He couldnt get his eyes off of Katlyn and he was pretty sure she had noticed, while the men united on the second floor to discuss things the both of them, and Brott, stayed on the first floor waiting, the room was completely silent, Leif sat on top of a wood box, Katlyn sat on a stool and Brott stood between them silently, when Leif glanced at her sometimes hed catch her looking at him aswell but she'd always quickly glance away, fiddling with the frills on her skirt.
They heard the door to the second floor open and a few men step out and down the stairs, Bowen and Gregory.
Gregory: [So you are the Warlock boy being tranfered to General Allera huh?]
Leif didnt respond, only looking at the. men.
Gregory: [Dont wanna talk huh? Thats fine, butthink twice before giving Master Allera this attitude boy.]
Bowen: [You guys are leaving tomorrow, the commander will provide a good amount of provisions for the travel.]
Gregory: [You heard the man boy, pack up your belongings and get ready, tomorrow we travel.]
The afternoon rolled by, Leif was sat in the stool in front of their hut, clutching his sword tightly, when Katlyn stepped around.
Katlyn: [Uhh.. Leif right? Dont you need to pack your things?]
Leif looked up at her through his messy and dirty bangs.
Leif: [I... already did.]
Katlyn looked at the dirty boy up and down, the only thing on his where the beaten up brown leather pants, the dirty white wool shirt, the black leather cloak, the brown leather boots and the long sheather sword he clutched.
Katlyn: [Would... wouldn't have to take a bath?]
Leif: [Theres nowhere to take a bath around here, theres a lake around but with this cold youre just asking to freeze.]
Katlyn stopped a little and seemed to think a bit.
Katlyn: [I see... well, could you pick up a bucket and bring me some water?]
Leif did as she asked, picked up a bucket and walked about 15 minutes to reach the almost frozen but still running river deep in the white forest, walking back up the hill and into the fort, he found Katlyn again, she had made a fire when he arrived sitting on a stool with a couple wool towels on her shoulder.
Katlyn: [Ah, youre back, come here.]
He gave her the bucket and she held it over the fire for a few minutes.
Katlyn: [Just enough so its warm.]
He stood around looking at her eyes as she focused on the task.
Katlyn: [Now take off your shirt.]
Leif tought he had misheard her for a second so he just stood there a little, awkwardly.
Katlyn: [Come on!]
He did as he was told, pulling up his shirt and throwing it on the ground, he shriveled from the cold, the boy was skinny but toned from the training and battles he went throught, his skin pale as snow and peppered occasionally with scars, mostly small ones from surface cuts and small stabs, Katlyn took the towel and downed it on the bucket of warm water, she stepped closer to the boy.
Katlyn: [Turn around.]
Leif did so aswell and she begun to run the towel on his skin, the warmth of the towel against his skin was much better then the cold, but the girls furious scrubbs begun to hurt in a few seconds, she ordered him to turn around again and begun to wipe his face and neck, downing the towel in the water again and wiping his chest and arms, she made sure all dirt was off the boy, using her figers to take the dirt off his face with care, then she made him down his head in the bucket, using her fingers to rub the dirt off his scalp and hair, she made sure he was clean with a quick wipe of a second wet towel, before she gave him another to dry hinself, and so he did as she took a small bag from a the first floor.
Ketlyn: [Now sit here.]
She pointed at the stool, he sat and she pulled out a few bottles of what seemed to be oil and a white hairbrush.
Leif: [Whats that for?]
Katlyn: [You have long hair for a man, ill need to brush it to prevent knots and dirt build up.]
And so she did, forcefully, even with his hair lathered in oil she had to fight away the knots on it, pulling at it with all her strenght, Leif did his best to stay still as she did so but this had to be some new kind of torture, thankfully it lestated for only a couple of minutes.
Katlyn: [Your hair is really pretty.]
She said as she runned her fingers throught it, it was a first for Leif, he had been complimented before, despite how rare, but being complimented by Bowen or Hilt never felt this good, not even slightly, he felt a ceirtain warmth wash over his cheeks as he sat there, she squated over by his side smiling but once she looked at his face her smile went down, givign way to a soft blush.
Leif: [Y-youre... umm... from New Pallac, right?]
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Katlyn stood up and sat on a tree stump around.
Katlyn: [Uh.. yeah..]
Leif: [Is... umm... everyone in New Pallac like... that..?]
Katlyn: [Like what?]
Leif: [You know, with thin eyes?]
He gestured at his eyes, she giggled a bit.
Katlyn: [No, no... its because my mom is from Kirthia, there this kind of eyes are common, theyre called monolids.]
