The Dragon Prince's Bride
Chapter 87. Spying again.

Chapter 87: 87. Spying again.

"EHH!!" Another loud roar escaped the mouths of the onlookers and filled the training ground as the prince toppled his opponent, but the woman landed on her swift feet and with a quicker motion spun a kick at him, but he too was fast enough to block the leg that aimed for his head.

""His leg Lady Regina!! Aim for his leg!!"" The knights cried out to give the prince’s female opponent a winning chance against him.

It was hand-to-hand combat, no weapons, just their fists, kicks and their wits. But neither of them would yield to the other. He was big and strong, she was tall and flexible... He was quick with his hands, she was quick with her legs... He was like a menacing black jaguar and she was a slithering cobra.

Sweat dripped down from their bodies as they clashed again and again, their black hairs shimmered underneath the hot afternoon sun. The determination in both their eyes was enough to make anyone believe it was a life or death match.

Neither of them was willing to lose.

But the little smiles that passed in between them each time one person was close to landing a fatal blow, was evidence that there was no enmity between them. It was just a pleasant exchange between two almost equal people.

So it made Neriah wonder why she felt some sort of anger watching them from where she stood. She had been standing there for over ten minutes, behind a wall with the twins and Aria. Honestly she had no idea what they were doing behind the wall! Nor did she have any understanding of why they were spying on her dear husband’s training session...

But still, it angered her to watch... Although it was more of irritation than anger that she felt... In fact she wasn’t certain what she felt but... she had no idea why she felt that way.

Maybe it was because the lady whom her husband was sparring with seemed to be on part with him. She remembered when she had first seen Barak, he was so huge to her that she could not even think of wielding a weapon against him and yet, that woman seemed to be doing just fine.

She was overflowing with confidence, she did not seem intimidated by his height and size at all... For every blow he gave, she gave double if not triple of it. And that irked Neriah.

Yes, her husband’s opponent was slightly taller than herself, but still, she seemed to have the same body statue as herself, Neriah studied her carefully. She wouldn’t weigh more than herself either, so how was she able to engage in a hand-to-hand combat with someone like her husband!!! Was she not afraid at all that he would crush her?

If it was a sword fight, Neriah was sincerely sure that she wouldn’t have been feeling the way she was... But the fact that it was hand-to-hand was what baffled and irked her. And also...

"" EHH!! Once again, it ends in a draw!!!" The chants of the knights filled the place again as both Barak and the woman laid with their backs on the ground, their chests heaving up and down rapidly, their eyes looking at each other with endearment as they laughed at their failed attempt at winning against each other.

They looked so close.

"Her name is Lady Regina Alnar of the old house of Alnar." All four of them, Neriah, Aria and the twins flinched in shock as they heard a tiny voice from behind them. It was little Barni.

"" You little rat! Why did you not just come with us earlier!"" Raki hissed as he saw his brother.

"" Hello"" The twins jolted again as Riri suddenly popped out from behind Barni.

""Is that a fairy? A real fairy? Where did she come from?"" Raku was asking as he stared at Riri with awe and Raki tried to catch her but she kept flying out of his reach. While Neriah was shooting invisible lasers with her eyes toward the very disloyal fairy who obviously had found a new friend!

"" This is Riri, she belongs to sister-in-law. And she speaks our language, well, some simple words."" Barni graciously explained.

"Y_you were saying something earlier Barni—" Neriah cleared her throat and spoke with nonchalance. "What were you saying about the woman?" She asked.

"I said she is Lady Regina Alnar of the old house of Alnar and she is the commander of the army of the capital."

"What!" Neriah had let the scream leave her mouth before she could control it. But it was too shocking to not scream! How could a woman like that be not just a knight but a commander of an army!!

"Are you sure about what you are saying? You are but a child, albeit a smart one obviously, but still a child. Your words might be misguided." Neriah could not take it. She refused to believe that the woman named Regina Alnar was a commander!

"I assure you it is as I have said. She is—" The boy suddenly paused and his eyes widened and his lips curled into a weird smile. They all soon realized that he was no longer looking at Neriah, but instead was looking past her and slowly, very slowly, they all turned around only to jump in shock as their eyes fell on Barak who was staring at all of them with complete confusion in his eyes.

"D_did you have a pleasant fight?" Neriah’s expression had quickly mirrored the one on Barni’s face. It was the expression of being caught red-handed.

His eyes moved from her to her maid and then to his mischievous brothers. Riri had quickly disappeared from sight.

Slowly, his gaze returned to her, "Dear princess, I thought your days of spying were over but it would appear I was wrong. You seem to gain some sort of delight from it." Barak finally spoke up and Neriah’s eyes widened as she remembered her first spying attempt on him and how it had gone completely wrong. And here she was again, spying on him yet again, and just like that time she was busted by him, AGAIN!!

The annoying part about it was she wasn’t even really trying to spy!

"Dear prince, I see there is an obvious misunderstanding here. I was not trying to spy on you for any reason... I mean why would I? I was only taking a tour with my maid and the twins." She was a smooth liar. She was getting better and better by the day.

"Ah, I see. And Barni?" He turned to the smallest one of the group and the boy pressed his lips together tightly. "Were you on the tour with them?" He asked the child, but his lips were sealed tight. All he did was turn his head the other way. "Barni?" He called again and the boy’s eyes turned toward the twins who were already sweating profusely from their forehead. They were using everything in them to silently tell the boy to keep quiet. But...

"Barni, are you on the tour with—"

""I was on my way to show Riri the Layla flower because we were reading and she inquired about it and then I ran into the princess and all of them spying on you and Lady Regina’s fight... That is all!!"" The boy screamed out everything with his eyes closed and ran off as soon as the last word left his lips.

Neriah needed no translation to know that dear Barni just ratted them out to his older brother! What was he? A lie detector? Why couldn’t he keep his little mouth shut!

Barak needed no one to explain to him what was happening, he could tell it was the twins who had dragged her there so he turned to the them, "" I shall deal with the two of you later. Now scram.."" He ordered and they instantly turned on their heels, leaving Neriah and Aria at his mercy.

"Hm," Neriah cleared her throat aloud as Barak turned his attention to her once again, "I do not know what that little rat— I mean, prince Barni told you, but I assure you I was not spying on you." Her words remained the same.

"Are you done with the tour?" He suddenly asked and she stared at him with her confusion as she wondered whether she was mistaken and Barni had not given her away.

"Yes I am. I just wanted to see how the training grounds here look. I have never been to a barbarian training ground before, you see." She shrugged and he hummed and nodded slowly.

"Well I do not think you got a perfect view from here. How about you enter the training ground? You will see it better if you are standing in the center. Then you can know exactly what a barbaric training ground looks like." There was some kind of malice in his voice and Neriah did not like it at all. She wanted to leave.