Something Lost (Original Draft)

Chapter 44: The Bonding

Roland was Berthold's Swords Master. He trained most of the men who wanted to join the Golden Cloaks, The Knights of Lahre. He was also the man who decided which of those men would move on to take the oath and protect Berthold and her King. He was born and raised in Berthold and would undoubtedly die there as well. There was no other place for him, nothing that was held in higher regards than this one.

He was a skilled fighter; I had seen none who used the blade as effectively as him, not even Alexander. He would've made a fine Captain, though, he would have excelled wherever he decided to spread his roots. But I suppose, teaching the art of the blade was his calling. He was brutally serious about training. I found out the hard way. The first day I trained with him, he had me hold a sword that was more than twice the weight a person my size should handle. Now you might think that extra weight was nothing, but after eight long hours of balances and thrusts it felt like I was carrying a horse!

Despite the bite of winter, I was hot and miserable in my thick clothing. Sweat chaffed my thighs and arms and even my backside - which was embarrassing to admit because I had to ask Amelia for an ointment to help ease those burns later that night.

My body hurt so badly, I wanted to cry out the first night I went to rest, luckily, exhaustion took me under, so it was morning when I first cried. Amelia saw to my arms and legs. She rubbed them down with oils and crushed mint but it did little to ease the pain. I begged her not to tell Alexander or his Council about my suffering; for fear they'd stop my training. She saw me off to Roland, despite her worry for my well-being and kept her promise.

I missed those eight hours by the end of the second day, he had me training for twelve hours that day! I feared the next morning I'd wake up delirious from the pain, but amazingly it was tolerable.

Roland commented on my lack of complaint the third day. It was the first time he said anything personal to me. He told me how to soak my muscles and taught me a mantra that he claimed would help clear my mind in battle. The mantra didn't work, but the soak was a Godsend, I thanked him the next day for it and he welcomed me with my first swords play.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye. As I trained the remaining days before the wedding fell away, it was only a week away. Even if I were wrong about Justin coming for me I was glad I was training, it helped me get my mind off other things... like Alexander. It was getting harder each day to face the feelings I had for him, I hoped in time they would fade away.

My time here was running thin...

--•--

Today my training was done alone. Roland was currently putting the finishing touches on a group of men that would take the Oath later this evening - if he gave his approval.

I tossed two split logs into the fire pit and warmed my cold hands. I was beginning to hate this room. I was training in one of the old storage units that connected to the North side of the castle. There were hundreds of battered weapons cluttering the floor. I spent nearly four hours clearing a decent path through the garbage so I'd have space to train. In the end, I half-suspected Roland sent me here to clean.

I shivered and rubbed my hands together over the glowing fire. Now was the time to train, not mope, I told myself as I brooded over the fire pit. I choose from the smallest of the shoddy swords, it felt great to hold something this size. It was as light as a feather and obeyed my arm with no resistance. Today's training would be a snap. I jumped enthusiastically when I saw my target standing in the corner, an old training dummy that had seen better days.

"Head up, shoulders back, arm raised. Ready... lunge," I murmured and lunged with my sword, it poked the torso of the training dummy ahead. It budged ever so slightly with that lunge.