CH 7

ch 7

A thundering knock woke me from my slumber.  Groaning I pushed myself up and peered around the dark room.  What was I doing up this early?  Shrugging, I nestled back under the covers.  The knock sounded again.  My eyes flew open.  S**t.  I was training today.  

“Alright!”  I called to the prince.  “I’m up!” 

The doors to my chamber opened as I made my way to my dressing room.  

“You’re gonna need these.”  

I looked back over my shoulder to see a small pile of clothes resting in the princes hands.  

“You’ve brought me clothes?” 

Tahvo chuckled.  “You cannot fight wearing a ball gown now can you?”  

Oh, well I guess you can’t.  Sauntering over to him I took the clothes and then returned to my changing room where I inspected the outfit.  Black pants and a loose grey tunic.  I smiled.  This was what I was used to wearing.  Mayhap I should have signed up for the army a long time ago.  

I changed quickly and was surprised when the clothes fit me.  Taking a moment to admire my new attire in the floor length mirror I noticed I had a little bit more fat on my bones.  I had been eating well in the castle and it was paying off.  

“To the training grounds?”  I asked when I emerged.  

He chuckled.  “Our destination is a little farther than that.”  

I gave him a questioning glance, but grabbed my cloak and proceeded to follow him.  Fifteen minuets later I found myself deep inside the forest on the grounds.  The cold air making my breath look like fog.  My hands were shoved deep inside my cloak for the little warmth they could get.  

“You going to take that off?”  The prince said gesturing to the cloak.  

“Why on earth would I do that?  In case you haven't noticed its freezing.”  

He just shook his head and said, “Trust me, take the cloak off.  You will thank me later.”  

Grumbling I untied the ribbon and tossed the cloak to the forest floor.  

“Thats better.”  He said.  

I glared in his direction.  Blasted boy.  He had a whole castle to train in, why pick outside?  

“How are you with running?”  He asked.  

I shrugged.  During my last visit to the knights training grounds I had observed a group running laps and it looked easy enough.  It would probably be hard if one had to run more than three miles at a time.  

He smiled.  “Well then, lets get to it.  Oh, and please let me know if you need to stop.  I will go easy on you today.”  

I frowned at him.  Easy?  Oh I would make him eat those words.  “And let me know if I need to stop for you, your Highness.”  I said and took off running.  

His laugh sounded behind me and it was little time before he caught up with me.  

“Slow down, if you keep this pace up we wont even make it a half mile.”  He ordered.  

I rolled my eyes, but did as he asked, going more of a leisurely pace.  I would prove to him that I knew how to run.  Running wasn't even what I needed to be trained in.  I had asked for self defense hadn't I?  Running was instinctive, Martial arts were not.  I would be the one laughing when we had to slow down.  Yes, I would show him to treat me as a weak little girl and I quickened my pace.  

I was wrong.  So horribly wrong.  About five minutes into the run my sides started cramping, my breathing became labored.  Soon after the cold air became irritating to my nose making each breath burn.  Switching my breath to my mouth, was not better in any way.  My lungs felt like they would burst.  My body was dripping with sweat.  Had I been complaining on how cold it was just a few minuets earlier?  Suddenly grateful that Tahvo had insisted on loosing the cloak, although I would never admit it to him, but god I needed to stop.  Now.  

Slowing my pace tahvo passed me and had to come back to meet me.  I fell on my knees, my lungs hungry for air.  Damn this was hard.  

The prince gave me a small smile.  He didn't look winded at all, breathing hard yes, but not nearly as hard as I was.  My hands shook as I grasped the dead grass.  

“You need a break?”  

I nodded.  Not trusting my voice.  My stomach cramped again and I was sure I would vomit.  

“It isn't going always be like this.”  He said.  “Your body will adapt, I am actually impressed we made it as far as we did.”  

I looked up at him. “How far . . . did  . . . we get?”  I asked between gasps.  

“Half a mile.”  

