7.4

They had not been allowed out for martial training for three days. The storm and the cold were (according to Mother and Father) too much for Alexander, despite his protests.

But Jewel honestly didn’t mind, because the consolation of this wait was that Father would join them in the training as well!

The day was rich and bright in golden sun that morning, slowly growing silvery pale towards noon. Hillocks of shimmering white snow blanketed the fields.

Breakfast had been the usual wholesome porridge with a few scraps of winter sausage (smoked and spiced as mock Kraoska!).

Alexander’s armoring against the cold seemed a bit excessive to Jewel given the richness of the sunlight .

Did he really need so much wool wrapped around him?

Yet Jewel was perhaps not best to judge, having never felt the actual bite of winter herself; she could not argue how sufficient it was.

Father himself was dressed in something closer-fitting, almost like his Gryphon Riding Leathers. But without the stiff bracing around the neck. Worn over it all was a thick winter coat.

And Muriel was dressed in her heavy leather and gambeson with only the addition of a woolen scarf around her neck for further warmth.

In the late morning the sky was practically pouring warm sunshine all over them as well as the valley of Rochford, rendering it lovely in its winter colors. The golden hues of dawn had now settled to clear pale that shone back from every direction as the sun rose further towards its zenith.

The courtyard’s blanket of white was mostly untouched, only a few trails stamped flat by the passing of the groundskeeper Samuel, and the Stablehands and the Footmen.

You could tell which trails Samuel left because they were interwoven with the excited braiding of his dogs bounding through the snow.

He’d been marking out his rounds along the courtyard inspecting things, checking the winter plantings in the garden were coming along well.

As opposed to the significantly more direct trenches left by the Footmen and the Stableworkers, moving to their posts as directly as possible.

All of them were now softened ruts, after last night’s snow.

Jewel trailed behind Father and Muriel. Alexander was beside her, trembling and bouncing visibly with as much excitement as Jewel felt in her Wyrmfire.

Father marched out into the pristine snow of the courtyard with Muriel then nodded sharply to her.

“To begin, we will be practicing the melee. Alexander, Muriel and I shall use training spears, Jewel you will go unarmed, no flame, not even a flash spit, and no flight higher than the walls.”

Jewel nodded. That was sensible. This winter, Jewel had learned that, with hardly any effort at all, she could bring her Wyrmfire to the points of her teeth and when so fortified, no mere steel could hold against her bite.

Really, between that and her flames it hardly seemed worth the effort to seek any form of armaments.

But she was a bit sad that she was not allowed to use any form of breath, even the harmless light show.

“We all can be best served by better work to avoid hits in the first place. So any blow will be a mark against us. Jewel, that goes thrice for you, your scales may be all but impervious but though they may not pierce we know that you can bruise and be pummeled.”

But of course Father was wise and had a plan — if she was forbidden from her breath, she could better prepare for when she was unable. The memory of the Terror Boar from that summer had yet to leave her.

Jewel nodded sharply to her father.

“Now then, we will work in a melee of three. Me and Muriel will trade off to judge the match and track your marks. Muriel I will take the first round with the childer.”

He flashed them both a grin which neither Jewel nor Alexander could avoid returning.

It was alright to train with Muriel everyday, but this was them against Father!

With a silent nod Muriel moved off to the side of the Courtyard and took position to watch.

Jewel took up her position, taking a point in the triangle between them. With each at one end of the Courtyard, it was a bit large for a normal melee, but Jewel could have covered the normal range of a sparring ring without even moving her hind claws.

It was as much an effort of endurance running for her brother when she and Alexander sparred (which was why Murial said she did not allow it often).

Father and Alexander took up their positions and readied their spears.

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Muriel raised her hand and then dropped it sharply with a shout of “Go!”

And Jewel bounded towards Father.

She covered half the distance in one bound and was already preparing to leap for the next, but Father and Alexander shared one glance with each other before running directly towards her.

Spears held low and ready.

She had to adjust her bound from a charge to a leap up and over the two of them. Taking care to keep even her wing tips below the limit of the walls. Hunching her belly and hips as quickly up and over the reach of Alexander as she could.

But despite her efforts, Father jumped nearly a foot higher than Alexander’s forehead and swung the wooden pole with a rounded nub into her flank. Right between the wide expanse between her hips and shoulders.

