Chapter 10: Bruised

--The Nydisian Kingdom, The Castle, Left-Wing--

Katherine couldn't help but stare at the garden from her room balcony as the sun was starting to rise. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice Lily was trying to get her attention.

"The Captain is requesting your presence, milady, I've already taken your bag downstairs. I wish you a safe journey." Lily said while packing the last bit of Katherine's load. Katherine smiled at the maid that has been nothing but kind since her arrival.

Considering it's been less than a week since Katherine's arrival in the castle, the King was kind enough to have her closet filled with fine attire.

As Katherine made her way down the stairs, she crossed paths with the man she had begun to tolerate, Lord Killian.

He respectfully bowed her way as Lily greeted him. Katherine turned back briefly to notice shared glances between Lord Killian and Lily.

The General and the King, mentioned to Katherine, that they would be travelling on foot to the royal academy.

Lucian had mentioned something along the lines of not wanting people to know he wasn't at the castle. She hadn't seen Lucian since earlier in the week and it was the captain she was becoming acquainted with.

Lucian frightened her, not because of anything he did but because of what he was. Katherine inwardly bit her cheek as she approached Lucian and the captain.

Thankfully, she was wearing decent attire that would enable her to move freely. She was wearing a corsair half trouser along with a lace-up blouse that had ruffles on her chest.

Katherine greeted the captain as she approached him, "Captain," she bowed slightly to display her respects. Llewellyn acknowledged the girl and bowed as well.

She then turned to greet Lucian, "Milord," He briefly glanced at Katherine before walking out of the royal court. Katherine was a bit surprised but she held her tongue and calmed her surprised expression.

Llewellyn followed closely behind Lucian as the trio began to exit the walls of the castle and head into the back forests. Seeing as they were travelling without maids and a carriage, each carried their own load.

After walking for about an hour in complete silence, one could feel the tension in the air. "Is there something I'm unaware of?" Katherine asked Llewellyn, who had slowed down his pace to walk beside her. Lucian continued walking forward as the two behind him began to converse.

Llewellyn momentarily debated if he should tell the girl what had happened or if for now her ignorance was preferred.

"On the outskirts of Eraregord, a few settlements were raided and burnt down. Some of the settlers were taken, others were killed, the people are scared and they need a sense of security." Katherine gasped listening to the horrors that happened just a few miles away from the capital city.

"Daniel blames the king for that, he wants for milord to be branded to ensure his commitment to the kingdom and the throne, in other words, you." Llewellyn looked at her knowingly but she didn't maintain eye contact for long as she was at loss for words.

"Who would do such a thing?" Katherine asked as she originally thought the closer one was to the capital city the safer it was.

"We have our suspicions but there's no way of knowing for sure." Katherine nodded in understanding as both she and Llewellyn continued to walk side by side.

Katherine felt slightly at fault that it was because of her that Daniel wanted to brand Lucian with the royal crest. She looked up to see Lucian who was a good distance ahead of them.

Llewellyn caught the flash of guilt that was visible on the girl's face and began to reassure her. "Listen, don't take his actions personally, it's who he is."

Katherine offered a kind smile but despite Llewellyn's attempt to make her feel better about the situation, she still felt at fault.

She picked up the pace at which she was walking until she caught up to Lucian. It would be rude for her to walk beside the King without his approval.

Katherine reached out to touch his arm but before she could place a hand on him, Lucian tackled her to the ground so fast that Katherine barely processed what happened.

Her brown eyes looked into his red ones in shock, confused as to why he tackled her. "Lesson one, avoid leaving yourself open for your opponent,"

Lucian then pulled her up and threw his bag aside and began to take off his shirt then tossed it nearby.

Katherine gasped and looked away when she realized he was partially undressed. "We'll train here until noon," Katherine was thankful that she was wearing proper attire.

After putting her bag aside, she stood in a stance. Lucian stared at her with a trace of amusement evident in his cold eyes. He walked to stand behind Katherine and began to critique her stance.

Lucian was fairly amused at how horrible Katherine's stance was. "First, your stance is weak," he said as he kicked behind her knee causing Katherine to fall forward, but she quickly rose to her feet.

"You're human, you're already at a disadvantage meaning you will never win using brute force. You have to be centred, you have to be smart." Lucian stood behind her and placed his hand on her stomach.

Katherine was a bit alarmed by his hand on her but when she tried to move away, he placed his hand on her back and kept her still. "Tighten your core, this will give you a sense of balance,"

She heard Llewellyn approach them as he coughed in the background trying to contain his laughter. "This should be interesting," Katherine subtly rolled her eyes at Llewellyn and did what Lucian instructed and tightened her core.

Lucian moved to stand in front of her with his bare chest being glazed by the morning sun.

Seeing as Lucian was silent, Katherine presumed he wanted her to make the first hit which she did but Lucian caught her hand and flipped her over with that hand.

"Ah!" Katherine yelped in pain as her body made an impact with the ground. Lucian remained in the same position as before and waited for the human to get up.

Katherine got up despite the aching in her hand. She didn't waste time before kicking her leg towards Lucian's side, only for him to push her leg back down and jab her chest, which led to Katherine coughing violently.

Lucian was trying to use as minimal strength as possible but he realized he had underestimated the force he was using.

Lucian approached the girl to check if she was okay but Katherine used the opportunity to hit his face with her elbow which caused him to stagger backwards without losing his footing.

Katherine was slightly excited when she finally hit Lucian, it gave her a boost of confidence. She tried to hit him again but he caught her hand and pulled her closer, "Relax, you need to learn how to be in defence before I can teach you offence strategies,"

He let go of her hand only to throw a punch that threw Katherine aside violently. Katherine thought he was deliberately trying to hurt her but little did she know he was actually trying to be gentle.

"Get up," Lucian moved a few steps away from her and was getting ready to attack. Katherine already knew what her objective was, to block.

Lucian started a string of attacks with his arms, Katherine managed to block the first two but the force he was using made her feel like her bones were on the verge of shattering in half.

By the fourth hit, Katherine was already on the ground with a busted lip and bruised cheekbone, "I'm done," she gasped while spitting out a bit of blood that had built up in her mouth.

"Get up," Lucian said while dusting off the girl's blood on the side of his trousers. Katherine who was still in pain ignored him and used the grass beside her to wipe off her blood. "I said get up."

Katherine felt a stir of anger and annoyance at the way he spoke to her, it was like he was ordering her around like one of his subordinates.

"We're done for the day," Lucian walked off without sparing a glance at the human who glared at him from a distance.

Llewellyn walked towards her and helped her up. That's how Lucian was, that's how he trained people. He pushed them to the edge over and over again until there was no longer an edge to be pushed off of, Llewellyn thought to himself.

Katherine groaned when she placed her hand on her cheekbone that continued to throb over and over again. Llewellyn had already offered to carry her things which she was grateful for unless she would've passed out.

Lucian was unbothered by the girl who sent him glares from the distance they stood at. As long as she wasn't dead, he would count it as an attempt to strengthen her.

Lucian walked by Katherine and with her face his side profile, he offered her some advice. "Get accustomed to the pain, when you do, the less it bothers you."

He locked eyes with Llewellyn and passed a command, "Let's keep going till we lose sunlight, you'll rest when we set up camp."