The Secret Sin

F i v e

The whole way back to the castle, Arthur complained. I threatened him but he kept on complaining.

"Would you shut up?!"
I scream finally. We're not too far from the Capitol, but I just can't take it anymore.

"I don't want to."
He says simply. I scream in frustration and storm up to the perfect cube. I point a finger at him.

"If you don't shut the hell up, you're going to regret it."
I snap. Arthur rolls his eyes.

"Am I?"
He questions. I momentarily forget about the perfect cube, and try to punch him. My fist hits the wall and bounces straight back at me. I collapse to the ground with a broken nose.

"Well that wasn't fun."
I state angrily. Arthur bursts out laughing.

"Oh, shut it. We're here now."
Merlin sighs as she pushes my nose back into place. I stand with a groan and run in front. I wipe the blood from my face. A few townspeople greet me as I go.
When I reach the training yard, I find only Lance.

"And where the hell is everyone else?"
I demand. Lance spins around surprised to see me.

"Commander? They showed up, but left not too long ago. They didn't see the point of training without you."
He informs me, shrinking away from my angry look. I nod, silently seething with anger. Those lazy little shits,  skipping training because their commander wasn't here. What a terrible excuse.

"Okay, let's go bash some heads in!"
I cheer and make my way to the Knights accommodation. Lance looks appalled at my violent nature, but he should be use to it by now.
Most of the Holy Knights are from other towns so the King created a little castle for them all to stay in.
I kick the door open and breathe in deeply before screaming.

"GET YOUR ARSES TO THE TRAINING YARD, THIS INSTANT! DON'T MAKE ME SAY IT AGAIN! IF YOU DO, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
I yell. I hear frantic movements and all my Knights appear in their training gear.

"Much better, let's go."
I say and lead them back to the training yard. Surprisingly, all the candidates are there.

"Merlin, what's up with the newbies?"
I yell across to her. She waves back.

"They wanted to check out the Holy Knights, and I knew you were training them today. So why not?"
She answers. I shrug.

"Keep them outta the way, unless the future King wishes for some serious pain."
I warn her. She nods in reply and tells the candidates to back up.

"Get your swords."
I order. The men obey and take their stances. Some look too rigid, others look too soft. I begin adjusting them. By now I've got a pretty good judge of their fighting style and I know what works best.

"Being rigid means you've got a set way of fighting, which is fine, but you need to be more flexible in battle. Being relaxed is also helpful, you can adjust quickly and surprise your enemy. But you've got no structure or proper grounding, meaning the enemy will kill you. Observe."
I order before charging one of the Knights who returned to his old stance. He instantly throws his sword out to attack me, but I sidestep it and knock him over.

"Being too rigid also means you're too slow with your moves or they're easy to predict."
I say before charging another knight. He tries to dodge to the side but I read his movement and move with him. Again, I knock him over.

"Understand my point?"
I ask.

"Yes, Commander."
They reply. I smile broadly.

"Good, now practice what I've taught you. I'll be having a match with you all."
I dismiss them and walk over to Merlin and the candidates.