CHAPTER 34
Luisa woke in Cataindar. At first she felt fine, then the memories of the day before flooded back.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed in Cataindar and put her head in her hands.
My mum might die.
The image of her Mum in hospital came back to her, pulling her spirit down like a great dragging weight.
She took in her chamber, rubbing her eyes. The fire crackled and Clearwater was snoring, one arm and hind leg out of her basket on the floor. A few cups and dirty plates were scattered about from the evening’s festivities.
In the centre of her room the black Chest of Royal Weapons was still open, the weapons inside glinting. Luisa went to her chest of drawers and pulled her sword out from the bottom drawer. She turned it in her hand carefully, the sharp blade reflecting the light of the fire. It made her feel a little better just to hold it. She carefully set it down, walked over to the closet and changed into her jeans, t-shirt and hoodie. Luisa held the sword in one hand and looked at herself in the mirror. It looked weird, wearing a hoodie and holding a sword in her hand. She looked kind of stupid.
Urgh.
She sighed and took off the sword putting it down on the side and feeling even worse. She threw herself back on her bed and lay face down in the covers. A scouger arrived to escort her to her lesson, but she was in such an agitated mood, she left her quarters quite forgetting about her new sword.
The lesson was awful. Luisa was dreadfully distracted and frustrated that she had forgotten her royal sword.
On the first day. What an idiot!
She was supposed to be at least getting to swing it. Finn had lectured her and wouldn’t allow her to go back to her quarters and pick it up.
They trained and trained. Everything felt off for Luisa today.
Finn tried to teach her how to parry at close quarters, but it wasn’t working. Luisa took a hard hit on the hand and from that point on kept dropping the sword every time Finn swiped at her.
Finn sighed shaking his head in disappointment.
“Luisa when we are working on swordsmanship you must learn that whatever else is on your mind it does not belong there. Brush it away, extinguish any other thought like water on a flame. I think we are done for today. I will rearrange with the abbot. Tomorrow we will try again.”
Luisa moodily went back to her quarters and closed the door with a slam. She just wanted the day to be over. She lay on the bed and put a pillow over her head.
Why am I so crap at life?
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I think any of us that have done a sport have had these days. Just a little teaser chapter here guys... but the next one is hu-age. Huge! The next one is my second favourite chapter of the book. So get ready for a serious read on Wednesday!
As always if you enjoyed this vote – and this is almost too short to comment on - so a quick question; what do you think is going to happen in Cataindar?
Thanks so much guys!
Tim
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Cataindar
Action#1 for a month on the Fantasy-Action Hotlist. Wattys2015 Winner. Fourteen-year-old Luisa is focused on staying under the radar at her rough London school, relieved that the summer holidays are soon to begin. Exploring the ruin of an abbey at ni...
