Long Suffer the King

VIII

A/N: I'm sorry the story seems to be getting slow I promise it'll pick up we've just gotta go through Ophelia's development :) *which to me is always a good part* 

Everyone wakes up right at dawn. Ophelia decides to get up with them and walks around to see what happens.

Most women work with doing laundry. There's a lake not far off from the encampment that they wash their clothes in and dry them on a makeshift clothes line. They wash until it's all finished and then make their way back to start making breakfast. Ophelia wants to offer to help but she doesn't know how to.

She eats breakfast once again with Joan and Klaus. It's unusually quiet between them. Ophelia clears her throat and waits for Joan to look up. "Is there anything I can do today?"

"Yes, actually. You can start training. Klaus will start you off with some of the basics, get you to run and build up endurance or strength. You'll be regimented into a routine most knight are put into, understand?"

"It'll be hell," Klaus adds, "but it will be worth it. You may be a queen but you were also exiled and sent off here, where everyone is equal. No slack will be cut, not even for you." he stabs at his biscuits and looks back at Joan. The lady smiles and nods. "What he said, yes."

Great, I'll be making a fool of myself. I've never had to do anything strenuous in my life. Ophelia smiles back at them through her thoughts of self doubt. She finishes her breakfast, cleans out her bowl (everyone is responsible for their own messes), and waits silently for Klaus to end his meal. Once he is done they walk to the training area. Klaus glances at her attire and chuckles.

"What?" Ophelia gives him an accusing look. He shakes his head and shrugs. "Just, don't you maybe want to change into something more appropriate for training besides the dress?"

She blushes and stares down at her simple brown dress she was given since she got here. "Well, what will I wear?"

"Pants, a tunic. Some decent boots." Klaus tells her. "But that's mens clothing." Ophelia says, taken aback. Klaus shakes his head. "No it's not. It's for everyone, m'lady. Women, men, boys, girls. They all wear it." he turns and stops her. "So go back to your tent and change. I'm not having any mishap with your skirt."

Ophelia raises her chin slightly in defiance but gives in when Klaus just stares at her. "As you wish." she walks away. Klaus laughs. "Don't take too long and don't get lost. If you do you'll never hear the end of it."

She doesn't take her time and soon is back to the training area in a pale brown tunic, dark pants and knee high boots. Klaus looks her over with mild interest but before she can be snarky or give him a coy response he starts in on talking. "Today we are going to go running."

"Really? Where's the swords and shields." she crosses her arms. He grins. "Oh you'll have a shield. You'll be running with it." he points to the boulders near them and sure enough sitting there are two fairly large wooden shields. Ophelia makes a noise of distress and her face goes red when Klaus laughs at her. "It'll be okay. I'll have water with us and we can take breaks. I want you to push yourself though. Understand?"

"Clearly." she mutters, not wanting to do any such thing. Klaus picks up both shields and hands her the slightly smaller one. She goes to take it with one hand but it drops as soon as he lets go of it and her hand gives under the weight. "Oh my gods." she exclaims, rubbing her hand. He sighs. "Yes, it's heavy. Hence why we are running with it."

"I'm going to die today." she groans, watching him heft it over his shoulder and pull the handles of the shield over his arms to sit on his back. She goes to pick up the shield and furrows her eyebrows as her arms buckle under the pressure. Klaus comes over and helps, doing the same for her shield as he did with his. He lets her steady herself on her feet for a moment before jogging away and into the woods.

"I can't even walk!" she yells after him. He ignores her and keeps running ahead. Before she loses sight of him completely she starts running after him, clumsily and slowly.

She's sure she's sweat everything out of her system by the time he lets her stop for water. "I hope you realize," he hands her the bearskin of water, "you've only run about five minutes away from the training grounds."

"Fuck." she swears, not caring anymore. She's shaking like crazy and her eyesight is hazy. Klaus grabs her chin. "Sit down. I'll give you some time to recover."

She collapses beside a tree and chugs down her water while Klaus turns away. "We going to be running all day I hope you realize." he turns back and his eyes widen. "Ophelia not the whole damn-"

She feels her stomach turn and she moves her head to the side to throw up. Klaus puts a hand on his head and mumbles to himself. "Gods, small sips. You'll hurt yourself doing that."

"That's it, I'm done." she throws the bearskin at him and burrows her head in her hands. "I can't do this. It hurts."

Klaus kneels down to look at her. "Yes you can. It gets easier I promise. Just push yourself today and tomorrow will be easier."

"I can't get back up. The shield is so heavy and my legs feel like noodles." she crosses her arms. Klaus smiles and holds out his hand. "That's why I'm here. To pick you back up."

Ophelia debates on it for a moment to herself then reaches for Klaus' hand. They're large and calloused and there's dirt under his fingernails. He pulls her up and keeps his hands out in case she stumbles back down. Suddenly empowered, she finds enough energy to stay still and grimaces. "Let's go."

"That's the spirit. Come on." he starts running in the same direction the had been going. Ophelia closes her eyes. Gods help me. She tumbles forward clumsily but soon find herself keeping a decent jogging pace, the pain in her side getting worse. I really won't make it through this day.