Warrior's Mind (Book 2 of The Warrior Chronicles)

Chapter 20

"Thank you for the demonstration, Utan!" Takai smiled, giving her a short bow before turning to the others. "Get into pairs and take turns practicing the move."

"Wait, wait, wait. You are the Utan? The one everyone always talks about! The one who disappeared years ago?" Dovit's eyes were as round as saucers.

Leyla ignored the question, looking to Takai. "I am sorry for disturbing your class. I'll be on my way."

The head of security looked crestfallen. "They have been training hard, Lieutenant. Do you not have time for a challenge? They would learn much from seeing your fighting style."

Leyla looked to Jara who was watching her intently from where he was leaning against the wall. "I'm in no rush," he shrugged.

"Oh yes please! I haven't seen you in action for ages!" Asya appeared out of nowhere with Raphael walking quietly beside her. Her traditional Aqua skirts parting over her thighs as she rushed forward, Asya grabbed Leyla's hand. "Please, La-La? Please, please, please?"

"Asya..." Leyla began, but the girl turned to Raphael, then slipping her arm through his, recommenced her pleading.

"Watching La-La train was always my absolute favourite thing to do you know? Once when I was little she saved me from an entire village of..."

The Prorex didn't react despite the young Da Su's incessant jabbering. He also didn't seem the least perturbed by her hanging onto his arms. Obviously, they were now in the type of relationship that allowed for that type of careless touching.

Leyla turned back to Takai and removed her jacket, revealing the sleeveless Goddess cloth tank top underneath. She was suddenly in the mood for a fight. "I have a minute to spare. Pick your two best challengers."

Takai immediately nodded towards a tall guy with a small goaty who had steady eyes, "Nuh and Sevil." The latter was a girl; a red head with an athletic body and swirling tattoos across her arms."Step forward."

The challengers did as instructed and came to stand in front of Leyla.

They bowed, and she reciprocated before raising her hand and curling her fingers in a motion that encouraged them to attack.

Nuh came at her first. He was fast, his leg swiping the floor from the left. Leyla jumped over it easily, grabbing Sevil's fist as it came towards her right shoulder. In two quick moves Leyla had Sevil's arm pinned behind her back and in the next moment sent the girl tumbling head first towards Nuh who was coming in for his second attack. They both ended up on the floor.

"Nuh, you are faster, but your intent is written across your face. Sevil you are strong, but you need to ground your centre. Work on balance." Leyla advised as they picked themselves up.

The challengers re-joined their classmates who were staring at her in awe. At Takai's prompt, the group bowed in respect. "Thank you, Utan."

"Be alert and stay safe." Leyla replied and turned to pick up her jacket, when Jara suddenly stepped into the circle.

"That was hardly a challenge, was it?" His wicked grin caught her by surprise. Jara Da Su was not the kind who indulged in a sparring session; what was he about? "Shouldn't we give these guys more of a show?" The shirt he wore stretched across his broad chest as he crossed his arms in salute.

Leyla frowned, "What are you -"

Her jacket slumped to the floor when she had to jump back to avoid his lunge. She blinked rapidly, not quite able to believed what was happening. "Mahsap, care to explain what you are doing?

Jara's smile was slow, "I always wanted to spar with you, La-La. Are you worried you will lose?"

Lose? She was just worried she might hurt him. When he attacked again without waiting for a reply, Leyla realised he was not going to back down. It was best to end this quickly.

She attacked swiftly, wanting to pin him to the ground and get this over with, but he was faster than she remembered. Had he changed his training style these past three years?

His defence was not pretty, but it worked and soon he started fighting back. Their arms crossed, legs blocked, fingers reached - she knew he was using minimal strength and she did the same, this was not about hurting, it was about winning. Unfortunately, most of her repertoire was meant to cause serious damage so she was going to have to get needlessly fancy to finish this fast.

Jara took a step back to avoid a kick, then another to avoid her fist. When she gave him an intentional opening, he took the bate, kicking with his right leg. Leyla used her foot to block the kick, then hooked her leg around his and pulled downwards to throw him off centre. He took an unsteady step forward, she bent low, nudging his foot out from under him and sending him to the floor.

The expression on his face made her smile. Baffled was probably the right word for it. He couldn't seem to understand how he had ended up on his back. A small laugh rose up in her throat, but she held back.

"You're holding back a laugh, aren't you?" He reached out his hand and Leyla took it, intent on pulling him up. Suddenly the full force of his strength was in his grip and in the next moment she was on her back, and he was smiling over her.

"How could you fall for such a simple trick?" Jara grinned a dimple making an appearance in his right cheek.

"Get off," Leyla bit out.

The smile on his face faded as he continued to stare at down at her. "That kid is right, you know? You are gorgeous."

What in Four Kingdoms was he going on about? Leyla swallowed an angry retort and pushed up against the arms that were holding her down. He didn't budge. "I'm exerting some serious control not to hurt you, Mahsap. So. Get. Off." she managed past gritted teeth.

"Jara, that was a cheap trick. Let La-La up before she stops holding back and hurts you!" Asya's warning reminded Leyla that they had an audience. Heat crept into her face and her lips thinned out in anger.

"My apologies, I got carried away," Jara hesitated for another moment, before he moved back and offered his hand. Leyla refused it, came to her feet, grabbed her jacket off the floor and shoved her fists into the arms lest the desire to punch him overcame her. Thankfully, Takai had dispersed the students.

"Don't worry, La-La, I'll get your revenge for you." Asya said beside her.

Leyla's eyes landed on Raphael, who gave her a hard look before letting his gaze drift over her shoulder towards the employees who were back at training. "Are you finished playing around?" he asked, his tone cold.

"I wasn't playing..." She sighed, feeling that unpleasant guilt once more. By Tevvuk's beard, she had done nothing wrong, why did her conscience keep bothering her these days? Turning to Jara she narrowed her eyes. "I will go up now to get ready for the ceremony, Mahsap."

"Take Asya with you, there are some aspects of the ceremony you may not be familiar with," Jara nodded, looking from Raphael's impassive face to hers. "We men will get ready separately."

Leyla tried catch the Prorex's gaze as an excited Asya pulled her away, then gave up. If he didn't want to look at her, he didn't have to. As long as he was unharmed and remained that way until she took him home, he could be as angry as he liked.