Leif: [Monolids?]
Katlyn: [Yeah, mono as in singular, so its a singular eyelid.]
Leif: [Oh.]
They both sat there for some time, talking and getting to know eachother more, when night fell they said goodbye and each went to their own huts, on the next morning he would finally begin his journey to New Pallac, his journey to become a real Warlock, when the morning sunshine broke through the huts window he was already up, sitting on the edge of his bed with his sword on his hands, Hilt almost falling out of his bed, Brott sleeping silent with his hands over his chest and Bowen filling the hut with his snores.
He walked once he heard Gregory talking, despite having a somewhat deep voice he was so loud he could wake the entire camp up, Gregory, Katlyn and the commander talked right in front of the castle, when the boy stepped towards then Gregory turned towards him.
Gregory: [Ah! Leif boy, an early bird i see!]
Geralt: [Leif, youre... clean..?]
And he was, his hair was free of knots and dirt and so was his face.
Katlyn: [I made him take a bath, otherwise people in New Pallac would think hes some kind of homeless person, even tho id like to change his clothes aswell....]
Geralt: [Very well... youre ready then?]
Leif nodded.
Geralt: [Good, then youre good to go.]
Leif got on the carriage with Katlyn and Gregory, inside was spacious, more then he thought it would be, with plush seats, pillows and thick blankets, the cold seemed to almost disappear inside, Gregory laid on his back on the cushion and Katlyn sat on the other with him, when the carriage started moving he felt his heart miss a beat, it finally begun, he exchanged looks with Katlyn wich resulted in both of them glancing away quickly, when the carriage begun to make its way down he heard someone call out to him outside, with Katlyn's help he managed to pull up the window, outside, on the top of the hill where Bowen and Hilt screaming out his name while Brott and the commander silently looking down, he smiled, waving them goodbye.
The day passed on, the most bored he had ever felt while traveling, usually hed go by horse wich was much more entertaining, despite Gregory loudly snoring after stuffing his face with alcohol Katlyn's presence was still worse, he tried his best to not look at her but even her smell made him way to conscious of her, when night came down they would stop and wake up Gregory, uniting with the guards around a campfire to eat and then sleep in the carriage once more, the way to Cithii was calm, thanks to Pallaccian enforcers who would patrol once in a while there where no such things as bandits or criminals, they traveled for about 5 days, an almost straight line west of the Hasgartian territory.
Cithii was a portuary city, the closest point to Kirthia in Cithroam, used by lots of Pallaccians, armies, merchants and even officials from the Empire, it was easy to know when they arrived because the sound of the weels turning on the polished streets of rock was very different from the dirt roads, eventually they stopped, and Gregory woke up, wiping his eyes and with drool on the corner of his mouth, opening the door he saw he was inside some kind of fortress, but it wasnt kind of fortress he had ever seen, there was a wall, and a gate, but there where no towers or any kind of defense, now that he looked at it there really wasnt any defense at all, just some guards patrolling by at times.
Katlyn: [Ah, finally, its been so long.]
Leif: [Where are we?]
Gregory: [This, boy, is Sommerhall, owned by Miss Allera.]
Leif: [Sommerhall? Like a fortress?]
Katlyn: [Its more like... a mansion, its were all of Mrs.Maelstrom's soldiers and messengers stay.]
The three of them walked throught the hall, there where two main houses, a huge one where all of the warriors stayed, it was mostly a mess, with many rooms where up to 10 men stayed to sleep, training camps and food halls, the second was the private sectors for Allera herself and those she deemed fit to live there, they entered her office, a long hall with a long table.
???: [Youve arrived.]
A woman spoke on the end of the table, she was built strong, with dark chocolate skin peppered by scars, even some on her face, she had a mane of kinky black hair with some streaks of white and gray, she wore a red leather vest and a cape made out of a Rocky Lions pelt, with its head biting down onto her right shoulder and its dark grey mane flowing behind her head and to her left shoulder, Katlyn and Gregory bowed their heads.
Gregory: [Miss Allera.]
Katlyn: [Miss Allera.]
They spoke together.
Allera: [Sit down the two of you.]
They did as she ordered and Leif was now the only one standing.
Allera: [Youre the child, your name?]
Leif: [Leif Crows.]
Allera: [Crows, youre a Warlock as they say.]
Leif: [I am learning, yes.]
Allera: [The Academy told me you whdre under Laymen Draggur, is such truth?]
Leif: [Yes.]
She closed her eyes for a second, getting up, she stepped around the tabel with purposeful strides.
Allera: [Come.]
Once he begun to follow her Katlyn and Gregory got up.
