Instead of stepping back or blocking weakly, she suddenly grasped the sword with both hands and jumped into the attack! Her angle was perfect. Her sword trapped the old warrior's swords and her point was perfectly angled toward his stomach. Her body weighted the sword down, and it looked like the old warrior would have his stomach pierced by the sword.

Only by reacting quickly and jumped back did the old warrior managed to avoid being stabbed in the stomach. The distance between the combatants widened and there's a lull in the duel. The princess smiled.

The old warrior recovered quickly. "That was a nice thrust, indeed. I didn't expect that."

"Yes. I have been hiding my techniques. I have shown you only a partial skill set. By suddenly employing more technique, I can surprise my opponent. Truthfully, I didn't expect you to successfully dodge that thrust. Most people would stubbornly block it, and end up with a sword in their gut."

The old warrior smiled ruefully. "I had always done it when I was young. Sometime between then and now, I learned to disengage when facing unfamiliar technique. No doubt that's what saved me."

"Indeed." the princess agreed. "It takes a lot of hurt to be learned. I'm glad you learned it."

"Well, then, shall we continue?" asked the old warrior.

"No need. I have won." replied the princess.

"Huh?" The old warrior is confused. "One failed strike did not a victory make. There's plenty more to do!"

The princess pointed down to the old warrior leg. There was a blood drop on his pants. The old warrior then saw it, too. "I didn't even feel that." said the old warrior.

"The terms of the duel is 'First blood'. Whoever draws the first blood wins the duel. Since I did, therefore I win." said the princess. "Even a single drop is enough to win the duel. Isn't that right?" The last question was directed to Sarge.

Sarge had no choice but to agree.

"Then according to our agreement, you will turn back the troops." said the princess.

"But I can't do that!" protested Sarge. "I have two thousand soldiers and it is folly to turn back just by a single duel!"

"Then you shouldn't have agreed to the terms to begin with." said the princess. "I'm *so* disappointed in you." she added as an afterthought.

For some reason, this stung Sarge badly. To be chided by a girl. The princess was about to signal her horsemen to attack the troops when Sarge said, "Now wait a minute. I'm an honorable soldier and I will turn back the troops." The princess eyed him cooly. "But I can't turn back on a single duel! There may be more soldiers who wants to duel with you and capture you as a prize!"

The princess looked at the oncoming troops. "Who will duel with me?" she asked in a tired manner. "After all, I beat your best swordsman!"

Sarge addressed his troops. "Who wants to duel this woman and claim a prize by bringing her back as prisoner?" All the troops raised their hands. Everybody wanted a duel with her!

The princess sighed. She looked at Sarge. Sarge smiled triumphantly. "Well, then," the princess said to Sarge, "Start lining them up." She reluctantly faced the eager soldiers who promptly lined up.

In all appearances, she looked tired and dejected, yet inside she was thrilled! Her goal of turning back the enemy troop without bloodshed was accomplished! Now to survive the duel with enemy troops, in which she had been doing quite successfully for quite a long, long time.