The Good King

'The Training'

All the trainees were warming up that morning as Asher and Ezra stood there watching them.

Victor and Edwin are not the only competitive ones , every one in there had their same goal and so all those expressions were way too serious that Ezra could not handle the atmosphere.

''They are more serious from the last time I saw them , I mean you trained them after all''

He said.

''I don't want them to turn out like you''

Asher replied.

''What do you mean ? what is wrong with me ?''

Ezra complained.

''Let's start''

Asher said with a loud clear voice.

The number of the young men there was seventy , only few are from the royal city while others came from all across Lydia chasing after that dream.

''Get into two groups , thirty-five each''

Ezra said

And they did so right away , somehow these are much more organized than the group they had to train last year.

He then added.

''In each piece of paper there will be a random number from one to thirty-five , each group will select and those who have the same number they will fight against each other starting by number one , is this clear ?''

''Yes sir !''

They all relied.

''Why are you shaking ?''

Edwin asked.

''I'm just so excited''

Victor replied.

The truth was that they were both excited and scared at the same time , their hearts were beating to fast whenever they got closer into picking a number.

At least they knew for sure that they will not be each other's opponent since they are in the same group.

It was finally Edwin's turn , his number was twelve and right after him Victor and his number was...

''You have to be joking''

He said.

''Why ? which number did you get ?''

Edwin asked.

Victor showed him that piece of paper and the number was no other than one.

No one can know who they are competing against until their number is called.

Once everyone was ready Asher called

''Number one , step forward''

Everyone else stepped backwards to give the fighter their battle's space.

Ezra handed each one of them a bokken which is simply a wooden sword.

Victor's opponent had some mad muscles but that did not shake him the slightest.

They took their positions and waited for...

''Commence''

Which were Asher's words...

Aylin gave Elmer the chance to attack as she only took the defense position.

None of his attacks were even close to touching her , for him she was flawless and he could not find any weakness.

Even though her weapon was much smaller , she stopped Elmer's sword with just that countless times.

The prince was watching her but could never predict her next move even though he knew she was taking it easy in order not to hurt him or else their fight would have ended long ago.

'Did she just...' he wondered to himself while carefully watching the Petrian girl.

''Focus !''

She said as she finally attacked , that was way too strong , Elmer's sword almost flied away while he was thinking how to stop her.

Once she stepped backwards to take her defense position Elmer immediately ran towards her to attack but before he did that he noticed how she put all of her strength into her feet and not hands so that she can put an end to the attack without moving.

Aylin knew for sure that he was going to attack her where she cross her hands for defense just like before but the way he held his sword was way too different once he reached her he immediately kneeled aiming for her legs with his full strength and Aylin who was not expecting that fell  down.

They were both shocked but he immediately got up and offered her a hand  asking,

''Are you alright ?''

''You're asking me that after you used the grip of your sword ?''

She giggled while saying that.

"I could not just hurt you , I mean you could have won from the very beginning"

The prince replied.

"My dress is dirty now , Asher got it for me"

She took his hand and got up complaining.

"I'm sorry"

Elmer said.

"I will not go easy on you next time"

She replied.

They were both happy that their training was paying off , If Elmer made Aylin fall he can definitely win against others.

But that was not even close to enough for him , he was willing to give it his all until his last breath.

After Asher announced the commence of that fight , the young man ran towards Victor , he knew that with his size and height he can easily take him down since the rules were simple if you're down you lose.

Asher and Ezra were observing the way the trainees will act and react to attacks , they were very surprised to see Victor jump over the huge build guy and simply pushed him down from behind.

It looked like an easy win but he was actually thinking about it since he saw his opponent and when he turned to see him on the ground it was so hard to believe that that was his doing.

Edwin could not hide his excitement between the shocked crowds as Ezra announced the winner.

There were many eye catching young trainees in there that won within one shot.

Finally it was Edwin's turn and Victor could not wait to watch that , he knew that his friend will not avoid it like he did.

Asher announced the commencement and the swordplay was very intense.

The amount of strength put into Edwin's attacks shocked everyone because after his third one the other guy's bokken flied away and in the last one he was down laying on the ground.

That was an absolute win to Edwin , Victor ran to welcome him once he was back to the crowd and they were both smiling happily , that was probably a small step but it is still a huge one for them to make their childhood's dream some true.

"There is this girl I saw him with few nights ago but I guess the prince was just being nice to her and that there is nothing going in between them and she is one of your properties"

The man standing in the shadow said in the presence of king Leo who simply smirked asking,

"What is her name ?"

"Ida"

The man replied.

"Bring her to my chamber , I need to have a talk with her"

Leo said.

"Yes your majesty"

He kneeled replying...