Guard

Chapter Seventeen: Unexpected

ELENA

Thankfully I already had experience with weapons training. As a Princess I had to learn how to defend myself in the case that no one was physically able to protect me.

But, just because I had experience didn't mean I was any good. I knew how to hold a sword properly, but to yield it? No no, I was hopeless. I was born with royal blood but also with horrible hand-eye coordination and balance.

Archery was also a challenge for me. Again, I knew the posture, how high to hold up my arms, what to hold and where, but when it came to hitting the target? A failure.

So when Xander asked me how I felt about weapons training, my heart sank. I could already imagine embarrassing myself in front of him.

"Well?" He asked.

I laughed nervously. "What do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Sword training, and.. well honestly, I don't think you'd really need this, but as a backup, we'll try archery." He replied.

Great. Absolutely great.

"But we must act quickly Your Highness. You might need to use it sooner than later." He told me.

I ignored the latter part of his sentence and decided to focus on something else in what he said. "I thought we were friends why are you being so formal?" I asked curiously.

Xander sighed sharply and looked at me apologetically. "I apologise. I just thought that whatever will happen could affect your past life as well as this one."

I paused and took in his words and after a few seconds, nodded my head, realising the seriousness of it all.

"We start in the morning." He said, before bowing and turning to leave. I watched as he walked out and around the outside of my house, his own, and our surroundings, making his nightly round before he entered into his house for the night.

As I was left on my own I was able to think about everything I had just been told. I still didn't fully comprehend what was happening, but I understood that my life as well as my mother's could somehow be in danger.

And seeing Xander going back to his normal self - the serious, cautious type, I knew he could sense the danger even more than I.

Lord May had taken all the swords. They didn't belong to him, they never did. With the way he treated the people of Celia, I could only dare imagine what he had in mind to do with all of those weapons.

As I got ready for bed, I thought back to my letter to Mother, writing her in detail everything that Lord May had done to the people of Celia. I asked whether she was aware of it and that something definitely needed to be done about it.

I thought about the town meeting tomorrow, there was always one after Lord May's visit apparently. As I lay down I thought about how time had passed so quickly, that it wouldn't be long before my stay here in Celia would amount to a year.

I guess it was safe to say that I was getting accustomed to life here, with work and the like. I've built friendships with people in the town, and every new day didn't scare me as much as it did at first.  It was definitely different having to do everything on my own, but it's been a learning curve.

I was also grateful for Xander. I thought back to the time when we first arrived. He was so quiet, very stoic. But he still tried to help me. And thankfully he has finally loosened up somewhat and our conversations are becoming more natural than forced. It still needed work but it is better than before.

As I drifted to sleep I wondered what else there was for me to learn.

It didn't feel like a long time before I was awoken with a loud knock at my door. I jolted up from the sound and looked around the room. It was twilight, I had fallen straight to sleep and didn't stir until now. Dawn was already approaching.