A: Ch. 3.1

Chapter III

“I’m bored with this one.”

“It will get better.”

“No, this world. It’s tedious and obnoxious. Their own people did so much and they’ve fallen in a dark age. I hate watching them blunder through.”

“So you would like a new one? Start from scratch again? Spend another couple million years watching them evolve.”

“Oh, you know I could skip all that.”

“Yet you don’t skip all of this.”

The morning was warm and pleasant. Hilt spent the early morning hours starting a new fire, boiling water for tea, performing his daily training exercises and finding a proper water hole for the horse and donkey to drink before they had to start off again.

All the while, his little ‘guide’ was slumbering like a sloth.

They were all packed and ready to head off when Hilt couldn’t stand waiting any longer. He gently kicked her (well, it was mostly gentle) and barked an order for her to get up. She was cranky and was quite vocal that she was not happy about waking up so early. Apparently little dainty women in Elivagar were allowed to sleep until the day was half spent. Not when Hilt was around.

To punish her, and because he loved to see her so angry, he forced her to eat as they moved. It prevented her from a proper mug of tea or hot sausages. Instead she had some fruit and jerked deer. Poor little thing wasn’t even able to comb her hair.

They traveled the entire day in almost complete silence. He was still furious that she could be so oblivious to the faults of her own country. She had blinders to everything save for the big bad kingdom to the south. It was sickening. Hilt was acutely aware of Nibheis’ shortcomings, as well as Elivagar’s. It was his job to fix or exploit those. This Kya was simply a caricature of every problem in the North. And he had thought that last supposed assassin was pathetic.

By the end of the day, Hilt truly couldn’t stand the exaggerated sighs and whimpers from his companion. It was almost as if she had never ridden more than an hour or so in her life! Was she truly so spoiled up in that castle that she couldn’t even ride for a full day?

So after they made camp—which meant he set everything up, fed and watered the horses, hunted for a few small rabbits while she nursed her ‘wounds’—he tossed her something.

“What is this?” Kya asked questionably, pulling out her own dragonstone dagger from a piece of cloth.

“Attack me.”

Kya blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Attack me,” Hilt repeated, putting up his hands to show he had no other weapons on him. He’d been curious to see how extensive her knowledge was with hand to hand combat. She had hidden quite effectively, he couldn’t deny her that, but as soon as she was within two strides of him, she fell apart. He had his suspicions, but he needed to know for sure.

“Why?” Kya asked, still wary.

“We will be traveling together for some time. I need to see if you can hold your own or if I will be constantly rescuing you.”

“Rescuing me from what?”

Hilt stared at her. She never stopped with the questions, did she? “From bunny rabbits?”

The girl was silent. Apparently he had offended her. Sensitive little dove, wasn’t she?

“Come along. Attack me. I promise not to hurt you.” At least not hard.

Kya was still glaring at him, sitting before the fire with the dagger held firmly in her hand. She appeared to be debating whether this was a trick or not.

“I’m tired; I’m not at my best.”

“And I’ve been traveling just as long and I slept less. I should be just as compromised.”

Kya still didn’t seem to trust him. Hilt shrugged and sat down in front of the fire, stripping off more of the meat from the cooked hare. There was a moment of quiet between them before the girl launched herself over the fire and tackled Hilt. Predictable.

He grabbed her wrists before she had a chance to do anything else and rolled over so he was pinning her to the ground. He grunted and rolled off of her.

“Try again. Don’t overthink it,” Hilt instructed.

Kya lunged again, feinting for a moment to the right, but then darted to the left and tried to slash at Hilt’s thigh. He moved just enough to evade her and she stumbled forward.

“Be lighter on your feet. Anticipate and react.”

Kya righted herself and tried to attack again, this time with brute strength. Mistake. He could fend her off with a single finger if he desired. He knocked her wrist away before the blade even came close and shoved her shoulders back. She fell on her backside and dropped her blade.

“Use your speed and your size. Technique, not strength.”

