AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Whatever you think best,” shrugged Balduin. “But the girl’s getting a free show.”
Twenty minutes later and I had to assess that Balduin wasn’t wrong about that.
Wrestling was taught at the Assassins’ Guild—although you were unlikely ever to assassinate someone by wrestling, you never knew when the skill might come in useful. It had never been one of my favorite sports, a bit too close and sweaty and grapply.
But watching Balduin and Nicolo, I was getting a new appreciation for it as a spectator. The two men lunged for one another, each trying to secure the superior hold, their muscles straining and popping along their toned limbs. Nicolo managed to loop a leg around that of the prince and I watched his corded calf muscles standing out as he flexed and dragged Balduin to the ground.
“That’s one,” Nicolo growled.
“Lucky throw.”
“We’ll see.”
They clashed again, their glistening bodies locked, tense and taut, battling for supremacy. This time, it was Balduin who found it, lurching forwards and pushing his friend out of the ring with surprising ease.
“One all,” Balduin said.
“You caught me off guard.”
Balduin rolled his eyes. “Excuses, excuses.”
This time, when they impacted, the force was enough to take Nicolo onto his back, with Balduin on top of him. But the master wouldn’t be pinned, instead he twisted like an eel, his body as sinuous and flexible as it was strong and large. Their limbs twined and strained and then Nicolo pressed up off the ground, flipping them both so he was now on top and able to pinion his friend.
It was a fascinating spectacle, and one that made odd feelings stir deep inside my core, not unlike the feelings I had after all our discussion on seduction and sex and male erections and what they could do with them.
Keep your cool, Charlotte,I told myself.Remember rule number one: never fall prey to emotion.
“Damn it!” Balduin smacked the ground petulantly with his fist.
The two men clashed again, and I wondered how quickly I’d be executed if I were to whisper the word ‘homoerotic’. Yet, that’s exactly what this was—the two men almost appeared to be involved in something sexual with all their grunting, sweating and manipulating of one another’s bodies.
I had to admit… I quite liked it.
This was the toughest fight yet, dragging from one side of the ring to the other, the two men grappling for the better hold but neither able to find it, until, finally, Balduin somehow managed to free himself from Nicolo’s grip and knocked the larger man down.
“Yes! Two all. Decider,” Balduin called out, a smile of victory on his face.
They were both slicked with sweat, dirt and grass stains, red in the face, both bearing bruises, grazes and scrapes. Their strength might have been ebbing, but the will to win wasn’t and both continued to fight with a sort of desperation—clearly winning was everything.
Though, of course I couldn’t show it, I was rooting firmly for Nicolo (as to why that was I couldn’t tell you), and it was disappointing when Balduin swept out his friend’s leg and bore him to the ground.
“The victor and still the champion!” Balduin yelled, leaving Nicolo lying there. Balduin, unconcerned, bounced up to his toes. “I could eat a horse,” he pronounced as he turned to face me. “You—what’s your name?”
“Charlotte, Your Highness.”
“Right. Go fetch us lunch and bring it back here post haste. And no scrawny portions, either! I’m a hungry man!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I cast a glance in Nicolo’s direction where he lay on the ground, beaten but smiling.
“Mistress Rosana…” I started, wondering how I was going to explain my current getup and the fact that I hadn’t done anything I was supposed to all day.
“I sent a message informing her of your promotion,” Nicolo answered the unasked question.
The prince had already removed his hose and was wading into the river to wash the grime of the fight from his naked body, his guards edging closer to the water, ready to dive in at the first sign of danger. Unless there were man-eating goldfish, though, I wasn’t certain what sort of threats they were awaiting.
I hurried away, but at the edge of the lawn, I couldn’t stop myself from looking back. Nicolo too had stripped off to wash in the river. And I found I couldn’t pull my attention away from his rippling muscles nor the sheen of sweat that glistened on them. He was truly stunning to behold. The most beautiful man I’d ever seen by far. Not that that mattered because soon, very soon, he’d be dead.
