The Lost Princess

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen
I groaned as Mr. Sinclaire kicked me to the ground for the 17th time this morning. I slowly rose back to my feet and shook out my limbs.

"Is kicking me to the ground really helping me at all?"

"It's building your endurance. You won't survive in a fight if you can't take a hit. Besides, at some point you will get tired of being pushed around and will finally fight back," Sinclaire stated in his annoying matter of fact way of speaking.

I sighed, preparing myself for another hit. Instead, Mr. Sinclaire paused. I raised my eyebrows in his direction.

"Why don't you try coming at me for a while," he stated, rather than questioned.

I groaned, knowing that would go down about the same way it has been, but did as he said. I watched the way he favored his right leg, and decided to strike for his left leg first. He saw it coming and blocked easily.

"You make it to obvious what your next move will be. If you stare intently at my legs, I know that's what you're going to target," he informed me, as if he was talking to a very small child.

Okay. Let's show him that I'm not this little baby that he can push around. This time, I don't think. I just strike. He blocks it, but much slower this time.        

"Better," he nods. "Analyzing your opponent is important. It's good that you noticed my left leg is weaker, but you need to learn how to block your decisions from your face."

Everyone seems to love telling me how easy I am to read here. Back in chicago, no one knew what I was thinking. I was mysterious. Here, that's a joke. Everyone is telling me the problem, but no one is telling me how to fix it.

"How do I do that?"

Mr. Sinclaire shrugged. "Practice. Meditation. I would suggest waking up earlier to meditate. Allow yourself to be calmed every morning, and to better understand yourself. The more you know yourself, the better you are at blocking things out."

Get up even earlier than I already do? Yeah,  right.

Mr. Sinclaire nodded again, as if he was responding to my thoughts in my head. Maybe his power is mind reading? "With that in mind, I think we can be done for today."

Once he dismissed me, he began to walk away, giving no room for argument or protest. Not that I would argue or protest, but still. I didn't bother to ask him to stay and show me how to get back to the castle. He wouldn't. Maybe this is a test of some sort. Or maybe he's just an asshole.

I groaned and began walking in the direction of where I thought we had come to get here. Truth be told, I'm just guessing. It's all forest out here and everything looks the same. I walked for a bit, with no real direction in mind, before I hit a pond of some sort.

I must have been walking in the opposite direction of where we came, because I don't remember this pond. It isn't that big, maybe a couple hundred feet long and a few body lengths wide.

Something about it draws me in. I don't know if it's the way the water sparkles, or just the fact that I can't help but feel that I have seen this pond before, but I can't seem to look away.

Then, I notice ripples begin to form in the water right in front of me. All of a sudden, a young girl appears. The first thing I notice is the webbing between her fingers, resembling that of some kind of fish creature. The second, is that she is drowning.

The little girls small body flailed around, her webbed hands grasping at the water, hoping to find something to pull her out but coming up short. I knew it was just a matter of time before she sunk.