Heir of the Gods

Ch. 8: Hard Lessons

The next day, she might have thought it had all been a dream if not for the fact that she was being woken before the sun had even crept above the horizon. A familiar hand was on her shoulder and a familiar voice was in her ear.

"Rise and shine, Your Highness," Julianus purred. "Your first lesson awaits."

Cassia cracked an eye open to find the impertinent lord hovering over her, nothing more than a shadowy outline and a gleam of teeth. She shut her eyes and rolled away from him, then let out a small shriek when he jerked her warm covers completely off the bed.

A chill rolled off the stones, reminding them all that the cooler months were nearing. She curled up, tucking her legs under the skirt of her nightgown. She had a firm belief in not rising before the sun did.

Then warm lips were kissing along the exposed back of her neck. Cassia smiled, keeping her eyes closed. "Is this how you wake all your soldiers, General?"

He snarled lightly at the title, then smirked against her skin. "Maybe if any of them tasted like you do."

Cassia snorted and threw a weak elbow toward him just to shriek again when he pinched her. She sat up, meaning to slap him, but he caught her wrist, seeing the strike even through the gloom. 

A low laugh rumbled from him and he said, "There's that fighting spirit." Then he got up.

She listened as his fingers shuffled over the things on one of the tables beside her bed. A flint was struck and she was squinting against the light of a candle. Julianus was still wearing that infuriating half-smile. She watched him limp back toward the door, carrying the candle.

After a moment, one of the chairs groaned as he sat, and she swore viciously as she got out of her comfortable bed and trailed him into the drawing room. She frowned, taking in his loose white shirt and the light brown leather trousers tucked into his boots. He'd set the candle on the low table between the two chairs before the fireplace.

"Didn't you forget something?" she asked as she came closer to him.

"No," he said, his smile turning taunting.

Cassia's frown deepened into a scowl and she crossed her arms, the material of her light nightgown too thin to keep out the early morning chill. "Well I don't see how you could expect me to provide a sword. How am I to practice without one?"

Now Julianus laughed outright, true amusement shining in his eyes right alongside the candlelight. He stood up and limped a slow circle around her. She hissed and swatted at him when he prodded at her arms, her sides. She swore at him when his hand slid down to her backside and she twisted away, smacking his wrist.

All he offered was a roguish wink. "How can you learn to wield a sword if you can't even hold one up, Your Highness?" he drawled. Then his tone turned serious. "Generally speaking, I wouldn't bother letting you touch a sword for months, but seeing as how we don't have the luxury of time you'll have to train your body while you train with a sword."

Cassia was still at a loss as to why she wouldn't be touching a sword today. 

He went back over to the chair. "I took the liberty of bringing these."

He tossed the clothes to her, and she shook them out to find a pair of cotton trousers that appeared to be her size. "Where did you get them?" she asked, going back into the bedchamber, then into her dressing room, leaving the doors open as she went.

"A Brunian girl," Julianus said, something strange in his voice.

A chill skittered down Cassia's spine as she pictured the pale blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Cassia pulled a length of white cotton from a chest of drawers that held her underthings and began to bind her breasts. Then she stepped into the trousers.