Artemis (previously The Lady Lockhart)

Chapter Nineteen - Part Three

ANDREW ST JAMES AND WILLIAM LOCKHART DREW THEIR SWORDS.

It was William who made the first move, but the King was every bit as skilled as he had claimed to be and deflected the move with ease. He then struck out at the duke, but William dodged the blow successfully before returning it with a counterattack. Emmeline, Emmett, Peter and Alexander – who had been summoned to witness the duel – watched nervously, all of them hoping that one particular individual would win the duel.

Yet they wished for one particular outcome for very immediate reasons and not for the further repercussions – if William won the duel, he would, automatically, overthrow the King and take his place on the throne. Yet no one paid particular attention to that detail, for no one coveted that position in the least. Their worry lay in that the spar would decide Emmeline's life and the lives of the two young suitors; beyond that, duels ended in death, and the Portsmouth twins were only fearful for their father's life, and although Alexander hardly knew the man, he was deeply worried for his prospective father-in-law. With the passing of time, his father had grown older, but seemed not to have grown old, and the prince knew that Duke Mayfair could be in real danger.

Andrew turned to the offensive, and William parried multiple blows. Yet the King seemed to only be warming up and never did slow his attack, advances raining thunderously upon William like a perfect storm. The duke seemed to begin to struggle to defend himself, his fades and retreats becoming less stable each time he moved backwards, and Emmeline grew tense in her seat at the sight of it. Emmett grasped her hand comfortingly, but she did not so much as notice him do so. She could hardly feel herself breathing – or perhaps she was no longer breathing at all.

Lunging forth, William attempted an attack at Andrew, but the monarch avoided it with a skilful sidestep, and the duke stumbled slightly from the force of his own thrust of the sword. Fortuitously he recovered speedily enough, and stood to hold his sword up at the other man in a long point, breathing heavily. His feet held him steady, but he was growing weary. Meanwhile, King Andrew had not yet so much as broken a sweat, and Emmeline knew that her father was fighting a losing battle. Her heart clenched at the thought of it, and considered surrendering herself to save her father, but her brother's hand over hers was the only thing tying her down to her seat. Perhaps there was hope yet, she told herself, perhaps the tables would turn.

William moved to strike out at his opponent once again. Andrew, with all the composure of a man confident of his swordsmanship, blocked every one of his blows, not perturbed in the least. Then, he was quick to return the attack, showering Mayfair with as many blows as he could deliver. Originally William successfully deflected each one of them, but the duke only came to be more tired with every passing second, and the battle reached a point when William was taking many steps back, almost falling, and eventually he found himself watching, frozen, as his seemingly heartless monarch drive a sword towards him at inhuman speed as the universe slowed down around him, drawing out the length of his final breathing moment.

He might have died then and there, defending his daughter's lifetime happiness in the palace courtyard if Emmeline herself had not come to his rescue. Her voice, loud and clear, halted the King as she leapt to her feet, tears in her eyes, and called out, "Enough! Stop the duel!"

The four others present turned to look at her, three of them with wide eyes, knowing the decision she had come to make. The King was the only one who did not seem shocked, and a corner of his mouth tilted upwards in something of a smug smirk. Still he kept his sword pointed menacingly at Duke Mayfair, ready to puncture his chest and take his life should she fail to say the words he wanted to hear. Emmeline swallowed in an attempt to compose herself, her hands shaking violently although she had clenched them into fists by her side. She shut her eyes, her brow furrowing involuntarily, as she attempted to breathe deeply to steel herself to the declaration she was about to make. She could not bring herself to look at her brother or the man whom she loved, the man who had proposed to her but would not marry her after all.

A tear escaped her shining emerald eyes and rolled down her cheek as she raised her head once more, glaring most hatefully at the King, and announced with as much conviction as grief, "Stop the duel! I will marry the prince...I will marry him!"

The King finally relaxed, a slight satisfied smile coming to rest upon his lips, and his sword clattered to the floor. "Very good, lass. It does seem after all that you are as wise as my wife thinks you are. I will deliver Sarah the good news."

With that, he quit the palace courtyard, and Emmeline hitched up her skirts to run as quickly as she could to her father, throwing her arms around him, resting her neck over his right shoulder and dissolving into a fit of sobs. "Father – oh, Father..."

He rested a hand on her back, regret washing over him as he closed his eyes to keep himself from shedding tears as well. He had not expected King Andrew to be so skilled, and he had not expected to have grown rusty in his swordsmanship from decades of a lack of necessity to fight. "I – I am sorry, Emmeline. I did not think..."

"No – no, Father," she managed to choke out, pulling back to meet his eyes as she sloppily wiped the tears from her face with the backs of her hands. "None of this is your fault... You should not have taken the risk – what would I do without you? How could you risk your life so?"

Emmett watched his sister embrace his father once more as she began to weep profusely, and felt a twisting feeling in his stomach. Yet he was rooted to the spot, and could not move to comfort her.

More than that, he could not bring himself to look at Peter.

A/N Well, that's that. :( The last update of Artemis comes next week...let me know what you hope happens! And vote! Please vote. :)