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Ríoghnach "Riona"
Reohg Knock
Considering the fact that there weren't that many people who were interested in the hunting competition, Mayet wasn't expecting the Athletic Arena, where the sword competition would be held, was going to be so crowded. Among those present, it was rather easy to separate those who were going to participate in the competition and of just watching. Most of the competitors were either wearing protective equipment or had their personal weapons with them.
The exception to this was, of course, Mayet. Normally, in her daily life, It was honestly hard to say whether she was going to participate in some kind of competition or not, since she always carried her ring-blade with her, but even with her light clothes, no one seemed to have any doubt of what was her objective in coming to the Arena.
The attire Mayet chose for that competition was a rather simple one. No excessive decorations, frills or flowing clothes. Instead, it seemed to be focused on keeping her light and agile. One thing that might draw attention when compared to the other competitors though was the fact that her attire
lacked any form of protection. A clear signal that she was more than confident in her own skills.
As it was expected, she immediately drew the attention of both competitors and audience alike as she arrived at the venue together with Nala and even more when her name was called to compete. Murmurs and voices could be heard, pointing to the fact that Nala was accompanying her, some even asking if it was fair for Nala to participate as well, something which made Mayet laugh before she looked to the crowd to address their doubts.
"Don't worry. This is just a friendly competition. We only fight together when we are fighting seriously. She is just here today to watch." Mayet said as she gently caressed the tigress' head as she sat down just in front of the arena while Mayet got up.
With her
ring-blade in hands, Mayet waited as the other competitor, Reohg Knock, as the announcer called, entered the arena.
Mayet wasn't familiar neither with the strange name nor the strange figure wearing a headgear, hiding it's appearance. Despite the attempt to hide their identity though, Mayet could easily say that the other competitor was also a woman, judging by it's stature and body shape.
“You must be Reohg Knock… Quite a curious choice of attire…” Mayet said to the woman with a chuckle, analyzing her movements and her reaction.
Riona’s muscles tensed at Shehzadi Mayet’s comment, more specifically, at her choice of words.
“You must be Reohg Knock.” It made it sound like she heard the name “Reohg Knock” before. Of course, she could’ve simply been talking about the announcement and decided to make small talk with her opponent (a thing that Riona didn’t expect the warrior princess to do).
But what if, on the off chance, that it wasn’t? Riona did dance with the Shehzadi’s brother last night and she chose the butchered name he gave her because it was mangled enough that no one would recognize it, but Riona would at least know that she was being called. Could the Shahzade have told his sister about Reohg Knock? Why would he? He only had eyes on Lady Mina Blackwood, that much was obvious. No, it was more likely that he forgot the existence of the maid as soon as she left his sight. The only time Shehzadi Mayet could’ve heard the name was when Shahzade Munir was searching for his dance partner. Did she see Reohg Knock’s face? Gods, if a foreign guest could recognize Riona after only seeing her once, did that mean others could too? Riona struggled to swallow, her throat too dry to cooperate.
She had to throw the match. While a match with one or both of the princes would be a valuable experience in its own right, if Shehzadi Mayet could recognize Riona, then Prince Wulfric and Auguste were even more likely to recognize her. If that happened, then she’d be the maid the Danroses knew how to fight. They’d become cautious around her, suspicious even. She couldn’t allow that. No, she must lose.
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, Riona chuckled at herself. The absolute conceitedness of it all. Stupid girl—she was never going to win, even if she wanted to. Despite her short stature, Shehzadi Mayet displayed the traits of a skilled fighter through her posture, well-toned muscles, flawless skin, and choice of attire and weaponry. She likely spent long hours training, had lots of experience with hunts and skirmishes, and rarely lost. Anyone who couldn’t see that was a fool.
Then there was Riona, a maidservant who spent more time cleaning up after people and serving them for over a decade than actual combat training. Her strengths lay in the less direct, less honorable skills; head-on battles weren’t her forte. That didn’t mean she couldn’t learn from the Shehzadi, though.
