Serenity

Acquiescence

|Revalos|

*CLANG*

*CLACK*

"Stiffen your arm, Veth! Again!"

*CLANG*

*SCHINCT*

Better.

My eyes trailed the movement around me. Two had their feet angled wrong. One had his wrist too lax.

"Aliqua, stiffen that wrist!! Laus, Quill, your feet are not bird feet! Heels inward!"

Instantly, they fixed each error.

"Again!"

One, two, parry, step, two, parry, back. A pattern I had learned and memorized by heart now. Simple, but an effective offensive/defensive move set.

Again.

Again...

I note several more errors, then shrilly blow through my teeth, making a piercing noise. Every steve stopped and lowered their blades before turning to look at me.

"Swords up! Stretch before you leave cause I will not be hearing any complaints of soreness in the morning!" I pause to glance up at the clear glass roof to note the position of the sun getting closer to not being visible from within the training space, before I add on. "Dinner is in two hours! Get cleaned up before you enter the dining hall!"

With several relieved exhales from all of my trainees, I walk over to the edge of the training arena and then lean up against the wall. Silently, I watched as one by one, they all hung their swords on the wooden racks, unbuckled their leather armor, hung up the training armor, then left through the doorway set into the stone bricks.

The last set of footsteps faded away before all I could register, was the beating of my own heart and the slightly muffled sounds of the kingdom outside. Truly, it was quiet. But...

All I could hear, was the groans.

All I could imagine... Was his face.

Blank.

Yet in pain.

Admittedly, I had stayed there, in the cells, for hours after I called for Violet Leader. I just- I couldn't-

A rushed sigh leaves me, before I shove myself off of the wall and walk over to the exit. I quickly shuffle my feet on the mat to clean off my boots of sand before I walk up a set of stairs to get up to the main floor. My footsteps thud on the wooden floors, creating an even pattern as I walk.

Heel to toe.

Heel to toe.

Heel-

I swivel my head when I reach the main entrance hall and see one of our city-side guards returning from shift, a tired look in his eyes.

"Elite Revalos." His words are rushed and slightly slurred as he salutes to me with his right arm across his chest, his hand making a fist over his heart.

"As you were." The words fall out of my mouth as I pass him by, nodding as a sign of acknowledgment, before I start down the opposite hall. Glowing rays from the low hanging sun shone through the windows that lined this hall. Banners emblazoned with our kingdom's insignia hung in between the tall windows, evenly spaced between each.

Even though I always noticed this hall's details, I had walked through it for a long enough time that it just always passed by without importance to me. But... This place was important to me. It was... His. It was his place that I helped him build and create.