It was nearly two weeks into escorting Klarion to the portal that would take him on to the Imperial Academy and Alesin was exhausted. The young lord had just finished drinking the minor healing potion that Rolfun had given him after their sparring session, and he would soon be asleep in his tent.
Her husband made sure their charge was settled for the night and, once he was sure the young lord was asleep, came over to where Alesin sat on the ground by the fire. Alesin made the smile that she saved only for him as her husband partially slumped to the ground behind her and pulled her into his arms. Rolfun nuzzled into her fair, breathing deep of her scent before letting out a contented sigh.
“It is a good thing we only have a few more days left,” Rolfun said, exhaustion clear in his voice. “That young lord is running me ragged and I could use a break.”
While it had endeared the young lord to them when he had so easily gone with the need to set aside his title until they got him safely to the portal in the nearest settlement, they had taken to referring to him as such in the privacy of their warded campsites once Lord Klarion was asleep. To say she and her husband were impressed by him would be an understatement. Though they themselves were elites well within the middle ranks of House Blacksword, the young lord had continued to keep up with the grueling pace they had set for him. As such, it seemed only fitting that they refer to him properly, as long as it didn’t get in the way of their mission.
“I hear you, my love,” Alesin said, leaning back against her husband’s broad chest. “If you had told me weeks ago how exhausting it would be to train Lord Klarion, who does not have a class or even a level under his belt yet, I would have insisted that you go to a healer to make sure you didn’t have a head injury.”
Rolfun snorted in amusement. “And I would have gone too, thinking that I had perhaps had my bell wrung one too many times by the Commander to tell you that.” Her husband reached up and began gently kneading her shoulders. She let out a sigh of contentment as her husband began working her sore muscles.
“What I don’t understand,” Alesin said after enjoying the massage for a few minutes, “is why Klarion was even on a planet outside the System in the first place.”
“Well, the powers of the Archduke are great, it would ha—”
Alesin snorted in amusement, interrupting her husband explaining the obvious to her. “Yes. I am aware of the powers that the Archduke has, as well as some he is only rumored to have. I also know a bit more from my mentor about some few others sworn to House Blacksword, and there are at least a half dozen individuals capable of sending a boy through a portal into a world outside the System, like the one Klarion comes from.” She sighed, though this time it was one of frustration rather than out of enjoyment of the feel of her husband’s fingers on her shoulders. “No, what I mean is, why was Lord Klarion sent to such a world in the first place? It’s clear from the last few weeks we have spent with him that Lord Klarion will become a powerful and important asset to House Blacksword soon after graduation from the Imperial Academy, if not before.”
“I know what you mean, love,” Rolfun agreed, his fingers shifting to work on a particularly stubborn knot. Her breathing eased as his pressing gradually loosened it. “The young lord is a good student, completely free from the arrogance that so many of the nobility his age seem to suffer from. I can’t even mention how well he is doing, as I don’t want him to develop an ego about it. Better that he goes into his first year at the Imperial Academy humble and cautious. Combined with how he is doing under your testing and my combat training, I would think whoever made the decision to send him away will be removed from House Blacksword entirely once he arrives at the Imperial Academy and those at the school begin to get to know him.”
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“I can’t believe his progress myself. Did you hear how I told him that all this training and the exercises I am running him through are the absolute basics that nobles his age are already expected to know?” She ran a shaking hand through her hair. “Blood and Ash! I made up my mind earlier today to ask him about what he would do in a scenario where he was commanding a smaller force in battle against a stronger enemy. I barely finished explaining the specifics of each force, which put his own at a disadvantage, and he pulled a completely unconventional strategy out of thin air. And you know the craziest part?”
“Let me guess. His strategy would have given him at least an even chance at winning?”
Alesin snorted in amusement. “Better than that. The way he outlined it and presented the logic that underlay his decisions, I’d expect him to win more often than not. Unlike most of the nobles we have served with, I expect Lord Klarion might have some potential as a leader in war.”
“So,” Rolfun leaned back away from her, rolling his shoulders as he worked to loosen his own muscles, “am I right in guessing that you have moved into more advanced topics across the board?”
“The young lord is like a sponge. I had planned just to share a few more advanced things, but the rate he has been going, I’ll have to cut myself off from exposing him to more complicated knowledge for fear of what he learns now getting in the way of what he will learn at the Imperial Academy. Blood and Ash!” She swore again. “Some of this advanced material not even the majority of nobles would be expected to know until they are in the Imperial Academy itself! And the terrifying thing is he doesn’t just absorb it either! He understands it and builds off his knowledge!”
“Quiet, quiet my love,” Rolfun shushed her. “We don’t want to wake the young lord.”
She shifted on the ground to face her husband. Gesturing for him to face the other way, she then reached out and began kneading his shoulders to work on the knots he had developed during the day.
“I can tell he is going to be an impressive student regarding tactics and strategy, but what do you think of him in terms of combat itself?”
“Impressive seems to fall short,” Rolfun groaned out the words as Alesin began working his shoulders. “It had been my intention to only show him a few basic moves and get him used to carrying a greatsword. Ideally, he would get to the point that he wouldn’t embarrass himself too much once he began working with the combat instructors of the Imperial Academy.” He let out his own snort of amusement. “I, too, had to throw away my plans. These last few nights, he has continued to surprise me nearly every time we spar.” Rolfun tapped his left hand against his armored side. “Lord Klarion got another glancing blow against me tonight. I even felt it through my armor! He moved a half-step quicker than I figured his stats would be able to support, and I lashed out instinctively in response.”
She paused in working his muscles. A young lord of House Blacksword, even as amenable as Lord Klarion so far appeared to be, would be a frightening enemy if he took offense from training with her husband. She was already running through her mind a few options for gifts to present in an apology to him. “How did he take the blow?”
“Alesin,” Rolfun reached up to gently take her slight hands in his own massive fists. “Lord Klarion dodged the blow.”
“What?!”
“He dodged it,” Rolfun repeated. “Thank the Emperor and the Seven Princes that he is agreeable as he is too. While the strike I lashed out with was only slightly stronger than what I had been practicing with him to that point, any other Lord would have berated me for it. Instead, Lord Klarion took it as a reward for having his having pushed me!”
Alesin barely heard the rest of the story of the most recent sparring match with the young lord. All she could focus on was that Lord Klarion, fresh to the system, without a single level, let alone a class, had caused her husband, an experienced trainer of soldiers and young nobles a part of House Blacksword, to go beyond the force he had intended with a strike.
“All while being without his first level or a class,” she mumbled.
“All while being without his first level or a class,” Rolfun agreed.
They both turned their gazes to the tent in which Lord Klarion was sleeping. Their faces were stoic to the casual observer, but to those who knew them well, they would have seen what looked suspiciously like a hint of shock and awe on their faces. Though they both still had to rein in their significant strength and powers, the fact that they had to even adjust them the slightest bit on this short escort mission spoke to the speed at which the young lord was improving.
What kind of monster were they escorting?