✓ | TOUGH AS THE IRONWOOD (A.FORRESTER 2)

Brother & Sister. Chapter Fourteen.

"This isn't going to end well." Cynthia muttered beneath her breath, combing absent fingers through her ruffled hair with distinct amusement fading from her anxious tone. "He promised." Talia stated bluntly, her arms folded and a pout forming on her lips, "and he said he was feeling better." Cynthia rolled her eyes, perching her shivering body up on the rickety fence guarding off the training ring; from nearby, Royland supervised the wild children roaming his domain, his quizzled brow fixated in the same frowning expression, and the sneer of his lips aimed directly at them. He agreed with Cynthia - this wasn't going to end well. "Asher's a good actor, believe you me if he says he's fine that in know way is the truth." Cynthia protested, her own arms slinking around her body to keep warm against the brisk chill of North's first breath. "You have so little faith in me," A voice quipped from above her shoulder suddenly, almost swaying her off of the fence entirely, had she not been agile  enough to, instead of falling, spin around and whack Asher's injured arm with enough force to harm him. "Ow!" He shouted out, grabbing at his right arm with his left, holding it in place while he silently wept over the still healing wound: "Well now I'm not fine - thanks to you." Asher groaned, still holding his arm as though Cynthia had just cut it off. "See," She turned back to Talia with an upturned nose, happy to have proved her point to some extent. "But Asher, you promised." She whined continuously up at her older brother, ignoring Cynthia's presence entirely and dramatically begging for Asher's agreement in carrying on. "She's right - I did promise." He turned to Cynthia with big, adoring eyes and a pout of his own, as if asking her permission to go on. "You never keep your promises." She countered, rolling her eyes now at him. "But she's my baby sister - I have to make up for lost time." Asher yelled, leaping swiftly over the fence in one jump and lurching toward Talia in another, claiming her in his big hands and spinning her gleefully about in the air. "If your arm falls off, do not blame me." She sighed, fixing to a more comfortable position on the fence to watch from. 

Today, Asher, given his recovery, had agreed to teach Talia had to defend herself and fight like he had done to Cynthia when she was her age. However, Cynthia, being the only sane one out of the lot and the one looking out for Asher's health, was more against the idea due to his still open wounds. 

Asher, with a booming smile, grabbed a practice blade for Talia and one for himself, beginning to teach her all of the basics - which, to all of their amazements, she picked up relatively fast. "She's definitely a Forrester," Royland joked as he strolled past, gaining an agreed burst of laughter from Cynthia at this comment. He was right, the Forresters had a way with the sword, each child had picked up the ability to fight quicker than was expected for someone of their age, and Talia showed exactly that. By the time Cynthia noticed Asher's strained movements, Talia was far past where any other girl would be in training. 

While watching, Cynthia found herself in awe of how Asher interacted with the young girl. The loss of Ethan had pissed him off, but it had also reminded him of how much he loved both of the twins, and now it was clear he was going to endeavour to spend as much time with Talia as he could, in fear of losing her like he did Ethan without really getting to bond with her. He laughed with her, teased her, and behaved like her father did with his children; it was as though he'd become his loving, normal self once again. This was what Cynthia had meant by him and Rodrik having many similarities, the ability to be a stone cold warrior one second and an adoring family man the next was something they had in common, and the way they treated their younger siblings. Given the wedding last week, Cynthia knew the time would come that Rodrik and Elaena would announce her pregnancy, as was custom after a marriage night, and soon Rodrik would be a father, but she couldn't help but wonder what Asher would be like in the same role. The way he acted with Talia made her think that he would be delighted at having a daughter, a girl to remind him of the woman he eventually ended up with, and a child to protect from boys like him at that age. She'd love to be around to see him like that, she'd love to be the mother of the same child telling her to ignore her father, but then that was just another fantasy that she'd push out of mind in time. 

Cynthia could vividly remember what Asher was like with the twins when they were smaller, younger than Ryon now, when he would play with them and do his best to be as childish as they were when looking after them; he'd go along with their games, put them to bed, make them laugh and pull faces - he was always what Cynthia imagined to be the perfect father figure, not to mention an amazing older brother for the time in which he was around. 

"I win!" Chimed the young girl in the ring, who had previously managed to knock Asher's sword in Cynthia's direction - who distantly smiled at them both, her thoughts still her priority. "Yes, you do." Asher laughed, picking her up again and setting her down just as quickly. "I missed you Asher." Talia smiled briefly, her little arms wrapping tightly around his torso in a desperate hug. It was clear by how sad she grew now, though back in his embrace, that she truly did miss his company over the 4 years they'd all spent apart, but judging by how she still smiled against him, she couldn't have been happier now, no matter how sad the memories were. "I missed you too," Asher smiled, a soft and empathetic one, before his eyes attached to Cynthia's in an instant. "All of you."