Alcingeria

Chapter Thirty Two: Training Day

Chapter Thirty Two Training Day:

Monday June 28th 1690

"Are you enjoying your stay at the castle so far?" Asked Lawrence in his polite and formal tone.

I grinned and nodded. I looked at the table. Other servants had entered while I was looking at Lawrence and they were clearing the rest away.

"Would you like to take a walk?" He asked. "I would be most happy to escort you anywhere you desire. Within my ability, of course."

I thought back to what Raymond said about being allowed to train on the castle grounds. I figured that there could be no harm in practicing my combat skills. Why not?

"Yes please. Can I go back to my room and get my weapons?" I asked, "I'd like to practice my fighting skills outside."

"Yes, sir," Lawrence bowed at the waist, "I will escort you."

I stood up to walk out of the dining hall. As soon as I passed beside Lawrence, he started moving too. As we exited the dining hall, I noticed the subtle scent of roses in the air left by... well, all of the freakin' roses. I decided that it wasn't worth asking about, it was a little odd, though. We began climbing the staircase that led upstairs. I opened my door and Lawrence waited outside.

I grabbed my knife with the inscription as well as my dagger. I didn't take my flintlock because it would make too much noise. The last thing I wanted to do was draw unnecessary attention, even if it was only a noise complaint. Even still, my aim was as good as it could be with a smoothbore weapon. When I had my two weapons, I put them in my pocket and walked to the door, where Lawrence opened it for me.

"Shall we go?"

"Lead the way."

Lawrence led me down the corridor that the rooms were in. Before we rounded the corner, I looked to him to say something, but slammed into someone coming around the corner at the same time as I did. We both fell to the ground. I saw an object topple to the ground from the person's arms.

I got to my feet quickly, all too accustomed to being knocked over. I looked up to see a girl who looked to be about fourteen. She had very dark, short black hair with a red rose pinned in it, light violet eyes and a pink dress with white trim, which came down to her ankles. She was fairly thin, but not scrawny. Her facial features we smooth and delicate looking, and she was blushing ever so slightly.

"I'm so sorry, miss!" I exclaimed, holding out my hand to help her up. "I didn't see you, I'm sorry."

The girl's eyes scanned the ground for a second or two until her eyes fell on a book bound in worn, brown leather. She reached out and grabbed it. That must have been the object that fell from her arms when I bumped into her. Once the girl had her book, she reached out and took my hand. I pulled her to her feet with minimal effort.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

The girl giggled, as if amused at my frantic apologies.

"It's alright, don't worry," she smiled, "thanks for helping me up."

"It was uh... No problem," I looked for injuries, but found none. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," she said, "I may have a little bruise, but I'm okay."

There was a brief silence. Before things got awkward, I decided to break it.

"I'm Redmond Bradford," I said with an apologetic smile, holding out my hand to shake.