A Curse Of Blood And Sorrow

Chapter Seven

Blake

A day later and I'm sick and tired of Rebecca glaring at me. I haven't done anything wrong to her, it needs to stop. I get up from my seat and go to stand in front of her. "Teach me to fight." I demand.

"What?" She answers.

"Teach me to fight." I say again.

"Rude idiot." I hear her mumble under her breath, "okay fine. I'll teach you but you have to do everything I say." She insists.

"Fine. I'll play by your rules." She nods and walks out, leaving me trailing behind. I sigh. She really hates me.

"First of all. Run 3 laps of the castle whilst I get everything ready." Rebecca instructs. I nod and start doing what she says. By the time I'm finished, I'm struggling to breathe and hot in the face. It doesn't help that Avery has come out to see what we're doing.

"Why do you want to learn to fight so bad anyway?" She asks as I come to a stop in front of her and Rebecca.

"Because I want to be able to protect you if the beast comes back to the castle." The pair share a look, as if there is something going on that I don't know about. "What's the matter with that?"

"Nothing is. I just don't understand why you want to fight for us so badly." Rebecca says cynically. 

"Just teach me to fight already." Avery and Rebecca share another look, this time Avery giving Rebecca a slight nod. Rebecca sighs and nods at me.

"Pick up a sword." She instructs.

"Okay." I nod and do as she says. The sword feels heavy in my hand, I feel massively out of my element. Awkward even.

"Now, I'm just going to go at you and you attack me back. Understand?" Rebecca asks.

"Understood." Before I know it Rebecca starts on me and starts walking towards me. Instinctively I move back and out of the way but I know I can't do that. I actually have to push past my fears for this to work properly.

Two hours later and I'm sweating more than I've ever done on the farm working for my father. It feels good. Kind of refreshing. I drop my sword to the floor and shake my arms out, they feel numb. As soon as I start wringing out my arms Rebecca comes charging at me and barrels into me causing me to topple to the floor with her on top of me. I groan and try to push her off me but fail epically. Rebecca pushes herself up, using me as leverage. "Next time, don't stop until I say so." She grins, "But, well done idiot." Out of the corner of my eye, I see Avery grinning at me like she's proud of me. It feels good. My heart pangs at the thought of having to leave her. I need to get back home, to my father. I currently hate the man for not only lying to me but also working for the rebel group in Kinnon. I don't think I can call him father ever again. He could've seriously hurt Avery if he told the rebel group they could move into the castle to make camp. I don't think I can forgive him for that. I don't think Avery would let me go see him though. I should probably just ask. You don't know until you ask.

"Thanks for teaching me Rebecca. When's the next session?" I ask.

"Tomorrow. If you're up to it." She replies cockily.

"I'll be there." I retort defiantly, causing her to smirk. God I hate it when she does that. I turn to Avery. "Hey, can we go for a walk real quick?" I ask as nicely and innocently as possible. I can't have Rebecca thinking I'm up to something shifty.

"Of course." She says to me, "Make sure you get the food started right away Becca. We've got to keep this one fed if we expect him to be able to fight against the beast." She says to Rebecca, giving her a knowing look. There's something going on between them two, I just can't work out what it is yet. But I will. Somehow.

"So. You want to talk to me about something?" Avery suggests as we start walking towards the woods.

"How did you know?" I question.

"The only time you ever want to talk to me alone is when you want to ask me something that you don't want Rebecca to hear."

"Am I really that obvious?" I say looking down.

"I kind of like it. It's nice when it's just us two." She says, blushing a little. I grin. Apparently, I have the ability to make her blush. I didn't think I could make a princess blush.

"I wanted to ask if I could go home to see my father but I get that what he did was stupid and I want you to know that I never had any part in it."

"I know you didn't have any part in it. You would've said something by now if you had. You're an open book. And you don't have to ask to go see him, you aren't a prisoner here Blake. You chose to stay here to protect the princess, you can leave whenever you want. I'm sorry if you felt otherwise." She says as we walk along the edge of the trees.

"Really? You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course I wouldn't." She says indignantly.

Avery  

I couldn't believe it. Blake thought he was a prisoner in this castle. Surely he understood that he chose to stay here to protect me from the 'beast'. Of course he doesn't understand that him being here will likely put him in more danger than staying at home will, but I wish he knew how much I care for him already. I haven't known him for long but if any harm comes to him whilst I'm in beast form, I don't think I will ever forgive myself. And at this rate, I won't have any way out of feeling the guilt.

"When do you think you'll leave to go see your father?" I ask curiously.

"Tonight, hopefully. Do you have a horse I could borrow?"

"Of course, you can borrow my horse, Blue."

"A..are you sure? I mean she's a royal horse. Don't you think someone will notice her and all her clothes?"

"She hasn't got any of the royal gear anymore. I ripped it all up after they died. She's in the stable, go get the stuff you need from the tack room attached and leave once you've gotten her ready. I'll see you soon." I leave Blake at the tree line and start wandering back to the castle doors. It's going to feel weird around the castle without him. He's taken up a space that has been empty and lonely for so long. In a weird way, I'm so glad that we captured his father. If we didn't, I probably would've never met Blake.

Rebecca meets me halfway to the castle and looks at me questioningly. "What's wrong with you Ave? What did he do to hurt you?" She asks stubbornly.

"What is your problem with him? Why do you hate him so much? He hasn't done anything to hurt me. Nothing is wrong with me. He's going to see his father for a few days, it's going to be quiet without him."

"You're smitten. You think he could be the one to finally break the curse, don't you? You like him." She sings songs accusingly.

"I don't... okay fine. Yes I like him, yes he may be the one to break the curse but we can't get our hopes up just yet. We've only known him for a little while." I say adamantly. She gives me a look and a knowing smile. She knows I'm just bullshitting my way out of this.