Riona crossed her balled fists in front of her and touched her wrists with her forehead as she bowed.
“<<Peace be upon you, Shehzadi Mayet Ibn Raif Kadir,>>” she sang in the Golden Tongue.
“<<You bring with you the radiance of a thousand suns. We are blessed to be in your presence. Words cannot capture the magnitude of our gratitude.>>” Riona relaxed and matched Shehzadi Mayet’s gaze.
“<<Though I am but a single grain of sand beneath your feet, unworthy of your attention, please, do me the honor of your tutelage.>>” Of all the reactions Reogh could have, Mayet definitely wasn't expecting her to tense up at her words. Normally, considering the event they were participating at, she would have thought that her opponent was looking forward to the fight but Reogh's expression hinted at another, completely different reason. Nervousness? Apprehension? Maybe it has something to do with the reason she wanted to hide her identity. Regardless of what thoughts raced inside Reogh's mind at that moment, Mayet simply waited, either for a reply... or for her to act.
The moment Reogh did the traditional Alidasht bow and began singing on the Golden Tongue, Mayet was definitely caught by surprise, raising her eyebrows with a surprised expression, especially since it wasn't a half-hearted attempt at the Golden Tongue either. Reogh had an almost perfect pronunciation and diction... Especially considering the the choice of words.
“It is the second time I hear a foreigner speaking the Golden Tongue. Impressive, I have to say.” Mayet said, with a satisfied smile.
“Every grain of sand, no matter how small, is still part of the great desert.” Mayet said with a smile as she gave a few steps forward, approaching the center of the arena.
"Titles and formalities are good for balls and social gatherings. While we are sparring in this arena, we are both just warriors." Mayet said as she assumed a combat posture.
"Ready? Since you asked for my tutelage, I will start with something simple and raise the difficulty as we progress." Mayet said with a smirk as she dashed towards Reogh.
Just as Mayet spoke earlier, her first strike was a simple, diagonal slash. Despite how 'simple' her attack was, the force behind it was rather deceptive for someone of her stature. Not only due to the size of her weapon, but also to the fact that she used the weight and momentum of her entire body on each attack.
As the Shehzadi’s weapon came crashing down, Riona raised her own weapon to meet the incoming attack. Their blades collided with a loud clang, causing sparks to fly off the metal. The impact reverberated through Riona’s arms and left her briefly shaken. However, she managed to hold her ground with the sword absorbing most of the strike, and strikes that followed soon after. With a sudden twist of her wrist, Riona subtly diverted the last attack and used the Shehzadi’s own momentum against her to slice down towards her legs.
Mayet would already be reasonably satisfied with Reogh merely blocking her first strike perfectly, without being thrown off by the strength of her blow, but when she managed to regain her composure immediately after and even use the momentum from Mayet's own attack to make a quick slash aimed at her legs, Mayet definitely was curious.
Despite her last attack being diverted and used by Reogh to launch her fast counter-attack, Mayet was able to reply to it in time by continuing the circular slashing motion of her previous attack, making her ring-blade clash against Reogh's sword, stopping it's trajectory before it could reach her legs.
Her expression was one of visible surprise and excitement as she gave a jump back, looking at Reogh.
"Impressive! Not only you weren't thrown off by the weight behind my attacks, but you were still able to use it's own momentum to launch a counterattack of your own!" Mayet said, laughing, visibly satisfied by the result of her initial 'test'.
"Let's take it up a notch, shall we?" Mayet said as she once assumed a different combat posture, holding her ring-blade in a diagonal around her, at neck's height with both hands, her left one in front of her and her right one behind.
Unlike the previous, more 'relaxed' posture, this one was more aggressive, with her center of gravity lower to the ground.
Riona recognized the stance, as it mirrored that of her grandmother, and it was the sole reason she anticipated Shehzadi Mayet’s next move.
