Chapter 5
Chapter
The next morning, I decided I needed some good old training.
In Thalrock, I had been raised alongside my elder brother and his squires.
There were few women my age at our castle.
Besides, on the islands, women had always been strong and independent.
When men sailed the seas for months, duties fell to wives, sisters, and daughters.
In my house, there were no exceptions. My father, though stern, always said it mattered not whether one was born a girl or boy, the waters and storms asked no questions of sex.
Years of practice, swimming, and sailing had left my body lean and strong.
I lacked womanly curves, my breasts were small and waist barely defined, I had a muscular back and shoulders.
The most feminine features were my long legs.
Some said I looked more like a boy than a lady.
It didn’t bother me. I preferred a body that hasn’t failed me when I needed it, a body that would protect me when in trouble.
But also, I had a very short temper and was prone to outbursts of anger.
To survive in this viper’s nest, I had to find some outlet for my emotions.
It’s better to vent on the training mat than to explode with uncontrolled rage.
Though, I would gladly have delivered a few well-aimed kicks to Velena’s face, if granted the opportunity.
Putting dreams aside, I arranged a spar with Kael and Brenn. I would not train in the palace yard. Too many eyes, too many whispers. I needed no audience, I needed combat.
I chose a training room in the palace’s side wing. I dressed in close-fitting, light raiment that gave no hindrance. The shirt clung to me and marked my shape. Soft leather trousers permitted swift dodges, and I bound my hair in a tight braid to keep it from my face.
Kael already waited, leaning against the wall, toying with a wooden sword. Brenn stretched his arms, casting me brief, amused glances.
“Enough idling, gentlemen. Time to move,” I said, raising the wooden blades.
Kael and Brenn exchanged looks, as if certain they would soon thrash me and make me regret my words.
We began the spar. Short, swift strikes, almost a dance, agility mattered more than strength. On the islands, one fought with dual blades. Movements were precise, controlled, never wild. An enemy aboard a ship might stand at your side, so lightning reflex and accuracy ruled.
Kael and Brenn attacked in turns, one always watching and commenting.
“Do not wriggle like a piglet. Attack!” Kael shouted with a broad grin as Brenn pinned me to the wall with a flurry of quick blows.
I rolled my eyes. When alone with them, there were no titles, no “Lady Veymaris.” I treated them as family. And they knew well how to drive me to fury.
“One more word and you will regret it,” I spat, launching a series of counters.
Kael, however, would not cease.
“Can piglets talk?”
Without thought, I seized one sword and hurled it his way. Kael, as if anticipating, executed a lazy dodge and chuckled loudly, as though he had won a battle.
“Fine throw, Nerissa. But now you lack a second sword.”
“Well now. The little mermaid can fight too. Perhaps I shouldn’t have rescued you in the tavern after all?”
I froze for a moment. The voice was calm, low, yet it vibrated in the air like a plucked string. I turned and saw him.
Dricus Cineris stood in the doorway, lounging casually against the frame as if he owned the place. Arms folded across his chest, a shadow of a smile played at his mouth. Green eyes tracked my every move with unsettling focus, as if gauging my worth.
“Fine fighting,” he said at last, pushing off the wall. “But too rhythmic. Too predictable.” He tilted his head like a predator eyeing prey. “May I join? I will replace one of your boys.”
Kael and Brenn shared glances. They disliked being called “boys.” It showed in their faces. But I… I felt my heart beat faster.
“Be my guest,” I replied curtly, raising the blades.
At first, we fought calmly. We circled, measuring with eyes and testing each other. I felt in control. My strikes were quick and precise, my movements fluid, as ever. Yet something in how he evaded and parried my attacks stirred unease. He held back. He conserved strength. I didn’t like that.
Only after a while did he reveal true skill.
The pace quickened, his blows grew stronger, harder to block, and I began lagging in response.
I managed an ambush with the blades, diverting his attention, spinning half-turn, and kicking his knee with full force.
A trick Alaric had taught me when we were younger.
Dricus grimaced in pain. I smiled. But his expression told me the play had ended.
Again and again he smashed me and finally knocked the swords from my grip until they clattered far across the floor, leaving me defenseless and breathless before him.
“You fight very well. For a woman,” he said calmly, irony undisguised yet laced with genuine respect.
“Long reach, flexible. But you grow predictable. You always spar with the same people. You know their patterns by heart. In war…” His voice dimmed, grew grave.