Half a mile! That was nothing!  Couldn't people run over ten or something easily?  There had to be, because of messages needing to be sent from the battle field to generals.  And I could only do half of one.  Pathetic.  

“Catch your breath and then we will head back to the castle.” 

My breathing had already improved.  I slowly got back to my feet and started in the direction of the castle.  “I do not understand why you woke me up at the crack of dawn for a run.”  

He chuckled.  “Oh, we aren’t done quite yet.”     

I stopped dead in my tracks.  My head whipped in his direction.  “What do you mean we aren’t finished?  You have more torture to put me through?”  

This time the prince let out a laugh.  A real, deep, thunderous laugh. “I wouldn’t call it torture my Lady, but yes.  More training is to be done within the castle.”  

I groaned, but started my walk once more.  This was going to be one long, awful day.

Once the clock stuck noon my body was soaked in sweat and everything felt weak.  The prince had me doing a variety of different exercises like crunches, pull ups and push ups, along with weight training.  I barely had enough energy to walk back to my rooms where I then collapsed on the floor still in my sweaty tunic and pants and fell into a deep sleep.  

When I awoke my stomach was growling with hunger and I felt like I would be sick.  Swiftly I called a maid and ordered and ungodly amount of food.  I plopped onto my bed and waited for her to bring the feast.  I ended up falling asleep once more.  No food in my stomach made me exhausted, not to add to the fact that I had been training just hours before.  The meal smelled divine once within my chambers.  The scent of herbed chicken, pot roast, stews, and other things wafted in the air.  As soon as the maids were finished setting it all up and had left me to eat in private, I devoured it.  The way I dug in would have put a real lady of the court to shame. 

I was onto desert when the prince walked in.  His face was stunned as I paused my eating, my mouth full from the fresh bite of cherry pie.  

“Have you had guests?”  He asked.  

I shook my head.  A wet drip formed at the corner of my mouth, then began to slide down my chin.  

Tahvo smirked.  “You have a little-“

Wiping the drip of cherry filling off my chin before he could finish I glared at him, then chewed as lady like as I could before swallowing and nearly choking on the bite.  He just laughed.      

“And what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”  I asked, refusing to let my embarrassment show.  

Tahvo shrugged.  “Nothing really, but watching you eat like a ravenous beast is much more entertaining than any theater performance I've seen.”  

“Cheaper too.”  I commented.  

“Mind if I join you?  Or were you planning on eating every crumb of that chocolate cake?”    

I eyed the cake that I had yet to touch.  It looked scrumptious with its beautiful deep brown icing, with cherries on the perimeter, each atop a tiny swirl of icing.  But then my eyes focused on the red velvet treat next to the chocolate.  A guess a sacrifice was in order.  

“Its all yours.”  I said. 

He plunked down adjacent me and began cutting his treat.  

The prince stayed until every last crumb of cake, pastries, and pie were gone.  He was leaning in the dinning chair, a lazy smile on his lips. 

“Do you dine like this often?”  He asked.  

I shook my head.  “I dine daily your highness, but not with the amount of food I enjoyed tonight.”  

The smile grew.  “I’ve never heard of a woman dining daily.”  

I resisted the urge to smile back, but played along with his foolery.  “Nor have you heard of a woman wanting to learn self defense.  If I were correct it would seem as if you were behind the times.”  

“Bah,”  He said as he poured water into his goblet. “I am prince of this kingdom. If i were behind the times I would be hanged for the outrage of it.”  

I flinched.  He talked of hangings as if they were nothing.  A thing to joke about.  Had he every been to one?  Had he ever seen the fear in peoples eyes right before?  Heard the cries of their loved ones in the crowd, forced to watch.  My doubt was strong.  

Forcing a smile to my lips I quickly changed the subject.  “What do you do prince?  When not teaching your men to fight.”  

“I don’t teach my men to fight, they have someone much better for the job.”  

“And who would that be?”  

“Captain Merek.  He trains everyone who serves my father, including me when I was younger.”  

