“It means we’re going to fight.”
“Fight?” she asked, nearly dropping the sword for a second time. “Ow!” she said as she caught the sword across the blade.
“Lesson number two, if you drop the foil, don’t grab it be the blade. If this one wasn’t so blunted, that might have truly hurt,” he said as he moved the sword in her grasp.
“Stop teasing me.”
“Then do not grab the sword by the blade again.”
She could just about see his smile through the mesh material over her face.
“Now, copy me exactly,” he said, holding up a finger as he backed away from her.
“How can I if I can barely see you?” she asked, swiping her other hand in the air to make her point.
“Squint a little, you’ll get used to it. Now, position one is this, a forward lunge…”
For the next few minutes, Hayward went into teaching her many different stances. Phoebe felt somewhat ridiculous at first, learning such things when wearing a gown, but after a minute, she began to see the use in practicing such a thing. As she got better and better at each position, with Hayward giving her less and less amendments, she felt more powerful. It was as though the blunted weapon in her hand really was the thing that kept her safe in the world. She loved the feeling.
This…this is what feeling safe feels like.
“Now, a practice parry,” Hayward said as he went to pick up a sword from the rack. Phoebe backed up a little, her eyes now having adjusted to the mesh, she could see Hayward advancing toward her.
“Yes, I can see why this would be particularly frightening in a fight.”
“You know I would never harm you.” His voice was sincere as he stopped walking. The deepness of the tone made her blush, and she was secretly thankful for the mesh over her face. “It will be a very slow parry. I’ll shout out stances for you to take and will show you how they respond to stances I would take. Ready?”
“Ready,” she said with a firm nod.
“Lunge one…” they went into a few different lunges, parrying very slowly back and forth so that the swords barely tapped one another every now and then, until Hayward spun away. “There, excellent – wait…”
Phoebe heard the ripping sound of the dress before she felt it.
Chapter 11
“Ah…” Francis said as he spun round and lifted the helmet off his head. Lady Ridlington dropped the sword instantly and clung to the dress.
“What happened?” she asked, looking up at him through the mask as she held the skirt against the bodice of the dress.
“It seems…” he paused as he looked at the way the dress was torn. At the bottom of where the padding across her torso sat around her hips, her sword had become caught in the material and ripped it. “Perhaps lesson number three should have been not to injure yourself, or your own clothes.”
“That was hardly intentional!” she said, waving one arm madly in the air. “Look away.”
“Yes, of course,” he said hurriedly turning round and placing his back to her, though he laughed all the same. “I didn’t see anything, I promise.”
“Am I amusing to you, Your Grace?”
“You are, but probably for a different reason than you think,” he said with honesty, thinking of her surprise. He was actually impressed with how quickly she was picking up the stances he was teaching her. The rip had just been so out of blue, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “You need hardly be embarrassed by such a thing.”
“Oh?” she asked, making a sound that suggested she was rearranging the dress and the padding.
“Well, in the continent, not everyone dresses the same,” he said, feeling the temptation to smirk tug at his lips. “I have seen more than a hip before.”
“You said you didn’t see anything!” she accused loudly.
“I didn’t, I promise you,” he said, trying to control his mirth. “I just could not resist that chance to jest with you, that is all.”
“There, all done. You may turn back.”
