MALIA’S POV
It was fun, there was no denying that. Even when I was Luna, I had learned the basic fighting skills and decided to get deeper into the art of swordplay so I wouldn’t at least end up being completely useless in every possible way. I took my time to learn this skill but haven’t had the opportunity to put it into practice until now.
I normally just practiced with the guards around the palace who were at most times scared of making bold moves while fighting, making the fight boring at most times. But here, with no title, and no name, I have never felt this much alive.
The feeling of success was frankly something no one would ever deny. The men even attempted to pick me up but I instantly turned that offer down considering the kind of clothing I was wearing.
That thought didn’t stop their howling cheers and soon I joined in, shouting and merrily clapping while others were clashing their swords with each other.
We took time, but slowly the crowd and noise began to fade away and soon I was able to make my way out of the middle of the crowd.
Guided by Derek, I slipped between sweaty bodies and made my way out of the crowd of men who were suddenly very interested in getting to know me. Asking questions like “Where I came from and who had taught me to fight” mostly my answer was just a soft polite smile so that at least I wouldn’t come up as rude.
“Phew” I muttered out a sigh of relief as I was finally far away from the crowd to have a breath of fresh air. It was certainly nice to be able to breathe in nice and uncontaminated air.
“This is lots of work for you to handle I can tell. I deeply apologize for testing you in such a situation” He ruffled his hand through my hair like I was his younger sister.
Playfully I shoved his hand away and glared at him. “Stop that, I do not want hands on my head” I responded, handing his sword over to him.
“Thank you” He collected it exuberantly and then spoke too. “Thank you so much for today. You brought what we have been lacking around here for so long”
“What?” I asked with curiosity.
“Fun. We have certainly not known what fun feels like for a long time and we just bore ourselves as we train most of the time. But today, we had fun and you can see it on the faces of every man that they wouldn’t mind a repeat of this” He replied with so much sincerity.
“Well, that makes for two because I haven’t had this much fun in a long while and it was so appreciatable that these men had managed to turn my boring life into a pretty interesting one. I am super grateful for that” I smiled and patted his wide shoulders confortingly.
“Glad to hear you find this helpful. I hope you have plans on coming back every other day of the week cause God knows we need your daily dosage of wisdom around here”
His words cracked me up and I chuckled softly at him. “Of course, I have plans of showing up every other day but then, you talked about traditions. Aren’t I bridging any rules being here as a woman? I do not want to get in trouble with anybody you know” I tried to make sure I was on a safe side coming to this place.
“You worry not about that. You are not bridging any rule because there is no official statement that prevents women from showing up in the training center. Like I said, it is just traditions and who cares about traditions anyways, especially if they are not yours” He responded with so much zeal.
“Woah! I am going to keep it in mind that you are not loyal to your people. Aren’t you supposed to be supportive of your tradition?” I joked.
“Well…yeah. But I am only supportive of the right traditions. Does that make sense? I mean what the heck is wrong with women being on the field? To me that tradition should be trashed and never looked back upon”
“Fair point, fair point. You have managed to convince me. Congratulations and I will show up tomorrow.” I was impressed by his short speech.
The fact that he had an answer to every question I asked made me find him even more interesting.
“I will keep an eye” He responded curtly which sounded like a threat so I said,
“If I don’t show up?”
“I will probably give you a day or two to get over whatever was stopping you from coming and then I will hunt you down around the palace and bring you here myself. With the help of my mates of course. You have proven to me that I wouldn’t be able to pull that off alone”
“Fair point” I shrugged. “What time do I show up again?” I inquired.
“Anytime from the break of dawn. Some of us sleep around here even. You could train with a random person before I arrive. I am very positive they all want to try their luck on your skills” He remarked, turning to glance at the field of men for a second and then turning back to me.
“And I will be very happy to show them just how vast said skills stretch too”
“I honestly can’t wait to see that too. I am one of the skilled soldiers around here if I could say so myself. Getting to find someone who can beat me in a fight is a challenge I want to put up to” He nodded with a genuine smile.
“Alright then, till we see tomorrow. I will have to leave” I patted his shoulder and grinned at him.
“Tomorrow is it” He nodded and waved goodbye.
“Tomorrow”