We are all entitled to be beautiful

Chapter Fifteen - Fighting Form

Eleanor

"You have terrible form," I commented as I watched Kayden struggle to hold his stance whilst he wielded the rusted sword Dexter had found amongst the ruins of the castle.

He had little balance as he lunged forward, putting way too much force on his front foot, it would be too easy to make him topple over.

He gave me a terse smile, "And you're so good at this aren't you El," the nickname had stuck and as much as it infuriated me it had become a normal occurrence at this point. I was tired of correcting him so I just let it slide.

"I am way better than you," I said my arms crossed across my chest, wearing a pointed look of disapproval as he still put to much weight on his leading foot.

He flashed me a grin, twirling the sword in his hands, "Care to prove it?"

I scoffed at his terrible display of swordsmanship, "You wouldn't stand a chance against me,"

"All bark and no bite?" he goaded me and that was all it took for me to grab another and square my stance in front of  him. I made sure to correctly put enough pressure on both feet so that I had all the mobility and balance I needed to win this fight.

I held the sword diagonally across my body protecting most of it from any blows he may take. He tried to fake left but I could see it in his eyes where he was planning to go next. When he swung right I was ready for him hearing the resounding clash of our swords hitting one another. 

"Faster than you thought," I grinned at the effort in his eyes, the concentration that I hadn't seen before. 

He didn't respond, he just lunged left, keeping his sword pressed against mine so I couldn't manoeuvre as easily as he could. I was putting more pressure than he was which allowed him reprieve and flexibility.

He smirked as I began to struggle to keep him at bay, he was now elevating himself putting more force and forcing me to stumble, "Better than you thought," he purposefully mimicked my  words just to tease me more. 

This time it was my turn to show my skills, I  slightly released my sword making it appear that it was slipping from my hands. It did exactly what I wanted it to, it made Kayden think he was on the verge of making me lose my grip. It made him think he had the upper hand, he was so sure that I was going to drop my sword and be left defenceless, it was this new found confidence that would be his downfall. He now thought that he didn't have to put as much force on his sword, so his grip also slackened. Taking this opportunity, I suddenly lunged forward placing as much strength I could against his sword causing him to fumble. It was all I need to get the upper hand. He was so taken aback his grip loosened further allowing me to knock the sword from his hand.

He fell backwards bewildered by the force I had summoned. I lined the tip of my sword at the base of his throat, pressing it lightly upwards to tilt his chin so he could look at the victory on my face.

"Guess you're not as good as you thought," I quipped.

He laughed light and airily, "Remind me not to get on your bad side,"

"You're already on my bad side," I removed her sword from his neck and twirled it once before placing it back in its sheath.

"I guess that's the lesson over for today," I brushed off the dust from her trousers and made my way over to the corner of the room where Dexter had kindly laid out some cups of water. I quickly downed a cup and then another accidently drinking almost all the water.

"Hey," Kayden sprinted over a look of disapproval spreading across his face, "What about me?"

"You snooze you lose," I laughed drinking the last bit of water just to frustrate him further.

He pouted like a child, "Not fair."

"Life isn't fair Kade," 

"Whatever you say El," he gave sheepish grin before sprinting out of the room to get himself water.

Dexter strolled in a minute after, "Guess you two have been having fun," he leaned back against the wall and breathed out heavily.

"What's up?"

He sighed, "Work, its been hell since Kayden's father has taken over, there are so many more security checks to do, it's tiring being at the front gates. I have to assess everyone who comes in learn their whole life story it never used to be this exhausting, well there did used to be more people helping me out. Now I'm just a one man show."

He began mumbling to himself as I tidied up out makeshift training area.

"Oh," Dexter began drawing me back into the conversation, "I almost forgot the new king or whatever has summoned you, you and Kayden,"

I gritted my teeth at the statement, "What the hell does he want?"

Dexter shrugged, "Beats me," he then paused placing a hand gently on my shoulder and locking his gaze with mine, "But Eleanor please be careful, I don't want anything to happen to you,"

I nodded, "Don't worry, I'll try to keep my mouth shut this time,"

Kayden re-entered the room with another grin, "What is this I'm hearing, Eleanor, promising she's going to shut the hell up?"

I punched his shoulder and he feigned hurt, "Ow,"

"Grow up," I began walking out of the room before pausing to turn back at him, "You won't shut me up that easily Kade,"