Slave To Savage

Chapter Four

A month has passed since that day in the garden, since the day the commander decided to help Alphea learn how to fight. She showed up every morning right on time, surely enough, he too never missed a day. He taught her basic combat skills, with and without a sword. He said she could borrow one of his older swords, but she could only practice with him, afterwards he would take it with him. Although, Alphea often snuck out at night to their spot to secretly train the other moves he taught her.

She more or less got the hang of it, she was no skilled combat master, but she wasn't the powerless little girl she was just a month ago. Alphea had also grown a little less uncomfortable and anxious around the commander. He had managed to get her to stop calling him master, but she only switched to mister commander, which he found incredibly childish but humorous.

"Oi, pointy! Focus!" Silas yelled into her ear as he readjusted her body. She jerked to the side, destroying what the commander had been trying to correct. "Stay still, pointy."
"It wasn't necessary to yell... And stop calling me pointy." she demanded as she got back into position. Silas placed his hands on her waist, making Alphea take in a sharp breath. "Still so sensitive." he sighed, pushing her waist slightly forward.

He took hold of her right arm and pushed it up. "Point your sword... Right there, hold that stance. Hold it... Now second form." he stepped back, observing the girl as she continued on. Since she was a girl with a small frame, she couldn't move swiftly with a heavy sword, which is what he usually used.

"Third form... Fourth. Alright, come back here for a second." The girl returned to him, sweat running down her face. He sighed once more and took the sword from her. "That's it for today. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done, but we're going to have to put our training on hold for a while."
The girl looked up at him, a frown on her face. "Why?"

"I have some business to take care of, so I won't be around much. You can still come train, but the sword-work will need to wait." he said as he handed her a rag. She took it and wiped the sweat from her face. "For how long?" She didn't want to wait around and put half of her training on pause, she didn't want to lose her momentum. Alphea liked training with him, even if it's hard, it kept her busy and it was her first hobby, her first interest even.

"Just a few days, and I won't be sleeping at the palace in the meantime." he turned around and started walking away. The girl ran after him and grabbed his forearm. "Seriously!? First I don't get to work on my swordsmanship, but now I don't get to see you either?" He stared at her desperate expression, a smirk forming on his lips. "What a sight, you, the great Alphea, not wanting me to leave her sights? Is this jealousy?" he teased, watching her cheeks turn bright red and her small hand letting go of him.

"Absolutely not! I... I just want to train, that's all." she tried to sound confident but the involuntary stutter crushed those goals to pieces. It amused him to see her reactions, he knew the girl's hormones were forming and that she was going through changes. He thought he might as well tease her just for the fun of it. The man chuckled, placing both his hands on her frail shoulders.
"It's just for a few days, don't worry. Just keep focusing on the sparring, I want to see some improvement when I return, alright?" His calm voice reassured Alphea, and him giving her an objective put her mind at ease, it would keep her busy and distracted.

"Alright, mister commander. I'll wait for you." She looked up at him, big eyes eager for him to hurry up, oddly enough, that made him want to get back sooner. He felt ashamed that he had gotten so close with the young girl in only a week's time, and he was supposed to be a stone-cold commander with no weaknesses and no room for people. His initial plans with the girl was to just keep her around, then he decided to train her instead, creating his very own little assassin. He just couldn't help but wanting to help the girl that had nothing. He wanted to see her thrive and become someone strong.