A late fall dusting of snow covered the tree branches and the dueling platform. During the first snowfall, Maude had looked out the balcony windows in awe at the trees that were softly blanketed with the powder. It was unlike any winters she had ever seen in the empire. In the empire, the wind had howled through the open plains, making it feel far colder than it actually was.

Even now, looking up at them from the wooden dueling platform, the majesty of the snow laden trees had her gaping like a fish.

“What are you gawking at?” she heard Jaspar’s voice, behind her, ask.

Maude whirled around, and looked up at his face. “The trees.” she answered, feeling a flush run up into her cheeks. “I thought they were beautiful with all the colored leaves, but they are even magnificent with snow donning their branches.”

He looked quizzical. “Are there not many trees in the empire?” he asked.

She shook her head. “At least not where I’m from,” she answered. “There might be one or two here and there, but for the most part, the land near the capitol is used for farmland, so it appears barren.” She tapped one of her fingers on her chin a couple of times. “Though, now that I think about it, there weren’t a whole lot of trees in the empire at all. I think the most trees I’d ever seen in my life at that point was when we crossed into the Aulbertian territory.”

It was Jaspar’s turn to stare at Maude. She felt a flush creeping up her neck again. “What?” she asked.

He cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. “Ah, sorry about that,” he said. “I just found it quite surprising that you’d never seen so many trees before. I guess that just means I’ve taken the view for granted,” he said, meeting her eyes with a small smile. Maude smiled softly back.

“Well, should we get started?” she suggested, gesturing to the sword rack nearby.

“Sounds great,” he said. “Pick out whichever one you want.”

Maude walked over to the rack, and found the one that she had used for their duel before. she picked it up, checking it’s heft once more, and nodded sharply.

“Okay,” she said, stepping back up onto the platform. ” I’m ready.”

" Will you run me through the moves and stances that you already know?” Jaspar asked. ” I just need to know what all I need to teach you.”

" Of course,” Maude answered. She briefly ran through the stances and sword movements that she knew. Jaspar nodded along as she did so.

“Good, So you know all of what we consider the basics here in Aulbert,” he said.

"This is considered the basics?” she asked, her eyes opening wide. "This is considered advanced and towards the end of training in the empire!”

Jaspar smirked. ” The advanced techniques only really build on what we call the basic ones. they just leverage the power that is already behind the basic ones and amplify it. it’s similar to your sword saint ability, really.”

“Show me,” Maude said, feeling her eyes sparkle.

He looked at her, bemused. “Curious question,” he said, while coming up behind her. He started gently moving her arms and torso into a different position. Maude’s heart skipped a beat at the physical contact. It’s nothing, she told herself. It’s just because few people have touched me as gently as he does.

“Hmm?” she replied to him out loud.

“If fighting goes against your morals, why do you want to learn these moves so much?” he asked.

She turned her head to look at him, and then realized how close their faces were to one another. She caught his vibrant blue eyes, and felt her heart stutter. She quickly turned away from him, feeling her face burn. She could feel his breath on the back of her ear.

“Umm,” she replied, trying to steady her heart. “I guess because it’s the only thing I really know how to do,” she answered.

“What do you mean it’s the only thing you know how to do?” she could feel his body behind hers. She swallowed hard. Maybe this was a bad idea.

He gently twisted her wrist. “So when you thrust your sword like this, if you turn your wrist like this and slash your sword outward again, you’ll basically have two hits, one right after the other.” He stepped away from behind her. “Try it,” he commanded. She did. He was right, the movements seemed to flow well from one another, making it easy to potentially get two hits in, one after another. No wonder her men hadn’t stood a chance.

“Good,” He said, coming up behind her to adjust her body again. Her heart was stuttering in her chest with every light touch.

No, she said to herself. Absolutely not. It’s just because of the close contact.

“To answer your earlier question,” she said, as he was adjusting her into a new position to build on, “After my sword saint abilities manifested, I was never allowed to do anything but train.”

“When did your abilities manifest?” he asked.

“When I was twelve, about ten years ago,” she answered.

He paused his movements. She could feel his breath softly rustling her hair. “Did you ever debut? Get etiquette lessons?” he asked.

Maude shook her head. “Never,” she answered.

“Why?” he asked.

