Chapter 44 Simple Wins
Chapter forty-four
Simple Wins
Alaceandra
"Left leg! Arm! Behind you!" Sam drills.
He is calling out moves before he makes them.
He told me that this will help with the training.
The theory was if I have the names of the moves as well as their motions, I can more easily copy them.
This would give me a better chance at blocking them before they could land.
Although that sounded great in the beginning, it has only proved to slow me down.
His talking is doing more to distract me than to train me. I think to myself.
"Right Ankle!" he commands, but I am too slow, his wooden dagger striking me on the place he called out.
"Ow!" I hop away from him. I am doing my best to take the prince's advice, but the thought of landing even one shot on Sam today feels impossible.
He pauses. "What is going on with you? You were progressing so well yesterday. This morning it seems like you can barely block a single strike." His hand grips his dagger tightly and his tone is filled with exasperation. "You need to focus."
I try not to groan, rubbing at my sore ankle. "It is your callouts; I cannot focus when you are yelling them at me."
"When you are on the battlefield there is going to be a lot of noises around you.
You cannot rely on your opponent to be silent nor your comrades.
If you are working with others you need to be able to hear them calling out to you in case they catch something you miss.
If you do not like the noise, you can tune it out.
You must learn what works for you on your own. "
"Battlefield? Team?"
Sam rolls his eyes. "You know what I mean."
"Okay… well I will do my best."
"Yes, do that." He looks more tired than he normally does during our morning sessions, which is odd because we definitely started later than normal.
He walks up to me and places a hand at the center of my chest. "Try to get out of your brain and feel more with your body.
What is it telling you to do? You might be surprised at just how much you know.
" He echoes the prince's earlier sentiment before stepping back and returning to his starting position.
Not allowing me to fully process his words, he starts running at me immediately.
"Swinging left!" Swinging his body to the left, he plunges his dagger down and I just barely avoid it.
"Diving!" He crouches down and swipes at my legs.
I jump slightly too late causing me to trip.
My ankle sends another jolt of pain through me.
I hold back a cringe. "Right arm!" I swing my body left as his blade swipes at my arm.
Focus, Alaceandra. I chant to myself. Listening to my internal voice, I watch how his body moves in space and try to focus less on his words.
I dodge a couple more of his swings, but I still end up falling on my ass with Sam's dagger at my throat.
After what feels like the millionth time today of being bested by Sam, I see something.
There is a pattern to Sam's movements. It seems mister master combat has a tick.
He flexes his mouth just a little before he swings.
It is not a lot of information, but I hope that it gives me a bit of an edge.
Focusing more on his mouth, something that definitely is not a chore on my part, I am able to move a little quicker, dodging and weaving before he can call out.
Before long the training becomes more of a dance than a fight.
There! Pivot. Duck. Roll. Swing your leg out.
NOW. I follow my brain's instructions and realize I am actually able to catch him off guard a few times.
When he calls out instruction, he is already preparing for my next movement, causing him to always be one step ahead of me, but when I listen to my own voice.
.. I strike out, my hip swinging into his, before throwing a leg behind him, tripping him.
He hits the ground hard and I take the opportunity to climb on top of him shoving my blade against his throat.
He smiles. "Good job. Now you are paying attention." Pushing my blade from his throat he stands before offering me a hand. We continue like this for a couple more hours and I manage to land Sam on his back two more times before we call it quits.
"You have progressed well today. So much so, we will need to change it up a bit tomorrow. You should be proud. I was waiting to see when you would catch my tell and anticipate rather than react." He is beaming at me.
"Wait that was on purpose." I collapse to the floor and try to catch my breath.
Sam laughs. "Of course, Alaceandra. Every enemy has some sort of indication of a strike before it happens, you just need to find it.
Knowledge of a hit may not win you the battle, but it does give you an edge and if you are ever in a place where you need to utilize these skills, an edge is paramount to your survival.
" His tone turns grave, his brow is creased in worry.
"Hey," I touch his sleeve. "I know the dangers here are present but I have not run into any trouble since meeting back up with Sorin. It is unlikely that I will have to use these skills with you all around." I smile reassuringly.
"Hopefully," he says, but his tone is unconvinced. "If you ever have the option to run in a fight—"
"Take it. Yes, I know, Sorin already gave me the talk."
"It is an important one."
"As I am now aware."
He smirks. "Come on let's get you lunch." He starts to walk back to the cottages.
I sit up. "Wait, Sam."
"Yes?" He turns back.
"Um… can I ask you a question?"
"Always, Parum Bellator." The nickname reminded me I actually had two questions to ask the man, but the second could wait.
I needed answers on why Sam stayed on the sidelines yesterday no matter how disappointing the conversation may be.
I know he also agreed to this thing with Sorin and the prince, but his actions yesterday did not really give me full confidence in his words.
I pick at the grass and Sam gives me a curious look. "What is it?"
I hesitate. "When everything was happening yesterday…
. you did not join in. Not that I expected you to or anything, but I was just wondering…
with the nickname and everything if—" He takes three long strides and is upon me in a moment, kneeling beside me.
Gone is my strict instructor and in his place my gentle protector. I swallow the rest of my words.
"Are you worried about my attraction to you, Parum Bellator?"
"A little."
"Well do not. It took everything within me to not feel every inch of your glorious body last night. The cloaking of the room allowed me to at least communicate with you in some part, but…" He trails off.
"But?" Cloaking? Is that what the darkness was for?
He sighs. "But I had to make sure you were safe to experience your desires last night. I would not necessarily say that your powers were contained during that… exchange… and I knew you would hate it if the room was destroyed, so I contained them for you."
"Contained them for…. wait Sorin said I was too drained to use any of my skills."
"That would normally be true seeing how exhausted you were after your training with Baldar, but something about your being with the pest— I mean the prince and Sorin seemed to hypercharge them instead of letting them rest. It did not seem like it caused you any ill effect, fortunately.
If you could have seen the way in which your power radiated from you as you came.
.." His eyes fill with a dark desire. "I was unsure of its capabilities or yours to control it.
Instead, I ensured it was not an issue." Ignoring the fact that it seems that Sam has his own nickname for the prince, my brain reels over the fact that I apparently had less control yesterday then I originally thought.
Yes, I noticed the sparks coming off my skin, but honestly, I thought that might have been a trick of my lust crazed mind.
I could have destroyed that whole cottage.
The thought sobers me. I chew on my lip.
"Oh."
He smiles. "Fear not, Parum Bellator. The minute you learn to control these powers of yours and are able to defend yourself against danger, I will be unable to hold myself back. Until then." He places a gentle kiss on my forehead. "We should get lunch." He offers me a hand and I take it.
My brain cannot seem to form sentences, so all I do is squeeze his hand. He smiles and returns my squeeze. Together, we make our way back to Sylvie's.