by Sandra Elsa
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Back in her room, Bella paced; anxiety growing as the night deepened. She knew that somewhere outside the city, Conall matched her step for step. Trying to relax, she picked up one of the texts, but as Robin had predicted they were dry. Certainly not interesting enough to hold her mind at this particular time. She took her sword and went outside and started running through drills. The physical exercise helped.
She rested between patterns and happened to glance up in time to see a silhouette cross in front of Captain Torel’s window. As she watched, he returned and then crossed back again. She recognized the pacing she herself had been doing only a short time ago. Did he have something else on his mind or was he truly that anxious to meet Conall? Did she dare to interrupt his pacing? If it was caused by anticipation, perhaps they could spar to keep each other’s minds occupied. If he had other things on his mind and was trying to concentrate, he might not welcome the interruption.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, she thought to herself.
She knocked gently on his door. When it opened, she said, “Excuse me sir. I couldn’t help but notice you were also pacing. I thought perhaps you’d be interested in some physical exercise to distract your mind, unless of course you need to concentrate.”
Torel scowled at her, “What exactly are you asking me to do Corporal? I’m your Commanding Officer, what sort of exercise are you interested in, in the middle of the night?”
Bella saw where his mind had leapt. Her cheeks burned, a dark crimson flood that seared the skin from her hairline, all the way down her throat. She opened the door the rest of the way so he could see she held her sword. “I’ve been running drills sir,” she mumbled. “You said you would be in charge of my weapons training. I thought if you were pacing for the same reason I was, and not much to do about it, there’s light enough to spar by.
He smiled, “My apologies, Corporal. That sounds like an excellent idea.”
“If you don’t mind my asking sir, why is it you’re so anxious to meet Conall?”
“Several reasons,” he said after having given the question some thought. “Curiosity of course. A wolf who teaches swordsmanship, has got to have a tale worth hearing. But I guess what’s caught my interest is the question of who he used to be.”
As he was talking, he collected up two wooden practice swords and they walked outside.
“It is the Guard’s policy to never leave a man behind. Through the centuries we have lost very few of whom we have not at least recovered the bodies. King first, comrades second, then care for the rest of the world. We have a policy of assigning people as pairs. They know each other so well, facing a pair of Guards is like facing a single person with four arms and two sets of eyes. These pairings are called Swordtwins. Of course in battle from time to time it is impossible to recover the lost, but usually at least their Swordtwin has seen them go down and can report for a fact that they are lost beyond redemption. It has been a long time since a wizard with transformation skills has existed. So I confess, the question regarding who your friend is and who the wizard is that did this to him, is driving me mad.”
“Who he is we don’t know. Johann figured out the wizard was Dorang, from the initial conflict with Telgar.
“Yes,” Torel murmured introspectively, “that was a black time for the Guard.”
He handed Bella a wooden practice sword and they started to spar. This was not instruction but it served to thoroughly distract them both. He had the longer reach and more experience but she was quicker. They attacked and countered so enthusiastically they lost all track of time.
Just as Torel attacked, Conall distracted her. Torel had expected her to move away from the thrust with the same graceful ease she had used all night, but the distraction in her head caused her steps to falter and the blow struck her solidly just below the ribs. She fell to her knees gasping for air and in more than a little pain.
Rather than being sympathetic and apologetic as Bella had rather half expected, Torel said, “Shake it off, Corporal, if these had been steel you’d be dying right now. You need to learn to fight whether you’re distracted or not. If your mind suddenly goes elsewhere the movements need to be so natural they're reflex, with or without conscious thought. Let’s have it, what did he say to distract you?”
“He’s just gone through the first gate,” she wheezed. “One of your soldiers saw him. He says the man was startled, but carried out his orders as given, nobody saw anything.”
“He’ll still be at least fifteen minutes, shall we go again?” Torel asked as he held his practice sword up in salute. Feeling her aching ribs Bella hesitated but she joined him at Conall’s urging. They were just getting warmed up again when Conall announced he was through the second gate. This time it didn’t surprise her and she held her own while Torel attacked, then she grunted, “Gate two.” Five minutes later she heard a command in her head saying, “Drive him backwards.” As she pushed the attack, Torel gave ground under the flurry of powerful strokes. A shadow detached itself from a tree and lined up directly behind him. “One more step.” She renewed the attack and Torel backed again, the large body behind him did not move, and she connected with his abdomen as his arms flailed to recover his balance. He landed gracelessly on his rump.
Bella glanced at him with a smile. “Conall said, that’s for stealing his student.” The silver and tan wolf stood up then and for the first time Captain Torel could see what, or rather who, he had tripped over.
Chapter 32