Page 18 of Her Ivory Flame

- - - - - - - -

Hitting the dirt for the eighth time with her sword in hand left her head spinning and body aching. Kaden had been drilling herfor hours now. The sun rested in the middle of the sky making her skin sticky with sweat even in cool spring weather.

They had to walk across the castle grounds, the training area at the far east of the castle making her able to take in the surroundings she had forgotten. Dirt circles for fighting, stuffed dummies for practice, and archery targets littered the vast area around her. She could hear others training nearby and felt eyes on her but tried to keep her concentration on Kaden.

Her chest was heaving when he walked next to her, his towering body shading her face for a short moment. “You are lagging on your left side and you keep leaving it open for attack.” His voice still had no emotion when talking to her. “Get up.”

“You know, maybe if you made this more fun I would get better faster.” she panted between breaths as she stood with her hands on her knees trying to defuse the tension.. Her hair was braided again, pinned into a crown on top of her head to keep it out of her face, a few loose strands falling down her cheek.

“Nothing about fighting is fun.” he snapped back.

He had been stoic all morning, his face holding no emotion and ruthless in his training method. He was an excellent swordsman, one of the best she has ever sparred with, but his people skills lacked drastically.

“You’re right, but this is training, not fighting.” She barked back.

“I’m not Silas.” He glared, sword rotating in his hand beside him.

“Well duh.” She stood upright stretching her back out. “That’s why Emris assigned you to work with me instead of him. If you are a better fighter, which from the small amount of time I’ve spent with you seems true, then it was an easy choice.”

“Drop your sword. We are going to go back to basic hand-to-hand drills.” His voice returned to its flat tone.

She paused for a second, the thought of having to touch someone or vice versa, instantly making her tense. It was inevitable with fighting, but she wasn’t sure how she was going to handle it.

“Did you hear me?” he barked, her eyes darting up to him.

“Yes I did.” She snarled. “I don’t do well with people touching me.”

“Better get used to it princess.”

“I’m a queen.”

He walked up to her, stopping with only a few inches between them as he glared down at her. His body towered over hers, at least a foot taller than her build with nothing but solid muscle. She would guess his height was in the neighborhood of six-foot seven if not taller. “Until you officially take the throne you are not the queen, you’re still just a princess.”

“Doesn't matter to you, either way you still servemefor now.You are a soldier and I am a princess,” she growled.

His eyebrow raised slightly, the maroon in his eyes darkening and then took in a deep breath. “Whatever you say,princess.”

The drop in his tone made her aware she had struck a nerve, and when he stepped back with tense shoulders she knew he wasn’t happy.

Darting away from him, she walked towards the edge of the ring and set her weapons down. If she was going to get her powers back, she was going to have to push through whatever she needed to even if it meant making her physically sick.

She walked back over to the center of the circle without making eye contact with him and waited for instruction.

He struck out first in a surprise attack, her body instantly reacting and dodging it just in time to counter. He blocked it, his arm pressing against her and she could feel her stomach instantly react. She could barely get her composure before he swung for another blow lower in the leg. She was able to block it just before he maneuvered again and knocked her feet out from under her slamming her into the dirt once more.

“Fuck.” she coughed out.

Her body trembled, still reeling from contact with his body and she tried to take in a deep breath to steady herself. She would be useless in war if she couldn’t fight.

“I thought you used to be a great warrior, one of the best?” his condescending tone pouring from his lips.

“That was a century ago,” she spat back rising on her feet while still calming herself. “I’m a little out of practice.”

“Maybe you should have been keeping up on your training princess, instead of playing house.”

She clenched her fist at his words, but she couldn’t respond because he was partially right. She could feel it coming back to her slowly, but this was just the first day of many she would have to endure to return to her former self.

“Mavros could attack at any time, we need you to learn quickly and break that wall down so you can use your powers,” Kaden muttered.