Ouch!"
Isla shrieked as her back hit the unforgiving dirt for the second time that day.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!
Who absolutely drops someone right after they say 'thank you'?!"
"Oh! S-sorry,"
Kavien stammered,
genuinely flustered as he quickly reached down to help her back up.
"Actually, I honestly never expected you to ever say thank you to me... so I was completely paralyzed by the shock.
Anyway, I apologize for dropping you."
"Give it back!"
Isla yelled, furiously swatting his hand away.
"Give what back?"
"Give me back my 'thank you' right this instant!
You absolutely do not deserve it, you... you Yellow-Eyed Freak!"
"What did you just call me?
Yellow-eyed?"
Kavien scowled, his massive ego instantly flaring up.
"Yes, yellow-eyed!"
Isla fired back, pointing an accusing finger right at his face as she hopped on her good foot.
"Looking at your incredibly bizarre eyes makes it seem like you have been suffering from severe, untreated jaundice for five consecutive years!
You think just because you are slightly handsome, you can just do and say whatever arrogant nonsense you please?!
Let me tell you a secret, Kavien—you only have a halfway decent face... and absolutely nothing else!"
She took a deep, angry breath, desperately trying to salvage her wounded pride.
"O-okay, fine, and you are also exceptionally good at swordsmanship... but that is it!
You severely lack anything resembling a functioning brain!"
"What brain?!"
Kavien snapped defensively, completely missing the insult in his anger.
"Exactly!
My point has been flawlessly proven!"
Isla mocked ruthlessly.
"For you, the concept of a brain is entirely foreign!
And if you are wondering exactly what you did to prove you are an absolute idiot—if you genuinely think I should be grateful because you 'saved' me from that beast, you are entirely mistaken!
I wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't foolishly dragged us out to this dangerous, unchecked location in the first place!"
She glared at him with furious, fiery eyes.
"A truly intelligent swordsman would have properly scouted the area and verified that the arena was actually safe before demanding a duel!
Instead, you just mindlessly marched us all out here to fight like a brainless meathead!"
"Do you know what?"
Kavien growled,
his patience completely evaporating.
"What?!"
Isla shot back.
"Never mind,"
Kavien sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in sheer, overwhelming frustration as he effortlessly scooped her back up into his arms.
"I am not going to say another word to you until I drop you safely at the gates of your palace.
And do me a massive favor—please, for the love of the gods, shut off that endless, incredibly annoying chatter coming from your mouth for at least five minutes!
If you don't stay perfectly quiet, I swear I won't drop you on the dirt this time...
I will throw you directly off the edge of a cliff!"
Isla dramatically crossed her arms over her chest, glaring fiercely at his neck.
"Fine!
Deal!
And you absolutely better not speak a single, solitary word to me either.
Got it?"
"Done!"
Isla snapped back instantly, her voice dripping with equal parts stubborn pride and sheer, unfiltered annoyance.
She dramatically turned her head away from his chest, stubbornly fixing her intense gaze on the passing trees so she wouldn't have to look at his infuriatingly perfect face.
"Trust me, Kavien, I am absolutely not dying to talk to you either!"
'As if I would ever want to waste my precious breath conversing with an arrogant, yellow-eyed blockhead like him,' she grumbled internally, her cheeks still burning furiously from the sheer humiliation of being dropped in the dirt.
'He is nothing but a rude, muscle-brained brute!'
A heavy, incredibly stubborn silence immediately descended upon them.
For the remainder of the long, physically exhausting trek out of the dark woods and back toward the safety of the royal capital, neither of them dared to utter a single, solitary word.
They were locked in a fierce, unspoken battle of wills, both entirely too proud and far too stubborn to be the first one to break the fragile truce.
The only sounds echoing through the quiet, fading light of the forest were the heavy, rhythmic crunch of Kavien's boots against the gravel path and the soft, frustratingly fast beating of Isla's own heart.
It was a treacherous, racing rhythm that she desperately, furiously blamed on the lingering adrenaline of the terrifying monster attack, absolutely refusing to admit that it had anything to do with the strong, dangerously handsome boy currently carrying her in his arms.