Maude’s heart squeezed. They were heading into dangerous territory now. These were things that she most certainly did not want him to know.

He had gone back to adjusting her gently. “Um, well, you know,” she replied awkwardly.

“I don’t,” he replied. “So if you cut down in this position instead of up, you have a lot more power in the blow. If you cut off to either the right or left immediately after, you’ll maintain the power of the original strike, while getting a second hit in.” He stepped back away from her again. “Try it.” She tried the new move. It felt a little awkward as she was much more used to slashing upward in this stance.

“That’s going to be a hard habit to break,” she said with a smile.

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“If you practice a lot, you’ll get the hang of it,” he replied. She could tell from the tone of his voice that he was smiling behind her. He came back up, and started adjusting her into the new stance. “So tell me what you mean,” he said, looping back to the conversation Maude was hoping he’d forget.

“Well, my father just wanted me to be the best sword saint I could be,” she answered. “So I was never allowed to do anything else. You saw my ability. Augment is highly dependent on the user’s capabilities. My father wanted me to be as capable as humanly possible.”

“Hmm,” Jaspar said behind her. “Your father sounds like an ass,” he said.

“Excuse me?” Maude replied, shocked by his comment.

“Sorry if that’s offensive, but. Training every day isn’t even required by imperial soldiers in this country. I can’t imagine that changing all that much, even if they were to have the augment ability.”

“No, it’s not offensive,” Maude replied. “You’re not wrong, either. I’ve just never heard anyone say it out loud.”

He chuckled behind her, the warm sound filling her ear. “Okay, from this position, you would normally cut across, right?” he asked, gently flicking her wrist with the sword in it.

“Right,” she answered.

“Instead of doing that, slash diagonally up, as it will continue the momentum of your sword and be a harder cut for your opponent to block.” He stepped away again. “Try it.”

She did. Once again, he was correct. The motion was smooth and easy, and she could feel that there was going to be more power behind it then what she’d been taught to do.

“This is incredible,” she told him.

He laughed warmly, coming back in close to adjust her again. “A sword saint that lived in our kingdom about forty-five years ago or so came up with these techniques,” Jaspar said. “And I’m pretty sure he had the Augment ability as well, which is how he was able to find the movements that would best leverage the weight behind them.”

He started adjusting her again. “What is your father like?” she asked, switching the subject again.

“My father has long since left this Earth,” Jaspar said. “He passed away in an accident while I was a child.”

Maude searched for emotions in his voice and words, and there was none to be found. “How old were you?” she asked.

“I was seven,” he answered in a factual voice. “And while I should have been made a duke right there, my mother pulled a few strings to buy me a few years. And a few years later, when I became the duke, I was ready and capable of defending her from my family members. They were trying to take advantage of us and House Rosenberg’s funds. It was incredibly difficult.”

“I’m sorry,” Maude said. “That sounds like it was hard.”

“It was,” He answered. “I lost half of my childhood because of a man I barely knew. My mother loved him dearly, but he was always busy working while I was growing up.”

“That’s a shame,” Maude said. “And what of your mother now?”

“She lives in the manor,” Jaspar replied. “She spends a lot of her time doing any kind of needlework.”

“Oh,” Maude said. “Is your relationship with her good?”

Jaspar let out a small sigh. “What is with these questions today, Maude?” he asked. She could tell that he was a little bit amused, but also frustrated, based on his voice. “Now, when you’re in this stance, typically you thrust forward, but that leaves you open to being injured yourself. That’s part of why we had a draw when we dueled,” he pointed out. “So instead of attempting to hit your opponent, you can use this move to fake them out, as if you are going to attack, block, and create an opening for yourself to slash diagonally.” He mused her arm carefully in a diagonal line. “Try it,” he said, stepping away.

“You were asking me questions about my life,” Maude replied while she practiced the move a few times. “I thought it was only fair to ask some of you.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Jaspar replied. “Last one,” he said. Coming back in to adjust her body again. “My mother and I have a decent relationship,” he said. “She just lost a part of herself when my father died and it’s something she’s never gotten back.”

“Ah,” Maude replied. “I’m sorry.”

He’s like me, she thought to herself. He’s basically an orphan.

“And what of your mother?” Jaspar asked her.

“My mother passed away when I was three years old,” she answered. “And my step-mother, Zara, came in shortly thereafter. It was a short while later when she gave birth to my brother, Callum.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Jaspar said.

