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The swords hissed as they cut through the air.
Clarke dipped, bending her spine, and spun away from the sharpened blades.
“Surprised?” The blonde haired woman found herself asking as she lifted her eyebrow challengingly at her sparring partner.
“No.” Lexa shook her head, stepping backwards as she adjusted her grip on the hilt of her swords. “Impressed.”
“I didn’t spend all my time in the forest alone.” Clarke said, her voice a quiet huff, and her eyes locked on Lexa’s darkened gaze. The woman jerked the tip of her quarterstaff up, feinting as if to strike at Lexa’s right hip, but instead she swung to smack Lexa’s left shoulder.
Lexa grunted as she lifted her swords to parry the blow at the last second. The metal of her swords slid off the metal bound tips of Clarke’s quarterstaff ineffectually. “I did not think you wanted company at that time Klark.” Lexa commented, her gaze hard, but her eyes shone with pride instead of annoyance.
“I didn’t say I had company,” Clarke said with a barked laugh as she circled the older warrior. “Roan wasn’t the first bounty hunter to come after me Heda, he was just the first one to succeed in capturing me.”
“Then,” Lexa said, shifting her weight forward to spring an attack, testing the speed of Clarke’s defences as she swung a whirlwind of flowing strikes. Clarke matched each one of Lexa’s swings with a quick blow following the rhythm of the other woman’s movements to guide her own defence. The blonde haired woman stepped backwards under the pressure of Lexa’s attack retreating until her back struck the wooden railing that marked the edge of the sparring pit. Lexa snapped the sword in her right hand forward, angling the blade upwards through the small gap in the centre of Clarke’s defensive circle, until the tip of the blade rested half an inch from Clarke’s chin. “I am glad I judged your skills fairly when I sent the best tracker from Azgeda.”
“You paid me a great compliment,” Clarke murmured, licking her lips as she shifted the butt of her staff away from Lexa’s temple. “It would seem, Heda, that if this were a proper fight neither of us would have seen another day.”
“Perhaps,” Lexa allowed with a faint smile and a dip of her chin. “Your instincts have improved greatly since we first met. I am glad that I am not your enemy anymore.”
“I am too ai Niron,” Clarke laughed as she leaned in to press her lips against Lexa’s cheek. “Come, we have a meeting to attend.”
Lexa inclined her head in acknowledgement as she sheathed her swords, “Sha Hodnes.”