The Game

Chapter Four

I walked silently towards the treeline. It had been 10 days since Alice told me about the latest update. Tobias had moved in pretty much the next day. Having him around was fun on some terms. It was nice to have someone my own age who knew why I was so shut in. Alice didn't quite get why I was so defensive about my family here. She didn't know too many details, with good reason. All she knew is that I moved here when I was young. We had told her my parents were farmers from the far north of the kingdom but that droughts were common up there and that's why we moved. 

But with Toby I could talk to him about everything I had been reading about the monarchy. Everything I had been learning since I was a toddler. Traditionally, I would be learning all of this first hand. I'd be by my father's side, learning on the job with him about battle strategies and taxes, laws and relationships with out allies. We'd be working on it all together and he'd be there to clean it up if I messed up. I had been obsessed with reading as much as possible. At the end of the day, I wasn't going to have anyone there to pick up a mess if I made it. I was going to have to handle this alone. I'd have Albert and everyone, don't get me wrong but it would be only me able to make the decisions. 

Every day had started the same way now. Breakfast, chores and then I'd come back in to a note from Toby, telling me where to meet him for today's training session. They were always very hard to configure but I guess that was the point. I had worked out today's to be the tree line in the meadow. So here I was, walking slowly, looking, focusing for any sign of him. He did this thing where he got to his space with as little evidence as possible, intentionally trying to trip me up so he could push me harder. 

These sparring matches were a lot harder with him than they had been with Albert. A new challenge that had me really struggling to beat him. He wasn't an easy match. I think that one time back home when I had caught him off guard had really forced him to realise I wasn't as weak as he had been expecting me to be.

I stopped, narrowing my eyes on the slightest slip in the mud. I had him. I headed that way extra slowly. The trees were thick here. He wouldn't be able to see me until I was a lot closer. I could see his bag slipped behind the tree, my sword slightly poking out from under a branch that he had intentionally positioned to look naturally fallen. 

"Tobias?" I said weakly. "I can't find you." I looked around curiously, stepping a little deeper into the woods. I knew he was above me. I knew exactly where he was. I could hear his breathing in the breeze. 

"Dead." His voice whispered from behind me and I smirked, pulling my foot around his legs and sending him toppling to the floor with a thud, kicking the branch off my sword and holding it against him before he even knew what was happening. 

"Dead."  I repeated back to him and he smirked, pulling himself to his feet. I wasn't going to remove the sword from him. He'd caught me out on that a few times. 

"Okay truce." He dropped his sword at my feet , holding his hands up. I smirked, slowly bringing my own away from him.

"You make it way too easy. I saw the slip in the mud and I could hear you breathing." He slowly took a step forward, looking at the floor in defeat. 

"You're right. You're too observant." 

"Yeah, like I've noticed the 2 fake archer's you've put in the tree there-" I pointed behind me in 2 separate trees and locations. "And there." He smirked. 

"Good eye." I smiled proudly, dropping it as he pinned me to the tree behind me, knocking the sword out of my hand. "Didn't see this coming though." I swallowed hard as he pressed his chest into me, pinning my hands at my side. "Come on now princess. You're really going to make it this easy for me?" God I could hit that smug little grin off his face so quickly. 

Okay. Think Addy. Hands are by your side. Swords on the floor. Come on, quickly now, every second your here is a second you're dying. 

"Kiss me." 

"What?" 

"You heard." I swallowed, staring into his eyes. "Kiss me Toby." 

"I um-" I used his hesitation as my chance, spinning him and pinning him to the tree now. I quickly burried my hand into his scabbard, grabbing his own knife and pressing it against his neck. He grabbed my hand and I shook my head. 

"Dead people can't grab my hand." He breathed heavily, loosing all willingness to fight back. "Come on, push me." He scowled, shaking his head before he kneed me away, like the switch had flicked him back on and now he was suddenly able to fight it again. 

I lunged at him, stopping as he ducked, grabbing his sword from before as I pushed his knife into my corset out of the way, grabbing my own sword from below my feet. 

The clanking of metal was quick and loud, both of us looking for a way to over power the other. 

"That was dirty." He panted. 

"No, that was me finding any way to distract you so you couldn't kill me." I raised an eyebrow, changing up my movements to try and knock his confidence in me again. He didn't know me as well as he thought he did. That's what I needed him to think right now. 

"You can't just tell people to kiss you Wren. One day you will and someone will follow through on it and you'll be the one taken off guard." 

"Ha. Yeah. Like that's going to happen. No one's allowed close enough to kiss me." 

"I am." I scowled. I know he was just saying this to try and knock me out but I wasn't having it, I just pushed harder. "Fuck Wren. This isn't an actual fight. My wrist." 

"Aww. The baby hurt?" I pouted, immediately turning it into a smirk. "It's a shame I don't care." One more hit caused his sword to smash into the floor, letting me stomp my foot over it, instantly placing the tip of my blade in the center of his chest. "Dead." 

"You're going to be brutal when you have to put this to use eventually." I smiled, tilting my head. "Done?" 

"Yeah." 

"Good. There's water in my bag."