“Why am I not training under his watch instead of yours.”  I asked.  

Tahvo shot me a look for that one.  “I came to the understanding that you wanted me as your teacher.”  

“You, him, it does not matter who.  I just want to be trained.” 

“Then with me you will stay.”  

I smiled.  “Unless the captain is better at teaching than you.  So far we have yet to get to the actual defending part.”  

“Training you as I am is how all men first learn to fight.”  He said. “You are out of shape, wouldn't stand a chance against anyone, but when your body adapts to running great distances it may save your life from a killer chasing you.  I am teaching you endurance.  It is the fist step among many to come.”  

I lifted my goblet in a toast of sorts.  “Then I look forward to the rest.”   

The next week was nothing short of hell.  Each day the prince met me for our daily run through the forest and then hours of work outs followed, but today when the prince told me we had ran more than half a mile I couldn't help but feel triumphant.  It wasn't a mile, but I was making progress.  

“You aren’t focusing girl.”  Snapped the piano instructor.  “Play that section again.”  

I stifled a sigh and did as he asked.  Since I started training piano had been pushed to the side and practically forgotten.  Today I managed to get word to the pianist about changing our lesson times to the late afternoon instead of mornings.  He had agreed and I had forgotten how strict the man was.   

My fingers were clumsy as I went back through the piece. A clank here, another there some notes forgotten all together.  Obviously practiced mattered and I was behind on it.  

“Pathetic.”  He spat.  “I’ll be back tomorrow and I expect improvement.”  

Once he was gone I slumped on the bench. I would be at this instrument all night probably.  My fingers needing to get familiar again with the keys.  Warming back up with a few scales my fingers slowly remembered their places, my ears remembered the notes that rang out.  I smiled.  He would see improvement.  I began the piece when a light knock came from the entryway.  I glared at the maid.  

“This had better be important.”  

“The princess requires your presence my Lady.”  She said sweeping into a curtsy. 

I groaned.  Was I going to have any time with myself today?  All I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and fall asleep.  I stood and followed the maid.  She led me to a wing of the castle I hadn't seen yet.  We stopped in front of two doors that were painted white and rimmed with gold.  A painting of flowers climbing up the doors on vines decorated them. Beside the door stood two guards, armed and watching for any threat to arise. The maid knocked. 

“Finally you're here!”  Exclaimed Adamaris when she opened the door.  

“Have you been waiting long?”  

She shook her head as I entered and dismissed my maid. “No, but I will admit I'm a little impatient.”  

Impatient?  Had I angered her?  Good god these royals were like rigged explosives waiting to burst.  But on the other hand they probably never had to wait for anything or anyone in their lives.

“Then I apologize.”  

She led me to her dinning room which was filled with tea pots with steam wafting up in swirls toward the high ornate ceiling.  In the center of the room sat a small round table with two chairs opposite each other.  Two tea cups were set up as well.  

“Tea?”  I asked baffled.

“Yes!  Don’t you remember I was going to teach you how to have tea?”  

I grimaced “Yes, but I do not enjoy the beverage.” 

The princess led me to the table and sat down.  I followed.  “There are a few hundred kinds of tea in this room that Ive had prepared.”  Said Adamaris.  “There must be one that you like!”  

A few hundred?  Only a few hundred teas.  Tea that I would have to drink and probably spit out.  Although I hated the idea of this, Tea was something that ladies of the court enjoyed and I could not risk being made a fool of or getting the wrong attention for drinking it incorrectly or even not liking it at all.   

I sighed.  “Where do we start?”  

She beamed a smile at me. “Well lets start with the whites.”  

A maid who seemed to materialize out of thin air poured us both a small amount of a tea into our cups.  

“Is there a proper way to hold such a beautiful cup?”  

Adamaris nodded.  “Good question.  Yes. You take the handle in between your index and thumb.  Like so.” She demonstrated.  I picked my cup up, imitating her hand position.  She nodded.  

