Knowledge is Deadly: Book 1: The Azuran Series

Chapter 2

Katelyn's eyes shot open suddenly for no apparent reason. When she saw that it was morning, she closed them again. She felt something cold on her ankle, and sat up to see what it was. An ice pack was laid neatly over it and her foot was elevated on a pillow.
She yanked her leg back and sat cross legged, annoyed that someone had tried to help her and felt bad for her.
"Kilin! Did you do this?" She whispered, picking up the ice pack.
Kilin looked over at her from where she was sitting at the end of her bed.
"Nope. There when I woke up." She said simply.
She stood up and walked to the dresser. Katelyn tossed the ice pack aside and sat with her legs dangling over the edge of the bed.
"It's almost time for class." Kilin said throwing clothes her way.
Kilin, evidently, had gotten up earlier and was already changed into light, skinny jeans, a red and black striped shirt, and boots.
Katelyn looked at her.
"Not very well. I had a nightmare and got up to get a glass of water. You'll never guess who else was down in the kitchens." She said with an eye roll.
"Jackson?" Kilin asked raising an eyebrow 
     Katelyn smirked. "If only. But no, it was my 'guard'." She said regretfully.
Ever since Katelyn had been at the school, so had Jackson. He had dark brown hair, nearly green eyes with a bit of yellow, and was tall. He was great and Katelyn carried her crush for him wherever she went.
"Why would Aspen be down there?" Kilin asked
"He said he was hungry, but he was lying. I could tell." She said.
"Maybe he did that." Kilin said looking at the ice pack.
Katelyn groaned. "You're probably right. You know I don't like people who pity me."
"Yeah. I know."
Katelyn stood up following Kilin as she stood up.
"I really don't want to go to our sword fighting lessons." She said, stretching. "I already know that I'll do terrible. Aspen and the other one, ah, Blake, will have a good laugh at me." she added
"So will I." Kilin said with a smile.
Katelyn shut her eyes and grimaced when she put weight on her ankle. "Please, spare me."
Kilin smiled. "Not when it's funny." She said with a grin.
      Katelyn shook her head. "With my amount of experience, trust me, it will be."

•~•~•~•~•~•

     After classes they had a few minutes before Blake opened the door and said, "It's time to go."
Kilin huffed. "Fine." She said pulling her hair into a ponytail.
Aspen stood behind Blake, his arms crossed.
     Katelyn sat on her bed, staring at them. "What happens if I don't go?" She wondered out loud.
"You have to come." Aspen said simply.
"There are a lot of things I 'have to do' according to my dad, but they have different consequences if I don't. What's the outcome of me not going to this particular lesson?" She said, stalling.
"Let's just go." Kilin said walking towards them.
"At least someone is reasonable." Blake muttered.
"I didn't say I was happy about it." She said looking at him.
Katelyn heaved a sigh and stood up, carefully walking towards them. "Fine. The sooner it's over, the better."
Aspen walked down the hall with Blake, Kilin and Katelyn behind them.

