The Druid Wielder

Chapter 16

"Psssst." I heard a hiss tickle my ear. I swatted at it. "Pssssstt." I opened my eyes and turned my head.

Beatra's face stared at me. Why was she waking me up?

"What?" I groaned.

"We need to get to training." She gestured to all the others who were getting changed. "Come on, sleepy head." She handed me new clothes that were at the side of my cot. She shook the clothes. "You don't want to be late."

Wherever she went yesterday apparently wasn't important enough for her to tell me. After all, we did just meet. Her business was her own.

She waited there. I looked at her innocently. Was she going to stand there while I changed?

She groaned. "Fine. Meet me outside, but hurry!" She trotted out of the tent. I did what she said.

We followed behind all the other beggars.

"You know. You are going to have to get used to changing in front of other people. You don't have a choice. Sooner the better." She scolded me. I sighed. If I could figure out how to get out of here I wouldn't have to get used to it.

"Alright slow pokes, find your partner." A tall bald man spoke.

"You can be mine!" Beatra exclaimed. "Mine happens to be the boy that picked a fight with Trogan yesterday. He won't be back for a while with those injuries," she chuckled.

"Ah yes, I forgot we had a newbie with us." The bald man bent over to my height. He must have been at least six feet tall. I wanted to look away but my attention was drawn to his eyes that flicked in different directions.

"Your partner will tell you what to do." He waved me off.

"It's easy. All we need to do is spar." Beatra tossed me a wooden sword and held up her own. "Let's see what you got," Beatra teased.

We began.

As she said, it was easy. All we did was go over moves for attacking and blocking.

However, as we did so, I could tell Beatra knew what she was doing. She gripped her sword well. She swung it like it was just another part of her body. I was impressed, and yet a bit jealous. Even after my training with Debynn and Vermilion, my fighting style was still weak. My footwork was not as graceful as hers. Her body moved together with her sword. It was less of an action and more of a movement.

"Who taught you to swordfight?" I could tell immediately that she was more experienced than I.

"I taught myself." Her swing waved through the air until it made a thud against my own. Beatra twirled briskly before extending her blade once again. Though her actions were precise and graceful, they were slow. As if she made them easy for me to hit. She would swing, then I would block. I would attack and she would parry. It was like a dance and she was leading me.

It was rather beautiful.

"This is one of the easier training exercises. Be happy that you experienced Comett before Trogan."

"Comett?" I asked.

"Yea, that's baldy's name. He is pretty nice compared to the other Royals, but I do not suggest you test any of them."

Beatra must have been here awhile to know so much.

"How long have you been a slave?"

"Hmm. A while." She continued to spar with me.

I looked around at the others practicing. Most weren't even putting effort into it. There were two pairs on the edge of the group that seemed to be taking this as seriously as us, but that was it.