Guard Captain Bear stood at attention, his eyes scanning the training ground for flaws to correct. The massive man’s muscles bulked beneath his armor as he leaned on a colossal two-handed sword, his long white hair hanging over his shoulders. Five pairs of fighters sparred on the sandy arena, their blades flashing as they attacked and parried. Every ten minutes, they switched partners and continued fighting until exhaustion set in.
Bear’s jaw clenched as he watched. The training was harsh—he knew that—but it was necessary. Lord Vaelor would soon call upon him and the guards to assist in quelling the rebellion. Damned upstarts. Too many people had forgotten their place.
One pair of fighters caught his attention—rising emotions had escalated their bout into something more serious. On one side was Anthony, calmly parrying blows, a slightly regretful look on his face. His opponent, one of the newer recruits, furiously stabbed at Anthony again and again. His wild eyes betrayed no hint of recognition of his senior officer, rank and decorum forgotten in a tempest of emotion.
Bear sighed, disappointed. Anthony was in no real danger, casually deflecting attacks with a flick of his wrist. Still, Bear had a responsibility, and this pup needed to be taught a lesson in restraint.
He leapt between the combatants, drawing his massive blade mid-air. “Enough!” His roar thundered across the arena. A single blow sent the new recruit flying.
The arena fell silent as all eyes turned to watch. “You should learn to control yourself, boy,” Bear growled, his sword still pointed at the fallen recruit. “What’s your name?”
Gritting his teeth, the recruit got back to his feet. “Ruben, sir. It won’t happen again, sir.” His voice was tight with barely contained anger, fists clenched at his sides. Despite the reprimand, a defiant spark still burned in his eyes.
At least the little shit wasn’t pissing himself. He had guts, Bear thought with a grudging smile. He could work with that.
Just as Bear opened his mouth to speak, another figure stepped onto the training grounds. Surprise flickered across his features before he quickly recomposed himself.
“Lady Devina, what brings you here? If you’re looking for Mira, she should be back in a couple of hours.”
“That’s not it, Captain,” Devina replied. “I’m here for myself—I want to train with the guards.”
An audible snort came from behind, and Bear shot Ruben a withering glare, though its recipient seemed painfully oblivious- instead staring at the newcomer.
Bear sighed, sheathing his massive sword. “My lady, if you want private lessons, I’m sure we can arrange something. But you can’t just join in here; this is where the castle guards train. It’s dangerous.”
“I’ll take full responsibility if anything goes wrong,” Devina insisted. “But I know you’d go easy on me in private lessons. I want to get stronger so I can protect our people, and I need real training to do that.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd, but one voice cut through the noise. “The nerve of this kid! I’d love to knock some sense into her.”
Bear’s jaw clenched. “Ruben, another word out of you, and I’ll tear out your spine and use it as a belt.”
Tension hung in the air until Devina broke it with a surprising comment. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind taking him up on that offer.”
Bear wanted to yell at her for being this stupid but restrained himself, opting for a more prudent approach. “I’m afraid you can’t do that. This arena is only for the guards. You want to train here? Be a guard. Those are the rules. And only one of my guards can duel another, so you won’t be fighting young Ruben here anytime soon. Those are your father’s rules.”
“So how do I sign up to be a guard?”
“You don’t.” Bear said. This wasn’t how he’d wanted this to go. “Anyway, you can’t just sign up. We have an entry test, and it’s not easy. Plus you're a noble...”
“What’s this test? So if I pass it, I’ll be allowed to spar with that guard?” the girl asked, inclining her head towards Ruben.
He sighed and pointed to the far side of the training area. “Very well, if you pass the exam, you can spar with Ruben. But you really won’t. See that climbing wall? It leads up to that roof over there. You’d have to carry 50 buckets of sand to the top of that building.” He leaned back, shaking his head. This was starting to get ridiculous. Surely the girl also knew she would never even make it to ten.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
To his utter surprise, the girl said nothing. She simply went to pick up a bucket and started filling it with sand.
Over the next hour, Bear’s incredulity had gradually turned to shock as Devina slowly but surely carried first 10, then 20 buckets of sand up the wall—not rushing, but pacing herself to avoid exhaustion. She managed a few more but was obviously running out of strength. While carrying her 24th bucket, she almost slipped and fell.
“Alright, enough is enough,” Bear said. “You slipped, so you’re disqualified. That wasn’t bad, kid. We’re all very impressed. I’ll talk to your father about training you when he comes back, and then we can revisit, alright?”
