Crescent (Old Version)

+ Part 41 +

I didn't know whether Saren was going easy on me or she'd gotten bored with my reaction to having blades thrown at me. Either way, I was surprised that today at least, we were learning how to throw and aim.

She'd already gone over the different kind of blades we would practice with together, and the ones we used today, thin blades- their weight perfectly balanced between hilt and tip- were perfect for throwing.

Saren could throw with her eyes closed. I watched in fascination as the blade she tossed over her shoulder cut through the air and imbedded perfectly in the bough of a birch tree. I refrained from letting my mouth fall open. When she threw another, it was like watching in slow motion. I watched as the blade flew, one end over the other, and landed with a snap into the tree again. The sound echoed off the wood, and I watched her again as she looked toward me, toward the blades in my own hands- waiting.

"Your turn."

She had yet to give me instruction on how, but I knew by now how things worked with her. I had to attempt first, and she would correct after.

I felt so stupid, so pathetic, as I braced myself and lifted the blade over my shoulder. I debated closing one eye to aim, but I remembered that she had never done that when she'd showed me before. So, I stood straight, practiced aiming a couple of times, and threw the blade with all the force I could manage.

The blade landed helplessly in the snow five feet in front of the tree. Saren scoffed a laugh, and I ignored her as I grabbed a second blades from the sheath around my thigh.

I threw again, harder this time, and the blade sliced through the snow a foot past the tree. Saren strolled back toward the hut, and she might as well have told me how pathetic I was, but I ignored her and grabbed the last blade.

I aimed. I threw. Steel cut through wood. The knife landed in one of the twisted tree roots, far lower than I had intended... but at least, it was something.

She left out a full laugh this time, but I remembered quickly that I had come her for more than just a lesson today. I had to be nice- in case my plan didn't work. "Show me what I'm doing wrong."

"Well, your form for starters. You're stiffer than the tree you're aiming at." Saren gentle tapped the backs of my knees and elbows, and I suddenly remembered that she'd told me once never to lock my joints. "When you aim, you're using the momentum of your body as the force to throw. Which is good- except your momentum is throwing your aim sideways."

Her voice, a silent solution in my head, came to me. Brace your core and try again. This time, she knocked my legs slightly further apart, my core already engaged, using the new position to ground myself as I took a breath.

I aimed. I threw. The blade landed just three inches off. My excitement was short lived as my legs were abruptly ripped out from under me. Saren was on top of me, her knees on either side of my hips, and a brand new blade pressed against my throat. "What the hell-"

Her platinum colored hair swept the side of my face as she hissed at me. "What was the first lesson I taught you?"

Don't trust your opponent not to take advantage. "Okay, I get it," I shoved at her chest to no avail. "Get the fuck off."

"Make me get off." The challenge was clear in her blue eyes, and in my gut, I knew I wasn't leaving here until I fought her back.

I didn't let her see the idea form before slammed my hand into her elbow joint at the same moment my other hand yanked the blade out of her palm and slammed it down into her thigh. She cursed, reeling, and I used the distraction to sweep myself upwards and knock her onto her back.

Now she was the one who was in the snow. A sense of victory flooded my veins as I shoved her down and kept her pinned there, the blade now pressed right against the underside of her ribs. If she so much as breathed too deeply, the blade would slice into her.

Brutal, but effective. It was a move she would have had no problem pulling on me.

And, it gave me every advantage- even as she grinned up at me. "Finally. I was beginning to think I failed as a teacher."

"Teacher or not," I dug the blade into her bottom rib for emphasis. "If you keep playing dirty, you better expect I'll bite back."

The look on her face was devious, and I used the distraction, again, to make a single discreet cut along the back of her pants. The movement was near imperceptible as I used the same hand to push myself upright.

She hadn't even noticed what I'd done even as I stood and offered her my hand. Saren took it, though she gripped it harshly once we stood eye to eye again. "If you keep that up, Princess, you might very well be able to hold your own when the gala comes around." I yanked my hand backward, but she gripped my forearm tightly, painfully, and held my eye. "Lord Shawcross will be pleased."

I knew that somehow, this was a test.

I remembered what Nic had said in the library the day before. About being lady. About strength. I remembered all of the things Ceth had told me, all of his warnings if I didn't play my part to the T.

So I held her eye and gripped her own forearm with equal ferocity and strength. "Fuck him. I hold my own now." That might very well have been the biggest lie I had yet to tell, but I found Saren smiling, and she clapped a hand against my back as she released me.

She was still smiling as she turned back toward the castle. "You've got balls. I'll give you that." She nodded toward the blades that were now scattered around in the snow. "Clean up. I'll see you again tomorrow morning, Princess." Saren disappeared within a gust of snow and wind, and I loosed a breath as I took a glance at the mess around me.

I wasn't mad about it. Because despite the hell I knew I'd find at practice with her tomorrow, I was glad for one thing at least. As I kneeled down, a small smile took over as I dug through the snow and found the only evidence of what I'd done.

Saren's ring of skeleton keys were still warm from being tucked in her back pocket all day. And I'd successfully cut them out.

Now all I had to do was use them and get them back before she realized they were gone. Which could be any time, I realized, but I hoped to whatever gods there were that she wouldn't go looking for them until practice in the morning.