•~•~•~•~•~•

They soon reached a door and that Blake swung open. They entered a large courtyard on the west side of the castle. In the center was a large brick patio where they'd be practicing.
Katelyn sucked in a breath when she saw her father speaking to who she assumed was the teacher.
Aspen and Blake led the two over to them. Katelyn's dad turned to face them and crossed his arms. Katelyn knew he was going to watch, and she also knew he'd be disappointed.
"Evening, students. I am Gretchen Somoa, but you will address me as Master Samoa. I'll be your tutor for swordsmanship in the following weeks. I have known the ways of the sword for as long as I can remember, including the traditions of our ancestors and many different peoples. In time, you will learn as well." She said.
Katelyn privately rolled her eyes and looked over at Kilin. She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right as she watched the teacher bored.
"Swords, daggers, or both?" She asked cutting her off.
"Do not interrupt." Master Samoa said in a fierce tone.
"We will begin with swords only." She said in a calmer voice. She clasped her hands.
"Well I want to see what you are capable of first, so partner with your guards and get in a sparring position." She motioned to a rack of swords, but Katelyn didn't even know what a sparring position was.
She chose a random sowed and limped over to Aspen, facing him. Kilin grunted and picked up a sword. She stood across from Blake holding out the sword. Blake pulled out his, followed by Aspen.
Katelyn looked down at her sword and tried to hold it the same way Aspen was doing it. The teacher called out for them to begin. Katelyn waited for Aspen to make the first move.
She promised herself that she'd try hard at least. She wanted to make her dad proud.
Aspen took a slow simple swing across her.
Kilin and Blake just watched the other two.
Katelyn brought the sword up to try and block it, but it came too high and made her take a step back from being off balance. She realigned her feet.
She glanced at the handle and rotated her wrist as she thrusted the sword up in a jab towards his chest.
He blocked it and then swung at the sword hard sending it to the dirt. He stood up straight and sheathed his sword.
She looked at her hand that was holding her sword a moment ago, surprised at how quickly he had disarmed her. She glanced at the sword on the ground and then up at her father. He was shaking his head with his hands on his hips.
She dropped her arms to her sides and looked up at Aspen with a slight glare. He shrugged and then looked at Blake.
"Now you two." Master Samoa said looking at Kilin and Blake.
They both raised their swords and Kilin took the first swing. Blake blocked it and took the next expecting it to disarm her. Kilin blocked it easily and then swung again, harder this time.
Katelyn crossed her arms and bit the inside of her cheek. She noticed that her father looked impressed, the same way she felt.
Blake blocked it and stumbled back. Kilin swung again and was blocked by Blake. He swung next, Kilin dropped to the ground, kicked his knees sending him tumbling back.
Kilin jumped up and held her sword to his throat.
"That was not fair." Blake complained looking up at her.
"Very fair." She said raising the sword's tip away from him.
Master Samoa nodded and smiled slightly, which was probably very rare.
"Nice. Very nice. I'll have to start you at a more advanced level."
Katelyn clenched her teeth. She looked at her dad, whose expression practically shouted: 'now why can't you be more like her?' She looked away quickly.
"With daggers preferably." Kilin snapped putting away the sword.
Master Samoa raised an eyebrow.
"Where did you learn?"
"My mom."
"Your mother?" She asked.
"What town were you raised in? I recognize that move.."
Kilin tensed up and was quite.
"I'm going to my room." She said simply and started to walk off.
"We are not fin-" Master Samoa began, but stopped and shook her head.
"We will have a real lesson tomorrow, and I will end it on my terms." She turned and walked into another building.
Katelyn approached her dad carefully.
"Well she's fierce.." Katelyn said quietly. 
Blake sighed and followed Kilin as she left. Aspen walked up beside Katelyn.
"Don't jab your sword forwards. Try and slash across." He said.
      David's lips were pursed in a tight line, and his arms were crossed. "Katelyn, I expected better." He said.
"Well what did you expect? I've never even held a sword before!" She said loudly.
"The other girl seems to know what she's doing." He said, nodding at the entrance she had gone in.
"Her name is Kilin" Katelyn snapped coolly. "I'm going." She added quickly, and turned on her heel.
She marched back inside. Aspen sighed and followed behind her. She stopped outside the door and turned to face him.
"Could you not?"
"I have to."
"I don't have to talk to you. I can simply walk and follow you from behind." He said looking down at her.
She sighed sadly and walked inside, staying silent. She listened to Aspen's footsteps behind her.
"I feel like I'm being stalked." She said after a while, not turning to look back at him. He just sighed and followed behind her.
A door slammed ahead of her. 'That must be Kilin.' Katelyn thought. She stopped outside the door and put her hand out, motioning for Aspen to stop.
"You're allowed to give me some privacy, right? Ok good." She said, not waiting for an answer before entering.
Kilin was pacing the room, her breathing fast. She didn't even look at Katelyn as she entered.
