Betrothed

Chapter Thirty-One: Her Highness' Special Forces

The next morning, Audrianna was the first one awake and dressed. Usually, it took all three adults to rouse the little girl from sleep. But this morning, the morning that Mason and his men were to arrive, the princess ran to the barn to wake up her betrothed.

"Horace," she called out as she pounced on him and shook him. "Horace! Wake up!"

"What's wrong, Ree?" he asked worriedly.

"Come spar with me again," she asked. "We need to spar and sharpen our skills some more."

"It is already morning?" he asked. "It still seems dark out."

"Come outside and see," she begged. "You'll see outside that the sun is up."

Henry rolled out of his haystack and dusted himself off. Audrianna realized that her betrothed was merely wearing his undergarments, which covered him at his waist and down to the middle of his calves. She shrieked and turned her back, blushing in the same manner Henry had at the sight of Rozelle in her undergarments.

Henry quickly pulled his outer garments on and followed Audrianna outside of the barn and into the courtyard. Henry could barely see the weapons rack against the side of the barn due to the absence of sunlight. The sky was still dark, with a tiny hint of sunlight peeking over the ridge of the Andjety mountains.

"I really don't consider this morning," Henry admonished. "We can barely see each other."

"That's okay," Audrianna replied. "Let's grab our swords, take our stance, and by that time, the sun will have fully risen over the mountains. Then we can start sparring."

Henry groped through the various swords hanging on the rack, until he was certain he had found his own sword. Audrianna quickly found her sword and stood opposite the prince. Within minutes, the sun fully peaked above the mountain range, lighting up the entire farm.

Without warning, Audrianna advanced towards Henry, who quickly blocked her strike and gave his own counter-strike. Knowing the princess was still rather a novice at sword fighting, Henry took things rather slow at first. But Audrianna gave every ounce of energy she had to perfecting her skills.

Multiple times Henry swung towards her blindside to see if she could still harness her instincts. Several times the princess failed to see his advance, to which Henry swatted her rump with his sword. The princess squeaked, spun around, and swiped his sword away.

After twenty minutes, the princess's skills began to warm up, and she started to excel with the same success she had the previous evening. However, even though her skills began to warm up, the princess's strength began to wear down. After blocking three of Henry's advances to her blindside, she raised her sword to her shoulder indicating she needed a break.

"I'm sorry," Audrianna replied, panting heavily. "I have to stop for a while."

"That was a good workout, Ree," Henry admitted. "You blocked several tricky swipes to your blindside." The princess smiled, bending over, and placing her hands on her knees. Sweat dripped from her face, and onto the ground.

"It's a bit early for sword practice," Olivia announced, walking from the house and towards the two by the barn. "The morning chores should be done first, then breakfast, then there will be plenty of time for practice."

"I just wanted to get as much practice in as I could before our army arrives to take us to the castle," Audrianna replied.

"Even when your special forces arrive, they will not be in a position to leave immediately," Olivia remarked.

"Why not?" Audrianna asked.

"Because we need to plan our strategy with them on how we plan to take the castle," Olivia answered. "Just because they know how to fight, doesn't mean they don't need a plan of attack."