After the First Prince’s outburst, everyone behaved themselves for the rest of the dinner. My father and stepmother didn’t say another word, nor did the Duke and Duchess of Lindenfort, but their eyes shone with hatred as they watched the beastmen laughing and talking with the eastern delegates. Without the Second Prince in attendance, they had no Royal ally to lean on.
Much to my surprise, Shidah somehow managed to engage the Duke of Misenport in a conversation about the monsters in the north. Reluctant at first, the Duke was soon talking animatedly about their struggles near the impassable mountains. The two oversized men had found a common ground in their war against the trolls that ruled the mountains. His wife pursed her lips in silence as her husband lowered her his guard.
Neither Andrian nor I were wise in the ways of politics and had no desire to change that fact. After the requisite amount of polite conversation, or in my case polite nodding, we focused our attention on the food. Wine poached pears from the east were followed by five more courses prepared with the finest ingredients by the most skilled of chefs; a cheese soufflé, a salad with wild greens and thinly sliced poultry, roasted beast in a rich gravy, pasta stuffed with wild mushrooms, and finally a rich dessert of chocolate cream filled pastries. We swapped food between our plates and fed each other shamelessly by hand.
Somehow, I found myself enjoying the disgust that flashed across the faces of my father and his family whenever they looked in our direction. The people who tormented me for so long could do nothing but watch as I flaunted our happiness in front of them. I almost forgot myself and laughed out loud at their horror when Andrian sensually licked the pear juice that had dripped down my wrist as I hand fed him my last bite. Here, with Andrian by my side, I felt like I was the one who had the power. Under the protection of the First Prince and the beastmen, they couldn’t touch me.
In the end, the welcome banquet wasn’t as horrible as I had expected.
The next morning, Andrian woke me up early and said he wanted to take me to the Palace training grounds. That sounded like a great idea to me, as there had been little opportunity for swordplay during our travels. I quickly dressed and exited our shared room.
Rastari, Coraggio, and Vargas were waiting for me in the hall with Andrian, with plans of joining us for the training. Shidah had spent the entire dinner drinking strong liquor with the northern Duke, and would probably sleep all day if left undisturbed. We were happy to leave him alone, given that he may have swayed the northern Duke in our favor after many rounds of a very strong Vryanian liquor.
Late in the night, the red faced Duke had loudly informed everyone that maybe the animals weren't so bad after all. His ignorantly worded compliment was a pleasant final blow to my father before we all retired.
Rastari handed me a hunk of still warm bread with butter to eat on the way. Apparently he’d gotten up early enough to have already gone down to the Palace kitchen and pilfered a few loafs of the freshly baked bread. The simple meal was almost as delicious as the multi course banquet the night before.
Rastari navigated the Golden Palace with surprising confidence and familiarity. The rest of us would have been lost for days in the labyrinth of corridors and stairways. He kept up a steady stream of chatter as he led us down to the back door, which I recognized as the servants door I’d used to enter and exit the Palace previously.
The Palace grounds were as expansive as its interior, but we reached our destination faster than I would have expected. Despite our celerity, there were already soldiers training when we arrived. Although there was more than enough room for all of us, I had hoped we wouldn’t have to share a space with human knights. Even if they left us alone, their mere presence was still enough to make me feel ill at ease. They were probably nothing like my father’s men but… what if they were my father’s men? My father was here, after all. I hadn’t considered that possibility before it was already too late.
But it seemed my worries were for naught, as when we drew closer, the knights’ silver hair gave them away as Royal knights. They watched us closely as we grabbed some practice swords and took the opposite corner of the grounds, but they didn’t interfere or ask us to leave. Rastari and Coraggio chose to spar with each other, having a similar measure of skill, while Andrian and Vargas began the usual process of guiding me through warming up my less practiced muscles.
It amazed me how much I had learned in just four short moon cycles. As we stretched and practiced my stance, I couldn’t help but marvel at the ease with which I held the practice sword now. Though it was smaller than the ones I used in the lion village, the last time I was at the Palace, I would have struggled just to lift it using both hands. Now, I held it confidently with one hand, barely noticing the slight burning sensation in my muscles.
“Marquis Julien, your stance is all wrong,” a voice interrupted my concentration.
I looked up and saw that the voice belonged to one of the silver haired knights. He was young for a knight, probably younger than Andrian, and he looked at me critically from a short distance away. The knights on the opposite side of the training grounds had halted their practice and were watching our interactions. They were too far away for me to be able to read their expressions.
“If I may, Marquis,” the knight continued, “your stance might look fine to these beastmen, but their style of fighting is built for their bodies. You may live with them, but you are still one of us. You’ll get hurt if you use their tactics.”
“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Vargas asked, sounding defensive. "What's wrong with our tactics?"
“No insult intended. There’s nothing wrong with your tactics if it’s a beastman using them. It's not about skill, it’s about natural limitations. He may win a practice fight, but in a real battle, his muscles would be strained by how he’s holding the sword,” the knight explained, holding his hands out in front of him in a way that said he didn't want to fight.
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“What would you suggest?” Andrian inquired, cutting off whatever Vargas might have replied with. "None of us has ever trained with a human before."
“Marquis,” the knight addressed me, “may I have your permission to approach you and demonstrate?”