“Well done!”  

I returned her smile.  Now for the hard part. I raised the cup tentatively to my lips and drank.  The liquid was hot and tasted of grass.  I pressed my lips tightly together and forced it down my throat.  

“Is it normal to drink something that taste like the wilderness?”  I gasped.  

Adamaris giggled.  “Yes, tea is made from various herbs and such.  It should taste earthy.”  

“Great.”  I said and plastered a smile to my face.  Adamaris saw right through it.  

“Oh, you've only tasted one!  There are many others that you may enjoy, just not this one.”  

“Aright, I’ll keep going.”  

“Thats the spirit!”  Adamaris waved the maid over again and more tea was poured.  “I have a feeling you will like this one.  It tastes of flowers.”  

I raised a brow.  Flowers?  What on earth would that taste like?  Bracing myself I took a sip.  Nothing at first, but the after taste was of a bouquet of flowers.  I sipped again.  It was actually delightful and fun.  As if someone had taken a beautiful spring day with a stroll around the gardens.  I liked it.  

“You like it!”  Exclaimed the princess.  

I nodded and asked for a full cup this time.  The princess was beside herself with joy.  

“You truly like it!  Oh wonderful!  Now what did I tell you, I was right.”  

I smiled and rolled my eyes.  “Oh hush, it is just tea.”    

Adamaris gave me a smug look. “But you like it.”  

“Yes I like it!  Now must we make such a fuss about it?”  

The princess stopped her banter, but a smile remained on her face.  I finished the cup and declared I was ready for the next tea.  

It took hours to get through all of them.  Some I spat out immediately and some I had to have second helpings of.  Along the way we would try to add a handful of different things to the teas I disliked.  Some with lemon and some with honey or cream.  Sometimes they would work, sometimes made it worse.   

“Well who knew you could like tea?”  Boasted the Princess.

I snorted. “You.”

It was the Princesses turn to roll her eyes. “Besides me.” 

“Honestly I thought I was a lost hope for this.”  

She smiled.  “Well now we know.  I’ll have some of your favorites given to the cooks so you can enjoy one of them with breakfast tomorrow.”  

I nearly groaned.  Tomorrow.  It would be filled with training and piano, breakfast would not be leisurely nor would tea be served with it.  Only water.  The prince had said something about military diet and all that, but by the way I had feasted last night I doubt any of that was on his ‘diet’.  

“Thank you.”  I said and stood from the chair.  The sun had set and the light fixtures around the room had been lit and by the look of all the wax that had dried at the bottom they had been burning for quite some time.  I glanced at the grandfather clock behind me.  Its hands read nine o’clock.  How did it become so late so quickly?  “I truly must be leaving.”  

“Yes.”  Agreed Adamaris.  “Tomorrow though we should go for a ride.”  

“That would be lovely, but you would have to check with your brother on that.”  

She gave me a confused look.  “My brother is not the boss of me or you, so why would I  have to ask him that?”  Her eyes went wide.  “Would his answer make me blush?”  

I laughed at her conclusion.  “No it would not.  I am a Lady and unlike Isobel I act like one.”  

“Consider me disappointed then.”  Said the Princess.

I gaped at her.  Did she want me to sleep with her brother?  Is that a normal thing around here?  It is looked down upon where I was from.  Only the desperate would stoop so low.  Desperate like my sister.  A pang of sorrow went though me as the memory arose.  All the more reason to get this done quickly.  

“I’m sorry to disappoint you.”  I lied.  Then I turned on my heels and left the room.  What corrupt people.  Assuming a person was a harlot just because of spending time with another.  It made bile rise in my throat.  Is that was a lady was?  A fancy name for harlot.  This system was disgusting and I wanted no part in it.  I would  leave the castle now if it weren't for my sister.  If it weren't for my plan.  I would kill these b******s with a smile on my face.  No feeling of remorse would come.  A service to the people is what it was.

