The Golden Apprentice - Tales of Death and Victory. Vol I

Year of the Apprentice - Chapter IV

I

Celeste can’t say how much this is tedious. Normally sparring is entertaining, but the sorien guards aren’t a good match for her soldiers. Yoren, the prince’s bodyguard, was trained by her since he was very little, he’s better than ten of Soren’s best soldiers. The Golden Viper, that’s how they used to call the General in the battlefield, so it is expected that her students are trained to crush their enemies like little rats.

Areon, on the other side of the garden, met her brutality even before he was king. She remembers it clearly, when he was only a prince fighting in the name of the emperor to protect his life from that crazy bastard’s wrath. They were young, not even twenty-years-old yet and the dragon’s body still laid in the War Valley like a big, dark wall of flesh and tough scales. The prince of Aramantos fought Danaë’s rebel army, led by herself, Hi’vren Tormulen and Celeste, trying to march towards the empire’s capital. The Blue Teeth Sorcerer gave them a tough time, and Areon was in charge of protecting him. That’s when his blade met Celeste’s. 

She carved a path on his face, now a scar half hidden by his dark beard. Her eyes meet him from across the garden, there’s disrespect in those green eyes and in his cheeky smile. Her grip on her wine cup strengthens enough to bend the metal, she wants to kill him! 

The sparring ends and Yoren is victorious as expected, helping his partner up, they both bow to the audience. Klimt claps excitedly and offers wine from his own cup to the winner, an honor bigger than the bodyguard feels entitled to. “I think we’ve seen enough, huh?” Areon jokes and snickers. “Mirha has good soldiers, Soren has good wine… What great news”.

The guests laugh and king Veres, sitting at the center of the improvised grandstand, caresses his beard a little bothered by the comment. “Well, we all know our military force is relatively new compared to Mirha’s, if it wasn’t for Danaë, Soren wouldn’t even have an army to begin with,” he defends. 

“Don’t get me wrong, my friend, I understand”, Areon laughs and points at one of his soldiers. “But how about we see one of my men fight the mirhans or your men this time?”

Veres and Klimt trade looks, then both look at the General who stares at the aramantian king with the intensity of ten suns. “What a great idea!” She smiles brightly. “Yoren!”

The guard approaches and she pulls him by the neck of his armor, her eyes glitter with enthusiasm. “If you win I will personally talk to the lord of Ilvenya and in two weeks you’ll be married to his youngest son”, she promises. 

The eyes of the knight suddenly have the same spark hers have and he nods with determination, putting on his helmet and heading to the middle of the sparring ground. King Areon signs to one of his blue knights and the man heads towards Yoren, the General frowns at the look of his armor.

Blue steel is common in Aramantos, but the best armors made by it are from Ilya where the Dwarves are in charge of producing war equipment, not men. That armor obviously wasn’t made in Aramantos, but it also doesn’t appear to be made by the Dwarves, it is delicate and light. It serves to protect the vital points and leave the joints free to give the soldier more agility while fighting. The helmet has the whole face of the soldier hidden, except for the eyes that are covered by a thin layer of cloth. 

Celeste laughs thinking about how much a helmet like that would’ve helped Areon, thirty years ago. “Prepare!” Veres shouts and the soldiers get in position. Yoren holds his shield high and points his long sword at the man, while the aramantian soldier sets himself in a position the regent never saw before. With two swords in hand, one pointing forward and one backwards, his arms at the length of his face. “Start!”

Yoren attacks quickly despite his armor being far heavier than his opponent’s, still, he’s not quick enough to hit the aramantian knight who dodges and slides to the side of the royal guard. The mirhan is smart enough to realize a shield isn’t appropriate for that kind of fight, even after being saved by it from the lateral attack of his adversary.