“I don’t remember all that much about her, honestly,” Maude said. “Except I can still feel her warmth in my heart.”

“What’s your step-mother like?” he asked.

“She hates the fact that I exist,” Maude answered. “And will do anything in her power to make my life a living hell.”

“I see,” Jaspar said. “Are you sure you want to go back to the empire? I wouldn’t have been trying to escape if that’s what I was going home to.”

It was Maude’s turn to laugh. She threw her head back, and ended up hitting him in the chest. She looked up at him, and he was looking down at her. Their eyes met. His normally fierce blue eyes looked soft, and they were glowing with some kind of emotion. Too close! She thought. We’re way too close!

“Oops,” she said, feeling herself blush and moving her head away from him swiftly to hide her face.

Jaspar cleared his throat. “You alright?” he asked.

“Yes, sorry,” she said. “You just surprised me!” she paused, clearing her throat from the awkwardness in the air. “I wasn’t planning on going back there,” she continued. “Pretty much anywhere in the world is better than there, and you are most certainly right that I’d probably face a guillotine for returning to the empire. I was thinking about building my own cabin and living peacefully in the woods.”

Jaspar chuckled in her ear. “That doesn’t sound half bad,” he answered. “And now if you’re ever successful, I know where to search for you.”

“You wouldn’t,” Maude said, laughing again.

“Would you be leaving anyone important behind in the empire?” Jaspar asked.

Maude thought about Sara Savoy, and remembered her face for the first time in a while. She thought back to the last conversation she’d had with Sara, and how Maude hadn’t even been able to say that she’d defend Sara if it was necessary.

And then there was Silas. He was someone who Maude had known nearly as long as she could remember. They had always been close friends, though their relationship had changed a little when they had gotten older. She and Silas were supposed to get married if they both made it back from the war alive. She felt a pang of sadness at the thought. But being able to marry Silas was now only a pipe dream; she had betrayed her country, and a Marquis’s son wouldn’t be allowed to marry a fallen noble.

“No one too important,” Maude finally answered. Whether she liked it or not, she would not be able to have either of them in her life going forward.

“That’s not so bad then,” He said. “Okay, in this last one, typically you would be cutting down, right?”

“Right,” she answered.

“But if you move in a backwards L-shape, you will catch your opponent off guard with your slash across, and be able to block their coming blade, while slashing upwards. Try it.” Maude ran through the new movements. “Great, now I want you to practice on a target dummy.”

He stepped down from the wooden platform, and offered her a hand, which she took to step down herself. He led her over to a practice dummy. Maude felt her heart sag a little that there was no longer a need for close contact.

She practiced the new movements on the dummy, with Duke Rosenberg guiding her and making comments every now and then to help her correct any mistakes she made. Due to the fact that most of the new moves were tweaks, it did not take her long to get them down successfully.

“Bravo!” Duke Rosenberg said, clapping his hands.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Maude said with a small bow.

“The pleasure was all mine, Lady Maude,” he said. They leisurely walked over to the sword rack, where Maude would return her sword. “And please, feel free to ask one of your guards to take you down here if you’d like to practice any time,” he said.

“That sounds dangerous,” Maude said with a smirk.

“I think I can trust you,” he said, smiling smugly back. “On an unrelated note, how would you like to participate in society in the Aulbertian Kingdom? It sounds like it’s an experience you’ve never gotten to have, and if it’s one you’d like to have, I can probably pull a few strings to make it happen.”

“You think I’d be okay to attend society events in an enemy country?” she asked, drawing her eyebrows together. “That seems like it would be a bad idea.”

“Maybe,” he said. “But I have a cousin who I could easily convince to take good care of you,” he said.

“I’d love to, then,” she answered. She felt like skipping and leaping for joy. Society events were an experience she always wished she could be a part of, but was never allowed to be.

“Great,” he replied with a soft smile on his face. “I’ll get it set up for you then.”

“Duke Rosenberg,” she said, while putting the sword back into the rack.

“Yes?” he asked. She turned to meet his blue eyes and to search through them.

“Why are you being so kind to me?” she asked.

He smiled warmly. “Well, Lady Maude, you’ve been an incredible help to my kingdom,” he answered.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You will see,” he replied. “In time.”