CHAPTER 24
“Fuck! Ouch!” Ulric blurted as I stepped on his foot again with my heeled shoes.
“I’m so sorry!” I really was, he was taking time out of each day to teach me the basic dances for the upcoming ball, and I kept stomping on his feet.
“Dammit, Avyn.” This time, he shook his foot in the air, trying to shake off the pain.
“Maybe we should practice without the shoes?” I suggested to him, hoping to save his feet from further torture.
“You can hardly walk in them, and you’ll have to wear them at the ball.
You need to practice while in them. My feet will be fine, bruised, but fine.
” He shook one foot and then the other, as if that would stop the pain.
“I want you to practice in your room. I can send someone to help keep you on count.”
On our last attempt, we made it through the song without any foot injuries.
Breakfast was quick, and I was starving by the time we got there.
Getting up earlier had thrown off my stomach's routine. Zendryk didn’t join us, and Ulric said he would be running the lessons today.
I assumed he didn’t join us because of last night's attack and more important business needed his attention. I was pleasantly surprised during the Professor’s lesson today because Ketra joined us.
She would pipe up, adding extra details here and there that the Professor had forgotten.
Their father-daughter relationship was like the ones from stories my mother told me as a child.
They both loved each other and enjoyed challenging one another intellectually; it was hard to pay attention because it was so entertaining to watch them together.
The wealth of knowledge that they knew between them was more than I would ever know in my entire lifetime.
They rambled on about the incantation that protects the mortals from our lands, correcting each other or adding details to one another’s facts.
The lesson ended when they were in a heated debate about mortals and whether they needed to be shielded from our kind.
I snuck out of the room, but neither of them noticed I had left.
Ulric was waiting for me outside the stables, with a stupid grin on his face.
“You’re smiling?” I pointed out, questioning him at the same time.
“Am I?” Sarcastic ass. His smile grew bigger.
“Just tell me.” I was really starting to like whatever this relationship was. I imagined this is what it would feel like to have a brother.
“You’ll see.” He turned and walked into the stables, holding the door open for me.
We entered through the large doors, and it looked the same as it always did.
“Woooowwww! The stables.” I shifted my eyes over to him, feigning surprise.
He rolled his eyes and pushed my shoulder. Yup. Definitely what having a brother would be like. “Go to the last stall on the left.” He said, as a childlike smirk graced his face.
I walked down the landing path towards the end stable and stopped in front of the stable door, and my mouth dropped. There was a black ribbon bow on the door with a small paper tag that said ‘Avyn.’
I heard something nicker, and then the sound of hooves approached the door.
A horse… no, a Pegasus stuck its head out the window, its snout was black and faded into a lighter grey until it met with its eyes, which were a brilliant shade of blue.
I saw a bucket beside the door that was full of carrots, so I grabbed one to give to it, and it took it gladly from my outstretched hand.
Its mane matched its snout; I looked further in while it was distracted eating the carrot and could see that its body was grey, but its wings were black.
“Is this for me?” I turned and asked Ulric while grabbing another carrot to give to it.
“Yeah, Zen thought it was time for you to start bonding your own. This,” He gestured to the Pegasus, “is Ares.”
“Ares, I like that. Doesn’t he have another rider? I thought you bonded with them from a young age?” Ares grabbed the carrot from my hand, enjoying the extra treats.
“His past rider died in battle. Ares has been…. A little … temperamental since then. We thought it might be a good idea for you two to learn together. You already have so much in common.”
The sarcasm was not lost on me, but I let it slide this time.
“Well, thank you. Ouch!” Ares nipped at my shoulder.
“I’m not going to give you another carrot just because you bit me.” I crossed my arms, and he snorted at me in frustration.
“This is going to be a great relationship; I can already feel it.” Ulric laughed out.
The rest of the lesson was spent outside in the running field.
Ulric taught me the best ways to bond with a Pegasus and what Ares’ favorite treats were; I made a mental note to ask Mrs. Prast for a stash of mints the next time that I saw her.
Ares responded to Ulric’s commands but didn’t let anyone ride him since his past rider.