I rounded the corner and ran smack into a hard chest.  Glancing up I found that the chest belonged to the Prince.  Just the person I wanted to see right now.  

“I was wondering where you were.”  He said. 

“I did not know I had to notify you of my whereabouts.”  

He raise a brow.  “Cranky today.”  

“When one wakes up at the crack of dawn and is up late sleep is shortened.”  I replied.  “Now if you don’t mind I need to head back to my rooms where I can get a nights rest in before tomorrow.” 

I brushed past him only to run into another body.  Stepping back I exclaimed, “Can I not walk through these halls?”  

The eldest princess raised a brow.  “I am sorry.  Maybe you should be more alert and watch infant of you instead of under.”  

I rolled my eyes. Of course it was never the royals fault.  Danae looked past me to Tahvo.  “Father is looking for you.  He told me if I should find you to tell you that he needs you in his office as soon as possible.”  

“Yes, I’ll go there now.”  I heard him say then the foot falls of him walking away.

Moving away from the Princess I headed back to my own room, grateful that I had no more run ins with any royalty.  Flopping on the bed I stared at the ceilings.  They were not beautiful nor did they have an ornate painting on them.  It was stark white.  Quite boring, but no distractions kept my mind drifting back to what was important.  Getting rid of the disease within these walls and giving the town a chance to start over.  To rule as they wanted or at least give someone with the rightful power the thrown. Poison would take one out, but after that?  Would I have to fight?  If that was the case I would be ready.  Not the method of choice, but I would be ready nonetheless.  And the royal family wouldn’t. I fell asleep with a smile on my lips.  

Walking into our private training room my eyes fell on the gleaming swords that were propped up against the wall.  I turned to smile at the prince.  “Swords today?  How lucky am I?”  He just smirked.  Sauntering over I observed the metal that was razor sharp from the looks of it.  Oh they were beautiful.  The blades much thinner than I expected but lethal all the same.  The hilts were simple black. The pommels a round onyx stone with veins of grey weaving though out.  I reached to grab one and another materialized, stopping me before I could touch it.  I swung my gaze to Tahvo.  

“What?”  I asked.  

“I never gave you permission to touch the swords.”  

Permission!  Oh this stuck up Prince!  In his eyes he was above me in every aspect of life.     A peasant needing a permission of a prince.  I ground my teeth together.   “May I touch the swords your highness?”  

A hint of a smile twitched on his lips.  Oh I was going to enjoy killing him.  I would enjoy seeing the surprise in his eyes when everything he taught me comes back and bites him in the butt.  Well, a little more than bite.    

“When dealing with a weapon you always need to wait for my permission.  To touch, use, or otherwise. And no.  You may not.” 

He released my hand and walked back to the center of the room.  Why couldn't I touch them?  Hadn’t I waited long enough?  A voice in the back of my mind said to grab them just to spite him, but another part said to give it a rest.  Unfortunately that side won out. 

“If the swords are not for my using why are they here?”  I went and met him in the center.  He sighed.  “The knights who were using this room after us forgot to put them away.  I will be finding them later and give them a scolding.”  

“So that means another full day of working out again?”  I said as I headed to the corner where the weights were.  I had improved, at first I could only lift fifteen pounds.  I was now up to twenty-nine.  Even though I was proud of my weight improvement the prince would always show me up by grabbing the triple digits.  

“Not a full day.”  

I stopped my walk.  Not a full day?  Did that mean . . . “I thought you said the swords were not for us.”  

“They aren’t.”  He replied.  “The most important self defense is hand to hand.  Not with a weapon that you wont always have access to.”  

My heart leapt with joy. I was going to learn how to fight!  Finally!  Oh, how excited I was!  Finally what I have been waiting for was within my grasp.  

“Start your reps.”  He said and sat down in his chair to observe as I trained.  I would have groaned at the thought of all the work I was about to do if it weren't for the promise of defense lessons later.  So I dropped to the floor and began my pushups.  

Author's Note

Tell me what you thought!