“Good. Since we’re locked in we might as well start now,” she said.
Chapter Fourteen
“Now?” Silas gave her a disbelieving stare.
“Yes.” Helena nodded, “Why not?”
“Well…” his eyes raked her frame, “for one thing, you’re not dressed for it.”
“And how is one usually dressed when learning to fight? I would have thought that everyday clothes would be best. Considering nobody will give me time to change, should I be attacked.”
His lips pursed and she could see amusement in his eyes. But all he did was spread his arms in surrender.
“Very well then. We shall begin with the basics. Blocking.”
She dropped her hands and straightened up to her full height. “All right,” she said.
“Now I’m going to make as if to hit you. Lift up your arms and block me while protecting your face. Like so. Understood?”
She nodded, preparing to do as he said.
He clenched his hand into a fist and slowly aimed it at her face. She lifted her arms slowly, to block contact. His fist touched her elbow before he pulled back.
“Good, that was good. Again.”
They practiced that one move for what felt to Helena like a ridiculously long time. Finally, he moved on to something else.
“Now, turn away from me. Pretend you are walking, and I shall come up behind you. It’s an ambush. Show me what you would do.”
Helena nodded excitedly. This sounded like just what she needed.
Her brow furrowed as she tried to think what she would do in such a situation.
Before she knew it, she could feel him behind her, his arms circling her neck. In a second, he had her in a choke hold. She struggled, trying to move his arm, but it was as unmovable as a stone.
She could feel his breath warm on her neck, slow and steady while she panted with exertion. Clearly, she could not pit her strength against his.
She stopped struggling and went limp, trying to pull him down with her weight. But he simply curved his other arm around her waist and held her snug against his chest.
His proximity was… disconcerting, to say the least.
“I…I give up,” she said.
Just like that, he let go of her, spinning her around to face him, his eyes intent on her face.
He shook his head. “Wrong. Never say that to an attacker.”
“I wasn’t saying it to an attacker. I was saying it to you,” she protested.
He rolled his eyes. “Iwas your attacker.”
“So show me what I should have done.”
“Right, so…” He turned her around again. “Once you realize there’s someone behind you, the first thing that you do is turn around. It is much more difficult to attack when you’re looking your intended victim in the eye.”
Immediately, she turned around and stared intently into his eyes.
“That’s good. So the attacker was reaching for your neck, but now he cannot subdue you from the front. What does he do? He grabs your arms.” He matched words to action. “What do you do?”