In the blink of an eye, Mayet was already near Reogh again. Her first came unbelievably quick, a downwards, diagonal slash as she used her right hand to spin her ring-blade, carrying a huge amount of momentum with it.
Immediately after the first one, Mayet continued the movement of her first strike, transferring her ring-blade to her left hand and extending it outwards, spinning her body for a second wide, horizontal slash while at the same time, weaving a spinning kick between her first and second slash, in the middle of her spinning motion.
It quickly became apparent to Reogh that it was only now that she was seeing Mayet's real way of fighting.
Her strikes were much faster and more fluid than her previous ones, each attack seamlessly connecting with the next one as she made use of their momentum to keep going, one attack after another as she weaved kicks between them.
This fluid fighting style, while beautiful to watch, was undeniably terrifying to her opponents both due to the constant, quick and heavy strikes, with her entire body weight behind each attack and the unpredictable kicks weaved in between them, covering the openings some of the wider, sweeping strikes.
Riona’s body was a blur of motion as she instinctively dodged, weaved, and spun through the unrelenting assault. Her movements were in harmony with the rhythm of the Shehzadi’s attacks. In moments where she had no time to evade, Riona parried the incoming strike, her sword flashing in the sun like a beacon of defiance.
Despite the intensity of the battle, there was a savage elegance to the deadly dance, a hypnotic grace that made it impossible to look away—each step precise, each attack a carefully calculated risk, almost choreographed in its perfection. The women moved like wild animals, fierce and unyielding, and yet the beauty of their movements was unquestionable.
But not even the most beautiful of dances lasted forever.
As the fight raged on, Riona found herself struggling more and more. The standard-issued sword, heavy and unwieldy, was becoming a burden. It wasn’t her weapon of choice (just something provided by the arena to contestants who didn’t bring their own), the unfamiliar weight and balance of the cheap blade felt awkward in her grip and caused her arms to ache. To make matters worse, her back was throbbing from the wounds Lady Morrigan inflicted the previous night. Each sudden movement sent sharp jolts of pain through her body. She gritted her teeth and pushed through it, knowing that her time in the competition was coming to a close. Riona wasn’t the kind to give up without a fight.
She watched carefully, studying Shehzadi Mayet’s movements and searching for a pattern; a habit. When the Shehzadi launched another flurry of attacks, she finally saw it. Just as the ring-blade left one hand to travel to the other, Riona smacked it off course with the tip of her sword and slashed at the Shehzadi’s waiting palm.
While Mayet knew it was just a friendly competition, seeing how Reogh was still able to dodge and block her blows made Mayet quite curious to see until when exactly would Reogh be able to keep up with her. Maybe it was because of that or her excitement for being 'testing' someone that had genuine talent, but Mayet got careless. Careless enough to get relaxed for a small second when she was transferring the ring-blade from one hand to the other, between attacks.
It was on that very moment, less than half a second of carelessness that Reogh took her move. Making perfect use of Mayet's mistake, Reogh used the tip her sword to divert Mayet's ring-blade, throwing it off course.
Mayet's eyes went wide with surprise as she felt the weight of the ring-blade pulling her arm back. Even if Mayet was just testing Reogh, amidst the flurry of blows, she was able to keep calm, analyze Mayet's movements and patiently wait for her chance... And her patience had indeed paid off.
Mayet knew she wouldn't be able to block Reogh's slash in time. The weight of the ring-blade made sudden adjustments to it's course quite difficult, especially if it was already carrying such a huge amount of momentum as it was right now.
In any other time and place, such situation would mean certain death and Mayet knew that
very well. The shock and surprise from Reogh's sudden movement, seeing the situation of risk she was in right now was enough for Mayet's instincts take over.
As adrenaline flowed through her veins, Mayet's muscles tensed up as her instincts yelled at her… 'Move or die'.
Her previous, smug expression of excitement immediately disappeared, giving place to a cold gaze of someone who was prepared to kill.
