When the sight of Mike, bare chested and in a kilt, sent the crowd nearly into a frenzy, he made a run at Colin, who jumped back, but not before Mike’s sword went flashing through the air. The crowd drew in its breath in shock. This was a local fair, but Mike seemed to be playing it for real. In the last dash, had he cut Colin?
Colin stood still, looking down at his chest as though expecting blood to spurt, but then he saw something the crowd didn’t. Smiling, he stepped back, raised his arms, and turned in a circle. As though in slow motion, Colin’s shirt began to fall away. Mike had deftly sliced it but hadn’t so much as made a mark on his cousin’s skin. When the shirt hung on Colin in big pieces, he pulled it off so that he too was bare from the waist up.
Girls started cheering at the sight of Colin’s muscular torso, and Sara laughed.
“Looks like Colin’s been working out,” Luke said, watching through the pathway of seated viewers.
In the next second the men again started moving around each other and the battle began for real—or certainly too real for Sara’s taste. Mike was faster and certainly better trained, but fighting Colin was like battling a rock. Mike ran over the tops of the barrels and at one point he hit Colin’s shoulders with both his feet. Any swipe that Colin made with his sword, Mike easily eluded. Twice he jumped over the sword as it threatened to hit him in the stomach.
“I don’t like this,” Sara whispered, and Luke put his arm around her. “Don’t let him get hurt.” She buried her face in Luke’s shoulder.
“Don’t you realize that they’re playing? There’s no danger to either of them, and certainly not to Mike. All three of the Fraziers could go at Mike and they’d never catch him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. You should watch this. Colin is about to wear out, but Mike could go on all day. What kind of training has he had?”
“I don’t know. Tess said something about China and Brazil.” Sara handed Luke her BlackBerry. “Call Tess and ask her.”
“And miss this fight? Ha! Come on, let’s go down closer to the fence.”
She followed Luke, and he lifted her down from the fifth bleacher.
She stood by the fence that was the boundary of the playing field and did her best to watch the fight, but it was difficult. Every slash Colin made with his big sword, Mike dodged. But now that they were closer, she could see that it was true that Mike was having a good time—and he looked like he wanted to continue all day.
But he glanced at the fence and saw Sara staring at him, on the verge of tears of concern, and he nodded at her. For her sake, he would end it. In the next second, he spun around to the back of Colin, leaped upward to plant a foot on the man’s upper back, while at the same time lashing out at Colin’s calves with the flat side of his broadsword. Colin lost his balance and hit the ground with a pow! of force. Mike put his foot on Colin’s back and his sword at his neck.
The crowd started cheering hysterically. The underdog had won!
When Mike removed his foot, Colin got up, spitting mud out of his mouth. Mike held his arm out to Sara, and she went running to him. He swooped her up and spun her around—and the crowd’s shouts were deafening.
When Mike kissed her, the outsiders laughed and shouted, but the people of Edilean stared in shock. Wasn’t Sara supposed to be getting married in a few days? To another man?
“I think they’ve all seen us now,” Sara said, but she clung to Mike, her cheek against his bare, sweaty chest.
“That’s the idea.”
“And it’s why you married me,” she said.
“That and a few Scarlet Nights of our own,” he said as he looked into her eyes.
“Get a room!” someone from the crowd shouted, and everyone started laughing. Reluctantly, Mike set Sara down.
She ran to Luke at the fence while Mike and Colin took their bows. Colin made everyone laugh when he grabbed Mike from behind and lifted him off the ground. Then, parodying what Mike and Sara had just done,
Colin swung Mike into his arms and pretended to try to kiss him.
Mike did a flip and ended up standing on top of Colin’s shoulders, where he grabbed Mike’s ankles and held him. Colin started a drunken dance about the ring while Mike worked to keep his balance. When Colin stopped, Mike jumped down and hit the ground rolling. At the applause of the crowd, Mike took a bow and Colin chased him, his lips made into a kiss as they ran into the tent at the back of the arena.
“My goodness,” Mrs. Frazier said, looking at the two of them, shirtless and dirty and laughing.
Mike had never seen her before, but he recognized her from the tarot cards. She had on a gown of such richness that it would have done a medieval queen proud. Mike put one leg behind the other and bowed low to her. “Your royal highness.”
Mr. Frazier, dressed as a prosperous merchant, stepped forward. “I think he understands who you really are, my dear.”
Colin, from behind Mike, said, “He’s little, but can I keep him, Ma?” He made Mike sound like a puppy.
“Beware the deadliness of the scorpion’s sting,” Mike growled.