Rolled 16, 8, 19, 14, 17 = 74 (5d20)
>>5609479*
hand of Ekaterineugh, why am I so bad at proofreading?"And you!" she shells on Prince Alexos. "You are hardly any better Ia m not some... Some rare BIRD, some FLOWER, to be walled off, wings clipped, protected, displayed like a PRECIOUS HEIRLOOM and then put away. Why are you even DOING this... Because a man l-looked at me?! Because he's FOREIGN? You are the HEIR OF THE PALADIN KING. You must be BETTER than this! We all DESERVE better than... W-whatever THIS all is! You call THIS a show of our 'superior civilization'?!"
You are a little amused to see her gesture wildly to the entirety of the increasingly-farcical circumstances of the situation, the arena and all its occupants and audience.
But… No. No, this is NOT good. Your eyes find those of Alexos again, once he stops staring down at the ground in dismay and horror. What takes terror’s place upon his face is… Determination. The absolute madman… He’s actually going THROUGH with it!
“Drive this… AWFUL, SELFISH man from our city,” Ekaterine mutters, refusing to look at you. “I never wish to lay eyes upon MISTER Long Wang EVER again!”
“I shall do as you command,” the Crown Prince of Hawksong declares, quiet and solemn, and takes up his blade. “I must.”
By the Dark Gods Below and Beyond… This is HAPPENING now. Ooooh shit.
The prince advances. You hesitate, then advance to meet him. His blade comes up, a strike from on-high. You step sideways and move your own sword in a side-strike, hoping to catch and deflect the blade and then attack with a swift blow before he can do anything more. His knee is still wobbly form your cheap-shot earlier; his stance is off. He is distracted by the stakes… But then, so are you. You risk BANISHMENT from a city you mean to CONQUER and RULE.
(You… Might be about to get married?!)
The battle begins.
DC 17 normally, between his skill and superior familiarity with this style of sword, but you've lowered it by 2 thank to your earlier crit/spoiler] 