Chapter 48 Hand to Heart
Chapter forty-eight
Hand to Heart
Alaceandra
"No daggers today," Sam states as he throws the wooden weapons to the side.
"Why?" I ask, continuing my stretches.
"If something were to happen and you did not have a weapon. I want to make sure you could still get away."
"You talk as if you are preparing for an attack." I laugh, reaching for my toes. Baldar sits high in the tree watching us.
He is quiet for a moment, staring at me. "We have been gone for a long time, Alaceandra. We do not know who could be searching for us at this point. The solstice grows near, and you are out of the hands of Ptheryeth's rulers, they will want to find you."
I think back to my dream the night before. "I would hope if they do, they will treat it more as a rescue than a kidnapping. Although I am not sure what it would be like to find myself back in their hands now that I have learned all this." I motion around me.
"Understandable." I look up to see him smiling at me.
"It is important for you to remember that not all who may be looking for you are allies, Parum Bellator.
Even those who once were could be feeling more desperate as the solstice closes in.
Not to mention those who had captured you when you first arrived might be still on the hunt for you now. We need to be prepared."
I stand. "I hate to think that my marriage would be so important to the rulers of the Ptheryeth."
"It is more than you being wed that they would be concerned with," Sam says more under his breath than to me.
"And why is that?" I squint at him.
He looks away. “We must start training now. Try to stop me." With that he runs at me.
We drill for a couple hours like this. Sam rushing me, while I try to stop his attacks.
He provides gentle instruction along the way.
Luckily, learning pre-indications of an attack is in fact a transferable skill for both weapon and body work, so I do pretty well at figuring out when he is going to go for me.
Unluckily for me, once he has me it is difficult to remove myself from his hold.
So, we spend the later half of the morning focusing on different holds and ways to break them.
"Unfortunately, there is no way for me to accurately depict every pattern an opponent might make," Sam says, blotting his brow with his shirt, "but if we continue to practice these moves you will at least have a leg up."
We go through movements and attacks until my stomach makes a loud rumble for food. Sam releases me from his hold and musses the top of my hair. "I think it is time for breakfast," he says with a smile. "Good job today."
I smile at him. "Thanks." He starts to walk towards the cottages, but I stop him. "Can I ask you something?"
Turning back to me, he tilts his head. "What is it?"
He is not even from Tikilium, if he wanted to serve his kingdom he would come back to it. "You are… from Tikilium right?"
"Why do you ask?" His face becomes devoid of expression. Not a good sign.
"I mean…. when I asked why you had joined the kings guard in the past you had said it was to serve your kingdom, and I always assumed you meant Tikilium, but…
now that I think of it that may have been foolish of me to assume.
I think after all our years of friendship and now our…
current situation, it might be fruitful of me to ensure I have my facts correct about you and Sorin.
" Lest I find something else out from another party… . like I might have already done.
"You are hiding something from me. That is not the reason you are asking, is it?" His eyes have taken on a darker shade, and he quickly blinks it away when he notices me looking. Walking closer to me he grabs one of my hands. "Tell me, Alaceandra…. why are you filled with doubt?"
I can trust Sam, right? He has protected me for years… but he is avoiding my questions.
"You can tell me, Lace," Sam whispers.
"I had a dream last night," I blurt and Sam's posture goes rigid.
"What about?" He tries to play his tone off as casual, but I notice the edge in his voice.
I continue on anyway, watching Sam's face. "It was odd… a man visited me, but I could not see him because I could not move. He talked to me."
"What did he say?"
"A lot, but mostly he told me to question things." I try to be vague.
"And you decided to trust this man?" His voice and face have again become a blank slate, and I sigh.
"Your avoidance of my questions are not giving me high hopes for his statements being false."
Sam closes his eyes. "I apologize. This is concerning though, there are those who walk through dreams-"
"To control others. Yes, I am aware, the prince mentioned that to me."
"You have spoken with the prince about this?"
"Briefly… I um did not necessarily wake up calmly last night."
Sam's eyes darken once again before returning to their normal hue. "From fear or from pain?"
I scrunch my brows. "Pain, I think, it was brief, but-"
"Fuck." He starts to walk away.
"What, but you did not answer-"
"I cannot force you to trust me, Alaceandra. I also cannot claim whatever the man told you is completely false. I can only hope that you can trust that I have never had any intentions to do anything but keep you safe. Now please go back to the cottages and eat breakfast."
"But where are you going?"
"I need to investigate this."
"Alone?"
"Yes, now please go find Sorin." He turns and swiftly walks into the tree line.
I grit my teeth. "Fine." Turning around I make my way back to Sylvie's cottage.