Hah, I doubt you can get me today,” Rosalyn taunted lightly. “I’m feeling rather agile right now. I mean after that stunt I pulled in English…”
The couple laughed lightly together. “Yeah, that was epic!” Robert agreed. “The way you tripped over that desk, then managed to leap over the next one on the recoil.”
“—Oh, that was fun! And then that little roll at the finish.”
“Yeah. So how does it feel to be an impromptu stunt man for a day, Ros?”
Rosalyn smiled. “Not as good as it will to beat you,” she said. “Come on, race you to the swords!”
With Rosalyn giggling happily, they dropped their laden backpacks and Robert trailed after her, shouting. They slid their wooden blades out from under a large bush in the small, empty playground. Rosalyn tossed back her hair and pointed her sword at Robert’s chest. “Now, we fight,” said Rosalyn, suppressing a laugh.
Robert flourished his own blade, knocking Rosalyn’s away. “As you like, my lady,” he said, raising his eyebrows. Rosalyn lunged and Robert parried expertly. He countered with a lunge of his own and she smartly stepped to the side, only to come back with a strong swipe that Robert just managed to arch his stomach out of the way like a cat. However, he spun and recoiled with a slow strike of his own that Rosalyn just managed to dance out of the way. Thus the mock battle continued for several moves. “You fight well, my lady,” said Robert at last, panting.
“And you, my knight,” Rosalyn said, taking another large swing.
Robert spun away. “I do have my honor,” he said.
“But you’ll not take mine!” Rosalyn cried, jumping backward onto the merry-go-round. “I shall prevail!”
Robert charged after her. “Not if I have anything to say about it!” The merry-go-round spun and rocked erratically as they tried to dance and dodge on top of it. Finally, Rosalyn decided that it was not worth the effort to keep her balance any longer on this unpredictable ride that Robert seemed to be trying to make more difficult to control. She took a sudden lunge and drove him off the disc and dove after him.
With more aggression than before, she thrust and cut, driving Robert back quickly with a very surprised look on his face. He desperately held the wooden pretend sword up in front of his face for defense, waiting for his chance to get one good strike to turn the tide. Rosalyn judged the situation and sped up, her blade a flurry of wood and nearly forgetting to place her weight right, like she’d seen explained on Zorro.
Robert was nearly arched backwards, legs, back and all, and certainly was not in a good fencing pose. Rosalyn was doing well today, far better than he was used to, and certainly more energetic than ever before. He misplaced his right foot and, in panic, put his weight on it before he noticed. He fell backwards and his sword flew from his hand. He landed on his elbows, but quickly collapsed the rest of the way, his elbows not being prepared for the impact, while his sword landed about a foot out of his reach.
Rosalyn was quick to take the chance before Robert could gain his bearings and scramble back up. Her sword was at his throat in an instant and her eyes were bright with victory. “I shall prevail,” she repeated.
“And so you have. I beg of you, mercy, my lady,” Robert pleaded. “You fight too well, my lady.”
“And you need to learn better, my knight…” Rosalyn retorted, but her voice slowed. Neither moved for several seconds as her expression clouded and Robert stared up into her eyes in helplessness, shock, anticipation, and amazement. He breathed heavily under her blade, exhausted by the surprise of her swordplay just then. Suddenly, and certainly with no provocation, Rosalyn crouched down and grabbed Robert by the collar with the hand not occupied by her sword. She pulled him back to his feet in one swift movement before he realized what was happening. She pulled him close, still keeping a firm fist on his collar and gave him a swift kiss on the lips.
Robert blinked dumbly. He opened his mouth but lost the sentence somewhere in his throat. Rosalyn smiled thoughtfully, then skipped back a bit. Robert staggered backwards a bit, too, looking very befuddled at her. “Wha—” he managed.
“I just had to see if it would work. I saw it in a movie, only it was in a big battle scene. Still, this was too perfect for me,” Rosalyn explained.
Robert blinked again in puzzlement.
“Willow,” she clarified. “When Sorsha kisses Madmartigan in the battle after he killed half her army and he got knocked down. It does work.”
<
“My lady,” said Robert. “You are a thief. A thief of the most clever kind. You have managed to steal from me something I didn’t even know I had. I congratulate you: you’ve managed to steal a kiss from me. And steal you did. You learn too well. But now I must ask why. It makes no sense. It was too sudden!”
“Well, we are boyfriend and girlfriend, and why can’t a lady give a kiss to her favorite knight?”
“You didn’t give a kiss, you flat out stole it!” Robert objected.
“Well, do you want it back?” Rosalyn taunted.
Robert blinked yet again. “I—I don’t know how to reply to that. My lady, you have truly confounded me!”
Rosalyn simply smiled, twirling her sword idly in her hand by the hilt…
Copyright 2002 Angela Cox