Regicide

9. Training

Early in the morning, Rose and I take the case of the bow and the arrows. It's very early in the morning so the guards won't be on shift yet... like they care about their jobs anyway. This is the only time to carry the weapon without anyone spotting us.

Rose told Marcy to meet up at the coves. When we get there, Marcy stands near the water facing the sunrise, wearing an old satchel around her shoulder. She turns around and sees us. She walks over to us and smiles at the case.

"Isn't this your bow, Rose?"

"It was my bow. Cecelia chose this as her weapon so I'm passing it on to her." She hands the case to Marcelina.

"Well, I'm heading back to the castle. Make sure she comes back at midday." Rose tells her.

Marcelina and I start walking through a cove and reach the other side. I see some weird looking dolls on posts that are standing in the sand.

I turn to Marcy. "What are they?"

She puts the case down. "They're 'dummies'. I placed these for practice. But first, you must know that your father isn't your only target."

"He isn't?" I say a bit worried.

"No. Like I said yesterday, there will be reinforcements around him. Everywhere. And if word gets out that there's someone trying to kill the king, his guards will just protect him even more. So, in order to kill the king, you have to knock down his defenses. One by one."

Can't I just kill one person and be done with it?

"And it's a good thing you chose a bow, because it can make a quick and clear shot from a far distance. I think a bow is much easier to use than any other weapon. If you chose, let's say for example, a knife, it would have been too much work for you. And if all the guards come at once, stabbing them would be tiring and slow for you."

"What if I could fight them?"

"Don't you want to end his Leadership as soon as possible?" I nod in response.

"Teaching you combat skills may take months. It doesn't matter if you are a fast learner. Just kill your targets and you'll be done with it." She takes out a quill and paper from her old satchel and sets them on a solid flat rock. She motions me to kneel down beside her.

"In order to eliminate your targets, you have to get to know them. Do you know who your father's guards are?" She asks me.

I know enough about them. Rose told me about who works at the castle before. "He has 5 guards that follow him."

"Do you know each of them?" She asks.

"I know a little...there's Andrew Tackett. He looks older than he is. Andrew knows how to put up a fight and he scares me a bit." Marcelina writes down everything I say. Her handwriting looks so elegant.

"Then it's Peter Barkley. He doesn't really do his job. He seems to be timid and I never often see him on his shifts or anywhere to be honest. But he still protects my father...maybe because he's loyal." I try to remember what Rose told me about the guards when I was little. She used to tell me stories about the staff and who they are and what they've done in their lives.

"William Russell is the oldest out of all of them. He prefers to just stay put in one place rather than to move around. I don't think he's even fit to be a guard. Let alone, have experience." Marcelina still keeps writing what I say in her impressive penmanship.

"Marshall and Marvin Hammonds are brothers. They go around the village and try to find the 'victims' that my father has ordered to execute. Or they just pick them themselves. They are loyal to my father and they're cruel like him as well." That's all I can remember.

Marcelina finishes writing. "Is that all you know?" She asks. I nod and she puts the quill back in her satchel. She looks over what she wrote.

"Some of these guards have experience with fighting. Like Andrew Tackett. But some of them are weak and old. The weaker they are, the more easier it'll be to kill them."

"So my first targets are William and Peter?" I say.

Marcy nods. "Yes. Unless you can't reach them, then I suggest you start with the ones you can and work you're way up."

She opens the case and hands me the bow. She places the sheath of arrows around my shoulder. We walk over to the dummies and she begins teaching me. There are three dummies and have an 'X' painted on either the body or the head. She must have been quick to set these up.

"Now, let's jump into the lessons. Hold out your hands." Marcelina adjusts my hands so that I can correctly aim. I pull the string but hold the arrow.

"Now, point at the X." She instructs.

"Which one?" I ask.

"The target that's coming at you closer."

I let go and the arrow flies beside the dummy in the front. It hits the sand.

"Good force, but bad aim. We need to work on that. And remember, shoot at the targets that you can reach first, then the rest."

For the rest of the morning, Marcelina teaches me how to aim. We walk back to the castle in the afternoon just like Rose said. Marcy says that I still need more training -obviously- and that I should hold on to the paper about the Five Guards. I should study and remember what their weaknesses are, if I know any. I fold the paper and hide it in one of my pockets in my dress.

As we walk through town I ask the question that has always been on my mind since yesterday. "How did you know Rose?"

She waits awhile before answering. "She used to be my instructor. Once I heard that they let a woman become a general, I wanted to fight in the battle. I was very young. I wanted to apply but the war had ended already. And it's a good thing too, because I didn't really know that much about combat. Or how to use weapons. I was disappointed. But when Rose heard that another woman wanted to fight in battle, she found me and offered me lessons. Once she became a maid, the lessons ended but we still keep in touch, as you saw yesterday."

"I would never imagine that Rose would socialize." I said. Rose never told me about Marcelina. Then again, she never told me she was a general.

I look around to see if no one is suspecting us. I see some people look at me, but they don't care that I'm walking with someone. Others just don't care about me in general.

"...Why do I have to kill him? Why not someone else? Like you?" I ask out of nowhere.

"...Because I'm scared." She responds.

"I'm scared too."

"That may be true, but remember what Rose said? You're the only one who has access to him. You can get close to him and kill him." I shiver at the word 'kill'.

We reach the castle and Marcy whispers, "You'll be training for a few weeks. Make sure no one finds out. I'll see you tomorrow." Then she walks away quickly.

As I reach to open the doors, a guard pushes it aside and is surprised to see me. It's Andrew Tackett.

"Princess? I didn't see you go out." He says in his gruff voice. He sounds suspicious of me.

I see Rose behind him. "I let her go out in the morning."

"For what?" He asks.

"Well she can't always stay in the castle. She needs fresh air. Come in Cecelia." She pushes Andrew away and leads me in.

I wonder what excuses we'll use for the next few weeks.

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Cecelia almost got in trouble!

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