Blocking wasn't an option and just moving her hand wouldn't be fast enough to dodge Reogh's slash. Due to that, Mayet immediately bent her entire body backwards, moving her free hand up just after her ring-blade passed in front of it, in a starting position for a back handspring, making Reogh's blade miss Mayet's hand only by a hair's breadth.
At the same time, the ring-blade, which continued it's momentum was already over Mayet's shoulder. With a small movement of her wrist, Mayet made a minor adjustment it's course so it would continue moving down, parallel to her back. When it was already in the middle of her back, Mayet bent her right leg backwards, until the back of her feet touched the inner rim of the ring-blade.
An that moment, Reogh would clearly be able to see the muscles on Mayet's legs tensing up almost like a spring. The very moment her other hand touched the ground, she would let go of the ring-blade, twisting her body and letting her leg pull the ring-blade in a diagonal, upwards slash containing the entire weight of her body and the momentum behind her back handspring towards Reogh.
Not much creativity was needed to imagine the terrible consequences such a powerful slash would have if it struck Reogh's neck... Even if it struck her across the chest, the momentum of the attack, coupled with the weight of the weapon was sure to deliver a devastating outcome.
Time…
slowed… down. Riona’s senses became acutely aware of every detail of Shehzadi Mayet’s ring-blade. She noted the masterful craftsmanship; the love and care that went into its maintenance; the way the metal gleamed in the warm sun; the wind that carried its movements; the sharp whistle the blade made as it cleaved the air. Even though she registered the imminent danger as the ring-blade hurtled towards her neck, Riona’s mind remained calm and collected, almost serene in its acceptance of what was about to come. She wondered if there was enough force behind the blow to sever her head as cleanly as her father’s did.
Fortunately, Nala, who was watching the fight just from outside the arena, noticed Mayet's expression and behavior changing. As someone who hunted besides Mayet for years, Nala knew very well how Mayet was when she was going for the kill. Normally, Nala wouldn't care about it, but Mayet had reminded her again and again, both before entering the arena and on their way to the Sword Competition that it was just 'sparring', in order to be sure she wouldn't try to 'defend' Nala when she was just sparring with the other competitors.
It was only thanks to Mayet's insistence to make Nala understand that fact that Nala decided to let out a huge roar to alert Mayet, who only after that noticed what she was about to do.
Thanks to Nala's interference, Mayet had enough time to control her kick, putting both her hands on the ground in order to support her weight instead of completing the back handspring and making the blade stop before the blade got too close from Reogh's neck, keeping it there for a moment, before she silently got back up again in a normal posture, giving a few steps back, taking a few moments to calm herself down due to the rush of adrenaline.
The weight of silence fell like a blanket over the arena, muffling the murmurings of the crowd as they struggled to make sense of what happened (and what had almost happened). Even the seasoned referees were hard-pressed to keep track of the lightning-fast exchange. One moment, Riona’s blade was slashing at Shehzadi Mayet’s hand, and the next, the Shehzadi’s ring-blade was plunging towards Riona’s neck, only to be halted in mid-air. Neither strike drew any blood. The referees exchanged furtive glances, unsure of what call to make. In the end, it was Riona who made their job easier.
Without a word, she sank to her knees, lowered her head, and offered the cheap-a** sword to Shehzadi Mayet, as if it was a priceless heirloom.
“Victory is yours, Shehzadi Mayet Ibn Raif Kadir.”The arena erupted into a tempest of thunderous applause and ecstatic cheering. Riona held the posture as she thanked the Shehzadi for the fight, but the cacophony of the boisterous crowd erased her words before they reached the other woman. Undaunted, she bowed one last time in the Shahazadi’s direction, a final tribute to the victor. Then, with a graceful turn, she made her way offstage as quickly and casually as she could. Not once noticing the faint scorch marks that marked where she was standing when she was a heartbeat away from a beheading.
Riona extended the borrowed sword to the arena personnel, who scurried over to collect it from her. Just as their fingers brushed the weapon, they recoiled as though they touched something scalding hot. With a hiss of pain, the employee’s fingers shot up to their mouth while the other hand clamped their earlobe. The sword clattered to the ground with a metallic clang. In unison, Riona and the employee uttered apologies and reached for the sword. But a voice stayed Riona’s hand.
