Duels within our territory were traditionally fought with one of two weapons. Typically, women fought with the staff, and men with knuckle blades, but since our society had always placed more value on individual proficiency in combat than consigning a person to a particular combat style based on their apparent gender it was ultimately up to the challenged party to decide which weapon the duel would be fought with.

I took some time to collect myself, stowed my axe in my quarters, then sat down to contemplate my weapon choice. I knew with Appollyon's preference for the spear and the skill implied by his status as a guardsman I'd effectively be handing him a victory if I chose the staff for our duel, especially given how strongly dependant on the use of brute force my own combat style was. Therein, of course, lay the problem. Distinguishing oneself in battle was the most effective method by which one could be awarded a position as a Commander, though the promotion could be declined. Doing so, however, was practically unheard of, meaning that route would draw as much attention if not more than simply getting the promotion would. With this in mind I had put a great deal of effort into performing well enough to be considered good, but not well enough to warrant being named a Commander. His being a guardsman meant that if I beat Appollyon I'd be ruining my efforts to avoid notoriety. That being said, I had no desire whatsoever to simply allow myself to be beaten by someone of his apparent personality type, and he seemed like the sort to call me on it and demand a rematch. Even further, something about him had my sense of pride screaming to beat him into the dirt.

I snorted in disgust. "What the bloody hell was I thinking when I agreed to this absurdity?" I muttered, throwing myself backward to flop down on my bedroll. The rate at which I attracted fights as a child had made me short tempered, but the years I spent working as an apprentice under the village blacksmith had taught me to be methodical in the extreme. I always acted with extensive consideration for the potential consequences of my actions, so the fact that I'd agreed to the duel without thinking about the attention the fight would draw was almost incomprehensibly odd. I frowned, thinking back over our conversation. He had managed to be both annoying and disarming at once, and it occurred to me that it wasn't entirely unlikely that he'd seek me out again had a declined his challenge.

I sighed, resigning myself to what was to come. Deciding I preferred to live my life under as little scrutiny as I could manage over beating one of the most irksome people I'd ever encountered I set off for the main fire. When I got there Apollyon was waiting for me with a pair each of staffs and knuckle blade sets.

"I'm not late, am I?" I asked, casting my gaze around to see how large our inevitable audience had already gotten while I was in my tent.

"To be perfectly honest with you, I have no idea," he replied with a smirk as he roze from where he'd seated himself to wait for me, "I didn't mark the sun's position when we made our agreement, and I wouldn't have had a definitive way of finding you easily had you elected to back out without notifying me in person, so it didn't seem to matter all that much."

I narrowed my eyes as I whipped my head around to look at him directly. "You don't seem particularly bothered by the idea of my not showing."

He shrugged. "Even if it's a duel, it's not like it's for any serious reason, so I didn't think it all that important, however frustrating sitting here waiting for a no-show would've been. You didn't seem the type to go that route, anyway." He turned and gestured to the weapons lying on the ground. "So, which did you decide to be your preference?"

"The staff," I replied walking over to pick one off the ground for myself.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise for a moment, looking as if he wished to comment, but held his peace instead and reached for the remaining staff. "Seeing as neither of us brought someone else with us, it seems we were of like mind and assumed that whatever crowd we happened to gather would be sufficient to serve as witnesses."

It was now my turn to shrug. "I suppose so. Beyond that, as you said, this isn't exactly a serious fight, so it didn't seem like there was any real need for it. As far as I can tell, this basically amounts to a sparring match masquerading as a duel."

Appollyon let out a short laugh, "Yes, I suppose it is. Shall we begin, then?" I nodded.

We placed ourselves approximately ten paces away from each other and turned, sizing each other up for a moment. After a moment's breath we began.

We traded blows for a time before I began to grow suspicous of something. I had planned to throw the duel in as convincing a manner as I could manage, but at the present I wasn't straining myself to any notable degree, and the fight had been going on for quite some time. I knew I was good. I couldn't be as selective in my performance in real combat if I wasn't. However good I was, though, I wasn't this good.

"Stop," I said, pulling back as Appollyon did the same.

"I'm fairly certain there aren't supposed to be any breaks in duels," he said wearing what I'd come to regard as his signature smirk.

I snorted, "As if you care about 'supposed to be'." I pointed the end of my staff at him. "You're going easy on me," I said.

 "Since you deliberately threw away your advantage it seemed only fair that I throw away my own."

"Excuse me?"

He knocked my staff aside with his own. "Your weapon choice. Given the difference in our preferred combat styles, you would've had a distinct advantage had you chosen the knuckle blades instead of the staff, yet you chose to play by my rules instead of your own."

"So what if I did? That doesn't change the fact that you're obviously toying with me," I retorted, straightening as I unconsciously moved closer while I expressed my frustration.

He drew himself up to his full height before looking me in the eye with a curious expression. "You are quite the interesting person."

I threw my staff down in disgust, then spun around and set off back to my tent.

"I still don't know your name," Appollyon called after me as he crouched to pick up the staff I'd used off the ground.

"And you won't know it if I have any say in the matter," I called back over my shoulder before leaving to go back to my tent and fume.

Appollyon stared after me for a moment before collecting the knuckle blades and returning to his own quarters, contemplating the our interactions from the day as he walked. At last he'd found someone who seemed to have the potential to be truly entertaining... if only he could find her again now that she'd left after ending the duel in a draw.