Zenobia's Tale [Undergoing rewrite]

Part 10

Days later Zenobia found herself surrounded by men and women of all kinds while Sven spoke in a language she had never heard before. They nodded and looked at her occasionally. Norman had made her wear a white shirt and brown leather pants for Sven's exercise with her. He insisted a skirt would simply get in her way while she worked. She did not like how the pants she wore felt. After Sven stopped talking he looked at Zenobia and knelt next to her.

"They are going to take turns attacking you. They will start off easy and then pick up the pace. Now what we need you to do is to fight them off and try not to kill them. They understand the risks just as you do, they have agreed to try and not kill you if you can do them the same kindness." He explained in a hushed tone and hugged her. "Good luck I will be right back there if anything gets out of hand." She nodded and looked back to the others waiting for someone to make the first move.

Sven had explained that she was simply learning defense. Not offense so she had to wait for someone to attack her first. As she watched them she could see a woman moving around to her right, as a man moved around to her left. Just as they moved one boy who looked to be around the age of thirteen ran at her. His form shimmered and changed from that of a human boy to a big brown bear. She nearly screamed out but managed to keep her cool. She could do this. She had taken down bigger bears than that in her time wandering. The woman on her right shimmered and changed into a white wolf snarling as she inched closer. The man on her left had remained as he was but pulled out a sword and ran at her. She crouched waiting for one of them to get close enough to her before doing anything. The bear bounded towards her and lunged to attack. Zenobia had ducked and rolled from her spot on the grass moving just enough so when the wolf pounced she landed not on Zenobia but the bear. That left the man with the sword. She tilted her head and waited while he continued his circling giving her the moment to look around herself. The others remained where they stood watching and waiting for their chance to attack the girl. The bear and the wolf had started their own fight between each other.

The man lunged swinging the blade down on Zenobia, forcing her to jump back getting closer to the group standing by. More shifted and lunged at her. As she fought them off slowly she could feel claws dig into the flesh on her back and rip down. Another animal bit into her thigh causing her to scream and turn to smack the one that bit her. This caused her to break the leg of another wolf as it moved to swipe at her. The bone broke clean through the flesh bleeding out as a yelp sounded through the air. The blood caught Zenobia's attention and soon after the two men. She hadn't fed in two nights, hell was about to break lose.

Zenobia felt the familiar tug on her mind that told her she was no longer going to be in control of her own actions. The feeling scared her and she tried to fight it by backing away from the fight. Only her body never moved even as her mind begged. Instinct won out over want and as the next wave of attacks hit Zenobia's features changed once again. Teeth turned to points, face turned to something more demonic looking. The color of her eyes never changed, they always remained dark green. when she was no longer in control her eyes looked like dark green almost black mirrors. Before anyone could react or run away Zenobia grabbed onto the large bear that had aimed to bit into her now bleeding arms. Her small hands crushed the males windpipe dropping him instantly. Sven and Norman screamed for the others to stop and run, but they grew angry that a child could cause the bear to fall so easily. The man with the sword dropped his blade and shifted as well. A large brown bear stood larger than the one she had killed. No blood had been shed yet, but the ones who were supposed to be training the child now seen her as an abomination, and they wanted her time on earth to end. The bear growled a command not understood by the two men standing on the sidelines watching in horror at the attacks that had turned violent. The others lunged at Zenobia with every intention on killing her.

Zenobia meet the attack in the same manner and stepped out covered in blood as the last body fell to the ground. She had fed and regained control at the start of the battle, but she had continued to fight determined to live and die on her own terms. She was not going to stand for someone not letting her live. Her life had not been her own since the day she was born. Always hiding her need to learn to avoid the teasing of the other children. Even as she failed to age her need to learn had been stamped out during her exile, or because she had to blend in and act like the other children. As she stood looking at the two men who cared for her she couldn't help but want to rip their eyes out. Even they would not let her learn if she remembered correctly she was well over 100 and still knew nothing about what she truly was. She could not write or read and wanted to learn. Norman would be getting an ear full as soon as she was cleaned up.

Looking around at the mess Zenobia had caused seemed to almost anger, Norman. He walked over to her, grabbed her wrist and nearly dragged her back to where Sven was standing.

"You wanted her! You clean her and this mess up. A child will never be controlled they are far too unstable and have no respect for things that are not theirs." he yelled and Sven slapped him.

"Norman Coldwell You know just as I do that they would have killed her. In fact they tried! She can defend herself well enough, no one got to her chest to cause any damage to her permanently." Sven growled. "I will clean up the bodies, but you WILL not disrespect a child who had the chance to leave and never took it. She is a child of her word and will not be treated as piss!" He stormed into the castle after taking Zenobia's wrist half dragging her behind him. "Zenobia, we need to clean you up and tend to any wounds that have not healed yet." He stated coldly and ushered her into a room where the bath had been set up. After helping her remove the clothes, he set her in the cold water and left the room despite her gasp and shivering. "Clean yourself off and I will find you more suitable clothes."

Norman had simply held his hand to the cheek that had been slapped. Sven, HIS Sven had slapped him? That had never happened before. After recovering from the shock, he shook his head and smiled. He had to admit the child was skilled, and she did have a knack for defending herself leaving no one alive to tell about the child-sized monster. He had even thought about telling her what she needed to know, but he feared she was not ready for that truth no matter how close she got to figure it out. Vampires, shifters, and demons terrified her, he was almost positive that shifters and weres were no longer a problem for her. If she feared that which go bump in the night, then she would fear that what she has become and her control over her own thoughts would leave her. He needed to be sure she could control herself in almost any situation before he could tell her what she wanted to know. This, however, did not stop him from deciding to teach her other things. Like how to read and write, if she could read then she may yet figure it out on her own and he would be there to help her through it. He wasn't sure if she would be interested in learning. She had asked a lot of questions yes, but she had not shown any sign that she craved knowledge.

Norman smiled at his own thoughts as he walked through the castle to apologize to both little Zenobia as well as Sven. Finding Sven in Zenobia's closet crying made him pause. Had he put those tears in his lover's eyes, or was it something more? Sven missed having a family, he had craved for them to have a child of their own and they well Sven had found Zenobia. Stepping into the closet he wrapped his arms around Sven and pulled him into his chest. He hoped the man did not have second thoughts about the child. She truly was amazing and taught them as much as they had taught her. She could go into civilized human society and mingle with the aristocrats, and Even the Royals on rare occasion.