The Belladonna

Chapter 31 - Training room

Well, almost empty. It was a large square shaped room with no top that let in the suns musty light and filled the room with the smell of the water. The middle was clear and large enough to hold over three hundred people comfortably. Along all the walls was every single weapon Sky could imagine. Running down one side of the room, Sky saw hundreds of swords and hatchets and pikes. Off in the far corner was a large table that had tools of every kind used for weapon maintenance. And behind that Sky saw rows and rows of the king's rifles.

The middle of the space was full of people. Some stood in circles talking while others were engaged in hand to hand combat. Some even fought with cutlasses.

A training room? Sky guessed it made sense; the Cormorants had to learn how to fight somewhere.

Sky saw the two boys standing in the large space talking with someone she recognised. Sky made her way over to them and looked up at Sav who held her pistol. The boy who had baited her was speaking quickly and when he saw Sky he nudged his friend.

"Sav," Sky looked at the older man and down at the boys. "That pistol is mine." She indicated to the gun in his large hand.

"Anyway," One of the boys said loudly, "we had better get out there and gather up some more. Thanks Sav." The boy grabbed his friend and went to bolt, but Sav grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

"I said steal from the king not us, you moron," Sav smacked the boy over the head with a thump.

"Hey!" The boy yelled and pressed his hand against his head. "She isn't one of us. Besides, that pistol is too nice to belong to anyone other than the king."

Sav inspected the pistol then handed it back to Sky. She thanked him and looked at the boys who glared back at her. "Go and get some guns from the king's men. Now." Sav let the boys go and watched as they disappeared from the training room.

"You're not really sending children to go steal from armed officers, are you?" Sky asked Sav who shook his head at the boys before looking at her.

"Lads grow up fast around here." Sky had no response to that so she just nodded. "Edward told me you are quite good with a blade."

Sky frowned. "I wouldn't say that." When she had been fighting with Edward she had been running purely on adrenalin and was using only brute force to hack down their attackers. She doubted she could even hold a sword properly.

"Well, why don't you take up a one and show us what you can do?" Sav looked at her, "That is, if you don't have anywhere to be." Sky thought about it and realised that this was a good way to spend her day.

"Sounds good." A though occurred to her, "Is there anyone I could give this to for a clean; it's blocked with dirt and god knows what else you have in that water." She held up her gun to Sav. He took it and smiled at her.

"Go pick a blade and I'll give this to someone to fix up." Sky thanked him and looked towards the wall lined with swords.

She walked over to them grateful that everyone else was involved in their own training and paid her no mind. The swords weren't fancy; they were made for a purpose and nothing else, which made it easier for Sky to choose one. She tried the weights of the blades in her hand and winced.

Maybe this wasn't a great idea. Sky looked down at her wrapped hand and transferred the cutlass into her right hand. She tried the weight again and looked at the bigger swords. This one will have to do. It was thin and light with a small handle that Sky gripped tightly.

Sav was waiting for her in the middle of the training area with his arms crossed. Now that she could clearly see him Sky realised that he was more well-built than she had realised. His arms were large and his droopy eyes were bright with intelligence.