I Am Cersei Rose

9

Snow looked like a deer caught in headlights, surprised that she had even taken the blade by its leather bound handle.

His question confused her. She never even thought about which foot was her lead. I can't believe I didn't teach her sooner. But the blade, it can kill her without even cutting her. I couldn't risk it.

He stepped threateningly towards her and she immediately put her right foot back to sturdy herself. He grinned at his achievement.

"Right, someone comes at you, you raise this arm up, you block and you use their strength against them" he raised her left arm and made her move it to the side to block his attack.

She did so with an unsure look on her face, uncomfortable with him close to her.

"You're small, so wait until they're close and you drive it through their heart, to the hilt. You understand? You do not hesitate, and you look in their eyes, and do not pull it out until you see their soul" he pulled himself towards her, taking her other wrist and pushing it past his side.

He looked sad, almost as if the feeling was the cruelest thing he had ever inflicted upon himself. She shook her head and looked at me.

"I couldn't do that" she said, looking at the man in front of her. He walked away from her, but she still looked unsure.

"Here" I brought myself closer to her and rose my arm to attack. She blocked like he taught, and would've stabbed me in the heart if she had aimed. I smiled.

"Good. It's not much, but it's a start" she sighed and pocketed the knife, linking her arms with me again as we started walking.

"I was never the fighter, Cer. You were" she said, looking down and sad. I nudged her shoulder.

"Because my heart is colder. I am a woman of blood. You are a woman of kindness. We were taught different ways. Father was brutal, mother was kind. You see? You have the advantage of being kind enough to spare someone that could come in handy. I'd kill them myself" I said, unhappy with my own true statement.

As we approached a bridge, the huntsman stopped us from going any further with his ax. Looking around, I saw one of the old oaks that were mentioned  in fathers books, an indicator to me that we were at the edge of the dark forest. 

"Is this the edge of the Dark Forest?" I clarified with the huntsman. He nodded, eyeing his surroundings. The look on his face was calculating, but he looked down at me when he saw that I had been looking too long. 

"Aye" was his reply. He turned his attention back to the bridge, seemingly captivated by it. I frowned. It's a bridge, not a glass of wine. Taking out a small machete knife, he held it to his forearm as we continued to walk, being careful on the cobblestone. 

We crossed rather easily, until we saw all of the bones and carcasses of animals on the bottom of the bridge. Why was there even a bridge? There was barely any water. Just a little stream.  

Behind us, the bridge started moving. We all turned around and faced a fearsome creature, full of teeth and sharp rocks. "Troll!" the huntsman called, before we were knocked clean off our feet and into a ditch below us. Only half of actual bridge was left. The huntsman got up and pulled us to our feet, running with us through the water and behind a tree. It hit the tree and ripped half of it clean off. 

The huntsman barreled towards it, ax in hand. He swung at it repeatedly, but barely made a dent in its skin. It smashed its fists onto the ground around the huntsman, but not hitting him by some bleeding miracle. Water splashed everywhere as Snow and I watched, both of us without weapons and officially defenseless. Next thing we saw, the huntsman was thrown with a single flick by the troll. 

He was on the ground, dazed at the very least. Before the troll could squish him, I ran from behind the tree. I screamed back at him, distracting the troll from the huntsman and to myself. It came towards me and growled and roared in my face, but I held my ground as best I could. I looked up at him and reached out a hand hesitantly, hoping it wouldn't bite it off. 

He or she nuzzled into it after a while of looking at my eyes, closing its own blue ones. I smiled and rubbed my hand up and down, softly admiring him. Snow was gaping at me from the corner of my eye, and the huntsman was looking with wide eyes.

After noticing multiple gazes on him, the troll began to leave, walking away and not doing anything to any of us. "I told you both to run" he said, staggering around and trying to retain his balance. 

"If I had, you'd be dead" I said, not looking at him as I watched the troll leave. He was panting heavily, and Snow was wiping her hair out of her face. I watched the huntsman first, then Snow, looking for any signs of injury or being ridiculously hurt.