A Royal Pain

E L E V E N

"A-Are you absolutely serious?" Marinette uttered, eyes wide in horror and muscles tensed up to be able to bolt at any given moment. Unfortunately she probably wouldn't be able to go anywhere since Jiānhùrén's hand was clamped onto her shoulder in a firm grip. Said bodyguard also flashed a bone chilling grin at her which just fully convinced her that she was going to die right here and there.

"Absolutely. Welcome to the dojo." Well, Marinette could now say that she was well and truly screwed.

No wonder Liang was terrified of coming here.

The overwhelming stench of body odour and sweat permeated the not-so- surprisingly gigantic room as well as tired grunts and battle cries replacing the silence created between Marinette and her bodyguard. Punching bags were all currently occupied as they were beaten over and over again, almost in a rhythmic fashion. The counting of numbers were yelled out as the occupants of the room were practising their kicks with the kicking paddles, each paddle being placed higher and higher as the numbers went up. Occupying the centre was a square ring where people were duelling against each other whilst an older and more hard-ridden looking woman stood off to the side and provided feedback to the duellers when finished. Marinette suspected that she was the residential mentor in this place. Marinette also suspected that she was going to be terrified of the woman. Aside from the sparring ring in the centre there was also what seem to look like a conditioning area to Marinette on the other side of the dojo. There was a row of conditioning equipment, one being used by a male who was punching the roped part quite fervently. There was also a pair of women stretching their limbs in mid air with the helping of equipment that Marinette didn't know the name to. There was a huge variety of equipment and martial art techniques being used within one room, so much that it made Marinette's head swirl around and threatened her balance.

"W-Wait a minute! How about we go back to the library and you can keep lecturing me on how I need to be the perfect future ruler!" Marinette tried to make her tone sound as nonchalant and innocent as possible but the frantic jitteriness displayed in her eyes betrayed the whole act.

Jiānhùrén caught on almost immediately and pretended to consider her suggestion, rubbing his none existent beard and tilted his head in a thoughtful fashion. "Tempting, tempting but alas my love for criticising you and your cousin comes after you learning proper self defence. Fortunately, I can also give criticism on your performance in the dojo!" He replied in an almost cheerful tone and Marinette allowed herself to deflate, groaning in defeat and reluctantly allowed her bodyguard to drag her over to the mentor of the dojo.

Marinette dipped her head down, averting her eyes when the mentor struck the duo with an unsettling and calculating gaze, looking as if to pick apart Marinette's flaws one by one. The woman did did not at all avert her piercing gaze from her and her bodyguard, even as they stopped before the formidable woman.

"Miss Cheng this is Zhang Daiyu. She will be helping you with your self defence techniques along with me. Shīfu Zhang this is the future heir to the throne, Marinette Cheng." As much as Marinette wanted to shoot a venomous glare at Jiānhùrén for his constant disuse of her father's family name she certainly did not want to bring up her displeasure of front of such an intimidating woman. The bluenette feared that she would've given her soon-to-be mentor the wrong impression, leading to a possibility that she might refuse Marinette as a student and inform her grandmother of her unprofessional behaviour so Marinette held her tongue and kept silent.

While Marinette was internally trying to keep herself from having an anxiety attack, Zhang Daiyu scrutinised the small girl heavily, seconds later choosing to circle around the poor girl to observe her at all angles. Steel brown eyes with a tint of grey narrowed in contemplation and she turned towards Jiānhùrén.

"She has potential. I can see it in her stance that she is a natural born leader and fighter. From the minute she entered this dojo I saw her eyes darting around the area, searching for any possible exits and scheming to make her escape. The only problem Mistress Marinette has is that she does have an underlying element of self consciousness and insecurity. If she can overcome that she will be amazing at fighting her own opponents but the only way to truly gauge her abilities is for her to demonstrate them outright." She critiqued Marinette's character completely in a professional manner in a matter of seconds, leaving Marinette's eyes and mouth agape while Jiānhùrén accepted the information.

"Well Miss Cheng, it looks like Liang will be joining us in the dojo after all." He said with an amused twitch of the lips, leaving Marinette more confused than ever before realisation struck her.

"Wait, will I have to fight him?!" Her expression morphing into one of horror. She had just started to know the guy but from the general idea that she had of him Marinette knew that she absolutely did not want to harm her cousin in anyway possible. Nuh uh. Nope. Out of the question. She'd just feel horrible afterwards!

Jiānhùrén must've sensed her thoughts as he continued to say "You and your cousin will be fine. It's just a friendly sparring match to test and gauge your levels." That did nothing to reassure the bluenette.

Daiyu snapped her fingers and beckoned one of the students that was waiting in line for their turn to spar. "Go and fetch Master Liang to come to the dojo." Without missing a beat the student immediately exited the room.

Daiyu then placed her eyes upon Marinette again, causing the small girl to shrink under her gaze. "There is a locker room at the farthest corner of the room, which Jiānhùrén will lead you to. Once you enter you'll see a stack of spare uniforms. Once you found your size, put it on then return back here and we will begin your test."

Marinette felt very queasy to her stomach but she simply nodded at Shīfu Zhang's instructions and started to sluggishly follow Jiānhùrén's brisk strides.

"Hurry up!" Barked Daiyu. Marinette stifled a startled whimper and picked up her pace to overtake her bodyguard's speed.

Marinette made a note to herself to never piss off dragon ladies.

[A.N: it is now the school holidays for me so guys what that means for you guys?

possibly regularly timed updates!]