“Are you insane? I’m not ready, yet.”
“Elena, I’ve been training you for the past few weeks. Relax. Lucian is a great sparring partner. As good as he is, he is predictable cause he shows you what he is going to do.” She pushed her one shoulder forward and alternate to the other. “Watch his movements.”
I got what she was saying. Every single thing she taught me was about movements and how to react.
I nodded, feeling giddy about facing Lucian. He came back with an entourage of people. Blake’s father was here, too, checking in.
The king and my dad sat on the lower step while the queen, Emanual and Sir Robert sat on the step above.
Lucian ran toward us as Micha handed me a vest, and I put it on. Micha ran over to the side as Lucian looked yummy.
“Don’t hold back, Lucian. Elena needs all the training,” Micha said.
A chuckle escaped Lucian’s lips, and my throat became dry as my heart pumped faster.
He came for me and I moved out of the way. Lucian didn’t expect that at all. He was fast too and didn’t stop, but what Micha said was the truth.
I found my gaps and attacked fast. Everything that I learned from all my trainers poured out of me, and poor Lucian was the guinea pig.
He didn’t quit, though, and the fight was long and draining.
He got the upper hand a few times, but then my second trainer, Mia’s voice, jumped into my thoughts and I would squirm right out of his grips.
I had the upper hand again. He went down, tripping over his laces, and we both were out of breath.
“Great job, Micha. Dad, I think we need to get her to train me too.”
Micha laughed.
“I didn’t win fair and square. He tripped over his shoelaces, I doubt the Rubicon would wear shoes.”
“No, he has tendrils and when those get closer to the ground, he will trip over them, too. A win is a win,” Micha said, and walked over to us. She helped Lucian up.
“You are seriously good,” Lucian said.
“Well, I’m not an ancient guard for nothing, I earned that.”
The sweat dripped from Lucian’s forehead as I gulped down my water. He raised his palm as he passed me and I hit it.
“The Rubicon is going down!” he yelled and everyone laughed.
We ended the evening’s training off with another round in the Sim.
I got my gap on his back, and the beast was mine. I wrestled him, abusing his tendrils, and he went down.
The golden words ‘Yield’ appeared bright in front of me, covering his entire face, and I tapped the pads and pulled the visor off.
Everyone cheered. Dad was the loudest of them all.
After training, before my shower, Dad wanted to take a walk with me to the lake.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it is. How are you doing?”
“I feel great, but I’m nervous too. The sim will be nothing like the real deal, will it.”
“No, it won’t.”