As he turned away, Anthony approached him, his voice lowered. “She did the standard 20. 50 is to become an official guard, 20 for recruits. Ruben only had to do 20. You know as well as I do that she passed. What’s fair is fair. You’ve got to let her train now. Can’t go back on your word.”
“Dammit Tony, you’ve always had a weak spot for that kid,” Bear hissed. “But she just accepted that idiot’s challenge. You realize that if we admit her, it becomes subject to the guard’s code of honor. At that point it’ll be a damn duel, and I can’t interfere. What if he goes crazy again? You want to be the one to explain to Jonathan Vaelor why his daughter got beaten to a pulp by her own guards?”
“Boss, how about we let the kid decide?” Anthony suggested. “I’ve got a feeling she knows what she’s doing.”
Grudgingly, and after some more convincing and appeals to honor on Anthony’s part, they ended up doing just that. The stubborn girl, of course, did not change her mind.
Some time later, Bear stood in a circle with the other guards, observing the scene at its center. He didn’t know what he’d expected after her performance at the climbing wall, but this certainly wasn’t it.
The girl had started on the offensive, displaying surprising confidence. But after taking the first few hits, she’d started flinching away at every blow, almost exclusively focused on trying to defend herself. Like a panicked chicken.
A tiny part of Bear tingled with gratification watching her get put in her place. After all, she’d just walked into his arena as if she owned the place and made demands, putting him in a difficult situation. Now at least he’d get to see her get humbled, and he could tell Anthony he’d told him so.
There was something beautiful about a good punch to the face, he mused. It showed so much about a person’s character in an instant. Some could take the hit, absorbing the shock and pain, only to retaliate with twice as much force and determination. They were the warriors, the survivors.
This girl, however, was definitely not one of those. She had chosen to fight with a sword, though from the way she held it, one would think she’d never used one before.
At this point, Ruben was obviously toying with her. An obvious feint caused her to overextend her defense in a desperate attempt to protect herself, losing her balance. A quick strike with the pommel of his blade later, and the girl was on the floor, spitting out blood, fear evident in her eyes.
Devina got back up, but it seemed more out of reflex than a conscious decision. The captain considered intervening and stopping the fight, but honor dictated he could do no such thing. The conditions hadn’t been met. An honorable duel was supposed to last until someone didn’t stand up again or resigned, and neither of those had happened.
Instead, he yelled into the arena, getting closer to Devina. “Stay down! What the hell are you doing? Have you still not learned your lesson?”
Ruben stopped circling around her. “You hear that? You surrendering yet, you entitled piece of shit?”
She just looked back, a stunned expression on her face.
A storm of emotions crossed his face—anger, pain, and a flicker of something deeper. His knuckles whitened as he gripped his sword tighter, the blade trembling slightly. “You don’t get it, do you?” he spat, voice raw with emotion. “My mother—she cries every night because of you. Jobless, hopeless, all because you couldn’t handle a little criticism. And now you come here acting all noble about protecting people.” A grim expression manifested on his face. “It’s been driving me mad coming home to that every day. I’m glad you’re here, because I can finally make you pay.” He gripped his sword harder with both hands, running towards her.
Devina tried to evade clumsily, not getting into a proper position to defend herself. She put her sword up in an attempt to block, but she was doing it improperly, leaving herself wide open.
Ruben, instead of stopping, angled his sword to hit past the defense and kept running at her, with no intention of holding back his strike.
Bear cursed and lunged towards them, although he knew that he’d be too late to prevent her from getting seriously hurt.
But someone else was in time. A crack resounded through the arena -not Devina’s bones breaking, but the sound of wood. Anthony, who had thrown one of the weapon racks at Ruben, now stood protectively before Devina.
The arena erupted into murmurs, the tension dissolving into confusion. No one had been supposed to interfere—but hadn’t Anthony made the right call?
Ruben lay on the ground, dazed and disoriented, while Anthony turned to Devina, extending a hand to help her up. Her face was pale, streaked with blood. Without a word, Anthony led her toward the doors, gently guiding her out of the training grounds.
Bear stormed toward Ruben, who was slowly pulling himself to his feet. The captain grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him upright. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” Bear growled, his voice low and dangerous, “You’re lucky if her father doesn’t have you executed, you understand me?”
Ruben just nodded mutely, his earlier bravado replaced by a hollow look of resignation. Bear let him go with a shove and turned away, his mind already turning to the inevitable consequences of the day.