Feeling no hint of a threat from the man, I nodded that he had my consent. He approached me, giving Vargas a wide berth. He placed his hands on my shoulders and began to move my body and adjust my stance. My shoulders were pushed back, my arms were lowered, and my feet were moved further apart. His touches were so brusque and professional that Andrian didn't even react.
As he adjusted my posture, he said, “The first thing to consider is that, where they look similar to us right now, they have bodies that can be used on all fours. They hold their shoulders in a way that prepares them to leap forward and shift. You won’t be doing that, so it’s just additional strain on your body. Lower them like this. Keep them nice and loose. Next, you’re aiming the sword too high. From here, it’s easier to begin an attack, and less effort to keep your sword at the ready. Now, loosen your hips, good, feel the freedom of movement without the tension. Spread your feet just a little more as well. See how your center of balance has changed?”
It was a subtle difference, but I felt less tense and more balanced when he was done. I took a few practice swings and found that my movements were a little easier and more fluid.
“Very good,” the knight praised me, nodding his head. “Now come at me.”
I took him at his word and attacked. He fended me off easily and pushed back, but he was clearly holding back his power to match my skill. We traded blows back and forth for some time until I ran out of steam and made a mistake that got me knocked to the ground.
The knight pressed his wooden sword to my throat and said, “Not bad. You did well until you ran out of stamina. It doesn't matter on the training ground, but you’ll need to build up your endurance if you want to win against a real opponent.”
Withdrawing his sword from my neck, he held a hand out to me and pulled me to my feet.
“I’m Evan, by the way. Evan de Vray,” he told me, “His Highness, the First Prince, is my second cousin on my father’s side. I think you and I might be distantly related as well. My great grandmother was the daughter of the southern ducal house. I believe that makes us third cousins.”
Andrian answered Evan’s greeting on my behalf, “I’m Andrian, and you already know who Julien is. That’s Vargas. The two over there are Coraggio and Rastari.”
My distant Royal cousin offered his hand to both the beastmen and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“How ‘bout a round against me?” Vargas offered, “I’ve never sparred with a human other than Fa-er-Julien here. Good way to introduce ourselves.”
Evan’s face lit up with a smile, “I’d love to actually. I’ve never fought against a beastman before. I’m a Palace knight, so I don’t get to leave the inner city very often. Not a lot of chances to fight against anyone but those guys over there. Oh, hey, have you fought real monsters?” he asked, his youth shining through clearly in his excitement.
“We all have. Julien too,” Vargas told him. “He’s fought a couple one on one and killed ‘em without our help.”
“Marquis! You’ve fought real monsters?” Evan exclaimed, looking at me enviously.
“Ay, he has,” Andrian answered for me as I nodded, “one by accident in an ambush, and one when I took him out hunting.”
“Oh-ho, is that so?” a familiar voice sounded from behind us. I turned around and saw Marquis Heinrich walking up to us. He wore a broad smile under his thick moustache as he said, “Marquis Julien, you didn’t tell me about that before. Here I thought you were such a weak and helpless little thing.” He ruffled my hair in greeting.
“He hasn’t been weak a day in his life,” Andrian stated with confidence, “Fighting ability isn’t the only thing that makes someone strong.”
“I can’t disagree, but you know what I meant General,” the Marquis responded with a good natured smile. “Mental fortitude means nothing to a mountain troll. He doesn't strike me as a fighter, is all.”
“He’s a damn good fighter, actually. Anyway, how about that spar?” Vargas interrupted, grabbing Evan, pulling him a safe distance away, and raising his sword.
As I watched them each take their stances, I realized that, just as Evan had never fought against a beastman, Vargas had never fought against a human other than myself. Neither of them had fought in the war, one busy fighting monsters, and the other stuck inside the Palace.
Evan attacked first, cautious but not holding back the way he had with me. The knights on the other side of the field had halted their practice and watched the mock battle carefully. To my surprise, they crossed the distance between us to observe the fight alongside us.
The two were evenly matched in strength, but Evan held the advantage in terms of training and discipline. He slowly forced Vargas to make increasingly reckless decisions until he successfully disarmed him. Vargas's sword went flying and landed in the dirt a considerable distance away.
Vargas, not wanting to give up on the fight, shifted into a lion and charged. Evan was too surprised to react and the large lion had him pinned before he could process that his opponent had shifted. Vargas stood over the man, holding his shoulders down with his paws, and roared to celebrate his victory. At the sound of his loud roar, the other knights looked nervous and a few raised their weapons as a precautionary measure.
But before they could act on their concerns, Evan laughed and shouted, “Damn cheater!”
Vargas released him and returned to his human form to assist the knight in getting back on his feet.
“Ain’t no cheating in war,” Vargas informed him, giving him a very solid pat on the back and brushing the dust off.
“This isn’t war, it’s a sparring match. How am I supposed to spar with a giant lion?” Evan asked with a pout in his voice.
I heard Rastari’s booming laugh echo out across the training grounds before he said, “You should ask our little human friend here. I’ve seen him win against both wolves and lions. He lost to me, of course, but he's won his fair share of grapples.”
“Now that’s something I would be very interested to see,” Marquis Heinrich commented, looking at me with renewed interest.
“We would as well,” said one of the Palace knights who had been watching the fights. Then he quietly added, “But only if the Marquis isn’t put out by the request. We mean no offense, my Lord.”
I studied the knights and realized this might be a good opportunity. These were the men who protected the Golden Palace. It would be good to have them on our side. Andrian and I exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing, and we nodded in unison.