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N E R I S S A
Peter and I start to make our way up the hill after a short while and I find myself feeling nervous along the way.
Guilt filled my chest as I wondered if Oreius was mad at me for snapping at him. Honestly, I couldn't blame him if he was.
Peter seems to pick up on my nervousness as he reaches over to take my hand, taking me by surprise.
My eyes dart up to look at him and for some reason, the gesture makes me feel slightly self-conscious.
"It's going to be okay." The King reassures.
I swallow hard as his eyes meet mine. I've never felt like this around him before, or maybe I've just been too focused on everything else to notice.
"Right, thanks for that. But..." I nod towards our intertwined hands, "You can let go now."
The boy's face turns a bright shade of red as he finally releases my hand.
He gulps, "Sorry."
We walk in silence the rest of the way back, although I catch Peter stealing glances every once in a while.
Soon, we approach Aslan's tent. Edmund jumps to his feet as soon as he sees us, "You're back!"
Oreius tears his eyes away from the map he had been staring at, at the younger boy's statement and offers me a smile.
It feels as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulder at the sight of that as I return a sheepish smile.
Peter joins his brother and I turn to Oreius as the both of them engaged in their own conversation.
"Oreius, I think I owe you an apology." I start but Oreius holds up a hand to stop me.
"There are no apologies needed, Milady." His smile widens, "It looks like you've done some convincing with the King. For that, you have my thanks."
I shake my head, "I didn't do much, really. Narnia needs them and he knows that. He would've come around with or without my help."
"If we want an advantage over the Witch, we need to act fast," Oreius states, drawing the King's attention.
"How close are they?" Peter questions.
"The Witch's army is nearing, Sire." He responds, "What are your orders?"
"Nerissa," Peter calls before turning to face.
"Yes, your majesty?"
The boy looks at me, appearing a little unsure of himself. So, I give him an encouraging nod and he seems to regain himself.
"I know this isn't going to make much of a difference, but I want you to train us as best as you can for the rest of the day and Oreius will do the same with the rest of our man." He orders, "We need to make sure everyone is prepared for what's to come."
"With your willingness to learn, Sire, I think it'll make a world of a difference," Oreius reassures.
I nod, "Agreed. Now, let's get to work, shall we?"
I shoot Peter a smirk and he beams right back at me before I send him and his brother to grab their gear.
Tapping my feet as I waited, they return shortly after.
"Two minutes and twenty-one seconds. Not bad."
"Do you always have to time us?" Edmund groans.
"Not if you learned to be faster. Lucky for you, you seem to be doing fine. Although, there's still room for improvement."
The two boys share a look, "How long do you take?" The younger one asks.
"I try to keep it within thirty seconds or a minute at most. Time is precious, I like to make good use of mine."
"Yeah, we can tell," Edmund grumbles.
"Alright, enough standing around. Let's get down to it, shall we?" I draw my blade and shift my stance, "Show me what you've got."
"Both of us?" Peter raises his brow and I nod in reply.
"Go on, we haven't got all day, now."
The boys exchange a glance before Peter places his right foot forward that tells me that he was getting ready to attack. Sure enough, he lunges forward and I swerve to the side to dodge his blow.
He manages to catch himself just before he falls flat on his face. Edmund takes his shot next. I twist around as I hear his footsteps nearing me and our blades clash. With one quick flick of my sword, his weapon falls out of his hand and lands on the soft Narnian grass.
Turning my attention back on Peter who was charging towards me, I send a kick to his hand and Rhindon goes flying to the side.
"Pick up your swords." I say and the boys do as they are told, "The problem lies in your grip. Like this."
I show demonstrate to them how to hold the sword properly and they follow.
"Good. Let's go again."
Peter and Edmund comply without complaint. Peter's sword meets mine and this time, I go low. I swipe my outstretched leg towards him, knocking him off his feet.
I turn on Edmund next, who was charging towards me and I go low once again, swiping my sword at his feet. He stumbles back in an attempt to dodge my blade and ends up landing hard on his back.
"Watch your legs, boys." I say, "Make sure you have every angle covered. Don't leave anything exposed."
The boys groan before pushing themselves to their feet once again, ready for another round.
Before I knew it, a couple of hours of practice had passed with me giving the boys some constructive feedback every now and then.
The sound of our metal clashing fills the air as the boys continued on with laser focus.
The next thing I know, I'm being knocked off balance by Peter, with the exact same move I had used to take him down before.
He points his sword at me and my lips stretch out into a grin, "Not bad."
I make my next move as soon as I spot an opening. I slam my palm against my wrist, swiftly disarming him before kicking out at his feet.
He lands face-first onto the ground with a groan.
"Your legs were exposed...Again." I comment."
"Damn it!" The boy runs a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Still, I'm impressed. That was a good takedown. Could've used a little more speed but you had good posture." I praised, "Good job, both of you."
Edmund huffs as he kicks at the grass, "We still lost and it was two against one!"
Claps sound from behind us and I twirl around to see Oreius standing by the side, smiling down the boys with pride.
"You may have lost. But you got an advantage over the most skillful fighter in Narnia." Oreius spoke, "I don't know about you, but I think that's a win."
"That's not going to win us the war," Peter argues.
"No, it might not. But it sure helps to know that your King knows what he's doing." Oreius replies, "The both of you are good, your majesties. You should be proud of that. Do you agree, Milady?"
"Definitely." I shoot them an encouraging smile, "It's late. The both of you should get some rest. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."
Peter catches my eye one last time before he leaves, offering me a smile that makes my heart flutter. I catch myself, shaking off the weird feeling.