The bond they created from a young age was beautiful, and I had a lot of work and trust-building to do with him.
He was graceful as he sprinted and galloped across the field, and I watched as his wings extended out behind him, stretching, but Ulric stopped him from taking flight with a simple command, and he listened, with a disgruntled snort of course.
I was glad I was not the only one who gave Ulric attitude.
Ares didn’t let me or Ulric lead him back to the stables, but he walked behind us on his own without a leather lead.
Just like me, he will do what he is told, but he won’t be happy about it.
I tossed a couple of carrots into his stall before leaving to go to lunch, and he nickered at me in approval as I turned to leave.
Zendryk didn’t join us for lunch or in the sparring ring that afternoon.
I brought my swords with me and spoke to Ulric about finding a way to carry them while keeping my hands free; he said he would talk to the leatherworker to have a back strap made to fit my body.
We began with hand-to-hand for our warm-up and, after a quick water break, transitioned to sword training.
He had me hacking away at the hay bale again, and I was starting to feel defeated again.
“When can I actually practice on something other than horse feed?” I asked while hitting the same spot again for the hundredth time.
“Not for some time, you need to master control of the swords first before moving into maneuvers …. That way, I will be sure to leave practice with all my limbs.”
I rolled my eyes and struck the same spot on the hay bale even harder.
Attack him.
What?! Absolutely not. He is training me, not attacking me!
You cannot learn from a bale of hay. Attack him.
Not happening. No!
I am not asking you. I am telling you to attack him!
The sword in my hand thrummed with power again, the surge racing through my veins and up the black marks etched into my skin. Stop it! I pleaded.
Attack him! It was angry.
The power was becoming too much as I turned to Ulric.
A worried look crossed his face. “Are you okay, Avyn?”
The burning sensation started again, and it became too much to bear. Make it stop!
THEN ATTACK HIM!
I couldn’t take it anymore. Hoisting the sword above my head as shock flashed in Ulric's eyes, I brought it down, but just before it made contact, he grabbed hold of his sword from his waist and blocked the attack.
“AVYN! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” The force of my swing caused his hands to shudder.
Again. The burning sensation was calming down.
I braced myself and swung, aiming for his side this time, and he blocked it again.
Again. So demanding.
Lifting my sword, I went from above, and he blocked my attack perfectly. It was like he knew what attack I was about to do before I struck. Without the voice telling me what to do, I continued to throw blow after blow, and he continued to block them.
Tell him to attack you.
I stopped for a moment and thought of my choices: let my hands and veins burn from the inside out or have him attack me. I chose the latter option.
“Swing at me, Ulric,” I begged him.
“No. I will not, you are not trained.” He lowered his sword to the ground.
The pain intensified. “Ulric, dammit. Just fucking swing at me!”
Before he had time to think, I swung at him again, hoping I would egg him on enough that he would attack back.
Each time my sword hit his, he moved further back.
This can’t be right; he was much stronger than I was.
I landed a final blow that knocked him off his feet, and he looked up at me, snarling, and his eyes went the same shade of red as when he was in his wolf form.
He leaped to his feet, a low growl rumbling from him that made my spine tingle.
I took a couple of steps back before he ran at me, sword in hand, ready to strike.
Sword up now!
I met Ulric's sword with my own, and the impact of the two blades sent pain shooting down my arm. I let out a grunt of discomfort, and he pulled his sword back, ready to strike again.
Down. Now!
I did what the voice said, and as Ulric swung low, I deflected the attack, and his sword fell away from mine, scraping down the metal of my own.
Jump back now!
I jumped back and out of the way of Ulric's swing at my stomach. I could see the frustration and confusion growing more evident with each swing. He took a moment, eyes narrowing, and lunged for me.
The voice predicted every move before it happened.
Left. Right. Right. Left. Up. Down.
I followed every direction it gave me and managed to stop every attack.
He is tiring, attack now.
Moving quickly, I fired back with a similar set of moves that he just tried on me, knocking him back with each strike. Until finally he was at the edge of the ring and tripped back over the rope barrier, his sword clashing to the ground before he did. I swung downwards…
STOP!