“Reohg.” Mayet said, calling the woman as she raised her hand in a signal asking for silence from the crowd.
She spun to face the speaker, Shehzadi Mayet. Riona inclined her head. Her skin prickled as she felt the unwanted attention of others. In the corner of her eye, she saw the staff scoop up the sword without any further problems and trotted away, wishing she could do the same.
"You have a very dangerous talent, Reogh... Even though it's unpolished, it's still dangerous enough to make me forget we were just sparring, even if for a moment." Mayet said, with a serious tone as she calmed herself down, still panting a bit due to the rush of adrenaline. Despite her serious tone, it wasn't as if Mayet was chastising Reogh for her peculiar 'talent' or if Mayet was angry at her. Instead, it was almost as if Mayet was impressed by it in a good way.
“You should feel proud. Not many people are able to get that reaction out of me. It was a wonderful duel” Mayet said with a satisfied smile after a bit as she extended her hand towards.
Shehzadi Mayet’s hand came into view and Riona blinked at it like she never seen a hand before. It took awhile for her to realize that the Shehzadi was offering a handshake. She reached up to reciprocate, then abruptly stopped. Riona withdrew her hand silently and bowed her head further down.
“Wouldn't you consider going back to Alidasht with me? I know a few people back in Alidasht that would be overjoyed in teaching you. Besides, only a fool wouldn't recognize the value of having someone with your talents by their side.” Mayet said as she looked at Reogh.
“Don't feel pressured to accept, but think about my offer. If the people you are working for here in Caesonia don't recognize your talents or give you reason to hide your identity like this, they're nothing but fools.” Mayet said with a huff as she turned her eyes as she mentioned Reogh's employers.
While Mayet didn't know exactly who that woman was, she knew that she worked for the Caesonian high nobility, judging by her words and mannerisms.
Riona’s grandmother would’ve been proud of her right now and just as equally disappointed for what her granddaughter was about to do. She could see her now, arms akimbo.
“Tut-tut. Reyona,” she’d say (a nickname she preferred over Ríoghnach, because the name wasn’t “Alidasht enough” for her tastes).
“At least pretend you took a moment to think about it.”“<<Your gracious words have touched me deeply and left me humbled beyond measure, Your Royal Highness. I will treasure them, for there could be nothing more valuable than those words from someone as accomplished as yourself.>>” “<<However, with great regret and a heavy heart, I must decline your offer. I am…>>” Riona hesitated, her nails dug hard enough into her palms to leave crescent moons,
“<<… bound here and I do not see that changing in the foreseeable future. Please forgive my presumption in declining such a valuable opportunity, and know that I am forever grateful for the honor you have bestowed upon me.>>” She bowed even lower than before.
Mayet couldn't help but let out a deep sigh as she heard Reogh's reply to her offer, although it didn't seem to be a reply motivated by Reogh's own desires, but instead due to her circumstances… Be them whatever they were.
“Very well, Reogh. I promised I wouldn't pressure you on this matter, so I won't insist… But I want you to remember exactly who I am. Breaking your bonds should be relatively simple for someone like me. So you should make your choice according to your own desires.” Mayet said, with a serious expression as she looked at Reogh.
“If you ever change your mind… You know who I am and how to find me.” Mayet said with a chuckle as she waved to Reogh, leaving the arena.
“<<May the sun grant you continued success and happiness, Shehzadi Mayet Ibn Raif Kadir.>>” Riona recited to the Shehzadi as she departed with her big black cat.
Nala, who was still waiting for Mayet, let out an annoyed growl as she pushed Mayet with her head, almost as if chastising her for what almost happened.
“I know… I know I was the one that kept reminding you to mind your manners… Thank you, Nala.” Mayet said with a chuckle as she gently caressed the tigress.
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