How to Catch a Fish (ManxMan)

Original Chapter Sixteen: Third Time is the Charm

[AN: Blood trigger warning. Is the trigger warning even necessary anymore?]

~Chapter Sixteen: Third Time is the Charm~

Under normal circumstances, the repetitive clack-clack of wood hitting wood in mock sword fights and the thump-swish of punching bags being hit would get boring very quickly. However, it only reminds me of the time I spent in the Hellion training gym. I may not be holding a sword or punching a bag, but the sounds are all I need to reminisce and, Skuure, it is good to remember.

"Are you sure you don't want to join in, Atasah-shinmet?" My guard asks as he walks over, carrying a wooden sword loosely in his left hand. His black hair is pressed flat against his head thanks to the training helmet he wore moments ago. If he was one of my soldiers, I would have teased him about it.

I nod, "Just took a shower."

While that is actually a lie, since I have not showered since this morning, I can't exactly tell him that I don't want to fight him before there are too many flaws in his attacks. It would be far too easy to take advantage of them. And if news got back to Nero that I defeated my guard without breaking a sweat, he would stop underestimating me and assign more people to watch me.

Or I could lose because I am out of practice and far too arrogant, and then be responsible for the guard getting in trouble for mortally wounding Nero's fiancé.

Neither option ends well, so the bench it is. The only reason I am down here is because I refuse to sleep unless Nero is in the room to help with my nightmares, whether it be to wake me up in the middle of them or to deal with the aftermath. However, ever since the Indian Mer went radio silent a few days ago, Nero has been spending more time in his office and out on patrols. He stills sleeps in our room, but he rarely returns before midnight.

Yet another reason to resent that party.

It is not that it went badly, but it seemed to last forever, even though it only continued into the next day. Many of the guests remained an extra night, but they mostly left Nero and me alone after the party's official end. I would have appreciated it, if Nero was not suddenly so busy. If the situation did not seem so serious, I might have gone to bug Nero or Felix in their offices, but it is serious, so I have spent a lot of time in our room to avoid causing trouble. Though, my decision to remain inside only lasted for a day, as I quickly ran out of things to do, which is how I ended up here.

Bored out of my mind with three hours to spare, I asked the guard if he had anything he wanted to do on a Monday night. He brought me here. Since there are at least fifteen off-duty guards, he probably figured it was safe enough to leave me unattended on the bench farthest from the doors. What he doesn't realize is that everyone else is so focused on their workouts and about half of them likely do not even know I am here, even though I have been sitting here for almost an hour. I could walk out whenever I want.

However, with my escape plan still in its infancy, I wouldn't know where to go from there. At least I now have a way to get past my guard without resorting to violence. I would be coming back after talking to Sidr and making enemies is not a good idea. And because I already know where the magic cuffs are – I caught a glimpse of them in Nero's office while meeting him for lunch the other day – I will not need to hurt anyone to get that information, which makes the time between grabbing the cuffs and fleeing the kingdom the only unplanned part.

Unfortunately, that is also the most important part. If anything goes wrong at that point, I will have to create an entirely new plan and it could be a long time before I locate the cuffs again.