Heir of the Sword

21 | Gladiatorum

Gladiatorum {swordplay}

Arya let her fingers run through Eclipse's mane. She untangled the knots before proceeding to brush her hand down his body. Eclipse neighed and muzzled his face closer to hers. She felt his warm breath exploding on her face. They had just competed in the racing portion of the Equestrianism competition and in about twenty minutes, she would be competing in a showing jumping competition. She led Eclipse beneath the shade of a tree as she herself leaned against the trunk of the tree.

Yesterday had been an eventful day. After Lady Zelie and Prince Zander's match, Arya had been able to witness two more matches. The boys had won one of the matches, while the girls had come back with a victory in the second match making the two academies equal once more.

After showing jumping Arya also had a duel in the evening. She had been practicing in the morning back at the lake that Aaron had showed her. The lake environment made her feel calm and collected of her thoughts and emotions, something Arya loved. It was also quite serene with just nature surrounding it.

In the distance Arya spotted many people chatting amongst themselves as well as family members. She could vaguely identify Jennica's brunette hair as she seemed to be speaking with a few friends. Arya knew that she would be one of the greatest competitors in the competition but she also knew that they were completely unaware of the boy's strength and weaknesses. Arya had faith in Eclipse and she knew the trust the two of them hand was probably stronger than most horses.

She closed her eyes for a moment and blocked out the voices surrounding her. It was peacefully for a while until she sensed the presence of someone in front of her. Lazily she opened one eye after another to see that it was Aaron.

"Hi," she said.

Aaron gave her a minuscule smile, "Hey yourself."

"What are you doing here?" Arya asked him.

Aaron pointed to the seat beside Arya, "May I sit there?"

Arya eyed him warily before she allowed him to take a spot beside him. He leaned further into the trunk of the tree using it as support.

"To answer your question one of my friends," he waved in the general direction of a tall, lanky boy, "is competing in show jumping so I thought I would show up and support him."

Arya nodded but her eyes were focused on the boy in front of her, he looked extremely familiar. She had seen him before and then it hit her, he was Walter the son of the Earl of Dzfrah. He had come to the academy and danced with Jennica! Both Walter and Jennica were immersed in a conversation at the moment as well.

"He came to the academy once when we were dancing," Arya said lightly.

She felt everything but light. But Arya still knew that the best way to approach this would be to play casually. On the other hand, Aaron looked taken back which confused Arya. She thought that he would have known that the Narvanian Academy had sent in another spy.

"We were told that he was taking a short leave of absence since his father needed him. He could have been present when the Academy was looking for male partners and hence he became roped into dancing." Aaron replied, "But I assure you, he must have promised Lady Zelie to keep quiet about the Academy's preparations."

Arya closed her eyes and relaxed into the trunk, she almost felt completely at ease with his presence. She hadn't even known him for more than a quarter of the year yet she believed that he knew her very well. It was a bizarre feeling, believing that someone who you rarely talked to knew you so well.