“I’m trying!” Kya insisted, panting by this point. She fumbled to pick up the blade as her hands shook. Hilt could see the sweat begin to bead at her brow. Her endurance was low, which was odd given how developed her arms were. But that… ah.

Kya tried several more times, but didn’t even scratch Hilt. She finally gave up and flopped down, desperately trying to catch her breath. Hilt, on the other hand, felt as if he had gone for an evening stroll.

“Are you going to explain to me why you brought a dagger on your little assassination attempt rather than a bow which you’re obviously more familiar with?”

“What?” Kya asked, still gasping for air.

“Your arms are well developed, specifically your right shoulder, but you lack endurance. You also have slight callouses on your first and middle finger, so you obviously don’t use an archery glove. You also keep reaching to your side, like you’re looking for the strap for your quiver,” Hilt explained, rather giddy for putting it all together. “So why did you bring a rather worthless dagger.”

Kya gaped at him, but quickly composed herself. “First you tell me what Elivagar did to you.”

Hilt raised a brow. “Oh?”

“The way you spoke yesterday and then this little sparring session here… It’s as if I’ve become your scapegoat for all the evils from Elivagar. And it’s not just the war. So what have we done?”

“I asked first.”

Kya sighed and took a long drink from her waterskin. “Your army uses crossbows which I despise with a passion. They’re large and clumsy and difficult to reload. I also wouldn’t be able to move around as easily. Your archers are stationed in one position and hardly ever move. That would have been acceptable save for the fact that—“

“You didn’t know where I was. Fair enough. So why were you sent? You have value as a strategist and your talents on this mission are… mediocre at best.”

“You never answered my question.”

“Yes,” Hilt said, “but your question has little value to me.”

Hilt watched as she started to gnaw at her lip and grind her teeth. “I volunteered,” she finally said.

“And they let you?” he asked, stifling laughter.

“I… persuaded them.”

He couldn’t help it. He let out a roaring laugh and grinned over at her. “Your country has more problems than I thought. Can they not control their women up there?”

“Women are not objects to be controlled like dogs,” Kya insisted, her face flushing with anger. It was almost cute, like sprinkling salt on a snail and watching it foam.

“Oh, I know.” If only the girl knew. She lived in a hell compared to what she could have. If only she had been born without such sickly skin. Granted, he couldn’t tell if her flush was from anger anymore or if the sun had crisped her.  

“Dogs are easier,” Hilt added. He waited and, sure enough, she turned a brighter shade of red. He grinned. At least he solved that experiment.

“I should expose you the instant you walk across the border.”

“Ah, but you won’t. I’ll rip out your throat before you have a chance to.”

“And how do you plan on enforcing my silence? You can’t watch me every moment,” Kya insisted, crossing her arms with her nose in the air.

“You will introduce me as Damien, easy enough since your country doesn’t know my first name. After you failed your mission—the Third General was out of the city—you made your return back and stopped in a border town. There was a minor attack and you were then escorted back to the Capitol by myself.”

“And why would some man from a border town need to go to the fortress?” Kya snipped.

Hilt yawned. He really was getting sick of questions. “As a reward for escorting the beloved Kya back safely Damien asks for sanctuary in the north. Since you’re so concerned for my safety, you don’t let me out of your sight.”

“And why would you need sanctuary?”

Hilt grumbled and fell backwards so he could stare up at the sky. “Guess.” He paused, but quickly added, “Actually, don’t. I’d like to sleep tonight. Your questions would keep me up all night.”

“But you never told me what Elivagar did to you!” Kya insisted.

“Imagine that. Interesting how things work out.” Hilt grinned as he heard her grumble and sigh dramatically. Just a few more days and he’d be in Cauntin, though there was the distinct possibility that people would know him there. Perhaps it would be best to go to one of the smaller ones. Eirain was closer to the coast and full of more Elivagans than southerners. He’d decide in the morning. Now he just wanted to relax before dealing with the idiot mouse again in the morning. 

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