Allera: [Did i tell either of you to stand up?]
They both sat down once more, Leif and Allera walked out of the office, they walked silently for almost 2 minutes before they arrived at the training camp, soldiers flooded all around, carrying weights and hitting eachother with wood swords, when everyone noticed Allera walking out they made way for the both of them to step forward, she picked two wood swords and threw one at the boy.
Allera: [Now, you will show me if you are worth my time.]
Leif sighed, taking off his cloak.
Allera: [Someone take the boys cloak!]
A man cam forward, Leif let the man with his cloak and sword, despite how hesitant he was to give it up, he gripped the hilt of the wood sword as he walked towards the sparring area, they both stepped into the bare arenous ground and looked at eachother.
Allera: [You want this to be fair boy?]
She asked, now without the Rocky Lion pelt over her shoulder he could see how broad and defined the woman was, Leif scoffed.
Leif: [If you want this to be fair then throw away that sword and let me take a real one.]
He quiped, the woman chuckled.
Leif: [Atleast you know how tell when your enemy is stronger then you.]
And she was stronger then him, probably stronger then Thoren, and he only survived his fight against the man because he wasnt fighting seriously.
Allera: [Can we begin?]
She asked, as smile playing on her wide lips.
???: [Cmon kid hit her hard!]
Someone screamed from the audience of soldiers that had formed around them.
???: [Yeah cmon boy!!]
He would, but the woman's stance was solid and the boy wasnt any kind of duelist, in the war hed usually fight small groups of soldiers or guards, specially those who hadnt seen him coming, but Allera had her eyes sat on him, she knew every action he could take.
They begun, circling around the dirt area, their eyes sat on eachother, Allera chuckled.
Allera: [Can you reach me, with that sword of yours?]
Leif ignored the woman and they continued to circle, he searched for openings in her form and she enjoyed the dance, but then he noticed, every 2 or 3 steps she limped a little, her left knee buckling just a little, he counted her step, 1, 2 and he jumped forward, swinging his sword exactly when she was about to limp, just then she firmed her left leg down and smiled, smacking the boys wood blade away with hers.
Allera: [Good eye boy, better luck next time.]
He steped back a few, gritting his teeth, she knew he was looking for a opening and faked a limp, despite his anger he was still thankfull she didn't end the fight right then and there with a single smack on his head, he continued to circle with her, but he just couldnt stay there and do nothing, he knew if he didnt attack she would, and that she wouldn't hold back on her assault, he had to do it, even if crudely his attack had to go, he stepped closer to her, her eyes narrowed and she gripped the wood sword.
???: [Cmon kid, give her hell!]
They finally broke into a exchange of swings, Allera was as strong as Thoren but twice as nimble, her swings had power and he was able to dodge and block just quick enough to not get hurt, but he wasnt able to counter any of her swings, as soon as one attack ended another was already coming his way, every 3 swings she did he was only able to respond with one, the exchange ended when she kicked his stomach and made him fly a couple meters back, the boy vomited right there, holding his stomach tightly.
Allera: [Ive seen enough.]
She said as she turned her back on him, starting to walk away, the boy looked up at her through furrowed eyebrows, gritting his teeth he closed his eyes, imagining the energy flowing throught his body, he gripped the wood sword tightly, he directed the energy flowing throught his veins towards his legs, filling them with strenght and power, he launched himself towards her in a pounce, holding his wood sword back and planing to swing at her back, in less then a second he was less then 1 meter away from the woman, just then she turned, with extreme speed she swinged her sword at his hand knocking away the boys wood blade, she quickly held the boy throat and put him to the ground, he felt the dirt hit the back of his head and her fingers enclosing tightly around his neck, cutting away his breath, she held him there for a second, to the ground with one hand in his shoulder and the other on his throat, looking directly in his eyes, tears prickled in the corners of his eyes and his eyebrows arched as he felt his chest tighten, when she let go and got up the boy crawled away, coughing and weezing.
Allera: [Ive had more then enough.]
She looked at his and noticed him whimpering, his left hand closed around the right.
Allera: [What is it child? Let me see your hand.]
She ordered, he looked up at him, taking one hand away from the other he exposed the crooked and swolen little finger on his right hand, it had taken a dark red color and had twisted down, broken.
Alllera: [One of you, get him to a medic.]
She shouted at the spectating mass of soldiers around them.
Leif: [No need.]
She looked at the boy once more, he had now closed his eyes, focusing his energy into his finger he felt it crack back into place, when he opened his eyes once more his finger was still swolen and reddened but no longer broken.
Leif: [Its still injured, but not broken.]
She looked down at the boy for a second silently, then smiled.