Puppet to the Crown

Chapter 13

Tiny gold orbs were scattered across the dark, ebony colored sky as I stood nervously in the middle of the rose garden adorning a pair of loose black sweats and a green sports tank top. It seemed like normal enough attire for what I was about to endure. Plus I was in fairly good shape. I was one of the best in gym at the Academy. Something told me though that this wasn’t going to be like the Academy. Something told me I was royally fucked.

“I’m surprised you turned up,” a deep voice murmured from behind me. I turned on my heel only to see the old guard I knew only as Sir Roland.

A smirk appeared on my lips as I responded, “Of course. I’m no chicken.” He chuckled lightly at my remark and nodded his head in satisfaction.

For a few short moments we stood in silence. The only sound to be heard was the rustling of the rose leaves in the wind. Sighing Roland explained to me, “Well I think it’s time to take a run.” Seriously? I wanted to learn how to kill somebody with a punch, not run. Was my first lesson really going to be on running away?

“You’re joking, right?” I asked him playfully. My remark was met by a stony stare. Minutes later I found myself jogging side by side with Roland around the castle. My breaths were coming in quick, short intervals. Just one foot in front of the other I told myself in an attempt to continue motivating myself. Roland’s original moderate pace had become increasingly more difficult to handle.

Ten minutes of running.

Twenty minutes of running. Things were getting harder.

Forty minutes later. I was not positive how much longer I was going to last.

One hour and fourteen minutes. I had to stop. Hunched over and breathing heavy, I could hardly get oxygen in my lungs fast enough. When I glanced up at Roland I was shocked to see he looked perfectly fine. His cheeks were hardly flushed from the work we had just endured. I pushed myself to my limits and he simply looked a little winded. “What the hell,” I grumbled displeased.

Roland was wearing an amused smirk on his face as he watched me plop on the ground and attempt to control my breathing. “I’m surprised you lasted this long Emily,” he explained to me.

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” I growled angrily up at him.

“It means most people I train rarely make it longer than forty-five minutes,” he explained. A groan escaped my lips. I could have stopped thirty minutes prior and still be considered average. “That’s okay though, I’ll merely know to expect more from you.”

Really? I would manage to set myself up to look good. That meant he would be pissed if I didn’t do as well as I did the first time. “Now let’s talk fighting. First and foremost you need to learn your opposition’s weaknesses. In the cast of a werewolf, as you should already know, they are highly allergic to silver. If you fear running into them I would suggest carrying around a solid silver pocket knife. We know werewolf bites are highly toxic to vampires, but we also most remember that we have no idea how you will react to it.”

My head was nodding up and down like a bobble head as I listened intensely taking the information in like a PMSing girl eats chocolate. Perhaps this was going to be worth it. Time had passed as Roland continued. It didn’t take me long to wonder when the actual sparring would begin. At the present we were merely chatting as we set shrouded by the rose bushes.

“When will we start fighting?” I asked him randomly yawning slightly.

“When I feel you are ready and determined enough. At the current moment I’m not sure if you’d be capable of harming anyone. I bet you don’t even know the weak spots on vampires and werewolves,” he told me. He was right, I had no idea. Why would they have weak spots. How would they have weak spots?

Roland explained to me different methods of harming werewolves and vampires. It wasn’t long before I was a yawning mess ready to pass out on the crisp green grass. “I think your done for the night,” Roland told me as he watched me jerk backwards in an attempt to stay awake.

“No I’m fine,” I mumbled attempting to persuade him to continue. I wanted to get to the fighting as fast as I possibly could. That meant I had to finish this learning session. Roland laughed at me as he pushed himself up off the ground with ease.

“Come on, Emily,” he said reaching his tan hand out towards me. I grasped the rough hand and allowed it to pull me up off the ground. “We will continue this tomorrow night, but you are no good to anyone if you are so sleep deprived you can hardly think strait.”

An incoherent grumble of words slurred out of my mouth at his remark as I wandered towards the Castle with Roland trotting by my side. “I’ll walk you to your room,” he informed me. Why he felt the need to protect me inside my own castle I don’t know. Perhaps he didn’t trust the new guards when it came to matters of the royal family. Sir Bennett and him would always have that in common. It made me feel safe knowing that two loyal men were willing to lay down their life for me.

It was a relief to see the shiny, bronze door knob of my room. A yawn escaped my lips. “Good night Emily,” he told me grinning.

I nodded my head and mutter, “Good night,” before wandering in and heading strait for the plush green comforter that I had grown to love over the years. Curled up in a cocoon of blankets I fell asleep feeling content with my achievements for the night. Maybe things were looking up. But that’s a scary thought because the farther you rise up the harsher you fall.