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Stories from the Verse
In Verse Proportion
Chapter 75: Kondor 197
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Brown 219
Moving away from the wall, Kondor and his bride faced each other, preparing for their sparring practice. He pondered what the best approach was. He hadn’t really seen her fight, that he recalled. She had fought with the other princesses in the market that one time, but he was not there until the dust was settling. Unlike Derek, he had never attended their practices. At that time he only knew her as one of the girls in the Calipha’s entourage.
Of course, you didn’t usually get to watch your enemy fight before you fought him, in the real world of combat. In that sense, this first time would be the best practice session they could have together, as they each faced an opponent with unknown abilities and styles.
She moved; he dodged. It was a feint, and he fell for it. She came in from the other side and tapped his ribs. That would have hurt. However, he kept moving, shifting away from her and moving backwards. She followed. That was good. Abruptly he stepped toward her, grabbed her, and spun her around him.
Unexpectedly they ran into the wall. He slammed her up against it, and found himself pressed against her body.
“Are you alright?” he asked. “I didn’t mean to hit the wall--I didn’t realize it was so close.”
She took a breath. “I think so,” she said. “I wasn’t really expecting that, but I’ve had worse.”
He held her there another moment, then said, “This is nice.”
“Jo-oe,” she said, “we came here to practice.”
“And we were practicing. I just said--”
“I know what you said, and I know what you’re thinking.”
“And I haven’t taught you to read minds.”
“Well, I am your wife. I do sometimes know what you’re thinking.”
“Mmmm,” he noised.
“People will see us.”
“No one is in here; I don’t expect anyone will come in here today.”
“They will hear.”
“Maybe. But they probably won’t check on people in the combat practice room. I think we’re pretty safe. Besides, do we care? Obviously they know.”
“I see. Well, in that case,” and with a sudden shift leveraging her back and her arms she knocked him backwards, leapt forward to hit his chest, and landed him on his back on the cushions. She then landed atop him straddling him, and pressed her lips firmly into his.
Yes, this is a good practice session, he thought before he stopped really thinking.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with twenty other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #443: Versers Acclimate. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
