The Protector

Chapter 14

Sophia's glare burned my skin as soon as I exited the locker room, and I didn't let a second pass before challenging her with my own. I would not let this pixie-sized girl intimidate me. I wasn't an idiot, I knew the hatred she had for me stemmed from my relationship with Kaz but that wasn't my fault. She was taking her insecurities and using them to fuel her feelings about me and I wasn't going to stand by and take it.

Screw flying under the radar.

"What's your problem little duchess?" I called, my bluntness catching her off guard. She moved closer, away from her friends, who were eyeing us like we were two lionesses about to fight.

"You can't just come in here and act like you own the place." She growled, eyes narrowing to slits. "You don't belong here."

My muscles tightened, and as I took a step closer to her I decided she wasn't worth getting in trouble over. "Maybe I don't, but so far I'm at least wanted here."

It was a low blow, bringing her and Kaz's 'relationship' into the exchange, but she clearly had no regard for my feelings, so why should I care about hers?

Sophie crossed her arms over her chest before twirling around and stomping back over to her friends.

Perhaps I'd get my chance to swing at her during sparring.

Groaning, I realized I was actually hoping for a fight. I've definitely gotten more violent since I've gotten here. Could it be the magic?

Suddenly a whistle blew, snapping me back to the student-filled gym around me. Large fighting mats were laid in rows on the floor, producing eight arenas total. The male students hung more towards the right row, while the girls chatted on the left.

I didn't have much experience in hand-to-hand combat. I had belonged to a kick-boxing gym back at home in Indiana, though I had a feeling that this class wasn't going to be anything like that.

"Alright!" a man with a whistle hanging around his neck shouted, his voice booming through the gym. "Come on divide up!"

The students all walked to their respective mats, leaving me standing there like a fool once again. I might as well stamp 'new student' on my forehead. Quickly, I tried to gauge how the class had divided itself. Females on the left mats, males on the right. What else...

I was at a loss. Students of various shapes and sizes stood at each mat, leaving me with nothing to go off of as far as appearance went. I briefly considered that 'title' was the determining factor, but brushed the idea away as soon as it came. That wouldn't make sense for combat.

Before the teacher saw me standing there aimlessly, I quickly slid into a group of girls who were huddled by the mat closest to me. A few raised their eyebrows, but no one said anything. I adjusted the waistband of my leggings before tying my hair into a high ponytail.

The male teacher, who I learned was called Trainer Garin by the other students, quickly demonstrated a few techniques and then asked us to practice them with a partner.

"Do you need a partner?" A girl with light brown hair popped into view. She had a warm smile that stretched all the way to her eyes.

"Yeah, sure." Relieved, I moved onto the mat with her and the other paired up girls.

"I'm Mae," my partner said, introducing herself.

"Rena," I offered back.

"Let's do this." Mae began to dance lithely on her feet. Her frame was thin and long, much like the other female Royals. Even the males, though slightly more built, were rather slim. Perhaps the build was passed down from their Fae ancestors.

I tried to match her movements but I was sure that I couldn't come close to imitating her grace. Her brown eyes twinkled with amusement, "Just relax and remember the sequence Garin showed us. You can be on the offense first."

Upper cut, retract and dodge, then foot sweep.

I nodded my head shortly and began to shuffle my feet from side-to-side once again. I swung my arm up, hand enclosed into a fist. Mae dodged it with ease, but made a small grunt of encouragement. I quickly retracted and ducked, the sound of my partners foot flying over my head buzzed in my ear. As I begun to straighten up I darted my right leg out, hooking around Mae's foot and pulling her to the ground.

I didn't understand. She was supposed to dodge that.

I glanced down at her curiously before offering her my hand. She accepted it, pulling herself back up next to me.

"What was that?" I questioned, watching her dust off her track pants.

"You're really fast for a..." she paused, "...new student."

She had meant to say that I was fast for a human. I gave her a knowing look before shooting back, "You're fast too."

I knew that I was fast but if she thought for one second I believed that she had ended up on the floor because of me then she was wrong. Even if I was faster than her, speed wasn't everything when it came to sparring. She had to have had years of training on me.

"People are watching you new girl," Mae nodded her head in the direction of our peers. It wasn't obvious at first, but then I noticed the slight glances in our direction. "If you don't show them that you deserve to be trained as the Prince's equal then you will be eaten alive."

"How did you...."

"If there is one thing that all Royals are good at, it's gossiping," Mae said lightly, though a flash of annoyance passed over her expression.

Well, so much for flying under the radar. Sorry Kaz.

So Mae was trying to make me look good in front of my classmates. Though I appreciated it, I still found Mae's actions perplexing. She didn't know me, why would she help me?

"Look, I heard you crashed and burned in Etiquette." I winced at the memory. It was just last period, but really it felt like days ago. Mae gave me a sympathetic smile before continuing, "I can only imagine how it feels to be shoved into this high-strung life so unexpectedly. You're going to need all the help you can get."

"You're right," I sighed.

"Besides you actually are really fast and you have potential to be a great fighter." It was the first compliment that she had given me that actually sounded sincere.

I smiled before slipping back into a fighting stance. "Thanks, but I have a feeling that 'potential' won't cut it around here."