(Colton, lmao)
As I stooped to retrieve one of my fallen arrows, I caught sight of Colton by the entrance to the armoury, his eyes on me. A shiver ran down the length of my spine—why, I had no idea, but I brought a polite smile to my face and crossed the training room to him.
"Hey," I greeted, straightening my back a little more.
I nodded in greeting.
"How long have you been practicing?" I questioned, pushing myself off of the wall. "Your form looks good. You've improved."
"Roughly twenty minutes," I answered, a slight, triumphant smile tugging at my lips. "And thank you. I've still got a long way to go, though. I'm getting the hang of things."
“Have you been practicing with the rapier?” How could one compliment cause his face to light up that much?
"Yes, and I've been trying to cover up my tells as you instructed." I shifted my crossbow to the opposite hand, passing its weight around.
I nodded in approval.
“Good,” my eyes went to his legs. “Gotten used to the weight of the shin guards?”
"I think so, yes." Over the course of the past weak, the added weight on my legs had dulled to a mere annoyance in the back of my mind, nothing particularly noticeable or limiting.
I nodded, walking deeper into the armory, returning with another set of shin guards, except heavier. I handed it to him.
"Change," I ordered. "And then we'll practice your hand-to-hand again."
My excitement does a little at both the sight of the shin guards and the mention of hand-to-hand combat, but I did as he said nonetheless.
The new shin guards were noticeably heavier, but not as unbearable as the first set had initially been, thank god. I stood, setting my crossbow down on a nearby table.
Motioning him to follow me, I walked out of the armory and into the field. It wasn’t as hot as it was the last time we were in the field, but the sun was still blazing angrily.
Making my way into the center, I turned around to face Elliot.
“Start.”
I inhaled deeply, mentally bracing myself. Keep your cool…. Focus. Don't lose focus.
Darting forward, I swung at his head, but the new shin guards had me off balance. Somehow, I managed to dance away before being beaten to a pulp and raised my fists, waiting for him to come to me.
I raised an eyebrow at him, a bit amused at his movements.
“Trouble adjusting?” I chuckled, shaking my head. “Why don’t we get you adjusted first? I’m sure you missed running laps, right?”
My gut twisted, hot shame welling up inside of me, but my carefully crafted expression never faltered.
"Ouch…." I gave a tiny, intentional grimace. "If His Royal Highness orders it…"
“Tell you what…” I murmured, running a finger through my hair, pretending I didn’t notice the hesitance and the grimace. “I’ll join you.”
I’d recently changed my own shin guards and gauntlets, so perhaps I needed some time adjusting to them as well. I should also summon Key, considering he was getting lazy in terms of physical health.
The second I called for him, he appeared, a piece of chicken in his hands. Looking at me, he stuffed it in his mouth.
”We’re running laps,” I said to him. ”Fly and I’ll knock you down.”
He grumbled before setting himself on the floor, swallowing the bite of chicken he stuff in his mouth.
“All right,” I looked back at Elliot. “Let’s start, shall we?”
My heart hiccupped the slightest bit. Prince Colton was going to run with me?
But I only nodded, my expression a mask of calm as I shifted into a starting position, arms at the ready.
"Three…. Two…. One!"
posted prematurely sorry)
(done)
I matched my pace with Elliot’s, though I was more used to running faster.
Once we were done, I wiped my forehead free of sweat, a bit out of breath but not breathless.
“Good enough?” I asked him. “Think you can spar without losing balance?”
I nodded, filling my lungs with air. My forehead was coated in sweat, my legs aching, but definitely enough to be bearable, which I was pleased about.
"Sounds good, yeah," I answered him, pushing my curls back.
“Get in position,” I commanded, reaching to remove my shirt, pulling it over my head and throwing it to the side. Much better. Sweat and I didn’t go well together.
Key snickered, sitting down and folding his wings. I chose to ignore him.
“Three… two… one… go!”
Caught completely off-guard by the removal of Colton's shirt, I was powerless to resist his strong, commanding voice.
Get yourself together… I growled at the half of my brain which was urging me to reach forward and run my hands over his toned muscles. Which, of course, was much easier said than done, but I managed to pull my act together just as he finished counting off.
Now that I was more used to the extra weight on my legs, I skirted easily around him, careful not to let any of my tells show through as I feinted a left hook, which was followed swiftly by a harsh kick.
He was getting faster, I was pleased to notice. Not only that, but he managed to keep his tells hidden as best as he could.
Good. So he does listen.
I managed to prevent myself from being deceived and caught the leg he aimed at me, twisting it to throw him on the ground.
He was being careful, because he set his hands on the floor to prevent himself from falling, and aimed another kick from his free leg.
I bent down immediately to dodge it, a smirk growing on my lips. He was a fast learner.
I quickly rolled to my feet, fists at the ready. At first, I was slightly dazed by the fall, but the sight of Colton's bare chest…… Well. Let's just say it woke me up.
A blush now seeping across my cheeks, I blocked a punch by grabbing his wrist and twisting him around, the whole length of my body pressed to his for a split second before I drew back, planted a foot in the centre of his back, and kicked as hard as my shin guard would allow.
I slapped my hands on the ground to prevent the fall, immediately twisting myself to land a kick to his side before jumping back to my feet.
On the sidelines, Key blew fire in the air. His excitement fueled me, though it wasn’t a surprise. You felt what your bondmate felt.
Without giving Elliot a chance to recover, I dashed forward to punch him square in the jaw. I knew he anticipated the attack with the way his eyes followed my fist, but he was too slow to intercept it.
A loud curse tore itself free from my lips as my head whipped to the side, pain exploding on the side of my face, a curse that my harsh mother would surely wash my mouth with soap for. But I had the wits to duck immediately after, lunging forward and tackling Colton to the ground. Instinctively, I raised my fist, but two things stopped me. The first was that I couldn't hurt him too badly—he wasn't an actual enemy.
The second was that I was literally straddling his waist.
I admit, I was surprised by his ferocity, but the fire in his eyes blew out the second it appeared.
He froze. I didn’t let the hesitancy distrupt the battle, so I pushed him off of me, throwing him on the ground, my hand pressing against his throat. Strong enough to keep him still, but not strong enough to strangle him.
“Why,” I breathed out. “Did you hesitate?”
My mind went completely white, heart exploding with desperate, booming beats that vibrated through my entire body, which had long since gone slack beneath him.
Somehow, I went straight to autopilot, acting on the self-defence lessons my father had given me and ramming both my feet straight into his crotch as hard as I possibly could.
There was one thing I could register, and that was pain.
I hissed, biting my teeth to keep the howl of pain inside my throat. Pushing myself off of him, I screwed my eyes shut, trying to breathe deeply through my clenched teeth.
There was only one thing in my mind, aside from the pain.
What. The. Actual. Hell?
I rolled away and to my feet. For a moment, I felt a burst of triumph at my small victory.
That’s when I saw the look on his face. Pure, burning rage.
My face went white.
I took deep, harsh breaths, trying to keep my anger in check.
Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.
That’s when I heard Key’s laughter in my mind. I snapped my gaze towards him, finding him rolling on the ground, his mouth open in a silent laughter.
I thrust my hand in his direction, shooting flames straight at him. He responded by flapping his wings wildly, dispelling the flames I shot towards him.
Growling in fury, I stood up on my feet, directing my glare towards Elliot who had gone white.
”What was that?”
