L'art des Armes

That, infuriatingly, led her back to thoughts of the first fight, which she began to easily recreate, near mindlessly. She traced Nicolette’s steps in the red dirt, trying different movements and lunges, wondering to herself if Nicolette had been a better swordsman, was there a way for her to have won? Could she have beaten Camille at her own game?

Of course not.

But to some degree, Nicolette had won, because Camille hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since the library. It was maddening, how easily the other princess slipped into her thoughts and refused to leave. And the way that Nicolette looked at her right before she left—there was something behind her eyes, something that Camille wasn’t sure she wanted to think about.

Every summer since she was young, Princess Nicolette Schacht has traveled to the de Arnaud kingdom to spend the hottest weeks of the year bored out of her mind and expected to entertain the worst woman alive: Princess Camille de Arnaud. Their mutual hatred had gone a long way towards keeping the two apart. Camille didn't know the first thing about Nicolette's magic, and preferred to keep her nose buried in economics books, and Nicolette, being ninth in line for her own throne, didn't give a shit about anything political. But at Camille's eligibility ball, the two are tossed into a dance where questions are asked and invitations are posed that make Nicolette re-think everything she might've known about her rival.

L'art des Armes is a 9,400 word fantasy novelette about two girls who simply couldn't give less of a shit about each other. Or so they say. It is a sapphic romance fantasy that combines magic, dueling, swords, and the overlying question of exactly how far you'd go to protect your independence. If you like annoyances-to-lovers, pity dueling, lovers drawing blood, or very tense library conversations, you'll like this piece. 

Content warnings include: blood, sword fighting, familial abuse, general degradation.