Maude’s eyes met her father’s. Though he was far enough away that she could not see much of the detail on his face, she could tell that he was enraged.

I just killed the person he had always said was Holloway’s future, Maude thought. He must be absolutely furious filled right now.

She watched as her father quickly and easily cut down the people who were standing in front of him. They were supposed to be Aulbert’s best, but her father ended them with ease, without even batting an eye.

He’s a better swordsman than I anticipated, Maude thought. I always figured he would not be very good with the sword, since I never saw him out practicing, but it seems I underestimated him.

His eyes met hers again. He is coming for me, she thought. My father is coming to kill me.

She swallowed hard, her throat feeling like it was full of rocks. There had been a time in the past, that had long since gone by, that she had thought that her father might love her. Over the years, she had realized that there was not a single ounce of love for her in that man’s body. His feelings towards his daughter were better summed up with two emotions: rage and apathy. She was far more afraid of him when he was rageful than apathetic.

She felt herself shiver, a cool feeling running down her spine. He is going to try to kill me, she thought.

Maude’s pulse quickened with every step that her father took towards her. Will he give me any grace for having been his daughter? She wondered. Somehow, I don’t think that he will.

The battlefield grew silent as her father grew ever closer. Their eyes did not stray from one another. As he got closer, Maude could see the emotions playing out on his face. Wrath turned to grief, which turned back to fury. He looked pained through it all.

It was kill or be killed, Maude thought. And Callum always promised that he would kill me. Father will never understand, though. If he’d had his way, I would have laid down my life for Callum if he had asked me to.

Maude glanced back at Jaspar, thinking about how Jaspar had protected her, even when she probably hadn’t deserved to be protected. He had done everything in his power to keep her safe. It’s what my father should have done, Maude thought. My father should have protected me. Yet, instead, I was treated worse than the slaves he employed. I was starved, and sold off to the emperor.

She looked back at her father, who was now only a few yards away. If I want to keep my life, she thought, I will have to kill the man who is responsible for my existence.

Her heart clenched in her chest. What would my mother think if she knew I was going to be in this situation? She wondered.

Her father was holding his sword up, clearly readying for an attack on Maude. And sure enough, he charged at her, closing the gap, and Maude raised her sword, the peridot glittering in the rain. The impact her father had into her sword as she defended herself from his attack was enough to feel all the way up into her shoulder blades.

Holy fuck, she thought. He’s far stronger than I could I have ever possibly expected.

She looked into his eyes, feeling like she had shrunk down to the size she had been as a small child. Her heart felt cold, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe as she met his icy glare.

“How could you kill our own brother?” her father shouted, completing a speedy flurry of attacks. Maude only just barely was able to block all of them.

There is no doubt about it, she thought. I am my father’s daughter. I got his speed. She felt her heart clench even harder.

No, she thought. I cannot feel this way about my enemy…It does not matter that he is my father. He is a threat to my life and to the new existence I have built for myself. I need to remember how I feel about this person. I can feel bad for myself later.

She took a deep breath, as she continued to block his weapon, and did her best to remember all of the terrible tings her father had done.

He murdered my mother. He chose Callum over me. He accused me of stealing Callum’s ability. He let Zara destroy me. He physically beat me. He forced me to bow my head and obey the emperor. He sold me to the emperor for more power.

Maude felt something building within her, but it wasn’t enough. She still felt like a small, trapped child, who was about to be destroyed by its father. His sword cut into the flesh of her left wrist, and she hissed from the pain. A cruel grin just like the one Callum had been flashing at her not all that long ago, grew on her father’s face.

“You’re weak and pathetic,” he told her. “You only think you’re strong because you’re a sword saint.” He shook his head and clucked his tongue at her. “I told you that you have to train every single day to be the best you can be. It’s clear that you’ve been spending your time in Aulbert pursuing worthless activities.”

Maude swallowed hard. She didn’t know how to respond to her father, nor did she want to break her concentration from his blade and accidentally slip up, potentially leading to her death.

Jaspar said they need me alive, Maude thought. I can’t let myself die.

His attacks were quick and fierce, as though he was attacking a stranger and not his own daughter. She could feel her heart cracking under the gravity of his actions.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

All the times I tried to please him. All of the things I did so that he would be happy with me and acknowledge me as his daughter. None of that matters, she thought. This man only cared about his son. The only way he would have ever acknowledged me was if I had been born a boy. Even though it’s not as though I chose to be born a daughter, he still hated me for it anyway.

Tears blurred her vision. He was never my father, she thought. He was always a stranger.

She felt his blade cut into her forearm. Her emotional pain was swept by the wayside, becoming physical pain. Her tears leaked out, and cleared.

“Maude!” she heard Jaspar calling.

Maude quickly shook her had, clearing the funk from her mind. Focus, Maude, she told herself. I can lament later. I need to save myself first.

Her father slashed at her again, and she caught his blade with her own, blocking him, inches from her stomach. It does not matter that he’s my father. He’s here to kill me.

“I should have killed you when I killed your mother,” her father said, slashing at her yet again. This time, she blocked him more easily, turning her focus onto his feet and his blade.

Maude realized that he must have thought that his words would surprise her enough to give him an opening, as she saw a look of shock cross his face when she didn’t respond or falter. His own shock gave her a bit of an opening, allowing her to go on the offensive. She managed to nick him on his forearm.