“In war, there is no rhythm. No familiar strikes. Only death. Filthy and cruel.”
I watched him closely. I knew he was no mere lordling playacting warrior in the castle halls.
“How long did you fight in the south?” I asked softly.
A shadow crossed his face.
“Too long, truth be told.” Weariness and sorrow threaded his voice, impossible to feign. “But if you wish, I can spar with you sometimes. I have little else to occupy me here.”
Kael frowned, “We manage her training,” he tossed out, somewhat ruffled.
Dricus raised his hands in placation.
“Easy, gentlemen. I will not harm your Lady. Unless… she provokes me herself.” His green eyes flashed with dangerous fire.
“Enough,” I cut short the verbal joust. I wiped sweat from my brow and stepped closer. “I usually train at a similar time. If you fancy tussling with an island girl… you can come.”
I extended my hand in the customary post combat handshake. Dricus looked at me as though wondering if he wanted to touch me at all. The pause stretched but he accepted my hand. Warmth flowed from his skin into mine, slow and deliberate. Was that his power that I felt, or had my senses betrayed me?
Something in that grasp unsettled me. And something made my chest quiver strangely.
We gathered our things from the room slowly.
I was soaked from the session, shirt plastered to my body, sweat on my neckline and face.
Then a cheerful Aidenar entered with his companions.
He was utterly astonished by our presence.
Mainly mine and Dricus’s. Aidenar halted in the doorway, his companions stared at us like at a spectacle.
Cavareth himself narrowed his silver eyes, shifting gaze from myself to Dricus, who still stood beside me.
“What manner of… gathering is this?” Aidenar arched a brow and circled us slowly, as if inspecting something suspicious. “Nerissa Veymaris and Dricus Cineris, together in one room, sweaty and panting. Who would have thought.”
Kael and Brenn exchanged nervous glances, as if expecting sparks, and not of magic.
“I don’t know, Cavareth, whether your imagination is a blessing or a curse of yours,” I replied coolly, straightening and wiping sweat from my face. My shirt clung tighter as it didn’t help controlling the situation.
Aidenar smirked, casually adjusting his shirt cuffs.
“Let’s say it’s a curse for you.” His gaze lingered on my body, then shifted to Dricus, who stood unmoved, regarding him with calm green eyes.
“Young Cavareth. The room is yours now. I have other matters to attend to.” Dricus spoke evenly and departed without sparing Aidenar a glance. His squires clearly tensed.
Aidenar shook off Cineris’s exit and resumed his irritating ways, “If you seek a sparring partner, you might have said. I would gladly sweat with you, Veymaris. Unless this is your way of husband hunting, then perhaps not. Though I would advise against the Lord of the Desert regardless.”
For no good reason, the words “Then perhaps not” stung. I was not vying for Cavareth’s hand, yet the careless dismissal pricked all the same.
“Spare me your matrimonial advice.” I met his eyes coldly, wiping sweat from my neck. “But since we are of decency, however… Thanks to your vile visit to my chambers, I now have to endure irritating gossip. You might at least be chivalrous enough to end them.”
Aidenar smiled mockingly, “Perhaps I like the rumors.”
“Oh, truly?” I arched my brow. “Splendid, then if you do not quell those lies, I shall say that whatever happened there was very, very brief and rather unpleasant.”
I stared him down, knowing I got him. Aidenar nearly stumbled. His squires barely stifled laughs.
“Ehh, I thought you knew how to play. Fine, I will try to set it right.”
“Try?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes and gesturing with fingers something very, very small.
This time Kael and Brenn burst into laughter. Aidenar shot them angry glares, and I knew wounded pride gnawed beneath his nonchalance.
“I will set it right,” he said at last, surrendering in his voice.
Our eyes locked. Silver, gleaming with irritation, met mine, prickling with satisfaction.
“Time for us to leave.” I turned to Kael and Brenn, then nodded toward the door. Enough sparring with this fool. But for some reason my heart still beat harder than it should.
After training, I took a quick, cold bath. I wanted the water to rinse away sweat and weariness, but truly it quelled emotions more than cooled my body. I dressed in simpler attire, but still with my Family’s official colors, something letting me pass as a lady without drawing undue eyes.
With Roderick, I headed for the merchants’ quarter. Our two ships lay empty in the harbor. Each idle day cost dearly, and that was stretching my nerves taut as a bowstring.