Hope
I was wrong. It was stupid of me in the first place to think that Commander would ever change. After her whole apology that day, I walked into the training grounds a week after when Kyle was all better and it was like the apology never happened at all. Commander still treated me the same way.
The only difference was that this time, I didn’t swallow down all her antiques. She thought that she would be able to push me to the wall and I wouldn’t do anything. That was before. Now I knew that no matter how badly everyone wanted me out of this place, they couldn’t get me out.
And I was going to use that piece of information to my advantage.
Right now, I was practicing with a dummy. A moving one which I had to block the attacks of. And one which was set at full speed, courtesy of the commander. On a normal day, I shouldn’t even be sparring with a dummy at full speed but since I happened to piss Darius off at dinner last night, I didn’t need anyone to tell me that Commander was getting revenge on his behalf.
Everyone in the castle thought that I was sleeping with Kyle. I didn’t even try to deny their accusations because Kyle and I weren’t bothered. But Darius always saw it fit to remind me of my ‘treacherous ways’. He had been talking about it during dinner and I had walked out on him.
While he yelled for me to return, I didn’t return. Same as Kyle. He was no longer Darius’ or the Commander’s soldier. He was mine. It affected his life a little because some of his friends turned their backs on him but Kyle always assured me that he was fine.
I believed him only a little bit. Which was why any time we reported for training, I would send him away to mingle with the friends he had remaining. It was a good set up… mostly.
Anyways, I should just focus on not sustaining more injuries than I already had, courtesy of the dummy, till Commander put a close to my training. I was good at blocking, but horrible when it came to attacking. The other soldiers would slice off their dummies in half when it got too tough for them.
But I didn’t have that luxury. I didn’t own a sword. I was just stuck with a rod which was liable to break if I used it to strike against something hard.
“Alright, princess! That’s enough for one day!” Commander called out from behind me. Momentarily distracted, the dummy swung at my stomach which was open to attack.
“Oof!” I groaned from the back of my throat as I fell to the ground and clutched my stomach. Curses.
“Sheesh. When are you going to learn not to let yourself get distracted while training?” Commander squatted down by my side, then cautiously stretched her hand over me to turn off the dummy.
“You were the one who distracted me.” I muttered with a groan, deciding to lie down on the ground entirely, stretching my legs and letting my hands fall to my sides.
“Still don’t let yourself get distracted.” She poked my stomach, then stood up. I ground my teeth as I watched her.
“Get your guard and get out of this place.” She turned her back to me and waved brightly at a few soldiers walking past. I rolled my eyes.
She only behaved bitterly to me in this place. She was on hold terms with everyone else here. Even with Kyle. And among the people she just waved was Kyle. Five soldiers flanked his side and they all had jolly looks on their faces. Kyle, himself, had a little smile playing on his lips.
Wow.
I had totally forgotten that I was still lying down on the ground when Kyle and his group of friends stopped in front of me. I only realized when they bowed at me and seemed too tall.
“Oh!” It dawned on me and I scrambled from the ground to my full height. “Greetings,” I told them in an awkward tone, dusting off the dirt from my pants and tunic.
The lot of them looked like they were trying to hide their laughters in while the smile on Kyle’s face had turned sour. I wasn’t sure it was directed at me or his friends who I could bet he was thinking were being disrespectful.
“The commander already dismissed me and I was just resting,” I excused myself, my cheeks flaming with heat.
“Of course, my lady,” Kyle spoke for him and his friends. My lips twitched till they settled on a small smile.
An awkward silence settled in our midst. One of the men besides Kyle started to bump shoulders with him, as if prompting him to say something. Kyle looked like he would rather have a knife twisted into his chest than do what they wanted him to do.
“Uh… Kyle? Is there something you want to tell me?” I asked, tilting my head to one side.
Kyle shook his head. “Nothing. Let’s return to the castle now,” he replied with a courteous tone.
I raised my brow. He wasn’t going to tell me anything. I fixed my gaze on the other soldiers. “Is there something you all want to tell me?” I turned the question around.
The shortest in the bunch took a step forward. “Well, my lady, we wanted to ask you if-”
“Keep quiet, you disrespectful buffoon.” Kyle slapped the back of the soldier’s head, provoking an argument between all of them.
They started to attract people’s attention, causing me to shrink into myself. One of the soldiers managed to break of the group and stand in front of me. He had black hair that reflected wine. I couldn’t quite make out the color of his eyes but he was built like an average lycan soldier. Tall, broad shouldered and muscled.
“Some of the men are going out into the village to have a drink and we invited Arsen to come with us. He hasn’t left the castle since…” He trailed off. I started to feel guilty.
Kyle has been by my side for two months now and hasn’t had the chance to spend quality time with his friends. What if he started to hate me for keeping him away from them?
Before I got a chance to say anything, Kyle pushed the man behind him and stood between me and the soldiers. “Pay them no mind. I don’t want to leave the castle. I’m not interested in their type of frolics.” Kyle said.
I smiled sadly, then reached for his shoulder. Unlike last two weeks when I had tried to do the same thing and he had flinched away, he stood his ground now; even welcoming my touch.
“They’re your friends. You don’t need to guard me every hour of the day anymore. I might still fall on the ground during training sometimes but I think I know how to protect myself if the situation ever called for it.
“And nothing can go very wrong one night when you’re not standing guard outside my door.” I said to Kyle.
He looked uncertain of my words. I could tell that he was afraid since the last time he wasn’t by my side guarding me, all hell broke loose. But it’s different this time. I hoped it was.
“I’m serious. And it’s an order. Go out. Drink ale and make merry with as many women as you want.” I put on a bright smile, even going as far as bumping shoulders with giant Kyle.
Even though the sky was a tad dark, I could still make out the red tint that formed on both of Kyle’s cheeks. His friends hooted in my favor, slightly surprised at the words that just came out from my mouth.
I wasn’t oblivious to what soldiers did on their night out. The soldiers back home at the human lands were all the same and would end up disoriented the next morning because of their ‘fun’ night.
“Are you sure, my lady?” Kyle asked for confirmation.
I nodded my head. “Absolutely. There is no need to worry about me since I’ll be in my room all night. In fact, I’m going there right away.” I did a little courtesy, then rose to wiggle my fingers at Kyle and his friends as a goodbye before I turned my back to them and started making my way back to the castle.
Everyone in the training grounds were already dispersing. Something told me that the barhouse they were all going to was going to make a lot of money. A giggle escaped my lips at that thought, distracting me momentarily and causing me to bump into someone.
I looked up to see that it was that young lycan who always flanked the Commander’s side. I had noticed that he was cordial with everyone except for me. Exactly like the commander. The second he noticed that I was the one he bumped into, the full grin on his mouth turned into a deep frown.
“Excuse me, my lady,” he sidestepped me quickly, acting like any more time he spent in my presence, he would burn.
I let out a huff at his retreating figure. I resumed my walk to my chambers, my muscles feeling all tired but I was getting used to it. I cringed at the thought of getting used to such a thing. By the time I got to my room, all I wanted to do was to take a deep slumber.
As I dropped on my bed, I noticed that the cover underneath my stomach felt prickly. I rolled over to check and saw a little note. With furrowed brows, I looked round my room, checking to see if there was anyone.
When I didn’t find anyone, I grabbed the note and held it to my face. I was shocked at first glance when I noticed that the note had the exact same penmanship as the one in India’s diary. The more shocking part were the words actually written. It read:
I miss you, Hope.
~L