Heir of the Sword

23 | Hortus

Hortus {garden}

Arya's bones were aching as she made her way inside the castle once again. Madame Kenna had woken her before there was even a spec of light in the sky and brought her outside. Arya had been shivering but it was as if Madame Kenna didn't care one bit. Arya had worn the warmest clothes she could find, but when you only had the stars to guide your pathway, it showed how dark it was.

Arya knew the reason for Madame Kenna's early training. She most probably had witnessed Aaron's fight yesterday and she knew that Arya had to become better. The two didn't say it, but Madame Kenna was training her to defeat Aaron. She had even enlisted the help of Sir Samuel who was barely awake as he kept trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.

Madame Kenna had glared at him and snappishly told him to wake up. Sir Samuel had grunted in response saying how he had been on guard late at night which is why he was so tired. Madame Kenna had responded that the best knights were always awake even when they weren't actually awake.

At this point Sir Samuel and Arya had exchanged a glance as if to share the thought that whatever Madame Kenna was saying made absolutely no sense. Sir Samuel had then gotten straight into training and if Arya thought that having Madame Kenna pressing her was annoying, she now had Sir Samuel on her back as well.

Not to mention that Madame Kenna and Sir Samuel didn't agree on much either. Madame Kenna would make her do one thing, while Sir Samuel would reject the idea and propose a new one. At the end of training not only was Arya exhausted physically but mentally as well.

When Arya arrived in the hallway she could see that most of the girls had already woken up. Some were chatting amongst themselves while others were busy getting ready. On the other side of the hallway, the boys were doing the same. The two academy students barely interacted after yesterday's scene had gotten a bit too heated. The tensions were high between both schools with each wanting to win just as bad as the other.

Arya quickly got dressed in a tunic and trousers one that were fancier than her usually since today they would be having a formal breakfast with Lady Zelie and Prince Zander. She wasn't sure if the twins were being civil to one another but she sure hoped so. Arya strapped Anaz to her side and stepped out to see Yasmin and Silvia waiting for her.

"Where were you? We tried knocking on the door but there was no answer." Silvia asked.

"Training," Arya answered as she barely covered her yawn.

They joined the rest of their classmates and walked towards the dining hall. Once the doors opened Arya saw that Prince Zander and Princess Zelie had already been seated and were talking softly amongst themselves.

The food had already been laid out and little cards had been placed to signify where everyone was supposed to be sitting. The twins looked up at the arrival of their students and they smiled.

"Take a seat where you are supposed to." Lady Zelie said to the incoming students.

Lady Zelie and Prince Zander were seated on the opposite sides of the table and on their right sides all the seats had been claimed by the teachers. Arya assumed that they would be siting to the left of their principals and she was correct. Arya sat done in her seat and was pleasantly surprised to see Yasmin and Silvia were seated next to her. Across from Arya were Aaron and Damien as well as all the other boys from the Narvanian Academy.

"What we didn't tell you was that there would be two very special guests for today's breakfast." Prince Zander said with a smile.

Everyone looked at one another puzzled but the piece fit in when one of the knights at the door announced, "Introducing His Majesty King of Kalvarian King Rupert Ashfield Greaves Breckenridge and his wife Her Highness Queen Marie Monroe Breckenridge."