“Hey Lu, you wanna know how to beat Air?”
Her face suddenly relaxed. “Duh.”
I smiled. ‘If she does win I hope I’m there to see it. “If you keep losing at a game, and you want to win for a change, just change the game. Stop trying to just beat him up, he’s not a big dumb rock”
“He looks like one…” She grumbled.
‘She’s still pissed at him?’ “Anyway, just try to think a bit more, and I don’t mean use faints, think about what he wants to do, and if possible, give him a fake opening, then you don’t have to guess his next move.”
“Ok… But, he’s smarter than I am. I don’t think I’ll be able to outsmart him.”
“You don’t have to.”
“But you just-”
I raised my hands, and she stopped to let me finish. “Airsidh acts all cool, but he knows he isn’t that good with a sword, his strength and speed carry him, so when the battle gets a bit drawn out he loses patience. You just have to stay on your feet long enough for that to happen.”
She let out a sigh. “I’ll… Think about…”
She turned me around, pushing me forward as we left, and walked back to the horses.
“Oh, Lu…”
“What…” She growled with an annoyed tone.
‘She’s still in a bad mood?’ I cleared my throat, suddenly finding myself hesitating a bit. “So… I was actually looking for you back at the castle because I was wondering if you still had that old set of armor from you’re first hunt.”
She jumped up onto her horse. “Sure, I know where it is, you can use it if you want…”
‘That was easy…’ “Well, I probably only need the first layer. I don’t think I’m ready to wear full plate while marching through a dungeon for who knows how long.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah…”
We all mounted up as her eyes moved off into the distance. “You can… Borrow my sword too… If you want…”
Suddenly she was acting timid again, all her anger seeming to vanish in an instant.
‘I appreciate the offer, but…’ “I think it’s still a bit too big for me, thanks though.”
She let out another sigh, kicking her horse into a trot in front of us with a scowl. “When are you going to quit being a runt…”
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“I don’t think that’s really something you grow out of…”
“Well, considering you don’t grow, that tracks.”
I got, that what she was saying would probably come across as rude to most people, but a little bit of wordplay was nothing but fun for me. Although… “Are you sure? I feel taller than a few weeks ago. You look shorter too, I think I’m catching up.”
Hooves pounded into the ground as the knights finally arrived. Nillous, leading the charge.
“Siya! Why would you go and run off like that!”
‘so much for Lady Siya…’ “Oh, so now you’re fine with treating me like you used to…” I grumbled.
“And you…” He rode up beside us and grabbed FInlo’s ear.
“Hey hey hey, come on let's talk about this!”
I swated away his hand. “If I remember right, you said I had more authority than you did, so I’m pretty sure you don’t have the right to scold me for your own incompetence. And you don’t get to be mad at Finlo for following my orders either.”
I raised my chin and patted Fritz’s shoulder, signaling for her to start walking away. Even though I didn’t turn back I kept my ears perked up, but I couldn’t hear anything, as if they were too dumbfounded to even move.
It was a good thing too… I immediately regretted talking like that, and I felt so embarrassed that I probably couldn’t have said anything back if they responded…
Finlo leaned around me to see my face. “I guess the cub is starting to grow her claws…”
It almost sounded like he was making fun of me. No, knowing him he definitely was… “I was just worried. There's nothing wrong with that is there?” I turned to look at him as well. “You don’t think He’ll be mad do you?”
He laughed. “The vice-captain? He’s probably worried about the same thing with how you yelled at him. Although he might not be as red in the face.”
I snapped my head straight forward again. “Please don’t tease me…” I mumbled. ‘I’m not sure how I’ll react.’
Letting out a deep breath to try and release the tension, I continued on as if nothing had happened. “If he’s worried about me being mad then… That just makes me feel worse though… I kept telling him not to treat me any different, but then I slapped him in the face with my status…”
He shook his head with another laugh as he stood up on Fritz’s back and stretched out his arms. “Do you know what you’re mom told me when we first met?”
I paused, starting to get curious. Before I had never cared about her past, but realizing I knew next to nothing about it made me start to wonder. “She was one of the people that saved you from the circus right?”
As I looked back I saw him sping around saluting the captain proudly with perfect posture. “She was…” Suddenly his body relaxed, somehow still keeping his balance while we rode.
“Your mom. She’s pretty amazing you know?”
I just rolled my eyes. “You gonna tell me what she said or not?”
He paused, and for perhaps the first time I could remember, his voice sounded serious. “She told me… It doesn’t matter how you got where you are, all that matters is where you’re going now that you’re here. You were given authority, you can’t change that, all you can do is figure out how you’re going to use it.”
I lowered my head, only feeling more petty. “Using it to avoid a scolding because I’m annoyed, probably isn’t the ethical thing is it…”
He nudged my shoulder. “Nobody is going to look to you as a leader if you take a scolding like a child. Do you regret rushing out here like you did?”
I thought about it. Logically my actions made sense. I had Fritz and Finlo, if we ran into dire wolves, even if I was no good in a fight they were more than capable. “I might have made the decision quickly… But I don’t think there was anything wrong with it.” there was Fritz’s obscure healing power too, but I still knew next to nothing about it.
“You’re a noble, so unless you decide to run away, you’re going to be in command of something someday. When you have power, one call can mean life or death. That means that you must act decisively and never look back, etching your own path in stone as you walk it. Nillous is the one who is a fool, for questioning your actions before trying to hear the reasoning. At best it weakens your authority in the eyes of the others.”
I raised my head and looked forward. Nothing he said was wrong. They were concepts I had to master while I was trying my hardest to get better at the many strategy games I played. It just felt… Different in real life… A lot different.
I decided not to dwell on it, moving on. “Where’d you hear that one from? Did Mara say that too?”
“No, that one’s from my mother.”
We both fell quiet, but somehow I got the feeling I was the only one that felt awkward.
“Well, she was my adopted mother.”
“What… happened to her?”
“She made a weapon so sharp that when she tried to use it she cut her own head off.”
‘That ominous and terrifying…’ “O-oh, She was a blacksmith?”
“Not exactly…”
“…”
The more he talked about himself the more confused I became. He was in the circus, but from the way he talked about it he was more like a slave than a worker, and no one ever told me what happened, but one night almost everyone he knew died. It sounded like the backstory of an edgy superhero.