“Mark against Lady Jewel!”

She tumbled over herself away and as Father fell into a bracing crouch and Alexander came at him with a quick stab of his own training spear.

The blow was slapped down and aside as Father came out of his landing. Then in the same swinging motion after that redirection he wrapped around for a sharp jab right into Alexander’s shoulder.

“Mark against Lord Alexander.”

Jewel bundled herself up and came back in for another strike. Sweeping her tail around to try and catch Father unawares.

Alexander saw it coming and ducked low, but Father was substantially taller and could only go so low without flattening himself prone.

His only choice was to go over — or so Jewel had thought. Instead he braced his footing and jabbed his spear into Jewel’s tail with both hands, aiming for closer to the base than the end she was trying to crack him in the side with.

The blows came together and Jewel could feel the sting of the blow in the meat of her tail where the wood pressed her scales hard and pinched it against her spine.

Father rocked back from her own blow but did not fall even as Jewel recoiled and tugged herself back.

“Marks against Lord Rochford and Lady Jewel!”

Alexander made another go at trying to catch Father while he was distracted by Jewel and this time got a blow to the chest with the butt of Father’s spear.

“Mark against Lord Alexander.”

It followed after that, the sun climbing towards noon as Father, Alexander and Muriel worked through the melee.

When the sun was straight above their heads, they stopped for a meal of hot soup and mulled wine.

It was a wonderful time and Father and Muriel were both congratulating them alongside pointing out their mistakes.

Jewel felt several stinging bruises up and down her body and neck with one particularly painful one on her left cheek.

Alexander ended up eventually getting three marks on Father for his efforts to take advantage when he was distracted by Jewel.

But considering both children took well over thirty marks each from Father and Muriel (for a total of sixty strikes on Jewel’s poor hide!).

Well that made even Jewel’s ten marks on Father and eight on Alexander feel poor recompense.

“Alexander, you’ve got a good head to aim for when a better foe is otherwise engaged, but you are too focused on one of us at a time. Both eyes open and turn your head about more, you need to be able to sweep the whole field of battle and not lose sight of one enemy for your dedication to another.”

Jewel had heard Muriel say something similar before, but Father’s voice seemed to bring a determination to Alexander that Muriel never could. He straightened his shoulders and nodded hard.

Father took a heavy slurp of his soup. Chewed some of the meat and vegetables taken up then nodded to her and swallowed.

“Jewel, you spread yourself out too wide and far. You present too many openings and targets, pull yourself together, rear your head back. And keep yourself poised to strike more in defense.”

She nodded to Father then grasped her own whole stew pot and supped deeply from it. Swallowing-whole most of the meat, roots and beans. Leaving only a mouth full to savor with a few slow chews at the end.

“Okay father. Will we go for another melee after we finish eating then?”

To which Father looked over Alexander before considering and then shaking his head.

“No, I think that’s enough time out in the cold and the snow for your brother today. If the weather keeps, we will make a bout of it tomorrow.”

That was disappointing but it was important to keep Alexander safe. Despite his cry of protest.

“Oiy, your mother would skin me with a soup ladle if you catch the blue out here! The evening chill is no time to be caught out wet in sweat and snowmelt.”

To which Alexander responded with a ball of snow right in Father’s face.

Jewel was a bit shocked, but Father laughed and in a blink had pelted Alexander in the back of the head with his own snowball.

Then the second one actually knocked her brother clear off his feet but did not slacken his prodigious bravery.

It took another round of white projectiles between them before Jewel could not stand to watch how badly her brother was outmatched any longer and leapt across the courtyard to Alexander’s defense.

Her claws were poor tools for shoveling up snow and shaping it into balls, but she could sweep her entire body along the courtyard to gather up more material for missiles and if needed even raise her wings as walls in fortified defense of her Brother.

In spite of this She could not manage to block every deft strike launched by both Father and Muriel! Even if she was not delightedly only half hearted in her attempts.

The great battle of snow continued until the sun had begun to dip low enough that most of the courtyard was cast in shadow.

Mother was rather cross they had been out so long in the cold but after making sure that Alexander was not too damp, chilled or hot with fever relented there was no harm done so far.

After the scolding Jewel joined Father and Alexander in recounting the many clever maneuvers and brave turnarounds of the battle through dinner and quite a bit after into that night.