"Kilin?" She asked quietly, cautiously approaching her.
"What." She snapped looking back at her.
"You ok?" She asked.
"Great. Just perfect." She said turning away from her. Katelyn sat on her bed.
"Kilin.. do we need to talk?"
"No. There is nothing to say." She said staring out the window
"Well, for one, you could tell me why you never mentioned that you know how to use a sword." She said calmly.
"I said there isn't anything to talk about!" Kilin snapped still not looking at her.
"Obviously there is. The swords, daggers, learning from your mom... Kilin, where is your mom?" She asked. She realized that Kilin never usually talked about her parents.
"Back home. Working." Kilin said lowering her tone.
Katelyn pinched her eyebrows together.
"You've never told me what she does for a living." She noted.
"That's not important." Kilin said simply. "My mom's mom taught her how to defend herself so naturally she passed it on to me." She said.
"Okay... I don't understand why you came back so flustered then. You're only giving me a few pieces of the puzzle and they don't all fit together." Katelyn said.
"Then it will remain with missing pieces. They don't matter. I'm here now not there." Kilin said looking back out the window.
"I wish you'd open up." Katelyn said quietly. "I'm your best friend. Talk to me." She added
"There is only one person in the world who I would do that to. He isn't here." She said simply. "Forget I said that." She added quickly. 
"Fine. Don't trust me." Katelyn said dejectedly.
"I don't want it to interfere with anything here." She said quietly.
"Fine." Katelyn said, looking down at her feet.
      Kilin looked at her. "I do trust you just.." she said drifting off
"You just?.." Katelyn pressed, wanting a reason.
"You just won't understand." She said looking out the window. It was getting dark.
"I'm  sure I would. But if you don't want to confide in me, that's your decision to make. Don't worry about it. I think I'll go for a walk." She said sincerely.
"Be prepared for the guard to follow you." Kilin added still not looking at her.
Katelyn sighed and stood. She was about to say something, but closed her mouth and walked out of the room. Both Blake and Aspen looked at her.
"That didn't go well." Blake noted.
"You heard all of that?!" She asked loudly.
"You were yelling." Aspen said simply.
"No we weren't! You were eavesdropping!" She accused.
"He was." Aspen said looking at Blake.
"Don't blame me you did it to." Blake said. Katelyn closed her eyes and steadied herself.
"I'm going on a walk in the gardens." She said, and walked down the hallway without looking at either of them.
She heard Aspen's footsteps behind her.
"This is so annoying." She muttered to herself.
Aspen sighed and pretended he didn't hear that. Someone turned the corner in front of Katelyn.
Jackson.
He had his nose in a book but looked up and saw Katelyn. He smiled. She blushed slightly and smiled back with a small wave. He gave a small wave and shyly looked away. Katelyn held her breath as she walked past him and glanced back once she had gotten to the end of the hallway. Jackson was just turning the corner after he did Aspen spoke, "just say hi." He said rolling his eyes
     "Shut up." She snapped to him. 'Way to ruin the moment, Aspen.' She thought.
     She opened the door that led outside. Aspen walked out after she did.
     "30 minutes. We are heading back at 9:30." Aspen said looking at the sun's position
     She sighed with an eye roll and started walking towards the gardens.
      She saw the hole in the ground where she fell and crouched down beside it. The root had just enough space under it for her foot to snag. Katelyn stood back up and walked into the gardens.
     She chose a brick path leading through the bushes that were blooming with bright flowers. She walked on the path for a while, disturbed by Aspens presence.
     She liked being alone, but now she had a permanent shadow.
     Her ankle bothered her so she sat down on an elegantly designed concrete bench. Aspen sat across from her on a similar bench. He leaned back and crossed his ankles. She kept her eyes off of him, trying to pretend she was alone so she could think through some things.
     It was dark, except for some lampposts that were placed randomly throughout the garden. Aspen stood up and looked around aimlessly. Katelyn put her head in her hands.
     "Look, I came for independence, peace, and quiet. Just pretend to be a statue or something and stay out of my line of sight." She said. He huffed and walked off.
    Katelyn wasn't really sure to where She brought her legs up on the bench and closed her eyes, thinking.
     She knew Kilin was hiding something. Not just something, a lot of things. She wanted to know what they were, but if Kilin had a troubled past Katelyn didn't want to bring it back. Who was the guy she said she'd talk to? And how did she really know how to fight so well? Without realizing it, Katelyn fell asleep in that position.

     She wasn't aware she was being carried until she was sat down in her bed. She opened her eyes groggily.
     "You should have woken me up." She mumbled.
     "Shh." Aspen said quietly. He pulled the comforter towards her.
     She laid down, too tired to fight for her independence at the moment. He stood up and walked out the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
     She watched him leave and snuggled further under her covers, falling asleep quickly.