Winner Takes All

Nealan took a practice sword from the rack and handed one to Merrin as well before taking up position in one corner and waiting for Merrin to do the same in the other.

Gail Allen
Editor, Ravenclaw

Nealan approached the fenced in arena with all the confidence one would have expected of a Prince. He had been accustomed to people's admiration since he was too young to truly merit it, but it had not made him too cocky to know that he must also work hard and hone his skills. One day his life might depend on it. 

"Five silvers says I win" he said to Merrin who was walking beside him. The young man was his constant shadow and had been since he had been chosen as the Prince's companion years before.
Merrin shook his head. "No way, Neal." he said, "I'll lose."
Nealan didn't press the issue, for Merrin was right; he always lost when he and Nealan practiced together. Not because Merrin was bad, he certainly wasn't, but because Nealan was a year older and had a stronger build than Merrin ever had. No amount of speed and agility on Merrin's part could quite make up for that.

Nealan took a practice sword from the rack and handed one to Merrin as well before taking up position in one corner and waiting for Merrin to do the same in the other.

Only when he saw the nod from his friend did he attack.

They both knew each others' fighting styles very well and both were cautious as they approached. Merrin attacked first; he knew he couldn't afford to allow Nealan to move first or he would use his strength to overwhelm him and force him into a position where his movements were restricted to the point where his agility was useless.
He had to prevent Nealan from doing that for as long as possible. The fact that Nealan had always received instruction from expert swordsmasters did not help matters, for that meant that Merrin could not hope to win on technique either.

Except this time... things were not going as they usually were. Nealan did try to push him and it was working, except Merrin's attempts to resist it were much more successful than usual, giving him just that small moment longer that allowed him to evade and keep the room he needed to move.

He felt a thrill shoot through him at the realisation that the training he had done in the months they'd been apart while Nealan learned about the kingdom's naval defences, had paid off.

He placed the tip of the wooden sword against Nealan's chest, a huge grin on his face.
"Yield?" he asked, slightly winded, but mostly simply excited.

Nealan grinned as well, even though he'd lost; seeing his friend joy at finally winning was enough to make him not care that it came at the cost of his own victory. 
"It seems I owe you five silvers" he said and lowered his sword.