She saw her father grit his teeth, and recover, sending her back on the defensive.

“Maude!” Jaspar called again to her. “Use your ability!”

Is it really a good idea for me to pull it off the other troops? She wondered. She didn’t have the capability to hold off her father and assess the battlefield. But let’s be honest, if I don’t use it, I’m going to die, she thought, as she stopped her father’s sword inches from her neck.

Focusing on her father’s sword, she slowly began draining her augment ability off of the battlefield, and felt it’s power siphoning back into her, slowly but surely. With every bit of the ability back within her body, she felt herself growing stronger, faster, and tougher.

With the enhanced speed that her power gave her, she was much better able to keep up with her father’s movement. She could tell that she was ever so slightly becoming faster than him, but instead of reacting right away, she stayed on the defensive, watching his movements, and studying his strategy. She was looking for holes that would allow her to take him down quickly, and for her to strategize accordingly.

“How dare you kill the future Duke of Holloway!” her father shouted, attacking her more aggressively. His face was red from anger, effort, or both. “You were supposed to do everything to help him,” he accused her. “You agreed to!”

Maude felt the indignation building in her heart. Her body was already warm, but it got even warmer as fire spread through her nervous system.

“I agreed to that?” she spat. “I did no such thing. I was threatened and coerced.”

Her father looked a little surprised at the level of venom she responded with, which caused him to take a small step backwards, allowing Maude’s blade to cut his forearm deeply. He growled in pain.

“You saw how both Callum and Zara treated me,” she continued, removing her sword from his flesh to strike again. He blocked her. “You treated me the same as they treated me, and sometimes even worse. You did nothing to protect me,” she got close to his body before he deflected her sword, “Yet you’re surprised that I would choose to live over choosing my brother?”

She shook her head at him, as she neared his stomach, only for him to deflect her sword again.

“All young women go through such trials and tribulations,” her father replied, nearly getting a nick on her hands. “You are no different from other girls.”

Maude was stunned, but still managed to block his advances. If I would have never met Cristyne or Melissa, I would have believed him, she thought. How many other things has he told me that are absolutely false that I believed out of naiveté? How many things will I uncover in my future that I should have learned from this man, but he chose to tell me lies instead?

Maude could not keep the look of disgust off her face, her lips curling back, while her stomach rolled and gurgled.

“You’re absolutely foul to try to pass those lies off as truths,” she said.

Her father just smiled murderously back at her. For the first time, she noticed that Callum had her father’s smile. In spite of the lava coursing through her, she couldn’t help but shiver. How many of the nasty things that Callum said to me had he actually gotten from my father instead of Zara like I thought? She wondered.

Their swords screeched under the pressure both of them were putting them under. Maude noticed that throughout the fight, her father’s expression hadn’t changed at all. He was still looking at her coldly, as if she was a stranger.

It’s time, Maude thought. This conversation is over. As much as I would love for my father to acknowledge me, the truth of the matter is that he never will.

She spread some of her ability to her sword, strengthening it, and extending its length in a vibrant green glow. She felt the iciness of her resolve spreading through her, and felt even her facial expression turn cold. It is kill, or be killed, she thought.

Maude could already tell that her father’s movements had slowed a little. He was old, and likely couldn’t keep up with the speed as long as he’d used to be able to. It only took her a few minutes of being on the defensive to find a gap. She hit his hand with the energy extension part of her sword, and his sword went flying, hand and all.

Her father screamed and fell to the ground, blood gushing from where his hand had been. Maude held her sword at his throat. He was on his knees, and appeared ready to beg for his life, the same way that Callum had.

“Surrender,” she commanded him, exactly the same way she had commanded Callum.

Her father’s eyes met her own. “How could you do this to your father?” he asked, his face changing to a look that made him seem pathetic. Maude noticed that his eyes had not welled up with tears. “I made you into who you are today,” he protested. “You wouldn’t be half as good of a fighter and a sword saint that you are, without me.”

Maude’s stomach rolled, threatening to make her vomit again while she mentally tried to digest his words. “How could you do this to someone who has loved you and taken care of you since your birth?” he continued.

He does not mean these words, she thought, her throat tasting of sour bile. He is only saying them in hopes that he could live. If I spare him now, he is sure to stab me in the back as soon as he can.

She stared down at his pleading, dry face, feeling her own emotions almost overwhelm her. But one thing stood out above the din in her mind. There was no future for her and Jaspar if she let this man live.

“Shut up, worthless bastard,” she replied, cutting his throat with her sword.

He started gurgling the way that Callum had. His face contorted back into his wrathful look, proving Maude right, that he would have stabbed her in the back. Proving that his plea was not genuine. “Fucking worthless traitor,” he managed to garble out.

Tears welled up in her own eyes as she turned away from his body that was rapidly losing life. He can no longer hurt me, she thought. He can no longer control me.

Her eyes met a ragged looking Jaspar’s. He seemed to be dealing with a formidable opponent. Whoever the opponent was had one sword in each hand, and they were glowing a dark bloody red, the same way her sword was glowing from her own augment ability.

Jaspar’s attacker rapidly came at him, finally letting Maude see the side profile of their face. It was the emperor, and Jaspar was nearly buckling under his attacks.